More than any other technology, the Internet has transformed business – so much so, these days, it’s almost impossible to imagine modern commerce without it. From emails to e-commerce sites and downloadable e-brochures, almost all companies rely on some form of digital activity through the process of finding customers and generating sales.
In our modern world, there has been a fundamental step-change in the way consumers research and buy products. With the possible exception of Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs), almost everything we buy these days involves some form of online research before going on to make a purchase. Indeed, it’s estimated most customers are already approximately 70% of the way through the buying process before they make direct contact with a store.
The importance of search engines
However, with more web pages now online than there are people in the world, standing out from the crowd and driving traffic to your site can prove a considerable challenge. Also, due to the accessibility of the web, companies frequently find themselves competing against firms locally, nationally and even internationally – making the task of being found even more complex.
When doing product research, most client journeys begin with a search engine – in most cases, Google, which accounts for around 92% of all search traffic. For this reason, it’s vitally important you appear top of the search results under keywords and phrases likely to be used by your potential customers. Here are just a few tricks and tips you can employ to place higher in the rankings and drive more traffic to your website.
Register your site with Google: Rather than waiting for Google to find you, register your site as soon as possible with the search engine. Sure, it’s quite likely it will eventually find you anyway but the sooner you get indexed, the sooner the search engine will start referencing (and revisiting) your pages. You should also consider submitting a sitemap to save Google having to discover your pages on its own.
Find and encourage inward links: Part of the reason for Google’s massive growth was initially down to its PageRank system, developed by the search engine’s creators, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. PageRank proved so successful because it prioritized search results by studying the quality and amount of inward links each website had. While the algorithm powering Google is now considerably more complex, the engine still places considerable weight on inward links. Trying to find other sites willing to link to you can prove difficult so consider working with an Inbound Marketing Agency if you want to see the best and quickest results.
Create compelling content – and keep it updated: Google (like all other search engines) loves updated content so be sure to add and refresh content regularly. Also, the engine now employs AI in its trawling of website data so be sure to use keyword-rich text and keep your content compelling and relevant.
Set up social media pages on all the popular channels: Having a social media presence is vital to encourage greater interaction with your clients. However, social sites can also provide a useful additional stream of traffic. Also, people are increasingly turning to social media for search these days – meaning you could potentially miss out on visitors if they can’t find you.
The practice of getting your site higher up search engine results is referred to as Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and is incredibly involved and often extremely time-consuming. However, following even just the simple tips above will help improve your listings and could bring you valuable new traffic.
