In our previous blogs, we talked about why updating websites matter and continued those points in detail on data security and redesigning. Today we focus on another often overlooked aspect that one needs to take advantage of in the process of updating their website, namely website optimization and SEO.
Why is SEO important?
SEO or search engine optimization is a bunch of steps one needs to take in order to get their website rankings high on the search results. If your website ranks 5th on the first page, there are strong chances you are missing 85% of leads that the top 4 competitors are able to gain.
The bottom line is, SEO is a competition in which the winner takes all.
Search engine rankings changes, yes you heard it right!
Ranking on the search engine results is decided as per the keywords. Keywords are the query that a user enters in the search box. So let’s say if a person searched for digital marketing agencies in New Brunswick, and your website has a matching keyword, chances are your website will be ranked higher.
For example, your website has not been updated for the last 3 months and your competitor who updated his site just the other week may rank higher because Google (or any other search engine for that matter) may believe his content to be the latest and more relevant to the user. These changes in ranking happen overnight and are completely automated. You may not even know when your website fell from being the topmost searched to the bottom of the page. Hence, SEO is a continuous process. You can never rest and updating your content is the key.
But what is optimization?
True, content is the king but there is an army of a whole different set of things at play here. Did you know that more than 80% of browsing is done through mobile phones? So google for a long time has been prioritizing the results for websites that are mobile-friendly (responsive).
Another very important thing to consider is the bounce rate of users coming on your website, the more time they spend the higher the chances of a sale or inquiry. For this you’ll have to analyze from where are the users coming in, looking for what, are they on the correct page, or do you need to create a landing page? Etc. You need to make sure the users landing on your website see what they are looking for. The content should not be cluttered or hidden somewhere, it should be right there in the front. Maximizing user experience always leads to better results.
Loading speed is another critical factor to help you optimize your website and also help your user’s experience as well improve the search rankings. Choosing a reliable hosting provider is key to achieving this. Make sure you read all the reviews as well as ask the customer support questions that are relevant to hosting the type of website you plan and how approx delay and downtime would be.
With this, you should be able to fairly set up your website for proper optimization and SEO but the list of checkboxes is endless, sometimes even difficult to keep track of. If you need any kind of assistance or just a chat to help you get started do let me know here.