optiuser, Author at Optimibiz

Sometimes building a website is like preparing for a job interview; you want to make the best first impression and then show the interviewer all you’ve got to offer them—your website should do exactly the same thing.

Get your website right from the start

Business owners spend thousands of pounds trying to get their website right and SEO is often the first hurdle. But while SEO is still important, on its own it’s only half as effective as it could be. With radical algorithm changes in Google’s search engine, SEO is now just one small part of building an effective website. So although your website may have been picked through with a fine toothed comb and SEO’d within an inch of its life, you still might not see the traffic numbers you’d hoped for. And that’s where web design comes in.

High quality web design is just as important as SEO. It can even make or break a sale because if the user who has landed on your page finds a disorganised site with poorly written content, they’re likely to find their way to your competitors with just a few clicks of the mouse.

So what makes a good website?

A good website should instantly engage the viewer no matter what it’s about. Even a novice internet user can spot a lacklustre website a mile off. Some of the worse offenders include busy, visually overpowering backgrounds and a small typeface that can barely be seen. Bold colours and clean lines will be easier on the eyes as well as visually appealing. Too many flashing images is also off putting, as well as potentially slowing down loading times for your website.

As well as first appearances, easy navigation around a website is a must. Hidden navigation bars are a no-no, and so are broken links which can hurt your SEO and create a negative user experience.

With more people now using their mobile devices to search the net, ensure your site is responsive. This means that whatever device a user searches your website on, whether that be a computer, phone or ipad etc, it will adapt to that device, display correctly and will still look aesthetically pleasing whilst remaining functional.

Teaming up with an SEO and web design specialist will not only help you take a step towards creating a beautifully designed website that you’ll be proud to put your name on, but will ultimately encourage users to interact more with your site and increase sales.

The holy grail of digital marketing, Google’s number one spot is sought after by many businesses across the world. One essential factor that you need to embrace to be in with a fighting chance of ranking well is Search Engine Optimization. We’ve compiled a list of some of the most effective SEO strategies to help you claim your place as Google’s authority site.

Create a Content Strategy

There’s more to a content strategy than simply writing blog posts and publishing them all at once on your website; you also need to give consideration to timing. Posting a lot of information all at once is all well and good but search engines like Google want to see that your website is regularly updated with valuable information. Create a content strategy that ensures you’re posting information regularly, whether it be daily, weekly or monthly.

Optimize Your Keywords

Keywords are one of the most important elements of SEO and play an integral role in gaining you the number one slot in Google. Although having a main keyword in mind is a good idea, it also helps to optimize for long tail keywords and phrases. Diversifying your content to include other common search terms related to your industry can also help your search engine rankings as your site will be viewed as authoritative. Don’t over optimise your content with your keywords, instead make it look as natural as it should be when reading an article. Most importantly, research and assess which keywords will be best for your business. By not doing your keyword research properly in the first place, you could be wasting time and money. You may feel that the best method is to find out which keywords have the most traffic and target these ones however the competition on these may be too much to start out. You are best starting off targeting keywords with less competition that will still generate a decent amount of traffic. By working on a few of these you may reach the same required amount of traffic but in less time than if you had focused on the highly competitive keyword.

Build Back Links

Creating backlinks to a website is one of the trickier elements of SEO but still plays an important role in determining your website’s rankings. A link building campaign doesn’t need to be time-consuming; taking a few minutes every day to post your link on a website can often be enough for you to see an improvement in your website’s rankings. The key to this is to find relevant sites within your niche with a good domain authority and create interesting, engaging content relevant to your niche to place on these sites. Don’t spam the content with your keywords and be careful when using the correct ratios for anchor text. Gone are the days when you used to be able to simply add hundreds or thousands of irrelevant spammy links with one anchor text to get that keyword to rank as this will now hinder your site rather than help it. Be selective, do your research and make sure the place you wish to place your link is a good neighbourhood for your site. Seach engines will look at where your links are placed and just as with those you choose to associate with in life such as friends etc, they will associate your site with these sites, therefore choose carefully who you link to and from just as you would in life choosing those you consider have similar values and standards as yourself.

Play the Long Game

Chasing Google’s top spot can be frustrating and many businesses believe they can achieve success within a short space of time. However, depending on how competitive your market is, it can take months or even years to reach number one. You should therefore aim for a long-term strategy that continually adds to the value of your website. A quick fix in this field may seem appealing initially however can lead you into deep water and out of your depth in the long run.

Is your business lagging behind in search engines? What SEO strategies do you plan to implement to improve your website’s Google ranking? Perhaps your business has already reached the top spot. What SEO techniques did you use to achieve this?

Web Design: Why SEO Alone Isn’t Always Enough