Tip 17: Are you Digitally Hidden?

Search Engine Optimisation and being found online

For most companies, the main purpose of their corporate or product website is to provide information to customers and generate enquiries. But in order to achieve this goal, people need to first be able to find the website when using search engine tools. In order to help people find a website we undertake a process of  SEO marketing (search engine optimization).

SEO is important to get the targeted and relevant traffic to your site. The content on your website needs to be clear and valuable allowing both customers and search engines to easily find the information that they need. Effective SEO means that your website appeals to people who are genuinely looking for your product. If your site is getting visited regularly, but not by those who are going to buy your product, this simply uses unnecessary resources and will not help in lead generation. When done well, SEO will help your website be more easily found on the major search engines against certain key search terms.

In order to make the most of SEO, your website needs to be created in a way that is both user friendly and search engine friendly. A great place to start is by choosing a URL that is a direct representation of your company or product, typically its name and if possible its service area for example, Company Name + Homes.com (for a property developer) may work well. 

The content and choice of language on a website is also important. When using search engines people rely on keywords to get them to their destination. Including words that relate to your product or brand on highly targeted pages with information that has genuine value to visitors will ensure your website is recognised as authoritative by search engines, therefore leading the people who are looking for your product or information on a particular topic directly to your page. Keeping content fresh and new also helps to improve rankings as it is perceived by search engines as being more relevant. Correctly labeling images, using clear subheadings and implementing meta titles and tags (the summaries that search engines use to understand what each web page is about) can help drive targeted traffic to specific web pages.

Search engines also rank websites based on whether they provide responsive design for mobile and whether they are accessible. Having a fast loading website also impacts a users experience. When implementing SEO it is important to regularly check and adjust your strategy to ensure that you can be found and reach an appropriate audience. 

At House Marketing we support clients with advice on the best SEO solutions for them, get in touch and see how we can help you optimise your website today.