I've been reading a lot about search engine optimization (SEO) these days, so what I'd like to do with this post is discuss how we approach SEO, and explain how you can use our strategies to improve the ROI of your site. Just keep in mind that we do not offer SEO as a service, and we are far from experts on the subject. One more comment before we begin. Today's discussion really goes beyond SEO, so when you start your SEO project the information you learn today should help you keep focused on the big picture.
So...what exactly is the big picture? For us, the big picture is getting qualified leads we can convert to sales. And our website really only has this one goal. So how do we go about it? A good website should do 3 things:
- Be visible when people search Google for relevant keywords
- Have a compelling listing which motivates them to click it
- Provides content that motivates them to buy
That doesn't sound too difficult. And that is the essence of a good website. So where does SEO fit in? Let's take a closer look at each point.
Visibility
When it comes to being seen on the web, there is one and only one name you need to know. Google. Google serves up the lion's share of searches on the Internet, and if you aren't visible on Google, you aren't visible. When your site is a little bigger you can branch out and optimize for Bing, Yahoo, and a few others. But to start, focus on Google. There are two ways you can gain visibility on Google. First, you can pay for it using AdWords, Google's pay per click service. This can be very expensive, and the results vary widely. The second option is to change the content and structure of your site so it is more easily indexed by Google. Your website listing is then shown in the organic portion of the search results (left side). This is where SEO comes in. As I mentioned, I'm no SEO wizard. But I do know a few people that are. One is Jill Whalen over at HighRankings.com. Jill is an expert on SEO, and she can help you get your website noticed. Tell Jill that I sent you.
The idea of SEO is to modify the content (both seen and unseen by visitors) on your site so it ranks higher in the search results shown on Google. This involves many steps, including adding content which uses the terms (keywords) your customers are using to find your product or service. Google adds your page(s) to its database (Google robots visit our site every day), and if Google thinks your page is really relevant to the keyword someone types in, your site is shown in the results. So the first step is getting your site shown in the first three pages of search results for the keywords that are relevant to your site. Until you accomplish that, nothing else matters because people won't know your site even exists. SEO allows you to do that.
Keep in mind there are many factors that Google takes into consideration when ranking search results. Some have to do with on-page factors (the content on your site), while others have to do with things such as linking (internal and external). Today's discussion focuses on the on-page factors.
Compelling Ads
If you have decent SEO your site will eventually show up for some of your relevant keywords on Google searches. But unless your listing (what Google shows for your site) is compelling, don't expect anyone to click it. Google shows the title of the page/site, part of the meta description (not seen by visitors), and even some content from the page itself. When it comes to compelling the user to click your link, the most important element is the title. And that title had better be good. The challenge is that the title is also heavily weighted when determining where your site shows in the search results. In other words, you need to balance the keywords you are using (which help your site show in the search results) with the appeal of the title itself. One or the other won't work. You need both.
Here's an example:
Custom Software Development | Software Development | Database Consulting | ...
This title allowed us to be found for 3 critical terms. We had a lot of impressions (times our site listing was displayed), but we had very poor click through rates. Our site was shown, but people were not compelled to click the link. It was just too keyword heavy.
Let's try another example:
The Software Development Company | MyProgrammer
In this example we are really only going after 2 terms. Software development and software development company. We get less impressions (times our listings are shown) but the click through rate is much higher. Overall this one change has doubled our traffic. So you need to balance how often your site is shown (impressions) in the search results with how compelling the actual listing is (click through rate). Make sense?
The description (meta tag) is also important, because some people will read the description to see if the site matches their needs. It should have your keywords, but don't just make it a comma delimited list. Make your description compelling too!
So it is critical that the title of your site and meta description tell a good story. Make people want to click it!
Web Content that Sizzles
Now that your potential customer have seen your listing (thanks to SEO) AND clicked it (thanks to a compelling title and meta description), you need to convince them to actually buy the product or service you are selling. My advice? Keep it relevant and personal. People like to do business with people they can trust, or you are just another website to most folks. Put some of yourself into your pages, and keep it funny! Use your keywords occasionally, but above all it needs to be readable and compelling.
Putting It All Together
So how do you put this into practical use? First, if you don't have Google Analytics, get it. It only takes a few minutes to install and configure. Google Analytics lets you track and analyze everything you need to know about your visitors. It's much nicer than the standard log file your host provides, and it is FREE. You also need Google Webmaster Tools. It's free, too. Okay get them both installed, and after a few days you'll have some data to analyze.
The first thing you want to do is see how many impressions you are getting for your keywords. The Webmaster Tools can tell you with this. You cannot analyze anything else until you know your site is being displayed on Google for relevant searches. You really need to be in the first 3 pages of results, or people won't see your site listing. Once you can see that your site is showing up for relevant searches, you need to see what sort of click through rate you are receiving. Basically, what percentage of people that see your listing actually click through to your site? The Webmaster Tools can tell you both of these numbers.
Now you have a pretty good idea how many times your listings are shown, and if people are clicking your listing or not. If the CTR is very low, work on your page title and meta description. It isn't compelling enough. We get click through rates of 7-15% for critical keywords, which is pretty good. You are here, right? Let's say you are getting a decent click through rate. Good for you. This means your SEO is getting your site visibility, and your page title and meta description are compelling people to click it. But what happens when they actually get to your site? Are they buying your product or service? If not, this is where Google Analytics comes in.
Google Analytics gives you a wealth of data about your visitors. Actually, it gives you a boat load of data. It tells you how your visitors got to your site, which keywords they used to find you, how long they stayed at your site, which pages they visited, and a zillion other pieces of data. Instead of turning this into a review of Google Analytics, I want to focus on a couple key areas we use.
One critical number is the bounce rate. Bounce rate tells you how many people came to your site and left without visiting another page. Usually (but not always) this means they didn't find what they wanted, so they left. You've done the work to get people to see your site on Google, and you've compelled them to click your listing. But then they come to your site and immediately leave. Not good. So if you have a high bounce rate (over 50%) you need to work on your content. Maybe you have too much text. Maybe your content is boring. Maybe they are looking for apples and the page they land on talks about automobiles. Every site is different, but your content needs to be compelling and relevant, and the bounce rate will tell you if it is or not. You want people to land on a relevant page, like what they see, and look around a little more to see if they want to do business with you or not. Google Analytics also tells you how many pages (on average) your visitors view before leaving. Every site is different, but generally speaking the more they look around the better your chances of a sale are.
Google Analytics also lets you setup goals so you can see how many people visit a certain page. For example, if someone fills out our contact form, that is a goal we track. There are a ton of ways to use this feature, but my point is you can use Google Analytics to track where your visitors go, and see how often they take the steps you want them to. It lets you see what is going on within your site. Use it!
Conclusion
Even though people spend a lot of time focusing on SEO to get their website found, you need to also motivate those people to visit your site, and then close the deal. And without an understanding of what's going on at each stage, you are not going to be able to fine-tune your approach. There are excellent FREE tools out there to make the job much simpler, so with a little hard work and determination, you too can have a profitable website.
