You’ve invested money in designing your website but no-one will find it out in Internet Land if you haven’t invested in search engine optimization (SEO).
SEO is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to your website from search engines. The earlier (or higher) a site appears in the search engine’s results list, the probability increases that visitors will look at the site. More unique visitors to your site eventually equates to enquiries and ultimately sales.
Getting SEO right gives your site “web presence”. Knowing how search engines work and analyzing what people search for forms the basis of good SEO. Optimising a website involves editing its content to increase the relevance of specific keywords that potential customers are likely to use in their searches. SEO may need to target different types of search, including local search, video or image search.
Basic SEO puts your website into search engines such as Google by setting up your website to target a few specific keywords, such as “electrician Springfield” or “electrician Ipswich”. You should be aware however, that Google (and other search engines) keep changing how it works. For example, it used to be that if you entered a keyword such as “electrician” you would be shown sites from all over the world. Now Google determines where you are and shows you sites that are near your location. This means your site needs further optimisation to target local searches.
As an Internet marketing strategy, you need to consider what SEO has already been done on your website and how it can be updated. Search engine lists continually change as competitors change their websites and search engines change the way they work so you need to review you website’s SEO on a regular basis.
There is a huge profitable industry aimed at raising your website’s profile in Google. While we do not compete directly in this industry we are able to improve your Google profile. However, this does cost money because it takes time to sort out. If you want to be near the top of the list for a search such as “electrician” and beat most of your competitors, expect to pay at least $1000.
Occasionally you may get a sales person call you to offer Google search engine services. Find out how much they charge. Note that most salesmen will be targeting you to sign up on a one year contract for a set amount. In our experience, any promise of getting a website into the first page of a search list is sometimes difficult to fulfill so be aware that paying money does not always guarantee anything.
Google Adwords
These can usually be set up so they cost no more than $2.00 per day ($10 per week) and guarantee to get at least 15 customers clicking on your website.
Call us if you want more information on Search Engine Optimisation for your website. We can look at what SEO is being done now for your website, advise you on what you should be doing, where you need to be appearing on the web and help you set up a Google Adwords campaign.
