If we could open the minds of website owners, we will find a common question which is; “How do I increase my website traffic?” Lots of website owners have spent time thinking about how they can accomplish this task.
What immediately comes to your head is Google and SEO. Why? According to a study by SparkToro, Google is the single-largest traffic driver to websites. Amongst other top traffic referrers include Facebook, Yahoo, Reddit, Youtube, and more. Google accounts for 57.8% of its total referral traffic for an average site, which is ten times more than Facebook.
So, as a website owner searching for more traffic, you will undoubtedly prioritize Google and SEO. But what exactly is SEO, and how does it generate traffic to your website?
What is SEO
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Simply put, SEO describes how your website ends up on Google’s first page. Ending up on Google’s first page implies that your content is the most precise, accurate, and dependable for the search term.
So why does this matter anyway? It’s a mere appearance on Google’s first page – no, it’s not. SEO is the best investment you can make in your business. It is also an investment where you get the best returns from your money spent on marketing. Here’s why? 81% of people conduct online research before purchasing a product. Further, 47% of customers read company-created content before speaking to a salesperson. This simply implies that several people visit websites to read up on their desired product before purchasing. Now, if your website is visited, you can generate traffic, leads, and revenue.
Being on the first page of Google is essential for generating traffic. This is because 75% of users do not look beyond the first page. There’s a joke sometimes that said, “The best place to hide a dead body is page 2 of Google search results.” Studies show that page one results enjoy a whopping 95% of all search traffic. So, if you don’t rank on Google’s first page, you are pretty much at a loss. You lose potential leads, traffic, and revenue for your business.
Here’s where it gets interesting. The process Google employs in selecting web pages to appear on the first page is pretty sophisticated, and it changes frequently. According to Neil Patel, Google changes its ranking algorithm over 3,000 times a year.
Gone are the days when we could randomly stuff some keywords into our meta description and or use tools to tweak the system. Google has been redesigning its search pages, and the algorithms are always changing. The SEO process today is way more complicated than ever before.
6 Factors That Can Help You Succeed at SEO
There are different strategies you can employ. These are six critical factors that will help you get better returns. This will ensure you have the highest ranking, which leads to more traffic and, eventually, a boost on your overall ROI.
There are several trends you can get familiar with to generate more traffic. Some website owners have adopted placing Google Ads on Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms as their primary SEO strategy. But if the cost of putting these ads isn’t exactly worth it or convincing, then this article is for you.
There are tons of factors you can refer to to get the best Google rankings possible and generate more drive for your website. However, you can choose to stick to articles like The Beginner’s guide to SEO from Moz, which over three million people have read, by the way.
All you have to do is wait five years and spend a lot of time and dollars before appearing on the first page’s bottom. Simply and easily!
On the other side of the coin are people who cannot afford to wait that longer- I mean, come on, that’s way too long! Here are six critical factors that will definitely up your game and reposition your content on Google rankings:
Maintain a Healthy HTML
This is the first and most important rule; Never have a messy HTML. Ensure that your HTML code, which is your website structure, is healthy at all times. HTML codes can easily get messy.
Principally, HTML creates the structure of what we view on the website. It adds the heading, paragraphs, page breaks, italics, bold lettering, and more.
In simple terms, if your HTML is messy, it will be difficult for search engines to crawl. An average person clicks on another website if it takes three seconds or more to open. Your guess is as good as mine; search engines will be less patient!
You can easily avoid this by running a tool to check your website’s health. If you do find out your HTML is messy, simply send a report to your development team and have them fix all errors found in the report.
Here’s a little tip for you; often, after a major website update, errors can be accidentally added to your website. This can affect your SEO. Therefore, it’s crucial to run a tool right after major website updates.
Be Tactical When Using Keywords
You require a strategic approach when using keywords. This is a critical point website owners fail to notice. People tend to shift focus from making their customers’ lives better with their product. This shift is erroneously directed to a forceful description of their business. Many people fall into this trap.
Using the right tool and ensuring the right keyword strategies will instantly drive traffic to your business. Therefore, you must pay attention to how you utilize your keywords. So, what if you’re starting? There’s nothing to worry about. Simply go to your competitor’s website and find out words that are generating traffic to their website.
Additionally, you can use keyword tools such as SEMRush, Keywords Everywhere, Wordstream, and Google Ads Keyword Planner to search for keywords related to your business.
Include Keywords in Important HTML Sections
This is the third essential and non-negotiable rule; tactically place some keywords in important HTML sections. Think of this as major HTML tags. They are invisible to users, but they play a huge role in search engines.
HTML tags/ sections are key in SEO. They play a huge part in on-page optimization. How? By including keywords in important HTML sections, the most important part of your articles are highlighted. This, therefore, makes such areas in your pages stand out in Search Engine Results Pages (SERP).
You can include them in sections such as:
- Page URL
- Page title <title> tag
- Headings <H1> <H2> <H3> and links <a>
- In the body of your page.
There are different procedures on how to add SEO-rich keywords to your web pages. Furthermore, a strategic way around SEO keywords is to utilize Google search predictions to locate popular phrases and frequently asked questions. You can also use the ‘ People also ask’ section on Google.
Adding keywords is easy. All you have to do is communicate with your development agency, hand over the keywords, and insert them in the right tags.
Do Not Spam
Your web page is designed for marketing your products, publicize your business, and, most importantly, serve your customers and the audience. Website owners using Google Ads as a primary SEO strategy are often associated with spammy content. If you choose to adopt this tactic, try to be careful with it. Don’t overdo it. You will be setting yourself up for failure if you do.
Still in doubt? Okay, here’s what happens if you proceed with spammy content on your web page. To begin with, customers become irritated at the site of spam messages and too many ads. Secondly, the report ad and spam messages. What happens next? Customers begin to avoid your website, hence, less traffic and less revenue. And for the final nail on the coffin, your brand is devalued.
Instead, invest in content that appeals to your audience, one that adds value to their lives. You can do this by including side content that relates to their search. Customers can go as far as subscribing to your page if they notice useful content.
Market Through Channels, Not Ads
Instead of going for ads, think big; go for channels! Whether you just opened your web page or you’ve had it for a long time, there are multiple personalities in your target audience. And one thing is sure; they do not like ads!
With one conversation via channels, you can reach a thousand members in your target audience. Let’s imagine your focus group is Photographers. Through channels such as PHLEARN, you can connect with your target audience. This is more informative and acceptable compared to ads. You can also connect with your target audience through conferences, newsletters, seminars, and more.
Create a User-Focused Design
As much as you love your website, you need to understand that it’s designed for your customers and target audience. This is a vital factor; create a web page that focuses on the users.
Creating a user-focused design will increase the time spent on your website. This is because you have created platform users can easily navigate through. While customers spend enough time on your page, Google receives a signal. This signal indicates that your website contains accurate and relevant information for your audience.
Now that we know what keeps people on your website, how do we keep your audience longer on your website? The first step is creating simple navigation through headings. Headings make websites appear more coordinated and organized. Users can seamlessly skim through your website and locate their desired information.
Another impressive strategy is to include images and headers. Headers, categories, and subsections are perfect for skimmers. But pictures, videos, and graphics appeal even more to readers. A skimmer is more likely to spend more time on your web page if you include images. Not only are images appealing, but they make your website look more professional. With images, the content becomes more interesting.
These features will undoubtedly have your target audience spending more time on your website. And more time means more traffic.
Fact List
- SEO is a great marketing and investment strategy. It drives your sales and should be integrated into your marketing strategy. You can generate traffic, leads, and add revenue to your business.
- Your revenue and click rates rise if you rank in the first three websites of Search Engine Result Pages. websites
- A healthy HTML is the first and most important rule in achieving a top spot in Google rankings.
- Tactically use your keywords to your target audience’s advantage.
- Ensure you don’t spam and invest in creating valuable content for your target audience.
- You can do much more with channels instead of ads.
- A user-focused design increases website relevance and generates traffic. Focus on creating user-friendly web pages.
By complying with these critical SEO factors, you are sure to make headway and appear on Google’s first page. However, ROI on SEO varies drastically. Usually, it depends on whether you choose to do it yourself or hire a marketing agency.