Do you have a brand-new iPhone? That’s nice. The thing is, if your iPhone is more than five minutes old, it’s probably already obsolete. Technology develops so quickly that what was pertinent yesterday in out-of-date today.
One realm of technology that this is particularly true with is search engine optimization services. Search engine optimization strategies are designed to leverage the algorithm that Google uses to improve the ranking your website is given. This is important because 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine. Over 70% of those users completely ignore any paid advertisements and any organic links that land past the first page. If your website is not included in the ten websites that appear in the first page of organic search results, most of your target audience is not seeing it at all.
In the good old days of search engine optimization strategies, website consulting services used somewhat simple methods to get search engines to bump a website to the top of the list. For example, the algorithm tallied off-site links to a page to determine its value, so website design professionals simply created a page that had 1000 links to a particular website, and it would suddenly get a higher ranking in Google. Strategies like this are no longer effective; in fact, if Google thinks that a website is being unscrupulous to improve its ranking, the website could be removed from its index altogether.
In current times, your business should focus on the following search engine optimization strategies to improve your ranking:
- Make your website mobile friendly. Over half of all Google searches are conducted on a smartphone. If your website doesn’t convert to a tiny phone screen very well, not only will most of your visitors abandon it within seconds, Google will not even suggest it. As of 2015, Google’s Webmaster Guideline say that mobile usability is one of the factors that the algorithm considers to rank websites.
- Leverage social media. Having an active presence on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram is a double-edge sword. First of all, every platform that you use reaches a greater audience and establishes a greater web presence for your business. Second of all, when a related search query is entered into Google, Google will include both your website and your social media sites in the search results. The bandwidth to be noticed is increased with every platform you use. Of course the Google algorithm gods smile generously upon businesses who use Google+.
- Content is still king. In the genesis of search engine optimization, you could saturate your site with random keywords to improve its ranking. Now, the search engine algorithm has become so adept that it recognizes the intent behind the Google search and matches it with content that follows the thought, rather than just the keyword. The best thing you can do to improve your site’s ranking is to create quality content that have long-tail keywords that will align with Google searches. If you don’t have the time or writing degree for this, there are small business SEO services who can do it for you, on any budget.
Do you have any tips to add to our list of SEO strategies? We want to hear them in the comment section below!