How to kick start 2018 at the top of search and stay there

 In News

How to drive customers to your website

The New Year is almost here and if you want to boost your business from the start, then invest some time and resources in optimising your position in search.

Working with small businesses and start-ups one question I am regularly asked is…“How do I get on the first page of a Google search?”

The answer to this question is fairly simple, in fact much more simple than the process of actually doing it! It is…Targeted keywords, regular content, regular updates

Unless of course you are going to put budget behind Google and social media advertising campaigns, as well as off-line marketing to drive unique visitors to your website, you really need to dedicate time in these three elements of your website.

It used to be all about SEO on your website and how many times you could fit in certain keywords. There were many ‘crafty’ ways to doing this quickly, the most well known being the case study of BMW putting their three letters repeatedly in white text on a white background all across the site.

Whilst key words still play a part, the days of SEO as a simple on-line marketing tool are dead; many marketing companies claim they are SEO experts but Google is wise to their basic well-trodden tactics; and although they might get you on the first page of a Google search, you will soon slide if your website does not contain true substance and isn’t genuinely engaging for visitors!

Now things are a lot harder and the goal posts are constantly being moved, so it involves a lot more work. It all comes down to Google’s little robots analysing your site taking into consideration many aspects such as page content, regular content changes and regular site updates.

I’ve put together a guide to give you some help towards achieving this through understanding what you need to do!

Website Content

Google takes into consideration the amount of time visitors spend on your site, as well as their actions navigating pages; great content that makes people stay and read your pages is the key. If you have a high bounce rate and people are leaving your site very quickly it will have bad effects on your Google ranking.

Create original content

Google values the content on your page; if you duplicate content across your pages then the Google robots will notice, they will not like this! The same goes for copying other people’s content – don’t do it!

Images

Google looks for pictures, images and video on your website because they make your site better viewing for your visitors. Video is particularly powerful. They all need to be properly labelled and tagged.

Keywords

Your keywords are the key search terms people will type into Google to find you. These are your keywords that you need to use regularly across your website, your blogs and social media.

Choose a good domain name

Google favours websites that are titled towards the content and nature of the website, so choosing a good domain name to suit your business is important in climbing the ladder of Google ranking.

Work to create back links to your site

Back links to your site are one of the key performances measured by the Google bots, they monitor who is coming to your website and how they are finding you. Sites that are considered relevant by Google are the best to achieve links from, the more people to visit your site clicking through these links the better your Google Ranking. Links from Social Media sites are highly valued and trusted so work on these!

Update your site regularly

Google likes to see your site regularly updated with new content. Up to date current information on your pages that are regularly edited is great in helping your Google rank. Adding a blog to your site and posting regular content pieces will mean a boost in Google rank through content and a better viewing experience. Try to take some time each month to change the content on your pages, upload some new images and keep the page fresh.

So if you have some time between now and the 1st be wise and give your website some tlc – tender loving CONTENT. And the sooner you start the more likely you will be to get there.

Recent Posts

Leave a Comment