Recently, one of our clients reached out with an urgent question. We had just finished building and launching his website, and he was thrilled with the design. However, he had a major concern: when he Googled his company, he had to scroll to the second page of search results to find it. Was there any way we could boost his SEO?
Unfortunately, as we explained to our client, growing your search presence organically takes time. This holds especially true for new websites, which need to establish themselves and build their digital reputation. Patience is necessary, but there are ways to help speed the process along. Here are four great tips for kick-start your website’s SEO and boost you to the coveted first page of search results!
Link Your Social Accounts
One of the easiest ways to boost your SEO is to feature your website on your social platforms. You have most likely already cultivated a dedicated following (and if you haven’t – you should), so turn those followers into customers plugged directly into your website.
Make sure that your social accounts have live links to your website! Failure to connect your social audience with your products and services on your website reduces the effectiveness of both platforms. Your website url shouldn’t just be listed on your Facebook page; it needs to be a live hyperlink, maximizing the efficiency with which your followers can access your products.
Also, consider posting links to different pages on your website. This may seem boring, but periodic reminders to check out your website will boost your traffic – especially if your followers share your linked content! You should create new and engaging creatives for each post, even if you’re reusing links for your site. You need to give your followers new reasons to keep coming back to your website. Updated product lists, new sales, and original content will generate continual interest.
Borrow From Existing Sites
If you do business with other established companies, affiliates, or suppliers, don’t be afraid to piggyback off of their credibility! While your new site is still in its infancy, links to your website found on recognized companies that have a strong search engine presence will greatly boost your SEO. In return, you can link to their sites on your website, creating a mutually beneficial dynamic.
Trusted vendors will likely be more than willing to post on their social accounts and websites to highlight your new website. After all, boosting your presence will increase their business as well. Just remember to pay it forward!
Add a Google My Business Listing
Although there are a lot of options out there for search engines, most people still use Google. Google accounts for roughly 76% of all desktop searches and 81% of all mobile searches. Since the vast majority of Internet users are on Google, shouldn’t you be, too?
Adding a Google My Business listing is a great way to boost your visibility on Google. It takes under an hour to set up, and it will help your business stand out from a crowded field. Once you’ve built your listing, you can link it and automatically redirect searchers to your website.
Your verified listing will pop up in Google Maps, letting your customers see exactly where they can find your services. It will also show up in the right-hand maps widget in search results, boosting your visibility every time someone searches for your company.
Best of all, it’s free! Investing a little bit of time to set up your listing with accurate information that links to your website will greatly help your SEO. It will also give you a new platform to engage with your customers, respond to reviews, increase your site traffic, and convert searches into business. Plus, you will gain access to analytics that show you how people are reaching your site. This data will help you formulate a strategy to connect with your customers more efficiently, saving you time and money.
More Content!
It takes a little more effort, but one of the best ways to boost your website’s presence in search engines is to regularly create new content on your website. Actively engaging with your visitors by posting new information will encourage them to come back to your site frequently so they don’t miss any updates.
Maintaining and frequently updating a dedicated blog is one great way to increase traffic on your website. Users searching for topical information will be drawn to your website, and the regular updates will help retain those searches. Plus, it will boost the “freshness” of your site, a factor Google takes into account when indexing and ranking websites.
Search engines like to see sites that are growing and constantly updated. These ‘live’ sites feature more prominently in search results, pushing dormant sites to the background. Maintaining a blog, posting about new products, and notifying viewers of upcoming events are all great ways to optimize your site for search engines.
Take Away
Organically increasing your SEO is essential to increasing your business’ digital presence. You can have a beautiful, engaging, responsive website that represents your company well. But, if no one can see your site, you dramatically reduce its effectiveness, reducing potential business.
When this article was written, a quick search of our client’s company shows his new website, right on Google’s front page. By linking his social accounts, adding links to his website on his suppliers’ sites, creating a Google listing, and fleshing out his site’s content, he reached the coveted first page – in less than a month!
There’s no easy ‘hack’ that will automatically boost your site’s visibility, but putting in the effort to organically grow your site’s reputation will optimize your digital presence over time.