Getting as high as you can in the search engines should be part of your overall marketing strategy. If your business isn’t listed in the first couple of pages of the SERPs, your organic growth is going to remain stagnant. Put simply, you won’t get as many visitors as you will need to be a successful online business. We thought we would highlight some of the simplest ways you can get a better ranking on Google, Yahoo, or Bing! You can apply them yourself, or get an expert in to help you. Ready? OK, let’s get started.
Hire a specialist to help you reach your targets
SEO isn’t as complicated as you might think, but it does take time and effort. If it’s worth more for you to concentrate on other areas of your business, then it makes sound financial sense to outsource to an expert. Seek out an online web marketing firm that can help you go through your website root and branch. Together, you should be able to come up with a viable solution to improve your site performance across all of the areas that matter. It will cost you money, but it is probably the quickest way to improve your position in the SERPs, and as long as you are careful about whom you hire, it is a sound long-term strategy.
Update your pages regularly
If your website has been sitting around looking the same for the past year or so, the search engines may penalize you. Active sites are a more attractive proposition for search engines because they show that they still have something to offer on current terms. It doesn’t matter how you update things – with blog posts or new products, for example – but you have to make it clear that you are still relevant in your industry. Don’t forget that search engines provide a service, and they want to give their customers the best service. Active and relevant websites are very much a part of that.
Make sure your site is optimized for mobile
As almost half of all searches are done via a mobile device these days, it makes sense for all businesses to ensure their site is optimized for display on those formats. Add in the fact that the likes of Google will judge you on your mobile compatibility, and it’s a no-brainer. Although current figures suggest that very few purchases happen via smartphones, the trend is changing for tablets. And, all it will take is for a new technology to spring up overnight, and things could change very quickly. You have to be ready for that change – it is inevitable it will come.
Speed up
Finally, make sure that our website runs slick and fast from your customer’s perspective. Search engines look closely at how long it takes for web pages to load for an excellent reason. Anything longer than four or five seconds and many people click out and go somewhere else. There is no incentive, therefore, for the search engines to present slower websites to their customers.
With any luck, these four simple suggestions will bring about positive change in your web rankings. Let us know how you get on.