Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving your website’s rankings on Search Engine Result Pages. According to Search Engine Watch, 67% of all search engine searches are performed on Google. It’s important that your business shows up at the top of the first page of results on Google, as this increases website traffic and lead generation.
SEO Ranking Factors
Moz states that 33% of traffic shares go to the first result on Google. There are a few methods you can use to place your website at the top of search engine result pages, including website speed, mobile responsiveness, website security, and keyword optimization.
Google lowers the ranking of slow websites because it knows that users want speed. According to Neil Patel of neilpatel.com, 53% of potential visitors are lost around the three second mark if a website has not finished loading. Speed is crucial to success because websites are constantly getting faster, and audiences expect the businesses they support to keep up. When customers try to load a website and give up, returning to the search engine result pages to pick a different company, Google takes note of this and eventually lowers the abandoned website’s ranking so that more effective websites show up first.
84% of customers refuse to check out on websites with poor security, according to Omnicore Agency. Google, similar to your business, has an important reputation to protect. Google is designed to protect potential customers from websites where their credit card and personal information are more likely to be hacked or misused. Having a visibly secure website by utilizing an SSL certificate is a great way to show Google you value your customer’s security and privacy. An SSL certificate is what activates the “lock” symbol at the top of your browser, indicating that your website is likely to be safe to enter personal or protected information into.
The content on your website is equally important to security and speed. Sure, you have top-level security and speed, but is the content engaging? If people are searching for printers and end up on your website discussing national parks, chances are you have irrelevant content. SEO keywords are important to highlight throughout your website to help Google better understand what your company does.
Lets go back to the printer company’s website as an example. If you sell printers, keywords could include “scanners”, “printer ink”, and “copy machine”. There are thousands of other relevant keywords, but by making sure keywords are on multiple pages of the website and in the metadata on the backend, Google will be able to accurately crawl your website and understand when your website should show up in results.
Google products to help rankings
Google loves Google. Google rewards companies that embrace a wide variety of their products, such as progressive web apps (see here) and Google My Business. Google My Business allows you to claim your Google listing and update the hours, contact information, and address for your company across Google search products. You can post sales, coupons, and frequently asked questions on this page, and if used effectively, this can help drive up your Google rankings. Check out five of the Google My Business features we think are most important here.
Final Thoughts
As your company works to develop an effective and ongoing SEO process, make sure to keep an eye on how keywords and website technology are changing to make sure you don’t get left behind as websites improve around you. Staying on top of local
Google search results isn’t always an easy task, but it’s a highly necessary and rewarding process for your business.
