- The internet is an ever-evolving beast with many moving parts, so when it comes to running a business online, there’s a need for constant vigilance and updates. One of the ways you can improve the overall receptiveness of your site and the ease of which consumers may find it online is through something called search engine optimization.
While many businesses already implement SEO in their marketing strategies, there are some who are unsure what it is or how it works. Recent changes in the infrastructure of social media networking and even search engine guidelines have made it more important than ever before for companies to use every tool at their disposal when marketing themselves online. These are a few of the ways that SEO can influence your business online. What is SEO?
SEO or search engine optimization is a method used by marketing experts to boost their online ranking of a business in a search engine’s result’s page. For example, if a consumer searches for “dentists in Texas”, they will get hundreds of results, and it’s difficult to know who to choose or where to go. For most online users, it’s been proven that the first three results are likely the link which will receive business. This is partially because it’s easier to stop at three than to continue through pages and pages of data, and partially because Google has outfitted their search engine ranking to deliver the top results first, and consumers know this.
Google ranks businesses and websites through a series of algorithms, each unique and signifying a different reason for ranking a page. Some of the factors which could impact your business’ ranking include how friendly it is to mobile users, the time it takes for your page to load, the popularity of your page among the general public, how much content is on your site, whether your site is updated regularly, whether your site has broken any laws, and the validity of the content on your site.
There are so many Google algorithms that it’s impossible to know everything it takes to rank first, but Google is diligent in announcing all updates to their algorithm system, allowing site owners to make changes as they are needed. How SEO Impacts You
You might be wondering just how important SEO is to your business, especially if you’ve never used it before, but you’ll be surprised to know that even subconsciously you’ve probably been implementing some SEO strategies into your website. Even updating your blog regularly impacts the way that Google ranks your website against others in your category. So, how does regularly using SEO help you as a business?
Research has shown that more than 80% of consumers use online resources to determine what to buy and what services to use. This means that even those who aren’t shopping online, are shopping around online before making calls for plumbers, mechanics, dentists, etc. The same can be said for products like batteries, hair straighteners, and even the foods we eat.
The number of consumers grows even higher when it’s a local search being performed. For example, rather than “which shampoo is best?”, a local typing, “which salon in Phoenix, Arizona is best?” will change results dramatically. It’s suggested that more than 90% of consumer searches are local. This means that whether you’re a national brand, a small business, an entrepreneur, or a local blogger, there’s a positive purpose for SEO in your life. Using SEO to Your Advantage
If you’ve decided you want to use SEO but are unsure where to get started, there are plenty of online guides to gain insight from. You can also hire a third-party search engine optimization business to offer pointers and design your site with SEO in mind. For the beginner, the basics are simple to follow.
- Make Your Site Accessible: The first order of business with any SEO overhaul is to make your website accessible to all users. This means mobile phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, etc. You want your site to be seen by anybody who searches for it and clicks your link. If your site isn’t accessible, Google bots will have learned this during a crawl, and reports back to Google will place your link below those who have made themselves more accessible to the public.
Not only will it affect your ranking with search engines like Google, it will also impact your user’s experience and their responses, which is a big deal. You want positive feedback, reviews, ratings, comments, likes, shares, etc. You want your site to be seen and then to be shared and seen again. The more attention your site receives, the more likely it is to be featured in those top three spots on the Google query results page.
- Keep Your Content Relevant: The information you post to your website not only needs to make sense to your readers, but it needs to be relevant to your brand. For example, if you sell cars, you should be blogging about automotive related news, stories, and anecdotes. You want consumers to come to your site and know that your business is in automobiles. Similarly, Google wants consumers to visit your page and know what you sell, what you offer, and how genuine you are.
A great way to improve this relevancy is by posting weekly blogs with up to date and honest information in your industry. Whether you’re sharing sales, deals, news, or data on recent events in your business field, your ranking is impacted by these updates, their regularity, and how detrimental they are to your product or service.
Following these tips doesn’t guarantee you a top spot in your next Google search, but recent changes in the Google infrastructure suggest that it will help you improve your ranking overall. For more information on algorithms and changes that Google is making, you can follow their latest updates online.
jul 28 2018 +