The Good, the Bad and the World of SEO
Studies show that over 90% of users on search engines do not look beyond the results on the first page of their research. As a result, the key words used by businesses, blogs or anyone looking to carry out any promotions online and develop an online presence is quite essential, as these will be key in how visible a business or blogger is. It is clear then that if users who use search engines do not go past the first page of the results returned by the search engine that any companies that wishes to do competitive business online and globally must ensure be placed in the forefront at all times.
SEO services are a marketing strategy that puts a business (whether it is an eCommerce development company or some other online business) in the forefront, builds brand awareness and converts visitors on a site into customers. Compared to cold calls (outbound leads), inbound leads (like from SEO) cost a whopping 61% less.
Some essential tips to optimise search engine results are listed below:
- The content on your site must be original, rich, useful and relevant enough to attract people and to actually provide useful information to them. Use infographics on your site.
- Keywords should be long-tailed, that is having at least 3 words, as a significant number of queries on search engines are long-tailed, rather than simple, one words.
- Keywords should be included in the site’s root URL, or in your meta keyword tags.
- Use static URLs rather than dynamic URLs, as most search engines handle static URLs better.
- The more relevant the site that links to yours is, the more likely your site is ranked higher when Search Engines return results. Do not just randomly have your sites linked to others – even more important is the quality of the site.
- The size of the images on your site will impact how quickly your site opens to visitors. Images on the site should be optimized to prevent visitor drop-off. Small-sized, high-quality images are better.
- A significant number of visitors are on-the-go. Websites should be optimized to ensure visiting via a mobile device is user-friendly.
- Submitting your site to online and well-known directories (e.g. about.com) to boost your site’s ranking on major search engines. Ensure your site is optimized for both Google and Yahoo!
- Creating a map that lists the page on your website makes indexing simpler for search engines, and is encouraged.
- Follow the world-wide-web convention in creating the name of your website to ensure visibility.
- If your business is local, make sure your domain name shows depicts so.
- During set-up, test your website against all browsers especially Internet Explorer to check compatibility.
The list below itemises dont’s when it comes to search engine optimizations:
- Irrelevant keywords used in your meta-tags reduce the relevance rating of your site. Keywords must be optimised to ensure relevance.
- Do not assume for the client. Look at your website from the perspective of the client to see and navigate your website through their eyes. Set up keywords as the customer would use.
- Do not use text only. Include infographics, videos, and images to create an appeal.
- Do not repeat title tags.
- While several links may point to your site, it is important that the links that point to your site should be relevant. If irrelevant sites are linked to your site, the relevance rating of your site drops, not rises.
- Do not buy links, use a link-farm or use too many external links on your website.
While the goal is to ensure quality traffic to your site that hopefully results in sales every time, you must ensure you do not cross lines that will result in your site being dropped off.