What actually contributes to SEO and how to optimise it…

Given that 75 percent of internet users never click past the first page of their search results, you can understand why getting onto the first page of Google can be crucial to businesses trying to find new customers.

To get to there you might to improve your search engine optimisation, SEO. It is what can determine the level of traffic you get to your website, and therefore your leads, sales and revenue. Some of the key factors that contribute towards your website’s SEO ranking;

– Security and Accessibility
– Keywords
– Page Speed inc. mobile
– Links
– UI
– Bounce Rate

There’s even more than that, but these have a huge influence. Here are some tips to help you improve them, and in turn your SEO;

Keyword Planner
Google’s search algorithm relies on keywords. These are the words and phrases searchers use when they’re looking for information. They’re also the words and phrases that describe the topics your site is about. Google’s free to use tool (must have a GoogleAds account), Keyword Planner, suggests keywords and phrases alongside their respective search volume and traffic estimates. You can also drop your competitors’ URLs into the planner to get ideas about what’s working for them, as well as what terms they may be neglecting.

Create Content
Blogs, articles or newsletters can be a great way to bolster your keywords and avoid having to meticulously pick and choose words to go in your website copy. This also allows you to add keywords that may be time-relevant; Christmas, Halloween, or even to react to a real-world event, without having to change anything else on the website.

SSL Certificate
Chrome browser started marking all websites without SSL as insecure in July 2018. If you don’t have this feature, your SEO ranking will likely be a lot lower. This should be reflected in your URL which should be https, not just http. Adding this encryption secures the connection between users’ browser and your server making it harder for hackers, which search engines like!

PageSpeed Insights
Another one of Google’s own tools, PageSpeed Insights is another analytical tool that can tell you if your website is too slow. This might mean you need to compress some videos, use less/smaller images or run on a stronger server. If your website is too slow it will cause people to leave before it has even loaded, making for a pretty bad user experience.

Links
A broken link on your website can appear like a closed door. It stops a potential customer from going further and, even worse, may send them elsewhere. Google’s bots can recognise when your site has dead links and will lower your SEO rank. Another place links can have an effect is in blogs or articles. If you’re sourcing a fact, make sure it from a website that is itself secure.

Watch the Bounce
Assuming you have got someone to click on your website, how long they stay there and how they interact with the site can also effect SEO. If your bounce rate is too high, Google is unlikely to recommend your website, over another. This means you should optimise the website to make the user interface and experience as pleasant and simple as possible.

What to look out for

Google want to know that if they send someone to the website that they will have a good overall experience. Core updates in 2021 have taken their algorithm a step further, ensuring that the website truly provides the answers the consumer wants. This means your website must provide context and knowledge to support the existence of each keyword. This is likely to stop keyword spamming and will force companies to be more selective, and accurate in their selection.

Another way to boost your search result ranking and supplement organic traffic is through paid advertising. The very top search result gets between 20-28% of clicks depending on device, but it can be hard, and expensive, to achieve consistently. One way to optimise spending for conversions, instead of clicks, is to understand which traffic sources impact the customer journey with Call Tracking.

Levelling up your SEO can seem like a mammoth task, but if you tackle each element one by one it becomes a lot more manageable and can definitely be worth the effort.

Contact us today and to learn about our Call Tracking solutions and how they can be implemented to compliment your SEO efforts.