elocal magazine January 2024
When building a website, there are many considerations that need to be made to ensure your new website is correctly setup and optimised to have the best shot at ranking on Google Search (and Bing).
Statistics show that up to 94% of people tend to scroll past the top paid results on Google (referred to as Google Ads) and scroll directly to the organic search results.
Organic search results are links to websites that Google thinks are best suited and relevant to that users search query. Using an extremely complex algorithm, Google generates the ranked list of results for the user to click on. Organic search results do not cost any money to the business whose website has been listed on the search results – meaning it can be a very lucrative and low cost way to generate a ton of leads.
So basically the aim of the game is to have your website rank as high as possible when someone searches for the product / service that your business offers. To do this, we need to perform what is called SEO or Search Engine Optimisation.
SEO is what it says it is. Focusing on optimising the website to rank it as high as possible for our lucrative key phrases. Ideally you want to be as close to the top as possible. The first three links collect most of the clicks. But while some of us are in super saturated industries, just getting to the first page is a feat in itself and often yields strong returns.
SEO is made up of two key components. First is optimising the website ‘on-page’, so the actual website itself being optimised to perform at its best in alignment with what the algorithm is looking for.
The second is ‘off-page’. This is where focus is put on factors that are not on the website itself, but external websites such as utilising backlinking and building domain authority.
To start working on SEO, you should determine what key phrases you want to rank for, and it what locality. You can then use low-cost online tools like Screpy to keep tracking of your rank starting point – and continue to monitor it over time. If we just look at an example – as a builder you may use the key phrases “builders [region]” – so if you are based in Papakura (south of Auckland), you would target and optimise your sites content focusing on the words (and combinations of) “builders in Papakura”. There are tools you can use to formulate and understand what the best key phrases are to target.
To keep things simple, we will focus on three key tasks to help improve your website SEO.
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Content – Ensure your website has a decent amount of content present on each page. Google likes to see valuable information on your website that relates to the subject the user is searching. So while most businesses just talk about what they do in a handful of paragraphs, it can be beneficial to get into a lot more detail about the service you offer. Useful information including Frequently Asked Questions, Reviews or Case Studies and relevant articles can be helpful. While there isn’t much you can improve on within a contact us page – most other pages on your website can be reviewed and fleshed out in more depth. Basically try and aim for around 500-600 words a page at a base. But just be mindful how you lay this out as nobody likes to read paragraphs of text. Check out Matt’s Podcast Episode 91 for more info.
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Google My Business – Many of us have one of these and don’t even know it. But if you go to Google and search your business, if you find a map listing with your business name, a couple reviews and a contact number, then you have a Google My Business page. Please claim it firstly, then update it with thorough information from full opening hours, to your website link and also a detailed description. Upload images and tweak your business name to include the ‘service’ or ‘product’ you sell – if it isn’t already apparent in your business name
- Focus on user experience – A fast loading website that is easy to use and engaging is key. Check your sites user experience and performance. Consider using free tools like Google Pagespeed Insights to see how well your website is loading on various devices and what potential roadblocks your website could be facing. It is also in general important to make sure your website holds the user and engages them to interact with it both on mobile and desktop. So consider yourself (as well as asking customers) to look at your website and gather feedback around how truly easy it is to use, and how engaging it is.
While the above is just a starting point – it will set the wheels in motion for further developing and building your ranking on Google Search.
Now, if you’re a busy business owner who really doesn’t have time to implement the above as well as the many other factors techniques often implemented to build your SEO, we have a done-for-you SEO service that focuses on utilising expert SEO technicians, as well as the innovative and scalable power of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.).
RAZOR's AI-driven SEO services are like having your own team of experts taking the SEO load off your shoulders. No more spending endless hours each week trying to figure it all out – we've got you covered. This means you can get quicker, better results, and you can stick to doing what you're great at in 2024: focusing on your business goals. With RAZOR, it's all about making SEO easy and effective, so you can keep your eyes on the prize!