By: Tess Rows –
Your website is the hub of your online marketing efforts. It is a focal point where you funnel prospects to convert them to clients.
For this reason, if you don’t have a website, we strongly urge you to create one.
If you have a website, make sure you optimize your site by:
1. Improving page rank in searches.
2. Reducing bounce rates.
3. Creating trust and encouraging repeat visits.
4. Making it easy for prospective and existing clients to engage you.
Today, we’ll focus on how to achieve just one of these optimization techniques: improving page rank. Doing so can help you attract new clients online by making your website easier to find in search results.
Improving Page Rank in Searches
Page rank describes an algorithm used by search engines to list web pages from the most important to the least important on search results pages when users enter search terms. To have a reasonably good chance of being found, your site should be on the first page of results for a search term or “keyword” relevant to you or your firm’s area of expertise.
To improve your chances of being on the first page, there a number of things you can do.
SEO. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a term used to describe ways to improve your page rank. You can do this yourself, or hire a consultant to help you, since effective SEO can require changes to your website’s coding.
Optimizing a website, as noted above, may involve editing coding to increase its relevance to specific keywords. Continually adding fresh SEO-rich content and promoting a site by distribution to relevant online directories to increase the number of back links or inbound links are additional SEO tactics.
Be aware: It may take a significant amount of time to improve your page rank sufficiently to appear on the first page of results for most general search terms without a location reference. This, however, should not be a reason to forego SEO, as all of the suggestions in this and related posts have a cumulative effect on page rank.
Google+ Local. To ensure that you show up on the first page of results for local searches, if your firm’s business is primarily local, signing up for Google+ Local, a free service, is a must.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Ads. PPC ads ensure your site appears on the first page of search results for the search terms or “keywords” you specify in your ads. PPC can be a very cost effective way of prospecting for new clients, if you take the time to learn or hire an expert to help you use Google Adwords and Google Analytics.
If you don’t have the time to do this, there are many local firms that can help you. Be sure, however, to review their credentials and talk with customers who have used their services before hiring them.
Next, we’ll discuss another technique for website optimization: reducing your bounce rates. Check back soon to learn what bounce rates are and how you can minimize them to improve your chances of engaging prospective clients..
