Getting to Know Your Website (Part 2)
Welcome to the next article about important components of your website. Our previous article outlined the importance of your website purpose and message. Let’s have a look at the next stage of content and search optimisation.
A BASIC GUIDE TO CONTENT AND SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION
The content of your website has a few key purposes: to give customers an overview of who you are and what you can offer them. But it also needs to work with Google and showcase your brand to search and customers.
This is called search engine optimisation (SEO).
There are a few simple strategies you can employ yourself when looking at the content on your website, which will help boost your website up in the search results.
1. KEYWORDS
Make sure your keywords are included. Think of the 5 top things your customer would be searching for, that you want to appear top of the list in the results. Think service, product, location. E.g. ‘houses for sale in Taree’.
2. TITLE TAG
This sits at the top of the HTML code and tells search engines what the page is about. It should be 70 characters or less and include your business or brand name and keywords that relate to the specific page only. E.g. ‘Elite Property – premium real estate agents in Taree’. If you aren’t sure how to check the Title Tag, Google your business and see what comes up. The heading of the search result is your Title Tag and the short description is the meta description.
3. META DESCRIPTION
This gives search engines (and searching customers) a little more information about your website. The meta description appears in search results and should speak to the customers directly. E.g. ‘Are you looking to buy or sell property in Taree? Speak to an expert at Elite Property today and get the best price for your home’.
4. INCLUDE INTERNAL LINKS
This will help visitors stay on your website, as well as lead them to certain pages, like an enquiry form or testimonial from a past client. For E.g. Including a link at the bottom of a property listing with the contact page will allow people to easily enquire.
Or, you could include links to other similar properties. The more pages a customer clicks through, the more engaging Google will rank your website and deem it more relevant to the search.
5. CONTENT IS KING
Consider adding a blog, or some relevant articles to your website. These could be things like ‘A checklist for selling your home’.
Content adds value to both customers and search engines. The more content you have, the more likely your customers will stay on your website and the more likely search engines will be to put more of your website pages in search results.
6. IF CONTENT IS KING, THE HEADLINE IS THE CROWN.
Make people excited to click on the next page of your site. Think about what will encourage them to take action.
E.g. ‘Easy ways to style your home to add more to your sale price’. Actions may include a phone call or an enquiry, book in to attend an open home, or simply finding out more details.
In the next article in the series, let’s have a look at analytics and analysis, and then move onto the best metrics for small businesses.
If you’ve missed any of the previous articles in this series, just click on any of the below links.
