When you build a website you probably think that you’ll get traffic straight away, but unfortunately this isn’t always the case. People are visiting Google every day in their millions to try and find businesses that are the same as yours.
So how, I hear you ask can you ensure that people will visit your website? Well the answer is quite simple really, and sadly it’s isn’t easy at all.
Google is used for absolutely everything we search for everything from recipes to local hairdressers. So really, you want to be doing all you can to ensure your website gets listed at the top of Google.
Throughout this post we’ll be offering great advice on how you can ensure your website can be found on Google.
What is Paid Search?
Well paid search is one of the fastest and effective ways that you can get your website at the top of Google search results. Did you know that in fact the top three ads on Google that are paid will get 41% of the clicks that are on that particular page.
Ok, so if you’re not quite sure what all this means, let us try and explain, so pay per click refers to paying for traffic which you do through advertising programmes for instance Google AdWords. This will enable you to put ads in the search results that are located in the sponsored results section which is located above the organic results.
Pay per click involves you bidding for ad placements, so that you can be found better on a search engine results. For example when a potential customer types in certain keywords that are related to your type of business, your ad will appear, and then if that potential customer should click on that ad you will then have to pay a fee to a search engine.
Why pay per click?
- Well one big point is that it’s predictable, what this means is the more money you spend the more potential customers you’re likely to have.
- Another bonus of pay per click is that you get fast results. Search Engine Optimisations and also other ways of marketing can take quite a long time before results start to show and in some cases it can take many months. With pay per click things are different as you can get results within a few hours.
- Pay per click is not affected by Algoritham updates. Goggle will suspend Adword accounts sometimes but when you’re on pay per click you are far less likely to see major fluctuations in your rankings and traffic.
Pay per click can be a bit daunting if you’re not quite sure of how it works and a lot of the time ads can be expensive, particularly if you happen to be going for the wrong keywords for your business. This is why quite a lot of people have an expert to do it for them, as this will ensure you are using the right keywords for your business and they will be able to provide you with the best results.
What is Organic search?
Pay per click will get you results quick, however SEO works by nurturing your business over time. SEO is the actions that you take that will naturally increase your websites visibility and also ranking on search results.
This does take time however results aren’t seen straight away like pay per click. SEO is well worth considering and will ensure healthy online marketing for your business.
So basically SEO could be for your business because:
- It absolutely works, as long as you are providing good user experience and are performing good SEO strategies you will rewarded with organic traffic and higher rankings.
- You’ll have a good return on your investment it is very cost effective compared to pay per click.
- Everyone is always searching online, and you want potential customers to find your website before they find your competitors, by ensuring you have a good SEO strategy you’re guaranteed a natural flow of traffic.
Google Maps
Have you ever searched for a business and found a search result with a map? Yes I thought so, Google maps is great for showing potential customers exactly where you are based. You will need to register for Google My Business to be on Google Maps.
Most people will want to know where you are located, what other people have thought about your business and also what you offer potential customers. Google My Business will show potential customers exactly this. The more information you provide about your business the more someone is likely to come across your business.
To take advantage of this you should, include a phone number, your address, opening hours, maybe a picture and of course a website. This way all potential customers will know exactly who you are and what you offer and Google will know too.
For instance if you happen to be a hairdresser, you must provide an actual address that your customers can visit. What will happen then is, if a customer types in hairdresser in a certain location your pin will appear within that location. So potential customers will be able to see that you are a hairdresser in that location and if you’re someone who delivers goods Google will know the service areas that you cover.
Local search
Local businesses want to attract local people, yes it’s nice to have potential customers from further afield but you want customers from your local area too. To get more customers in your local area you will have to begin ranking for different keywords that your local customers would be searching for on Google. By doing this you will quickly pull in customers within your local area.
To get your site optimised for local customers you will have to make sure that the H1 tag, the title page and URL along with the actual content that is on your website all include your keyword phrases and local keywords.
Final thoughts
Well basically if you are a new business or maybe you’ve just taken the plunge and are just getting started you have every chance of successfully getting ranked on Google. Ok, so it doesn’t really matter that you may not have a massive budget, it can still happen, you really do have the power and resources to get your business up on Google and be highly visible to potential customers, either in your local area or indeed around the world!
