Why do I need SEO for my website?
I like to compare websites to houses. It helps to understand that there are many layers to a website that are not visible at first glance. Just like a house, you can look at it from the outside, nicely finished and looks great yet it may be empty or needing lots of renovation work on the inside. Websites are similar – whether you already have a website, or you are looking at getting a new one – there is more to consider than just the looks.
What components is a website made off?
Design – The outside of your house
Going back to comparing your website to your house, the design is the style of your house. It’s about deciding whether you want a bungalow style with wooden fretwork on the veranda or if you are looking to create a modern and industrial look with polished concrete with bold colors. We are purely talking outside looks here. This is important, but you will see that this is only one part of the equation.
Content – Builders report and interior design
This is your house plan. We will decide how many rooms (as in pages) you need, which room will be your main room and how big your other rooms will be. More precisely, we are talking about the set-up of your website menu, called the sitemap. This helps to make sure that each of your services gets the right amount of attention or bringing it back to housing: that each of your family members gets the right sized room with a nice central living space and the outdoor entertaining area too.
You will agree, without setting up your house right from the get-go, it will be a pain to live in. Now that the sitemap/your floorplan is worked out, you can start looking at furniture and decorations to fit out each room. This is called copywriting and we will look further into this below.
SEO – Builder and Architect teaming up to create a quality and safe home
SEO is the secret weapon of websites, many have heard of this but don’t actually know why it is so important to make it part of your website. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation and is a technique to help search engines such as Google understand what your website is about.
Bringing this back to your house, it’s making sure the foundations are right (getting a builders report before purchase as not everything is visible to our untrained eye) and telling your friends, family and all institutions necessary your (new) address, so the mailman knows where to drop the mail off and you don’t miss any letters (or for your website, potential customers).
What’s a great looking website worth if Google won’t bring you up for searches related to the services and products you offer? Exactly… not much!
Let’s take a deeper dive into what exactly we do when we optimize a website.
- We start with Keyword research.
This means we look into a database and find out what people type into Google when searching for your services or products. You might be too familiar with the terminology that is used in your industry, rather than commonly spoken words that are used by your customers. Have a think about what words you would use to begin browsing online for bungalow style houses.
My favorite example is a building surveyor who was promoting his meth-tests. Our research showed, that people who wanted to get their house meth tested, are more likely to type “p-contamination testing” into Google. Same, same yet different. It’s all about finding the right wording so that you are found by your potential customers. This is not a guess-game but takes some serious research to find the right keyword just like the perfect vintage rocking-chair to get your living room feel right.
- The next step is to create appealing copy
Where your keyword is added in the right places to make sure Google understands what the page is about. Copywriting is the art of filling your blank pages with interesting, helpful and appealing content that will get your customers the right information before getting in touch with you. It’s filling the rooms with the right furniture and decorations. Imagine your office is filled with kids toys instead of your desk and computer, you would walk right out, wouldn’t you! Copywriting also ticks the box of keeping website visitors on your site, click from one page to another (engagement) which gets you more brownie points from Google.
- Now onto the more technical side of things:
SEO that can’t be seen from the viewers’ end. With the SEO Add-on that is part of every one of our websites, we go through an extensive list of parameters and settings and make sure that your website is set up with the best practice of Google requirements. One thing we set up for you, is how your website will be displayed on the Search Engine result page (SERP).
In the example above, the purple title and the descriptive text below is part of SEO. It’s the information displayed on Google. When your website is not optimized, Google will bring up randomly selected information from your website that may even be unfinished sentences. By optimizing your website you can ensure that the text displayed on Google is appealing to your audience and gives a perfect overview of what you do, luring the searcher into clicking and visiting your website. You wouldn’t want to waste the chance of giving your elevator pitch, would you!
Stay up to date with Google’s updates
There are over 200 factors that will decide if Google brings your website up in a search, and these factors are constantly evolving. It’s important to stay up to date with the latest Google updates and requirements to ensure your website is up to industry standards. Just like maintenance work for your house. With our SEO work, we cover as many as we can to ensure your website performs at its best.
For any questions, please get in touch and we’d be happy to explain in more detail 0508666783
Ask us for our free SEO WOF (warrant of fitness) on your website, simply e-mail us.
