No matter if your business is present only online or you also have a brick-and-mortar store – if you have a website, you need to make sure people will find it. The logic behind it is simple: for people to purchase your products or services, they first need to know that your brand exists and you will not accomplish that if your website is on the 15th page of the search results or even on the 2nd.
So, your goal is to be on the first page, as close to the top as you can and the best manner to achieve this without breaking the bank is through SEO. This organic method will take more time than paid advertising but its results are lasting while paying for your position means that once it stops, your fall from Google’s grace. So, let’s take a look at a few suggestions on how to win over Google’s heart, that is, get on the good side of its algorithm.
Speed up your website
We have become notoriously impatient – our thoughts are restless, we go from one topic to another, start more than one thing at the time, strive to write an important business e-mail while ordering office supplies online. There’s just no easy way to keep our mind occupied and as soon as it’s feeling bored or not challenged enough, it will either add something else to the mix or abandon that first thing in search of something else.
In terms of your website, the simple truth is that, if it’s slow to load, people won’t have the patience to wait for it – they will just move on to another website that offers something similar. This means that your bounce rate will be high and from Google’s perspective, this is a big no-no. It makes you look like an unfit source of information since people are not finding what they are looking for. So, make sure that you improve your website’s loading speed to cater to the needs of the less patient visitors.
Take control over your reputation
As mentioned earlier, you need Google to see you as a reliable source of information, a professional in your field, regardless of whether you are based in Berlin, New York or Tokyo. If you decrease your bounce rate, you will make your website appear more trustworthy but your efforts shouldn’t stop here. You need to have other third-part website post links towards your website – if you have websites recommending yours, you seem more reliable.
However, this doesn’t mean that quantity is the key to solving this – if you have a number of shady websites linked with yours, that is not good news. But how to keep an eye on all of that, on top of everything else? Well, in that case, it is best to rely on professional SEO services of a New York company or any other part of the world you are based in. SEO experts would know not only how to strategise about boosting your reputation but they can also counsel you on all other SEO strategy segments.
Work on the content
Making your website content attractive for Google starts with originality. If your content stands out from the crowd, that would make it more interesting to people which in essence means the chances for them to actually stay on a page and read it increase. The next step is the use of keywords which doesn’t mean that you should overstuff the content with them – it needs to be gingerly distributed.
Besides that, it is also good to have the keywords in the headings because it will be facilitating Google to understand what your content is all about. As for the choice of keywords, compile data on what’s currently driving traffic to your website so that you can get an idea about what you will keep and what needs to go. You also have a choice of whether to use branded keywords (to mention your brand’s name) or not, but whatever you go for in the end, don’t forget to always keep them fresh.
Responsiveness as a must
Besides expressing impatience in terms of webpages that are slow to load, your website’s visitors will also not stand for it not having a responsive design. Having in mind that we do a large portion of our online shopping while on the move, this request seems reasonable – average customers want to be able to browse through your webpage and make a purchase via their smartphones without a glitch.
In addition to the responsive design, the website’s navigation should be simple and clear because you don’t want your visitors wandering around your website in search of a specific piece of information. Make sure that any link you place leads to where it is supposed to because it can be very irritating when it just returns you to the home page, instead of taking you to the page of some product. By making it easier for customers to find what they need on your website, you are scoring points with Google.
Wrapping up
So, what does it take to reach the top of Google’s search ranking? The answer is a good SEO strategy, patience, and perseverance. If you do it right, that strategy will create a strong base for you to rely on and which you need to tend to without having to build everything from the beginning. And once you reach the top, you can expect many benefits, from an increase in sales and the number of customers to an opportunity for international expansion!