If one of your marketing strategies in 2021 is to get more traffic to your website, you might be wondering how do you do that? And not just any traffic, you want the right traffic, you want to attract people who are likely to buy from you, and /or become brand advocates and promote your company.
There are many ways to get more traffic to your website, some of the popular ways are:
- Google Adwords
- Social Media
- Social Media Ads
- Strategic Alliances
- Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
In today’s article we’re going to look at SEO – and how you can optimise your website to attract more, qualified traffic.
What is SEO?
SEO is the process by which search engines rank results for a given search query in order of their relevancy. SEO encompasses all strategies, techniques and tactics that are aimed at achieving high SERP rankings in organic (not paid) search engine results.
SEO is a critical element in the digital marketing process. The primary goal of SEO is to have high quality, keyword optimized content show up on the first page when someone conducts an online search for that particular topic. The better you are able to optimise for search engines, the more likely you will be able to attract more potential customers, than your competitors. In order to generate leads online without a significant investment on your part, SEO is critical and should not be overlooked.
So what are the key tactics to boost your SEO and drive more organic traffic your website?
- Choose the right keywords
- Publish content frequently
- Increase time spent on your website
- Decrease the bounce rate
- Optimise for mobile
Choose The Right Keywords
It can be difficult to know what the right keywords are for your website. The first place to start is to understand what it is your potential customers search for online. What questions do they ask? How do they describe their need or problem? Its important to use the words your customers use, not the words you use to describe your product or service.
“Its important to use the words your customers use”
Choose one keyword phrase per page. This helps Google understand what the page is about. Use the keyword phrase in the title of the page and in the first paragraph. When writing content think about what is important to your customers, make sure it is easy to read and understand.
In addition to answering questions your potential customers may have, also provide valuable information that will educate them on making a buying decision.
The recommendation is to write for your buyers, not for the search engines. So don’t try to get too clever with putting the keyword(s) in the content too frequently – it should have a natural flow and read well. By keeping it simple and easy to read your website visitors will find it easy to understand and are more likely to stay engaged on your website.
Don’t choose words that are too popular or generic as they can be too difficult to rank for or attract the wrong people. The idea is to choose keywords that you can show up on the front page of Google for, and that will attract people who are likely to buy from you. For example of you own a physio practice in Norwest that specializes in sports physio it would be better to target the keyword phrase “sports physio Norwest” rather than just physio. The keyword phrase “Sports physio Norwest” would have a lot fewer searches than “physio” but you have a greater chance of showing up on the front page for the search term and will attract the right people to your website.
Publish Content Frequently
So we’ve just explained the importance of keywords and how to choose the right keyword phrases. The next step is to make sure you publish this keyword rich content frequently, on your website. The best strategy for this through a blog. You can answer people questions, share customer stories, and promote helpful, educational content that your buyers will find helpful.
“The best tactic for publishing content frequently is blogging”
In addition to having keyword rich content on your website, Google also takes into consideration how frequently you publish new content on your website and how recently it has been updated – publishing a new blog each week will ensure you are publishing something new on a regular basis. And then sharing these articles on social media will drive more traffic to your website. This shows Google you are an authority on this topic.
Having different formats of content is also important so in addition to publishing written articles, also publish videos and images that use the keyword phrase in their descriptions and titles.
Increase Time Spent On Your Website
How long people stay on your website is important to Google and will help your SEO. So how do you keep people on your website? Having information your buyers find helpful is key, but it’s also important to make sure your website is easy to navigate and, clean and easy to understand. Make sure your website visitors can easily find the information they’re looking for – if they can’t find it, they will leave and move to a competitors site.
“Make sure your website is easy to navigate and, clean and easy to understand.”
Publish interesting content your potential buyers will find engaging like FAQs – answering their questions, educational videos and interesting images to keep them on your website longer.
Make it easy for your website visitors to know what to do next, offer suggestions at the end of your content like “Read our client reviews” or “Meet The Team”. Knowing when your website visitors are ready to engage with your sales team is challenging as everyone is different, some people like to do lots of research while others don’t so make sure you have an offer to engage with your sales team on every page but make sure it doesn’t distract from what your website visitor is trying to do on that page – having a “Get A Quote” or “Book a consultation” button on your header is out of the way, but will be on every page so people know where to go and what to do when they’re ready to talk to a sales person.
Decrease The Bounce Rate
Your Bounce Rate is the percentage of single page visits (people that only view a single page before leaving). It’s important to keep this number as low as possible. You can find out what your bounce rate by simply adding the Google Analytics code to your website. If you follow the above mention points with understanding your buyers, using words they use and keeping the content interesting and engaging you’ll keep people on your website.
“Keep your bounce rate as low as possible.”
Content structure is important for user experience and keeping people on your website. Breaking up content into smaller sections, using bullet point lists and headings and sub headings makes it easy to read and more engaging.
Optimise For Mobile
There is no doubt that mobile traffic will continue to grow at a staggering pace for the foreseeable future, so it’s critical your website is optimised for smart phones and tablets. While some of this advice may seem obvious, many people still fail to deliver quality experiences for mobile users.
“It’s critical your website is optimized for smart phones and tablets.”
The following guidelines will help you create a mobile web presence that can increase your conversion rates and drive traffic to your website.
- Make sure the content on your website displays correctly on mobile browsers. There is no point optimising any further if people can’t read what’s on your website. If text is cut off or disappears, images aren’t visible or not sized correctly, it only takes one of these issues for people to leave your website.
- Check page size. Your website needs to be optimized for mobile devices so it doesn’t take too long to load – otherwise, people will get frustrated and leave before they have had a chance to view your content. The top tip here is to reduce the amount of images and multimedia used on any give web page.
- Make sure you have a mobile version of your website: Mobile users typically perform search engine queries differently from desktop searchers, which means its important that websites are optimised for both. This includes having a mobile website or responsive design that can display content correctly on all devices.
SEO can be a confusing marketing strategy for many business owners, but it is necessary. I hope you have found this article helpful in providing you with a better understanding of how to optimise your website in 2021.
Find out how you can improve your SEO with our free digital marketing audit. Get started here.
