Search engine optimisation (SEO)

According to a Google study, 4 in 5 people use a search engine to check business opening hours, directions to a local store, product availability and the address before deciding which store to visit.

As a business owner your website needs to be as findable as possible to appear in search results. That’s where I can help. It does take time, and I don’t guarantee a #1 ranking on Google (nobody should!).

I stick to Google approved methods to improve the visibility of your website, and I typically undertake a free check beforehand to ensure there are improvements to be made.

Here’s some facts about how people use Google to search for stuff:

• There are over 3.5 billion Google searches every day. (Internet Live Stats)

• 60% of Google searches are now done via mobile devices. Only 5 years ago, the figure was nearly half that—34%. (Statista)

• Roughly a third of all mobile Google searches are related to location. (Blue Corona)

• Mobile search traffic is predicting a 25% growth by 2025. (Ericsson Mobility Report)

• 50% of “near me” Google searches done via mobile result in a store visit. (SEO Expert Brad)

What these facts and figures mean is that more people are using mobile devices to search for stuff; therefore, your website needs to be optimised for desktop and mobile searches.

Got an Amazon Echo or Google Home digital assistant? Well, throw voice searches into the mix and here’s some other interesting snippets about voice search trends in 2020:

• 20% of the searches on a mobile device are voice-based.

• 55% of teenagers use voice search on a daily basis.

• Voice-based searches using a mobile phone are 3 times more likely to be location-specific.

The way people search for stuff is changing. Depending upon the demographic, people will use laptops, tablets, mobile devices or voice to find the stuff they want or need.

What this means is, the search engine optimisation on your website needs to make you as findable as possible regardless of the search method.

Here’s six ways to improve the search engine optimisation of your website:

1. Faster pages rank better. How fast your page loads has a major role to play in search engine optimisation

2. Link your website to social platforms. More social shares are a page has, more chances for it to be selected for a voice search query

3. Quality of web content is important. Like natural conversation, short and concise answers are preferred for voice search queries. Simpler answers have higher chances of ranking for a voice search query

4. Information must be structured. Serve the user intent, provide an answer to a user search query in a logical way

5. Use rich data formats for important information. Using structured data / schema improves ranking for most search queries

6. Optimise for keywords. Approximately 1 out of 5 voice search queries use a combination of only 25 keywords

If your website isn’t performing as you would hope in Search Engines, drop me a line to see how the situation can be improved. I undertake most types of Web and WordPress Search Engine Optimisation work from natural and organic results-driven work to paid advertising and techniques that exploit social media. I’ll also be able to explain how you can improve the “off site” optimisation of your website too. (There’s loads you can do there).

I only use approved white hat search engine optimisation techniques so there’s no risk of your website being removed from search engine indexes.