Good search rankings can mean more customers and sales for your business. It keeps you on top of customers’ minds whenever they run an online search for a product or service that you offer. If you’re not on the first page of search results yet, check out three factors that can affect your SEO – and how to use them to your advantage:
1. Web Traffic
While search engines have hundreds of factors that affect their results, one thing you can count on to keep you on top is web traffic. The more people visit your website, the better your SEO score will be. In other words, the more traffic you have, the more traffic you will get.
There are plenty of ways to improve your web traffic. One thing a lot of companies do is have posts on social media link back to their website. For example, you can run a promo on Facebook that sends people to your site if they want to find out more info. It’s a simple solution to get people to visit your domain.
But remember that simple doesn’t mean easy. You still have to convince people to click on your ad in the first place. Consult with a social media marketing specialist here in Winnipeg to get the best results.
2. Quality Content
Once they do visit your website, make sure it’s going to be worth their time. Consider a site visitor’s dwell time, or how long they stay on a page before leaving. This can affect your site’s SEO. You can increase dwell time with good quality content. You’ll see these three words again and again on articles about SEO.
Search engines favor pages, posts and websites that have hundreds of likes, views and shares. Naturally, trending posts get priority over dull content. However, don’t just focus on creating viral content that easily trends.
You want to generate evergreen content, which is both engaging and highly informative to your target audience. Make your posts helpful and relevant – more people tend to follow websites that truly engage their interests.
One thing you should know is that quality pages don’t generate good traffic forever. Keep an eye on how well your page does over time and see if it needs to be revamped or rewritten to stay relevant.
3. Local SEO
If you’re a local business with a physical location, you have an edge over your online-only competitors. Studies show that 55% of consumers visit a store before placing an order online. Like your website, make sure that your store is pleasing to the eye, or even something worth sharing on Instagram.
Have your staff greet customers with a smile, and invite them to leave feedback on your products and services. Have a tablet installed in-store where customers can like and follow your social media pages immediately. Reward them with a discount if they do. All this online activity is good for SEO.
Search engines will rank you better if people run a search near your business address. Don’t forget to list your store’s address on as many online directories as possible. Two great examples would be the Yellow Pages and Google My Business.
If you’re in a competitive industry, beat the competition with excellent product reviews. Local customers are a great resource for this. Solicit reviews from walk-in customers or fans on social media who share your posts.
