The importance of a good website & how to make your Website stand out on Google
A lot of things are changing at the moment. Most business owners have to think about whether they can pivot their business or continue running their company like it was before COVID-19 or they might even had to close shop completely.
While you might be really busy right now, we want you to know that taking a little bit of time to work on your online presence right now,can help your business grow and will help you, come out of this crisis stronger than ever.
We want to offer as much know-how as possible, but we know that working on your website and trying to increase your Google ranking can be a lot of work. This is why we compiled a small list of “Quick & Easy” solutions you can get started on right away.
The importance of a good website
Now, before we talk more about how to rank higher on google, we would like to talk a little bit about the importance of a good website.
Because a good website really is your starting point for any good marketing campaign and it is what makes it possible to rank on Google.
A good website is made up of multiple parts.
It only takes 0.05 seconds for visitors to form an opinion about your website and determine whether they’re going to stay or leave.
So, your website’s content and layout has to entice your visitors enough, to want to stay on the site and read or learn more about your products and services.
Here are couple things a good website will do
1. It will be able to grab your customers attention
2. It will provide easy to find information
3. It will be fast loading
4. It will have an appealing design
5. It will keep all of your and your customers data safe
6. And very importantly it will be optimized for all devices
So, what can you do in a few simple steps to improve your website?
1. Look at the text on your website
Your content should be informative and help your visitors better understand your services and products.
Try to keep paragraphs short & to the point if possible (2-3 sentences) and use words your client will understand and would use to find a service or product like yours online.
2. Make it easy for customers to find you
Make sure you have a contact page displayed in your menu. You should also have contact forms that are easy to fill out on multiple pages on your website.
You should also use a call to action (CTA) on your homepage and across your website. A great call to action that stands out and will prompt a visitor to click it, can direct users to the pages you would like them to go to.
3. Use on-page SEO to your advantage
Add ALT text to your images, and name the images you are using on your website. When re-naming your images and adding alternative text in your websites image gallery, make sure you use your business name and add a short description of what you see in the image or describe the services the image displaying or describing.
How Google My business can help your business rank higher on Google
Absolutely every business that operates online or offline should have a google my business listing.
If you are a local business and people are searching for your category, you want people to find you in those Google map listings.
This also applies if you are a business that requires word of mouth to operate because your clients will look you up on Google before giving you a call.
When you have a google my business listing you will show up on the right side bar with your ratings and testimonials, which makes your business look credible & makes it easier for your clients to find you.
Google My Business can help you:
Roughly 80 percent of all searches happen on Google. This means that your target market relies on Google’s first page to find the products and services it needs. That is why creating a Google My Business account is so important.
What can you focus on to rank higher than your competitors?
1. Claim your Google My Business Listing
The first thing you can do in order to start ranking higher on Google is to claim your Google My Business listing and make sure to complete your profile.
This allows you to get reviews from customers, to show up in the near me searches and control the information that google displays. If you don’t claim your listing, google will try and provide the best information about your business they can, which isn’t always correct.
2. Create Quality & Consistent Citations
Getting ranked high within Google My Business comes down to Google verifying that your business is real. It does this by determining how often your business name, address and phone number otherwise known as NAP is cited or listed on the internet.
Make sure to submit your business to local or national business directories, but make sure that your NAP is accurate, up to date and 100% consistent across all of them. It also needs to be consistent across your website, and your google my business listing. The details definitely matter here.
3. Get Reviews
Google likes to rank businesses with lots of good reviews higher on google and google maps. While this is not the biggest ranking signal, it is a key difference maker if all else is equal. Be proactive about getting good reviews for your business. You should also be proactive in responding to negative reviews people post on Google. Responding to negative reviews in a positive way also looks good to other people, because it shows your business is proactive and cares about your customers.
4. Create quality content
This part is very important for your regular Google ranking as well. One way to do this is to have a blog section on your website. Here you can create articles about industry details or other helpful material. Google rewards great content with higher search engine rankings as an overall trend. In fact, simply having a blog on your website improves your Google ranking by a lot! Regular blogging with high quality content improves your Google ranking even more dramatically.
