Essential Elements for Improved Online Visibility

In the digital age, every business needs a website. Having an online presence is more important than ever, and both big-name brands and small, local businesses can see a dramatic increase in profits if they are easier to find online.

Increasing online visibility is a challenge for many. There are numerous online strategies which are hard to implement for the beginner. Many of them are not even aware of some simple concepts like SEO. Sticking to practical marketing strategy is the key to delivering the best-optimized results.

So, while having a website is vital, having a website that gets you seen is the key to business growth. The difficulty is that there is so much conflicting advice available, much of which requires some extensive and specialized knowledge. However, it might be easier to improve your online visibility than you might think. If you want to be found by every potential customer, here are some of the best ways to make that happen.

Register your Website With Google

If you want search engines to display your website on a results page, then they need to know that you exist. This is a very quick task that anybody can do themselves. All of the big search engines have webmaster tools, and these are intuitive and very simple to get used to using. Start with Google’s Search Console and fill out the available template. This is the first task that should be done for every single new website, no matter what type of business you run.

Be Mobile Friendly

More searches are carried out on a smartphone than ever before. It used to be that you could assume that your website was going to be viewed on a big screen, but that’s not the case any longer. Now, all websites need to be just as easy to view on a mobile device as they are on a laptop or PC. You can do this by:

• Putting essential information at the top of the page
• Ensuring button sizes are suitable
• Using larger font sizes
• Compressing any images using the available online tools

There are many websites that will show you exactly what your website looks like on a variety of devices, so always make sure that you make use of those.

Think about Design

A poorly designed website will not help you make sales and can even negatively affect your online visibility. Search engines will punish a website with weak design elements, and you will find that not tackling the issues will mean you gradually drop lower and lower on search engine rankings. There are many elements that will need to be used if you want your web design to work for you, but even a basic understanding of those design essentials will make it clear where you are currently going wrong.

Using Content Effectively

Content marketing is the most effective way to ensure that your website performs more effectively online, but it can be time-consuming to get right. Not only do you need to be aware of what your keywords are and how to use them, you then have to take the time to create the content that uses those keywords. It can be very easy to make mistakes. However, when done right, content can be a huge boost for your online visibility, especially when it comes to sharing information on social media. Never underestimate the value of the right content at the right time.

Whether you’re launching a business from scratch or you’ve been trading for a few years, a website should be one of your priorities. With so many ways that building a website can affect your brand negatively, getting things right has never been more important when it comes to being seen and making sales.

Learn SEO Basics

You don’t have to be an SEO expert to increase online visibility for your content. By creating quality content and using basic on-page search engine optimization techniques, you can help your content rise in the search engine results.

On-page SEO includes the following:

Write quality content using variations on your main keyword phrase. Each page or blog post should focus on one specific topic, which naturally optimizes the page. Use descriptive page and post titles. WordPress creates the URL for your pages and posts based on the title of the page so write compelling titles that contain your focus keyword phrase to get the most benefits. Use keywords in the anchor text when linking internally. Use keyword-rich anchor text in your internal links to help the search engines understand what those pages are about. Write a descriptive alt tag for all images using your focus keyword phrase. Keyword-rich Alt tags help your page get better rankings. Using the keyword phrase as the file name of the image as well. Create unique page titles using relevant keywords. Create different titles for each page or post of your site using a specific keyword phrase for which you want the page to rank. Put the most relevant keyword first in the title. Control the content that shows up in the search engine results. Writing quality descriptions with a call to action for each page and post gives searchers a reason to visit your site and increases click-through rates from the search engine results pages to your website.

Leverage Social Media

Every business can benefit from some social media activity. Selecting the right platforms for your business and becoming active – that is posting content, asking questions, and interacting with your followers – can boost your visibility.

Social media profiles frequently appear in search engine results, therefore make sure all of your social media profiles are well written, consistently branded, and optimized around how you wish to be found. Make sure to include complete contact information across all profiles. The goal of creating a large digital footprint with your website as the hub is to ensure there are many ways for people to find you.

Remember it is not about how many friends, followers, or likes you have but the quality of those who connect and interact with your business.

Marketing tip: Pick one or two social media platforms that make the most sense for your business, develop your content strategy, and work those consistently.

The constantly evolving and expanding nature of online marketing can be overwhelming to a small business owner. To get the most value from your efforts, create your plan, prioritize your marketing activities, and commit to spending some time every day marketing your business.

Learning how to improve visibility online doesn't need to be such a big challenge.

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