We are often asked, “What is Search Engine Optimisation?” and we find many business owners are not aware of the importance of it.
In the perfect world, launching a website would mean you’d be found online easily, and be selling your products or services easily. Sadly, the Internet is not that kind of world, and we’re all vying to be seen online. As the Internet has become a way of life, being found online is much complex than what it used to be. With over a billion sites in cyberspace, building an online presence takes more than just creating a website.
One key element is that you need a plan for your website to reach the top of the search engine results, whenever people search for keywords that relate to your business. Also, you want to ensure your website is being seen by your target audience.
You can accomplish this and more through SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). SEO is a digital marketing tool that can grow the visibility of your website in organic search engine results. Simply put, it is what makes your website land on the half of the page of a Google search (and other search engines), without having to spend money for advertising.
To not overwhelm you with too much, because SEO a big topic and can be complex with tracking and measuring progress, we suggest starting with three components:
1. Quality Content and Keywords
Search engines have “web crawlers” or search engine bots/spiders that browse the Internet and your website, reviewing your content and adding it to their search engine index. It is imperative for you to have quality content that includes keywords associated with the products and services you offer. Do not copy other people’s content. Instead make sure your website copy reflects who you are and the services or products you sell.
2. Link Building
Think of link building as a recommendation from peers. One way of building links is for forums and other online channels talking about you and your products or services, and linking back to your site. Search engines favour those that are recommended by trustworthy people and websites. The more quality back links, the better for your website ranking.
3. Reputation
Just about anyone can create a website, but building a (good) reputation for the site takes time. One options is to update your site consistently with original, quality, and engaging content, via a blog. Another, is to ensure your software is up-to-date and you’re not black listed due to your site being hacked. And, another option is to update your standards pages on a yearly basis, e.g. changing number of years in business, or update your phone number or address, if it is changed, or revamping your home page content to make it relevant.
Search Engine Optimisation is a crucial part of having a website, and in the bigger picture, should be included in your marketing strategies. Done properly, you are likely to continue to have unique website visitors, that will convert into customers.
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If you’re not online, we can help. Read about our process, look over our demos, and touch base if you have any questions.
Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash