Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a structured and valuable long-term approach used to direct traffic from Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. to your website.
It helps to increase the ranking/place of your company or its product/service in the organic/natural result listing for specific critical phrases on these search engines.
If you know the relevant criteria that Google uses to rank your website, you will be in a better place to find ways of improving your position in Google search results.
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Improving your position in search engine results will in the long-term help to drive more traffic to your website. With little or no extra financial cost.
As noted above, SEO takes time to yield results compared with the likes of PPC adverts.
It also takes time for you to become proficient in SEO as Google and other search engines are always updating their algorithms to give high rankings to websites with excellent content.
Google demotes websites with poor content and sends them to the bottom of the search engine result pages (SERP).
SEO is very technical. But taking the time and effort to understand the basic concepts of SEO will help you the business owner know how well your brand is doing online compared to your competitors.
In addition to Google, Bing, and Yahoo, there are also several other search engines out there.
So it will be almost impossible to learn how to make high rankings in each of these search engines.
The easiest way to go about it is to have an in-depth understanding of Google because it’s the dominant search engine worldwide and thus other search engines try to emulate it.
Once you have a firm understanding of Google’s best practices, you can use those same best practices for other search engines.
What Is Google Looking for in Your Website?
For a business to thrive, it must prove a reputation for providing reliable products or services to keep satisfying it’s customers, so they don’t go over to the competition.
The same thing applies to Google. Google is always striving to provide excellent content to its users through reliable search results.
This goal is why their algorithm aims at promoting great content while demoting poor content at the same time.
This goal will ensure that Google’s users are always served the best content available online.
So what are some of the things Google is looking for in your website for your website to rank high in its search results?
Relevant Content
When someone uses Google to search for something, the more relevant your website’s content is to the user’s search query, the more likely your content is to appear on the coveted front page of Google’s search result page.
The front page of Google’s search result page (SERP) is more sought after because hardly do people go to the second or third page of the search results.
There is an industry joke that goes ‘if you want to hide something you put it on the second or third page of Google’s search results.’
That goes to show you that only the most desperate of users go beyond the first page of Google’s search results.
If you are contemplating creating misleading content and titles as a sort of ‘clickbait’ to attract traffic, be warned!
Such misleading content does not fare well on Google or any modern search engine for that matter.
It will be quite harmful to your website’s ranking and your domain authority.
In some cases, your website might even be scrapped off the search engine entirely. So don’t do it. It’s not worth the risk.
And if you have created misleading content and titles in the past and you have gotten away with it, be warned that sooner than later you will get caught and you will pay the price. So you better get rid of it.
User Experience
Google continues to change its search algorithm to favour websites that give relevant content, sites that have better interfaces and are accessible by persons with visual impairments.
So strive to improve the user experience of your website. Improving user experience will help your site and your content rank high on Google.
Mobile Optimised
These days the more mobile responsive your site is, the more you are to receive favourable placement in Google search results.
Since more than half of all Google search inquiries are on mobile devices and tablets, it is essential that your website is well-optimised for mobile devices.
Google has observed this mobile trend and continues to make changes to feature sites that conform to responsive website standards.
Why Does Google Always Change Its Algorithms?
As mentioned above, Google always modifies its algorithm according to the needs of its users.
But as a business owner who is looking to grow your business online, you also need to keep up with these Google algorithm changes.
Even if your website is driving enough traffic, this does not mean you should rest on your laurels.
If you take your website traffic for granted, this will be harmful to the growth of your business online.
One fundamental thing about SEO is that you should never be satisfied with things as they are.
There will always be one thing or the other that you can improve on your website to make it more Google friendly.
Conclusion
Now that you have a basic understanding of SEO, you need to strive to put in place on-site and off-site SEO tactics and strategies into your website to improve traffic to your site.
If you need help, feel free to schedule a consultation. We will help you drive as much organic traffic from search engines as possible to your website.
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