By Lyndsey Hall
More than 2.3 million Google searches are conducted every single minute. The top 5 search results on Google get over 70% of the click through traffic. There is no point in being on the second or third page of search results – people don’t tend to look that far. Your firm needs to be ranking in the top half of the first page in order to allow potential customers to find your business online.
Mobile friendly
Mobile search is also on the rise – 88% of smart-phone users are searching on Google. As such, you should make sure that your firm’s website is optimised for smart-phone screens as well as computers and tablets.
Index your site
Google offers a free service called Google Search Console. This service allows you to submit your website to Google for indexing. You can also use the tool to identify any potential search related errors on your site, view the kinds of search queries that are driving traffic to your site, etc.
Google My Business
You should also link your firm’s website to Google My Business. This can help your website to appear in relevant geographic search results. Google will then send a postcard to verify your business’s physical address and your firm will show up if people are searching for a business like yours in the local area.
Load speed
The speed at which your website loads also affects the way it is ranked by Google. Google ranks faster loading sites higher than slow websites. You can make your site load faster by minimising the size of image files and using fast hosting services.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Finally, ensure that you use relevant keywords in your page titles, meta descriptions, URLs and throughout your actual content. Don’t use too many keywords as this can actually have a negative effect on your site’s Google ranking. If in doubt, consider hiring in an external consultant to help you.
Appearing at the top of Google searches can be a challenge, but with a few quick tweaks and a good, ongoing SEO strategy, you’ll soon find your company website appearing on the first page for a number of relevant keywords.
Any advice for fellow business owners looking to rank higher in the search engines? Leave them below or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.
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