4 Signs that Your Website Needs SEO
An increasing number of business owners decide to display their services and products online. It’s true that nowadays you don’t exist until you’re on the web. In order to ensure that your company is lucrative and regularly generates high profits, you need to take care of its visibility. Remember that your market rivals never sleep.
Setting up a website may not be enough as there are many cases proving that being online itself doesn’t necessarily increase the number of customers. And even though websites can be helpful, nothing happens overnight. Let’s imagine that your friend has been running a garage for several years now and apart from regular services he also offers auto transport trailers. At the beginning of January, he decided to create a website where he meticulously described the character and profile of his business. However, time flies and he begins to wonder why such an advanced step doesn’t bring intended results. Well, SEO is the answer and solution to the problem.
Below you can find 4 signs indicating that a website may need SEO services:
1. Your website isn’t visible on Google
If you want to go online, it doesn’t really matter whether you’re just starting your business or whether you’ve been in the industry for donkey’s years. You’re not the only entrepreneur who considers such possibilities, therefore, in recent years we could witness a meteoric rise in the number of online stores. However, being present online isn’t enough as the internet is full of service and product providers similar to you. Users interested in specific subjects and goods spend a few minutes searching for them and usually finish their exploration on the first page in the search results. According to statistics, only 5% of users enter websites ranked in the second position on Google and only 3% decide to continue browsing. This means that approximately 90% of people are satisfied with information, services or products provided on the first page of the search results.
Unfortunately, appealing concepts for your product ranges and services don’t guarantee that users will be able to easily find your website. Potential customers who don’t enter your site equal a drop in sales which may lead to the breakdown of the company. 90% of users visit websites provided in the organic search results and very little people are able to remember the exact URL leading to a particular site. In such a situation, it’s worth considering increasing traffic to your website with the use of possibilities offered by SEO. Make sure that your activities are compliant with SEO rules and guidelines for webmasters. This step is particularly important due to constant updates of Google algorithms. Take advantage of services offered by specialists or broaden your knowledge. The so-called keywords used by people searching for specific items can improve the visibility of your website. Consequently, you should conduct a thorough keyword analysis that will allow you to tailor selected key phrases to your industry and business.
Taking your time and putting effort into selecting appropriate keywords is a mundane but at the same time very beneficial task that pays off in the long run. Key phrases consisting of one or two words such as a sofa or a corner sofa are less precise. The fact that users enter such a phrase into the search engine doesn’t necessarily mean that they intend to make a purchase, therefore, it’s not particularly profitable to focus on doing SEO for short phrases. On the other hand, there are the so-called long tails which consist of two or more words, they’re much more precise and less competitive which makes doing SEO considerably easier (to learn more about long-tail SEO and its advantages, visit our blog: Long tail SEO – what is it and how does it work?). Keywords should be placed in the title of the website, its description, H1, and H2 headers, alternative texts to graphics, and internal links called anchor texts.
2. You aren’t sure whether performed SEO activities bring intended results or you wonder which tools to use
You already know that the success of your business is contingent on its visibility in the search results. Now, we’ll analyze what tools are appropriate to monitor the effectiveness of performed SEO activities. If you want to measure and evaluate the effects of the SEO process but you’re not an expert, it’s a good idea to consider cooperation with a professional agency specialized in the field. Experts have access to plenty of programs and tools that allow them to verify whether conducted SEO activities work for your business and whether it’s worth continuing the process. Thanks to it, you can learn if the invested money can eventually contribute to the increase in your revenues.
It’s also beneficial to perform an independent SEO audit that analyzes the basic parameters of the website and its correspondence to Google guidelines. This document will suggest to you what elements need to be optimized and improved to increase your website visibility.
3. Your website traffic doesn’t convert into customers
From a website owner’s perspective, conversion indicates any user behavior on a given site. When it comes to e-commerce, clicks, and impressions aren’t enough as we usually want to encourage potential customers to make a purchase. What reasons may stand behind the fact that traffic to your website doesn’t convert into new customers? Regardless of the specified objective of visitors entering your website, you’ve to make sure that they can reach their goals efficiently and easily. Don’t be surprised that your website doesn’t convert if it’s chaotic and particular sections or categories don’t lead users to make a purchase. Of course, you can enter the site, browse through subsequent subpages, and wonder what’s the matter. However, in many cases, you may not be able to determine the cause properly as it usually lies in the lack of appropriate data. Fortunately, you can take advantage of tools such as Google Analytics which provides you with information concerning user behavior, the most frequently and rarely visited subpages, or the ratio of newcomers to those who visit your site regularly. The discussed analytical tool will allow you to draw valuable conclusions about website traffic.
Yandex Metrica is another useful tool that enables even more profound examination. With its use, you can analyze the so-called heat map of your website which is a map of clicks on the site and you can record what a typical visit to your page looks like. All this data allows you to improve factors affecting user experience. Additionally, the program has functionality that sends SMS notifications if your site stops working. While conducting the SEO process, you should take into account the UX guidelines as such an attitude indicates that you aim not only at obtaining links but also at developing the site in the long-run.
Website loading time has a significant impact on the traffic to the site and its positive reception. Therefore, it’s essential to ensure that your website hosting is of satisfactory quality and that graphics aren’t too big. Finally, remember that appealing and unique content complemented by internal links is key to success.
4. Your website was visible but its position suddenly decreased
A decrease in the position and visibility of a given website may result from numerous factors. The most popular ones include:
- Updates of Google algorithms,
- Filters imposed on the site,
- Activities performed by your competition.
Updates of algorithms can often rock the boat in the world of SEO, however, significant changes in positions of particular phrases may also be caused by filters imposed on a website (in situations when performed SEO activities weren’t entirely compliant with Google guidelines). In the case of fluctuations, it’s necessary to adjust the site to new requirements and apply different SEO strategies. Getting rid of a filter imposed on the page is a much more complex process that requires a lot of expertise. It may involve, among others, introducing changes on the website, improving indexation, or removing backlinks (with the use of the disavow tool).
If the decrease of your website visibility results from actions performed by your market rivals, you need to identify them and then, with the help of analytical tools and visits to their sites, analyze what SEO activities they conduct. What websites link to your competitors? Have they updated site content or expanded product ranges? Or maybe they’ve decided to run a company blog? Check what works well, don’t stay behind your competition and take advantage of available solutions that haven’t been employed by your market rivals yet!
The take-home message
Every day we witness the emergence of new online stores and websites. The fact that you’re ranked high today doesn’t guarantee top positions of your site in the future. It’s worth realizing that SEO isn’t an accessory but an area of expertise that enables increasing website visibility and traffic which translates into a bigger number of new potential customers. Unique content, user-friendly website navigation, selection of appropriate keywords, and compliance with Google guidelines regarding SEO are key elements that ensure that traffic to your site will convert into customers. Websites in every industry can be ranked on top positions in the search results and thanks to SEO competing with your market rivals gets much easier.
