Search engine optimization is always a hot topic with our clients. Everyone wants their websites to rank #1 on Google for their industry, and rightly so. But competition is fierce and getting fiercer. Getting more traffic to and results through your website via search engines is not an overnight process, but it's not necessarily rocket science either.
Google: A primer
The role that search engines like Google play are question answerers. When someone googles something, they are basically asking a question. Google's job is to answer that question as well as it can. In order to point those people to the best answer, Google goes out and scours the web to see who knows what. So, when someone googles something that your website has the answer to, Google is likely to point those people to your website to give them the answer. That, of course assumes a few things: 1) you have good answers on your site, 2) Google knows about those answers, and 3) people are asking questions about what you have the answers to.
2 simple tactics businesses can use to get more search engine traffic
Have good content
Sounds simple, right? Nope. Creating content that is relevant, concise and compelling is hard work. Just remember, the goal of your website content is to speak to the needs and desires of your target customers, in their words and on their terms. Use terms and phrases (aka "keywords" to us web nerds) that apply to your business AND resonate with your customers.
Your "content" extends beyond your page content though. Be sure to use keywords in your navigation button names, your page names, your files and folders, and the links you have on your site (i.e. don't say "...we sell awesome bagels, learn more!" instead say "we have awesome bagels!). If you are a company that sells to specific geographic areas, use relevant geographic identifiers. For instance, it's a lot easier for Valitics to rank well on search engines for "search engine optimization Boise" than for "search engine optimization".
Blog!
In terms of the biggest bang for your SEO buck, blogging is probably it. Simply put, blogs are a way for businesses like yours to easily and effectively create and push out compelling content on your website. Think of a blog as an online business journal, if I may be cliche for a moment.
Businesses are often intimidated by blogs. I've heard all sorts of excuses for why businesses don't blog: "We don't have anything to say!", "Our customers don't care", "What if people leave bad comments?!", "Blogging is for nerds." Etc. etc. etc. I've heard them all. And yet here you are, reading a blog, so we must be doing something right with this blogging malarkey.
The reasons blogs are favored by search engines are the same reasons why people will come to your site again and again:
- Blogs are well structured content-wise, which means your blog post content can be identified, classified and indexed easily
- blog posts contain keyword-rich URLs that explain what the blog is about
- (good) blogs have lots of posts being published = fresh content
- blogs have lots of interaction on them (comments, RSS feeds, trackback links, etc.), which means people are creating and sharing interesting new content for you.
Recap
You don't have to spend all your time geeking out on your website to get more traffic from search engines. Simply put your focus on your customers' needs and make sure you are giving them good content on an ongoing basis. You are well on your way to becoming an SEO expert!
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