[by: Brandy Haslam, MBA]
93% of all buying decisions start with an online search. Where is your website showing up?
There is a quote I read a few years back that if you ever want to hide a dead body, the best place is on page two of a Google search.
I’m not sure about you, but when I’m searching online for something, I rarely go past page one to find results. Instinctively, we want things quickly without doing a bunch of work and searching a ton of places, so going on to page two, three, four and beyond doesn’t happen too often.
A few years back, marketers were able to tweak websites in a way that they would slingshot onto page one without much effort, but over the years Google’s algorithm has changed so that this is no longer possible. Unfortunately, most companies don’t really know how to optimize their website to get it anywhere close to page one and lots of agencies offering SEO services charge an arm and a leg.
Although optimizing your website take a good amount of time and effort, there are things you can do on your own to improve your website ranking.
Blogging and regularly updating content.
Regularly blogging and updating your website content can help increase relevancy by answering your customer’s questions. Including long-tail keywords in your blog title and important keywords throughout the body of the blog is key. Optimizing the URL of your blog to include important keywords instead of using an auto-populated title is also extremely beneficial.
Ensuring that your blog is mobile-friendly is also critical as the majority of website traffic and Google search is done on a mobile device.
Utilize YouTube & Google +
Utilizing platforms owned by Google is a good way to help get your website noticed. Since Google owns YouTube, writing ‘mini-blogs’ in your description instead of leaving it blank or super short, will help increase visibility. Using the Google + social media platform to post information about your company and share relevant information from your website can also make a difference.
Create your own keywords.
Anytime you create your own keywords, you aren’t fighting with competitors for visibility. If it catches on, you could end up on page one for a high-ranking keyword. One example is from a group called Backlinko who termed the phrase, the Skyscraper Technique to talk about link-building strategy.
Unlocking the challenges of SEO has always been an uphill battle and with Google continuously making changes to their algorithm and how websites are shown, it is sometimes tough to keep up. Most small businesses don’t have the time or manpower to implement a huge effort into SEO, but there are things you can do now to help increase your visibility.
Looking for a more in-depth SEO strategy for your business? Contact us today or call (866) YES-BLOOM