When the Internet was new, businesses had an advantage over their competition simply by having a website up and running. Tim Ashley from Differntly.Co tells us how things have changed. It is important to utilize search engine optimization techniques in order to appear on the first page of search engine results. That is a lot harder to do than it sounds, because there are so many companies vying for the top spot. However, don’t let your quest to improve your search engine ranking make you forget what is really important. While you certainly want a nicely designed website that ranks well, the ultimate purpose of the site is to either inform or to make a sale. Never forget about the people that will be viewing your site; if they are your priority, you can’t go wrong.
Encourage Communication
Social media is becoming very important to the success of a business, and as such, it is crucial to tie it in with your website. You don’t have to jump in and try all the platforms out at once; research the major sites, like Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter, and determine which ones would be the most beneficial to you. Once you set up a page, make sure it is linked to your website. For example, if you have Facebook account, add a “like” button to any information that you post on your website. Make sure the button is very visible, so users can click on it quickly and easily.
Post Quality Content
You’ve probably heard that content is king. If you want to be effective, you have to have a plan. How often will you post new information? Where will you get your content from? And, how are users going to find the content they need on your site? Hopefully, you can get these questions answered before your website is even created. It becomes more difficult to reorganize a page after it has already been established, but it certainly is not impossible.
Remember, you want to update often, but you don’t want to do so at the expense of quality. Consider adding a blog to your site. This gives you a forum to post your thoughts and other helpful information, and you can do it relatively easily. Your rank on the search engines will rise much faster if you regularly put up useful content.
Always keep your target audience in mind. Great content isn’t going to do you much good if it isn’t of interest to your customer base. Do research to determine what keywords your target audience is searching for. Don’t become complacent, however; keywords can change, so you need to stay on top of things.
Set up a Mobile Site
While plenty of people still use desktop and laptops, smartphones are becoming an increasingly popular way to access the Internet. Some reports say that more than half of all online searches will take place on a tablet or a smartphone. Make sure your site can be accessed from a mobile device. You want users to be able to find everything they need with minimal effort. If it takes too much time, they are going to navigate away from your page and on to something else.
Use your own phone to view your site, but remember that how the page responds for an Apple device may be different than an Android device. Ask friends and family members to check for you as well and get their feedback. Also, stay away from Flash on your website; the majority of mobile devices don’t support it, meaning that all your efforts will go to waste.
Web design and search engine optimization are both crucial to your business. Don’t focus on one at the expense of the other. Remember, that ultimately you want to draw in customers and keep them coming back for more. Once you find a formula for success, you’ll notice that your website ranks higher with the search engines. And, that will lead to more profit and visibility for your company.
Citations:
- A starters guide to SEO.
Amy Rice wrties about Search Engine Optimisation, when not writing she enjoys horse riding and playing adventure golf.