Do you often wonder what it takes to make your website more visible, more easily found? Well, you should. The internet has become the next frontier for enterprises to get their name out there and into the screens of consumers. But with the unlimited possibilities online, it can be difficult to cut through the noise. As you probably know by now, having a website alone isn’t enough to drive traffic, let alone the traffic you need.
Enter SEO or search engine optimisation. It’s one of, if not the most effective, ways to lead prospects into your business website. And unlike SEO strategies of the past, modern SEO places a lot of importance into the value your website gives to its visitors. This means an optimised website is something that users will love to visit.
An optimised website is something that users will love to visit.
So, how do you optimise websites for search engines? This article will show you.
Through Data Analysis
With the coming of the digital age, there has been an abundance of data available for your business to take advantage of. The trick is to identify which information is useful and to come up with a way to make the most of it.
There are several tools you can use to analyse data. Here are a couple.
User Behaviour Reports
This data paints a picture of how users behave when they are on your site. This may give you important insight into which parts of your site are performing well and which are not.
While looking at particular pages, for example, you may find that after spending a long period of time on a specific page, your users leave your site. This may mean there’s something wrong with the content, the loading time, or something else in the page. You can start to pinpoint the problem from there.
Google Search Console
This gives you key metrics like bounce rates, number of sessions, number of unique sessions and other useful data.
Basically, this tool helps you understand how Google sees your website. It also helps you monitor, maintain, and even troubleshoot your website’s presence in the search results of Google.
The best thing about this tool is that it’s absolutely free.
Through Keyword Research
In the past, marketers could just make up keywords, pump articles with them and call it a day. The process has gotten a little more complex since then.
Long-tail Keywords
There are now tools that can help you identify the best keywords that are both related to your business and already have some activity online. It’s even better if you identify ‘long-tail’ keywords that contain the context with which your potential users are searching.
These longer keywords will also give you an idea of what topics to wrap your content around.
Quality Content
To make the most of your keyword research, your content needs to be well-researched and well-written. A facts-heavy 1000-word article that’s poorly written will be a chore to read, especially because, according to Buffer, 55 per cent of website visitors leave an article after reading it for only 15 seconds.
In the same way, a well-written article with no substance will hardly offer value to its readers. At worst, the reader might think you don’t know anything about the topic, which will negatively affect their opinion of your business as a whole.
Through Both On-Page and Off-Page SEO
SEO leverage both on-page and off-page elements to maximise the potential of your website.
On-Page SEO
Aside from using your keywords in the body of the copy of your pages, they should also appear in your headlines, subheads, URLs, and Meta data. It’s important to include context when using keywords so search engines will better understand the value you’re offering to users.
Off-Page SEO
As the name suggests, this involves leveraging other websites to optimise yours. This includes guest blogs, brand mentions, influencer marketing, social media activity, and high-quality backlinks. This tells search engines that your website is attractive, relevant, and facilitates engagement.
Through Improved User Experience
Search engines know if your website is conducive for activity. The better the user experience, the better search engines will perceive your website.
Speed
No matter how beautiful your design is, or how valuable your content is, if your pages don’t load within an acceptable window, people will leave. Using tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights will give you the necessary information to address this issue.
Design
Custom website design adds a lot to the user experience. Anything from intuitive layouts, well-cropped graphics, to readable text can make or break the experience for website visitors.
Mobile Compatibility
Many overlook the basic fact that people now use multiple devices to access the internet. In fact, according to Finder, almost 80 per cent of UK adults spend over two hours browsing the internet using their phones every day.
This means there’s a good chance people will be on their mobile device when going through your website. Make sure the page loads quickly and looks great across all platforms, especially on mobile.
Conclusion
Building a website for your business is a step in the right direction, but it’s not the be-all and end-all of establishing a powerful online presence. Follow these steps to optimise your pages and keep the traffic coming in. Search engine optimisation is the best way to realise your website’s full potential.
If you have more questions about our SEO packages in the UK or any of our other online marketing strategies, just give us a call.
