Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of manipulating the search engine results on a search engine results page (SERP). When done correctly your website may be shown higher up on the search engine results page, which can lead to your website receiving higher amounts of website traffic. Increased website traffic can mean that more website visitors perform certain desired actions such as purchasing products or services, or simply sharing your content to be enjoyed with a wider audience. Search Engine Optimisation relies heavily on keywords, so for example if you have discovered that “Blinds Watford” is a good keyword to use based on the metrics we talk about in this article your website may rank higher up in the search results when someone searches for that term on Google.
PPC, SEO And SEM
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is an umbrella term for both SEO And PPC, the purpose of search engine marketing is to gain website traffic through paid and unpaid search efforts.
Pay-per-click (PPC) refers to online paid advertisements. If you want to see them in practice you can search Google for a product such as ‘shoes’, at the very top of the search results you will usually see a section called ‘Sponsored’ which are examples of pay per click advertising. Each time online users click paid advertisements a piece of the advertising budget is used up.
Companies can search for keywords that they may want to use using Google Ads, once they have set up their Google Ads account they can search for keywords and Google Ads will show them other relevant keywords. So for example, if we go with the example of ‘shoes’ again alongside shoes you will also be shown other keywords that are related such as ‘boots’ or ‘sneakers’. Google ads will also show advertisers how much it will cost them each time an internet user clicks on an advertisement featuring that keyword. But don’t worry, Google has a system where advertisers will only be charged once if a user clicks a pay-per-click ad. If a user clicks off the website and clicks back on there will be no extra charge. This is based on the IP address of internet users.
Alongside each of the keywords you are shown, you will also have access to the monthly searches that the keyword receives; alongside the change on a 3-month and 12-month basis calculated in percentage. Another important piece of information you will be able to see is the competition that keywords face from other websites on the internet. If you can find keywords that have a reasonably high search rate but have a lower competition from other websites you are onto a winner; due to a higher amount of people searching for that keyword are more likely to land on your website because of the lower competition you are facing. However, it is important to ensure that the keywords you are ranking for are relevant to your website, particularly if you are paying each time someone clicks on the keyword.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) has similarities to pay-per-click (PPC) but doesn’t cost businesses anything to do (apart from the time they spend doing it). Creating quality content is the most fundamental rule to achieve a higher standard of SEO, when done right this gives website users what they want in an easily accessible way. Organic search that is aided by search engine optimisation accounts for just over 50% of all website traffic, which shows that there are opportunities out there for businesses that take advantage of search engine optimisation techniques.
So if they came to your website looking for certain products or services, the content on your website and the navigation of your website should allow potential customers to learn everything they want to know about the products or services your company offers. If your website is not up to scratch and does not provide website visitors with such an experience you are likely to receive a higher website bounce rate, this is where website users quickly click off websites because the website is different from what they are looking for. It could be that the information that they want is not easily accessible on your website, or your website design is archaic and hard to navigate; other reasons could be that your website looks untrustworthy or does not look visually appealing.
How Your Homeware Business Will Benefit From SEO
Importance Of Google My Business
If you operate a physical brick-and-mortar business, one of the first things you should do when you are in the process of opening your business is to register your business on Google My Business. If you have ever searched for a business online you will have likely seen a section on the right-hand side of the screen with the company logo and important information such as the company location, phone number, opening hours, company description and a link to your website are all shown on the right-hand side of the search results.
Prospective customers are provided with relevant information that allows them to find and contact your business along with a link to your business website to find out more information. This can help your business convert internet traffic that has searched for your business into paying customers. To register your business on Google My Business you need to go to the Google My Business website and enter your business information, ensuring that you enter everything correctly. You will then be sent a letter in the post to the address you have provided, where you will have to enter a security code online that is on the letter that has been sent to you.
SEO Is More Cost Efficient Than PPC
Rather than continuously spending high amounts of money on pay-per-click advertising you could instead incorporate more of your search engine marketing (SEM) strategy towards search engine optimisation. You can use the money that you are saving by spending less on paid advertising to recruit search engine optimisation (SEO) professionals who will be able to improve your search engine optimisation efforts, they will also be able to teach your existing employees SEO which can increase the overall knowledge of SEO within your marketing team. Saving money on marketing efforts can increase your profit margin on each product you sell, improving your overall profitability.
Website Usability
Ensuring that your website is easy to navigate assists website visitors in finding important information about your company and the products or services that you provide. If website visitors are able to easily navigate through your website they are more likely to perform desired actions such as sharing your content or purchasing products or services. Websites that have good navigation also generally receive a lower bounce rate.
Internal Linking
Internal Linking is where content on your website links to other pages within your website. For example, if you had a blog on our website about homeware and you talked about items you sell such as ‘dining room tables’ or ‘3-piece sofas’ you can insert a hyperlink into these keywords to the relevant web pages. This helps users navigate your website and can help increase the search rankings of the web pages on your website.
Mobile Performance
Mobile traffic makes up more than half of all website traffic, which is why it is important that businesses ensure that their website is optimised for mobile. Websites that are poorly optimised can have the following problems:
- Non-Responsive Design: Websites that are poorly optimised for mobile devices may not adapt appropriately towards different screen sizes on devices, they may either show content that is too large or too small to read.
- Slower Loading Times: Websites that are poorly optimised towards mobile may have longer load times, which may cause a higher bounce rate for your website.
- Poor Mobile Navigation: If the navigation of the website is not optimised towards mobile it can cause mobile users difficulty when navigating around the website, with navigation buttons not working properly or just not appearing at all.
- Auto-Playing Media: Websites that automatically start playing audio or video can be annoying to users, not to mention that for a website to do this it will likely make the website slower.
Conclusion
Search Engine Optimisation can help your website attract a higher amount of internet traffic, it can also improve the relevance of the traffic that is clicking onto your website. Meaning that people are more likely to perform desired actions whilst on your website.
