It’s hard to find a small business that doesn’t have a website, even if it was created by a brother-in-law’s, roommate’s, ex-girlfriend’s brother who builds websites on the side. Having a website is common, but you know what’s uncommon? Having a website that ranks well in online search results.
I remember meeting a business man about 15 years ago, who has always stuck in my mind. He was an entrepreneur of sorts and I believe he ran a local business. The thing that impressed me most about this older gentleman was that, after only speaking with me for a few moments, I left with his business card. He truly understood that a business card in his pocket is worthless.
Much the same can be said about a website that sits on a server without search engine optimization (SEO).
Having a website designed without proper SEO is an expense, but if the SEO is done correctly, your website becomes an investment. Hire a professional marketing agency to apply SEO techniques and you will have a website that generates revenue. Suddenly a pretty website doesn’t mean as much as an effective website, but when you put the two together, you have a marketing machine.
What does a good SEO strategy incorporate?
Google has more than 200 items that they take into account when the rank websites. That being said, some items are not as beneficial as other items when it comes to ranking. Here are the basic categories that need to be taken into account when reviewing a website for SEO components.
- Load speed
Page size, load time, number of file requests - Titles & descriptions
Keywords, length, heading tags, hierarchy - Images
Size, compression, filename, alt tags - Written content
Word count, keywords, reading ease - Website code
Schema markup, css, sitemap xml
- Social networking
Social sharing buttons, quantity, networks - Mobile
Compression, mobile sitemap, viewport - Links
Outbound, inbound, page authority - Domain
Age, expiration, SSL, length, robots.txt
These are the basics for ranking websites. Google takes even more factors into play when ranking websites, like social media shares, previous google searches for your business name, reviews by reputable sources like Yelp, Facebook, Google, etc, and even spelling and grammar in your written content!
Initial SEO application to a website is a must, but having an ongoing SEO strategy is the best plan for reaching new customers. Google is always trying to improve their search product by changing their algorithms to provide more accurate search results. To ensure your website is continually appearing high on search results, we recommend reviewing your website SEO at least every four to six months.
Use our SEO Website Audit tool below to see how your website ranks.
FREE SEO Audit Scan
