Traffic is the lifeblood of a thriving website. In order to produce new business, a good flow of visitors to your website is necessary to make the conversion from visitor to the client. Search engine optimization is an investment that provides a return by creating more opportunities to acquire new clients. To develop a website that generates leads is worth the allocation of resources to the
It’s not a big secret, the amount of searches that are being made has been increasing exponentially. We may have already passed the days where the internet was the equivalent of “the gold rush” but we are still in the equivalent of the internet wild west. There is open land for the taking and the major players are still finding their spots in many niches. The way to make the most of what is available to you right now is to begin developing your website as soon as possible.
According to Digital Ducats Inc., web development has no minimum or maximum time allocated for securing competitive ranking positions. The only truth is that the more your website is developed by an
A website that performs well serves as a marketing tool 24/7 and can be your greatest asset for generating leads. The quality of the leads you receive will mainly rely on what keywords your website is appearing for in the search results. If the keywords are not an accurate description of what you provide, you will not receive the most qualified leads. When you’re website is accurately displayed in the search results in front of people who need your service you will see the conversion rates of your traffic increase.
Optimizing your traffic
Many companies make the mistake of optimizing for keywords that are too general in the description or too short in length. Optimizing for long tail keywords means choosing key phrases that are three or more words in length. Over 70% of internet searches are made with three or more words. The way people are searching has become so specific, it makes sense to optimize your website to target the phrases that have the most intent to find what you are offering.
Voice assistants have reinforced the concept of long tail keywords through searches posed as questions. In 2015 mobile search surpassed desktop searches. As of 2018, smartphones have made their way into the hands of approximately 77% of Americans. This surge in mobile development has changed the way we search for places or things that we need.
“Hey Siri, where is the closest gas station”
“Hey Google, where can I buy dog kennels near me”
We have incorporated local search into our everyday lives with voice responsive technology. Optimizing for long tail keywords can provide the most suitable traffic to your site by supplying visitors with the most buyer intent.
Search engine optimization incorporates a wide array of skill sets. Each individual service is related to providing your website with an improved ranking and many items contribute added value associated with the service.
Content Publishing
Publishing content has been widely used as a way to receive backlinks to a website. An
The added value from this service is that your company now has an article published to a blog in a related niche with an audience to read it. Your company becomes an authority in its field by providing an opinion on a site other than your own. When people see you that you were selected and published to a popular external website, you are perceived as an expert in your niche.
Although traffic from these sites is not the primary reason to be published, there can be a trickle of traffic that’s contributed to your monthly volume from people who are interested in what you have to say.
Mobile search optimization
Consider the changes that have taken place prior to 2019:
- Googles update to mobile-first indexing
- Mobile searches surpass desktop searches
- Smartphone users increase to 77% of North Americans
The trends are pointing to everything mobile. When all the arrows are pointing to mobile and we are not fully integrated, it’s something to think about for the future of your company.
In 2015 Google began rewarding mobile sites because of the ease in which they provide information and navigation. By 2018 they are now indexing the mobile version of websites in their search engine index. Google has basically warned anyone with desktop versions of websites that the clock is ticking to a time when they will no longer be displayed on the search network.
The current is still changing so to secure and maintain a competitive position in the rankings it’s necessary to keep up to date. If you get comfortable, you may get left behind.
There are specific guidelines Google has made public that will affect the
Local search
Local search is linked with organic results although there are separate positions for each on Googles first page results. Factors that contribute to appearing for local results include many value-added services that contribute to the performance of your website.
Directories
Directory submissions are a value-added service that can provide small contributions to your
Use local directories to enhance your local presence. It reinforces the location of your company and provides NAP verification to search engines. Search bots will crawl your site and the directories you’re listed in to verify that your name, address and phone number are consistent. This verification in business details builds trust in your site.
There isn’t much value transferred in terms of metrics but listing your business on a popular directory can provide a trickle of traffic that contributes to your monthly volume. Traffic from directories can be high converting visitors since they are searching for specific companies or items that are local or in a specific niche.
Setting goals and analyzing reports
Setting onsite goals for your company should be done to measure conversions. Your website is your marketing tool so it can provide leads by getting visitors to fill out contact forms, sending an email or make a phone call to the business. In each case, there is a goal to set that can be tracked and monitored.
Googles Analytics is one of the most powerful tools for tracking the data your website generates. The software can monitor all monthly traffic for each page, where your visitors came from, paid ads traffic and more. The amount of time each visitor spends on your site, what pages they clicked on, and what pages they landed on and what pages they exited from.
Set the goal of reaching a target page (contact page) or a button (click to call) as the end goal for a visitor when they get to your site. When it’s obvious where most people are exiting your site, you can assess whether the layout, the content or the navigation is impeding or encouraging click-throughs to the end goal.
Another aspect of reading monthly reports is to fine-tune the traffic the site is generating. It’s important to know what the volume of traffic is compared to the keyword rankings. This way you can see whether your keywords are converting.
If your traffic is rising on a monthly basis but the calls and the sales are remaining the same then it would indicate the keyword you’re optimized for isn’t converting. This information could save you thousands in wasted resources by adjusting the direction of your marketing plan and choosing a different keyword.
Reputation management
Review sites are one way of creating a positive reputation for your business. It’s standard practice for business owners to ask their clients to leave a review on Google, Yelp or any other relevant site. Positive reviews not only help your
Part of the service an
Negative reviews can have severe consequences to your business if the review is damaging enough. It’s important to address negative reviews as soon as possible. Leave a polite response to the person who left the review and tries to resolve the problem as best you can.
Conclusion
When we sum up the technological developments that have become part of our everyday lives, there is no denying we are still transforming more of our business into a digital environment. The future for every company involves adapting to change and growth of the business.
Three businessmen using handphones
