Search engine optimisation means managing your website’s content and technical health for search engines, such as Google, to rank it highly in search results.
A good digital marketing strategy is aimed at optimising your website’s visibility and improving the user experience, increasing brand awareness, organic search traffic and conversion rates.
When a potential client or customer searches for a relevant topic relating to your products and services, your business must be at the top of the search engine results page. Otherwise, you could find you’ve just lost a potential new customer and one of your competitors has gained one.
Why is SEO important?
Being placed at the top of the rankings means you’re also more likely to increase your business’s click-through rate. On average, the first organic result at the top of page one has a click-through rate of 27.6%, according to research by First Page. In layman’s terms, this means that for every 100 people who see your site at the top of the search results, 27 are likely to click on it.
The further down your business is, the less chance there is of people clicking on your site, as the figure has already dropped to 18.7% and 10.2% CTR respectively for the second and third-ranking search results.
The bottom line is that whatever products or services you offer, your credibility as a company is crucial. Being at the top of search results builds trust in your brand, so people feel more confident in making a purchase. When you have a good SEO strategy with sustainable results, consumers are more likely to view your company as a trustworthy industry leader who stands out from the rest.
Good vs bad SEO practices
Considering the benefits of good SEO practices, there’s absolutely no reason to take a chance with your livelihood.
You may believe it’s all about perspective when defining “good” or “bad” but some practices can never be defined as acceptable and can actually be damaging for your brand.
Good SEO means understanding how to improve your results and consequently being rewarded for adhering to guidelines. For example, it’s important to keep on top of Google’s algorithm updates, as it is continually updating its search engine to provide the best possible experience for users. Keeping an eye on whether the algorithm has been “tweaked”, or whether there’s been a major update, is crucial to understand what steps you must take to improve your position in the results.
The most recent major Google update in November 2023, dubbed “Hidden Gems”, set a new paradigm. Its goal is to discover and promote content that may have been previously overlooked. It isn’t a Google core update, but rather a distinct ranking system that stands out due to its unique criteria.
Develop your site for customers
A good SEO strategy means developing the site for the benefit of users: a bad one develops a site to try to game the system, without considering how customers will feel.
Once you have optimum SEO, your ranking should start to improve naturally. Bear in mind, SEO strategies are for the long-term and may take a considerable time to show significant results, but it’s worth the wait. Focus on growing your audience through creating quality content that can generate natural backlinks.
A bad SEO strategy is when you expect to see ranking improvements instantly. Then, when this doesn’t happen, you’re already seeking another quick-fix scheme and panicking because the rankings aren’t going the way you expected.
Rankings can fluctuate frequently, and the key is understanding this and not making unnecessary changes in a knee-jerk reaction. If you’re doing everything possible to keep your site in optimum condition and adhering to algorithm changes, there’s no need to start worrying about a minor fluctuation.
A successful SEO strategy should concentrate on keyword and competitor analysis, creating good content and keeping technical maintenance up to date.
Bad SEO can have the opposite effect.
Should you hire an SEO company?
When growing your businesses, hiring a good SEO company with experience and know-how is important to ensure sustainable results.
Follow a strategy that provides measurable benefits and helps users to find the required information quickly and easily.
Not only can bad SEO impact your rankings and reputation, but it can lead to poor search engine rankings, decreased visibility and a decline in website traffic.
In the past, the penalties for websites bending the rules were extremely severe, but Google takes quite a different approach on penalisation nowadays. It prefers to reward those doing the right thing and doesn’t pay much attention to the wrongdoers – rather than knocking them completely off Google, unless it’s an extreme case.
If you’re wondering how to improve SEO, never leave anything to chance and risk bad results through a lack of knowledge and experience. It’s better to hire a respected expert to help navigate this important part of your business journey.
Remember, if anyone tells you there’s no such thing as bad SEO, they have absolutely no idea what they are talking about.
