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As we are all well aware the web is full of people looking for information and/or products, and they use major search engines like Google to find this information. Writing quality content that is aligned to the wants and needs of those searching (or your potential customers), is the key to attaining better search engine listings for your business.

So, the next time you’re considering a website redesign, or even just a modest update, some questions to ask yourself are “is my copy well written and engaging to to my customer?”… if it’s not then start rewriting or refining it.

Don’t Forget the Keywords

Don’t forget to use your chosen keywords thoughtfully throughout your site. Not too many and not too few – be specific and keep each page focused on the subject-at-hand. A well written page that is focused on one subject or product is always going to list higher in search engine results, mainly because it produces a ‘tighter fit’ in search terms.

Include a ‘Call-To-Action’

Once the content is written and your overhaul is complete, consider your ‘call-to-action‘ – do you even have one? If your copy has done it’s job and your customer is ready to contact you or buy your product, you need to direct them with a specific ‘call-to-action’. Be obvious – visually strong ‘calls-to-action’ such as bold ‘Buy Now’ buttons, or a well designed ‘Contact Us’ submission form, or even ‘Subscribe Now’ forms all tell the customer what you’d like them to do next.

Focus On Your Customers’ Needs

So, anticipating your customers’ needs, and writing content that engages with them increases your chance of an enquiry or a sale. You’ll also be giving search engines good content to index, thus increasing the odds of getting listed naturally for some of your specific keyword terms. Getting it right isn’t easy, if you feel that this specific style of writing is above you, hand it over to a professional SEO copywriter.

Ultimately, if you want better results: focus on what your customer wants and the search engines will follow.

If I had a dollar for every time I had this question asked…

Below are some of the factors that contribute towards websites not being listed highly on Google. There are a lot more, but these are the common ones…

Is Your Website Too New?

Google, and other major search engines, list a staggering number of new websites every single day. Some of these are doomed to fail, or are no longer being cared for by their owners. To stop websites of this nature getting to clogging up the search results pages, Google looks at more established websites as being more trustworthy, and list these higher up the rankings. Older websites also tend to have more links and more content, which are advantages over new sites.

You Probably Don’t Have Enough Content

Search engines love content. The more content you have the better – in terms of search engine rankings. A lot of websites top out at 4 or 5 pages of content, generally about your company and your services, this just isn’t going to cut it in a marketplace where top ranking websites generally invest considerably resources in quantity and quality of content

Is Your Content Good Enough?

Aside from the volume of your content, search engines are looking for quality. Most sites have the kind of content that exists in thousands of other places on the net, generally due to copying (intentional or not). Misspellings, and errors in grammar can also affect your position. Keeping your content short, relevant and precise, with interesting information that is regularly updated can make a huge difference.

Quality Incoming Links

An inbound link is commonly recognised as a big vote of confidence in your website, and the quality of these links is paramount to your success in search engine rankings.
How do you get these links? There are a number of ways to build up inbound links. One of the main methods is to employ a good link building strategy. Don’t be tempted to sign up to link farms however, or free directories as these are seen as very low in value and are often totally ignored by the likes of Google. To be honest you’d be better off having no links than lots of free and worthless links.
Aim high – look at trying to get a big organisation like a regional broadcaster, major retailer, or local government website to link back to you. 2 or 3 really good links will help enormously. The best advice is to employ the services of a professional to do this for you.

Quality Outgoing Links

As we have mentioned – search engines like links. It is also in their best interest to reward websites that provide good quality outgoing links from their own to good sources of trusted information.

Optimise Your Website

Some of the cheaper design companies won’t provide optimisation as standard. A good web design company will ensure your website is built so that it can be indexed quickly and easily by the search engines. This takes a professional to look at the way a website is coded and make sure it is ‘Search Engine Friendly‘. Also consider employing a copywriter to re-write your website copy and provide you with good keyword research.

It’s a Really Competitive Area

Convincing search engines that your website is better than the other millions upon millions out there can be difficult. Buying the odd link, and doing a bit of your won optimisation generally isn’t going to cut it. You need to look at the whole SEO process ‘holistically’ and employ a professional to steer you in the right direction.

What Does This Mean To Me?

If your website isn’t ranking as well on the search results page as you’d like, then you should look at some of the ideas mentioned above. Investing in a good link building campaign, and overhauling your website to be more search engine friendly is where to start. You can always buy your way to the top, through sponsored listings. Contact us for more information.