Search engine marketing is a proven and powerful way of attracting more custom for your business.
If your website is already optimised, then you’ll know that the type of customer you already attract online is more likely to buy than a first-time visitor. Users tend to have already researched the market and have a good idea what they are looking to buy before coming to your website, so in that respect the job is already half done.
Yet, search engine optimisation is not simply a one-off process: it’s a series of processes and needs to constantly updated and tweaked if any business is to stay ahead of the game. Time, as they say, stands still for no man – the same anecdote can be applied to business: you’re only as successful as your last sale. So, how can a business improve upon what is already in place? Are there any changes your business can make that will make your search engine marketing campaign even more effective?
The answer is yes, and the best part is, it’s isn’t difficult to achieve. Follow these 4 simple steps and your business will undoubtedly reap rewards.
Build your website
It’s often said that content is king, and generally speaking that’s true. Quality is a crucial factor in successful seo strategy. However, there’s also a place for quantity too. Having a website is no longer a guarantee that you’ll attract the business you’d like. Most businesses have them now, and some bigger companies spend large amounts of cash keeping them up to speed. It isn’t really feasible for any business to simply rely on a 1 page website anymore. Businesses need to up the ante, particularly if they’re investing cash in sem campaigns. Develop your website and add further pages, be they landing pages or product pages. The more information you can provide for the customer, the better.
Choose your keywords with care
It goes without saying that keywords are crucial to the success of any sem campaign. It also goes without saying that the keywords you choose have to be relevant to your particular line of business and focused. However, competition is tight and invariably there will be others who have targeted the same keywords. Your business needs to be able to distance itself from the competition whilst at the same time retaining the middle, common ground. Try to think of keywords that you will set you apart from the others and establish your business as a key player in the local area. Rather than saying ‘pizza restaurant ’, try ‘Italian family-owned restaurant – Manchester.’ This establishes your local credentials and your Italian heritage, and will probably bring more hits.
Don’t rule out the use of plurals, abbreviations or colloquialisms: all of these have their uses. If you’re struggling to choose relevant keywords, you can always have a look at Google Adwords keyword tool for inspiration, but using the most popular keywords is unlikely to attract additional business. Once you’ve decided on the appropriate keywords, make sure they’re embedded not only in your website’s copy, but also in its source code. This makes it easier for search engines to rate it.
Make use of relevant advertisements
Include your chosen keywords in any special promotional offers or discounts you plan to market. Don’t forget that any ‘special’ you have to offer won’t sell itself. Customers need to be persuaded to move in the right direction, and won’t necessarily do what you expect them to. Make sure you include a call to action with the offer and ask them to ‘buy’ or ‘sign up’ to whatever it is you’re offering.
Use customised landing pages
Rather than relying solely on your website’s main page for custom, try to create customised landing pages for each of the products or services you’re offering. These pages should be specifically related to your particular keywords. Specified landing pages make it much easier for customers to find exactly what they’re looking for. If they have to access your website through the main page and then go and search some more, there’s more of a likelihood they’ll get bored and start to look elsewhere. If your business wants to attract new custom, or build on what it already has, then it’s sometimes necessary to serve the information up on a plate to the customer.
The crucial point to bear in mind is that, even when you’ve made these changes, your business can’t stand still. You’ll need to test the effectiveness of the new keywords and re-test if necessary, as well as continuing to build in additional content to keep your website fresh and relevant.
