Here’s the thing: building a website and being found on the internet are two very different things. So much so that most people/entrepreneurs/business owners/whoever else is reading, never take this into account when they look into having their website built or going down the DIY route.

Why your website should have built-in SEO as part of its design process

Let me share a scenario I come across almost each day: a new client will come to me and say they have a website. It’s got every whizz-bang feature and looks aesthetically pleasing but then comes that question: why isn’t it working or getting traffic and converting sales?

The answer is rather simple when we take into account a few factors.

To have authority in any market, you need to be seen as competing with the big boys and your competition on the first two pages of Google. You also need to have other cross-promotion activities running across the internet such as social media, social sharing, blog posts, content curation and general traffic coming to your website. At the heart of it, what you really need is a simple, mobile friendly and Google friendly website, with a long term organic (otherwise known as on-page) SEO plan.

You see, anyone can build a website, put up some Facebook ads or pay-per-click ads in Google and gain some traffic and traction to their website. And hey, that’s fine and may even suit your industry. However, the day those campaigns stop, you run out of money or someone clicks out your budget (a competitor), you’re toast. With a long-term and organic SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) Strategy, you will prosper well into the longer-term, benefitting from business and online longevity. Most importantly, you’ll remain on Google’s radar for the life of your business. I’m not just talking about Google seeing you as an authority – this will also generally serve to bump you up over your competition in terms of rankings. Now that’s what we all want! Whooo!

A really good organic SEO strategy should/can take up to 3 months to really begin seeing some progress. We call it the slow and steady approach and after all, as Elvis sang: “only fools rush in.”

Fact: no one has ever enjoyed any success diving into any sort of long-term relationship in a hurry.

Think of Google as that special lady or manly man you’re looking to win over and share a life long relationship with. Shift your mindset and you’re guaranteed success!

With all of the above in mind, it’s absolutely vital that whoever you get to do your SEO strategy, they conduct the correct research. This should include but isn’t limited to:

  • A keyword and competitor analysis: be realistic about what you want to rank for. Take 25 to 30 keywords and get your SEO guy or gal to crunch those numbers. Smaller numbers don’t necessarily mean less opportunity. In fact, my team are ranking a website at the moment whose pages are ranking for say 150 to 250 searches per month. The key here is they are converting 2 to 5 of those clients a week and that’s just based on a single search term. Therefore, having pages optimised for as many search terms as possible is always going to be a big winner. We have tripled this particular client’s income and they are now expanding into NSW!
  • Competitor Analysis: you need to know what your competition is doing and either copy or differentiate yourself in some way. Remember: just because they are paying for Adwords, it doesn’t automatically guarantee they’ll be successful or have a long-term strategy. By doing a competitor analyses and submitting 10 to 15 competitors to your SEO guru, they can see what strategies, keywords and terms that business is ranking for. This arms them with the information to be able to identify gaps in Google that allow for domination via clever on-page optimisation.
  • Sitemap Generation: every website needs a Sitemap and this can be generated after the above aspects have being sorted. Consider the Sitemap as your roadmap/plan to success. Of course, nothing in life is ever guaranteed but you are always closer to success with a plan in hand! Not only will you notice you end up smashing all your competition – they will eventually fall off the face of the internet Earth while your business flourishes.
  • On-page SEO, meta descriptions and correct set-up: once you have all of the above and have generated the new pages for your website, you will then need to ensure each page is indexed into your XML Sitemap and set-up with the correct meta description and on-page factors such as keyword placement, alt/image tags and density for each page.
  • Think local and niche: suburbs are an incredible way of targeting underperforming or underutilised SEO spots. Sure, we may be only talking about a few hundred or even less searches a month, but if you compete front page for a number of these spots, then you are going to be found and selected every time. And that’s exactly what you want!
  • Google Analytics: this is another freebie that’s overlooked but is absolutely essential to your website for measuring traffic. It also alerts Google to the fact you are ready to be indexed. Hot tip: tell your analytics dashboard where your country of search preference is as well for that extra boost.

So, what does this all mean? Whether you decide to do this yourself or you employ a company to sort SEO for your website, ensure these steps and processes are firing and in place from day 1. Doing so will ensure you compete with anyone for a fraction of the cost they are paying. These key steps will guide you on your way to success in any market or industry and ensure you do so for sometime to come as well.

Keen to chat more about your SEO needs. Get in touch with me and the Startabiz team today for an honest and open chat.