Do Search Engines Think Your Content Is Relevant To Their Users?
Instead of answering that question it might be easier to tick off the things you should be doing to make sure search engines consider your website to be a credible and consistent source of information.
ON-SITE SEO
Because you’re not a web developer you may not realise that some of the things that influence your site ranking occur in the construction of your website such as URL structure, Meta Tags and Meta Descriptions. You don’t need to be an expert but you should know to check your ranking on Google and if you’re not ranking well then there are things that you can do to improve it. The first thing you should do is talk to your web developer about the construction of your website – make sure the right keywords are included in the URL, Meta Tags and Meta Descriptions.
The second thing to do is review your content. Regardless of whether you are building the content or not, as the business owner you’re the expert. You should be knowledgeable about keywords and how they work. Keyword rich headings help search engines to easily find what is informative and useful in your content. Keyword rich content is how you become relevant and popular.
KEY WORDS
Loading content with words that people use to search your site no longer counts for much unless you can back it up with content that gives your site credibility. In fact if words lack relevance or are unnecessarily duplicated then there’s a good chance you’ll be penalised.
That doesn’t mean search engines are on the lookout to exclude sites that maximise the benefit of keywords. Quite the opposite, like you they exist to serve their audience.
What they value is competent sites producing fresh, informative content to build your credibility.
So relevance is achieved by being informative and authoritative on your subject matter. If you know your business that shouldn’t be too hard. From a search engine perspective, if you are consistently providing content that is relevant then your ranking improves as your credibility builds. Keywords will definitely help you but they’re not a substitute for consistent informative content.
OFF-SITE SEO
Off-site SEO is often referred to as link building. Link Building includes keywords in Articles, Blogs, Powerpoint Presentation Files (PPT), PDFs, Social Bookmarking and many others that are driving traffic to your website. Aside from building links, posting on quality websites about your brand including contact details, will help users discover the business in local directories and influence your rank in search results for the targeted keywords.
And Off-site SEO includes video content. You don’t lose SEO traction from video. Keywords in your titles, tags and descriptions will hit the desired note and if you have a YouTube channel you’ll get double the love from Google (Google owns YouTube).
SOCIAL MEDIA
The question of whether or not social media posts improve the ranking of your website has been a source of deliberation among marketers for years. It really is a no brainer – a comprehensive, informative content and marketing strategy must include social media linked to your site and adapted to multiple platforms and their audiences.
It’s all about credibility so linking your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube and content on other social networks tells search engines that your website is credible and should be ranked accordingly. A healthy sprinkling of keywords (1- 3%) also helps.
BLOGGING
Blogging promotes your website online. Assuming your content is engaging and informative, consistently presenting new content for your audience is how search engines perceive you as credible and popular. Link your blog to niche blog directories in your business sector and blog search engines like Google Blog Search. Comment on other blogs and leave your link. Share other blogs and maybe others will do it for you. If you involve yourself in online communities specific to your business sector then other bloggers are more likely to be familiar with your business and more inclined to share your content.
PPC or GOOGLE ADWORDS
You can insert your brand and products right in the middle of a customer’s buying journey – right before they decide where they buy and what they will buy.
Fundamentally, it works by showing your ads (impressions) and when someone clicks on the ad (a click), they are taken to a page on your website. How close the ads are to the top of the page depends on the cost of the keywords and the daily budget set for the campaign. How competitive your industry is also makes a difference.
Adwords can appear higher up on a Google search page than the organic listing for your website thereby making the site more obvious to potential visitors. The traffic to the site generated by people clicking on an ad will improve the organic ranking of the site so SEO and Adwords complement each other.
NOW FOR A DON’T
We’ve discussed a few do’s, you should also be aware of a few don’ts. The biggest is don’t change URLs that are attracting traffic. Your entire SEO and content strategy can be undermined if search engines can no longer locate your site.
You really should talk to us before you consider commencing an SEO strategy. Online Consulting are experts at SEO, Google Adwords and building your online credibility. We have experts dedicated to SEO trends to keep your website ranking. A sound keyword and SEO strategy can build your online credibility. Once you’re found, you are in a great position to convert your audience into customers.