Why is SEO important and what can you do yourself
WHY IS SEO IMPORTANT?
Ranking higher on search engines like Google gives your business the chance to be found by your potential clients, improves trust and provides a sustainable source of leads. It should be part of every business’s digital marketing strategy.
Imagine, you just had a new website built or maybe you built it yourself? The website looks good and you want to check it out on Google. You type in the name of your business and… oh, no your website is nowhere to be found. That’s because it has not been search engine optimised. No title tags, no meta descriptions, no keywords. Having a website is just the beginning. You have to make it visible to your clients on Google because otherwise nobody will find you. This is why SEO is so important.
Like most things worth doing in life, SEO takes an investment of time and resources. It is a long-term marketing strategy that will not generate instant results. Noticeable improvements in rankings may take 4-6 months. The process of optimising a site, generating content, building links and all other SEO activities takes time. It also takes time for Google to pick up the changes. However, benefits of SEO are huge! With good rankings comes more relevant organic traffic, better branding and a sustained source of leads that is likely to last without further payment investment. If Google Ads are a sprint (and an expensive one!), SEO is a marathon but overall more cost-effective and sustainable.
WHAT DO I NEED TO DO?
You need to ask yourself, what do I want to achieve? You put yourself into your clients’ shoes and ask, how would they find me? What questions would they type into Google? This forms part of your keyword research. Equipped with answers you can move on to the next stage, writing title tags and meta descriptions. Make them good, include your main keywords. Google Ads are often a good source of good title tags and meta descriptions. Get inspiration from them.
You should also review your copy. Google likes well-written, informative content that will give your customers answers to their questions and solve their problems. This is where keywords come in. Try not to pack too many onto one page and do not mix topics. Each of your services needs to have a separate page with good copy and related keywords.
Keep your content relevant, and update it when needed.
What else can you do? Link building: Subscribe to directories. Ask your clients to link back to your website. Consider guest blogging.
Maximise your local exposure by setting up a Google Business Profile.
Any questions? Please get in touch.
