If you operate an online business, then you probably know how important it is to have good SEO. But what distinguishes good search engine optimization from bad? And, how do you know that your company is doing everything it should to earn you a top spot in the organic search results?
The fact is that Google is constantly updating its search algorithm, and marketers that neglect to keep up with the latest changes can easily see their good SEO efforts turn bad. Here are some ways in which SEO plays a vital role in your company’s success or failure:
Good SEO is an essential element of a site’s user experience. Along with impacting a site’s position in the search results, SEO can affect whether or not a site is easy to navigate, readable, and mobile friendly. The latter quality is especially important in light of the fact that approximately 60 percent of searches now occur on mobile devices. By utilizing an effective and modern SEO strategy, you show customers that you care about their experience and that you are always learning to make it better.
If you're not thinking about SEO, your business is going to fall behind. 80 percent of users rely on the internet for researching products they're interested in. If your company isn't prioritizing search results, a competitor is going to be taking advantage of those same results, and your market share is going to dip. Want to outsell your competitors? It's absolutely critical to keep a strong SEO strategy that brings you to the top of as many search pages as possible.
Using the most cutting-edge SEO techniques can help position your business as an industry leader. After all, searchers tend to view the first few results on a page as the most authoritative, and the majority of searchers don't get past the first page.
When you target the right keywords in your web content, you ensure that your business is seen by the ideal customers and clients and that they begin to view you as a trusted name in your field. Bad SEO? Well, ineffective practices won't get you anywhere near the top.
As more people are connected via their smartphone, search is now optimized for phones as well. Over 50 percent of all Google search queries are from mobile devices. Thus, Google has prioritized mobile page load speed as a crucial metric when determining your search ranking in recent years. With free tools from Google, you can work on optimizing your website for mobile searches.
This ensures your mobile website is running smooth and keeps it efficient. This is not only important from a search perspective, but it's critical to keeping users on your webpage and capturing leads. With SEO, you can stay on top of a necessary piece of an efficient website.
Search engine optimization's greatest value might just be its affordability. Unlike pay-per-click advertising, SEO lets you grow sales without stretching your budget too far. In fact, businesses often find that SEO offers better ROI than other types of online marketing. Search engines offer a close rate of almost 15 percent for new leads — a massive edge over traditional marketing. Beyond just close rate, SEO is a great source to generate leads just by having a visible web presence.
Now, this is true for good search engine practices. Bad practices, while perhaps cheap, may only land your site in a troubling spot by getting your site flagged or banned from top search engines.
As SEO experts and a Google Adwords partner, Energyhill is a complete solution for search, mobile, video advertising, and more. To learn more about what we can do for your business, call today for a free quote or contact our team and we'll be in touch.
Whether you’re building a business from the ground up or simply looking for ways to increase quality traffic to your website, Google advertising offers an effective solution that’s also surprisingly affordable. Here are the top 10 reasons to use AdWords in your marketing plan, if you haven’t already done so:
Unlike other advertising strategies, PPC lets you adjust your budget based on leads and profits.
With many forms of advertising, it’s hard to determine how many customers are actually being impacted. With Google advertising, you can easily view metrics to determine what ads and keywords are most effective and how much traffic is being driven to your page.
New ad formats mean businesses can engage with web searchers in different ways. For example, Google now allows advertisers to highlight their in-store promotions.
An increasing amount of research shows that paid search traffic converts better than organic traffic. If you’re not taking advantage of Google advertising, you might be missing out on valuable leads.
Google AdWords provides business owners with invaluable information about their target audiences, including the devices they use and what keywords they’re searching. As a result, companies can create more desirable products and services.
You don’t have to worry about spending money without seeing results. Google Advertising with AdWords allow you to choose a cost-per-click (CPC), cost-per-acquisition (CPA), or even a cost-per-thousand (CPM) viewable impressions approach. If your head is spinning... no worries we can help.
With Google advertising, you can target specific geographic regions rather than advertising to everyone online.
Thanks to remarketing, your Google advertising campaigns can follow searchers around the web, offering more opportunities for them to buy your products. Also, utilizing some of Google's great features allows you to set how long to follow a searcher. Remind searchers... don't stalk them!
AdWords lets you showcase your content in a place where searchers are more likely to see it. Because searchers view first page results as the most authoritative, there’s value to appearing on page one of Google.
Reaching your target audience means utilizing all the advertising methods at your disposal. Remember, if you don’t advertise on Google, your competitors will almost certainly take advantage of the traffic you’re leaving behind.
Looking for a better online marketing strategy? Contact Energyhill to realize all your business goals without breaking your budget.
Mobile technology has changed the social world. Not only has it altered the way we communicate and interact with each other, it has also greatly affected consumer behavior. In order to capture sales, retailers have created a dual path on mobile devices via sites and apps; thus, no matter how consumers prefer to purchase, they have an easy solution. Understanding consumer behavior and how shoppers use their mobile devices is now critical in conquering the path to purchase.
According to a study by Google Marketing Insights, nearly half of U.S. consumers with mobile phones use their devices weekly to shop. One in ten people states that they shop via mobile daily. These are huge numbers, especially when coupled with the fact that 60% of consumers use a mobile website to shop. Despite the proliferation of apps, it seems that a user-friendly mobile website is preferred by shoppers.
In general, mobile shoppers find that mobile websites offer more information. While 64 percent agree that shopping apps load quicker and 60 percent say they are easier to navigate, the path to purchase seems to flow more easily through a mobile website. This makes a strong case for all retailers having device agnostic or responsive websites. Having a website that scales based on device is key to capturing a majority of shoppers.
If a retailer is interested in making sure their app is part of the path to purchase, including special discounts or exclusive deals via the app seems to be the way to go. Thirty-five percent of mobile shoppers state they download apps specifically for discounts. Additionally, making sure the app is secure will also ensure more consumers use it; more than 70 percent of smartphone owners who download apps cite security as a deciding factor.
If you're looking for ways to streamline your path to purchase or simply want to learn more about mobile- and app-based shopping trends, please contact Energyhill today. Our team of expert marketers is ready to help you capture and cash in on this mobile revenue stream.
Sure they fall at the same time every year, but the holidays always seem to sneak up on us. For a business, that can be problematic. If you sell primarily to consumers, raising your profile during the holidays could greatly impact your annual sales. Even if you are primarily a B2B vendor, staying in customers' minds during this time of year is important. Your first weapon to combat the holiday haze is your website. It is typically the first stop for many customers to find out more about you, your products, and your offers. Below are some ways to ensure an increase in website traffic for the holidays.
Google is the world's largest search engine and the cornerstone of many business' marketing plans. You can make their reach work for you by using a trio of services that will put your product images front and center during relevant searches. You will need your shopping feed, Google Merchant's Center, and your Google Adwords account working in tandem to take advantage of the added exposure of these feeds.
Effective search engine optimization is a marathon, not a sprint; but you can optimize some pages on your site specifically for the holidays. Consider adding a few landing pages specific to your holiday offerings and make sure the SEO on these pages is targeted to holiday shoppers. Also, spend some time clicking around your site to test for things like load time, image quality, and calls-to-action. You don't want a consumer to have any reason to leave before making a purchase, so be on the lookout for areas that might hinder a conversion. Slow load time is often the key culprit to consumers clicking out of the site, ultimately resulting in less valuable website traffic.
Similar to shopping feeds, PPC campaigns can put your products in front of consumers who are searching for specific keywords. This gives you a direct line to consumers who are ostensibly looking for your product. Remarketing campaigns are also highly effective during the holidays. Customers who have previously visited your site, but haven't purchased, will see ads for your products while they're clicking around the Internet. It's a good way to stay top of mind.
Lastly, don't forget about your social media feeds. These channels can pump up your promotional efforts with interesting content and clever community building campaigns. Just make sure that your site is ready to handle the traffic from a social media push.
No matter what tactics you use, the holidays can be a huge opportunity for you and your business, and they can generate website traffic you don't normally see throughout the year. If you have any questions regarding how to make your site holiday-ready, please contact us at Energyhill today. Happy Holidays!
It's no secret that Google holds the purse strings when it comes to online indexing and search results. After all, the ubiquitous search engine has become a noun and a verb. However, online search activity migrating from desktops to mobile devices is bringing about a change in Google's initial search assumptions. Here is a quick rundown of what Google's result announcement regarding the implementation of a mobile-first index says:
This definition is going to require a little explanation. Currently, when a consumer searches Google on their mobile phone, the search result order is based on an index. The index has been developed by Google through a combination of search crawlers, indexing, and ranking. Google ranks different websites based on keywords and content. Part of the search algorithm decides how relevant a site is to the search terms based on these characteristics.
Currently, Google ranks sites based on desktop searches. This ranking is device-agnostic; the results still rank primarily based on desktop index, even if the search is conducted on a mobile device. However, the inclusion of additional mobile keywords that the Google search crawler is looking for may help to give some sites a bump.
So, Google recently announced that this method of determining search results on mobile devices will migrate to a mobile-first index. Accordingly, mobile search results will be returned based on mobile-focused criteria, including a responsive mobile site, a separate mobile and desktop-based site, and the lack of a mobile site.
If you don't have a responsive mobile site, make one. This will have the most influence on your business' mobile index ranking over just about anything else. Rankings will still primarily be at the page level; so do your best to make as many of your website's pages mobile friendly as possible.
If you are interested in finding out more about mobile-first indexing or search optimization in general, please contact Energyhill today for a consultation.
