When businesses look to add Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) to their online marketing strategy, the ultimate goal is to appear at the top of search results. Google, the most popular search engine, has several ranking factors that it uses to determine which pages offer the best value to users and, therefore, the order in which they appear in the search results.

Unless you are a digital marketing professional, understanding how and what it takes for a website to climb the search rankings to the point it appears on page one may not come simply. In fact, with the industry constantly evolving and with Google releasing updates on a near-daily basis, the goalposts never stay in the same place.

With that being said, some constant values will serve you well in your pursuit to ranking number one:

What Are You Trying To Rank for?

Before you begin to optimise your website, you must know what you are optimising for. What, exactly, do you want your website to rank for? This means understanding what your customers are asking and, with that, the best keywords to target to match those queries. There is not any point in ranking for a search term that has little to no relevance to your business or offering.

Value

When you know what you are trying to rank for, you need to consider what value you are offering to the audience. Does your website or page provide what the user is looking for? Also, is the page you are trying to rank in the correct format? By this, we are referring to whether the search results consist mostly of product pages, blog posts or other landing pages. For example, if the majority of pages that appear on the first page are blog posts, your chances of optimising a product page to rank on the first page are remote.

User Experience

If you want Google to value your website it must offer a good user experience. You can have the best content in the world but, if the website itself is unusable (which can be indicated by a high bounce rate) then Google is not likely to rank it. This is why it is important to ensure that both your desktop and mobile websites are in working order.

Backlinks

Another key ranking factor is backlinks - although there are always exemptions to the rules. Generally speaking, if a page is considered to offer value, search engines would expect that page to have backlinks pointing to it from other websites. The easiest way to understand the value of a backlink is to think of each one as a vote of confidence – so if your website does not have anyone linking back to it, Google will likely view that as a vote of no confidence.

These are just some of the basics to consider when it comes to getting your page on Google’s first page, with numerous ranking factors determining the search engine’s ever-changing results.

As soon as someone is told that content is a key ranking factor for search engines such as Google, almost always the first question asked is ‘how much content do I need on my site?’. While it is good to have resourceful pages with a good amount of content, unless that text is useful and original, you won’t be getting very far up those search results, never mind finding your way onto page one.

A common misconception surrounding Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is that all you have to do to rank on Google is to stuff keywords in a block of text and, before you know it, you’re ranking number one. While such methods may have gotten you some measure of success 10 years ago, in the present day that simply isn’t the case. Putting it simply, you can’t have content for content’s sake.

How Should I Measure My Content?

The best way to measure your content isn’t always by word count, but by the number of points covered in it. For example, if you are writing a piece of content to serve a particular purpose, you should first take the time to review other similar pages that are ranking on search engines.

This is good practice as not only will this give you a good idea as to how long your text should be, but also the kinds of things that people asking the question you are trying to answer are looking for. As we know, the search engine will place what it deems to be the best, and most relevant, answer at the top of the pile which is where you want to be.

Look at the top 5 to 10 results and list all the points covered on each page. If not one of those pages has covered all of the key points you have identified in their content, including the top-ranking page, then the objective is simple – create a piece of content that does just that. If you can add another point that has not already been covered this is a bonus and will add extra value to your content.

Is Word Count a Ranking Factor?

Yes, but it is not the be-all-and-end-all. If your content is considerably shorter than pages ranking higher, then an extension to your content may help your cause. Articles appearing on the first page of search results will not have filler content, instead, every sentence serves a purpose.

Consider your areas for improvement and whether your content serves its purpose and fully answers the query of the user. While having a lower word count than a competitor on its own may not be the reason why your page ranks lower, it is one of the best signals that we have.

Content is More Than Words

When we talk about content, our minds immediately consider text but that would be wrong. Images and videos can also be ranking factors if they serve a purpose to the audience. Images and graphics, such as infographics and videos that add value to the text will be picked up by search engines and help your page to rank higher.

Additionally, it is also worth noting that images can be accompanied by keywords (added in a section called Alt Text), which helps search engines identify the picture. This can help your website’s images to appear in image results on search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo.

While there is no magic rule for how much content your website should have, you should make sure that it answers all of your audience’s questions. If it doesn’t, you can guarantee that your competitors will.

Online marketing, or digital marketing as it is commonly called, is a term that encompasses a wide range of channels. In its simplest terms, online marketing is any form of marketing that is designed to improve your business’ online presence – this can include building a website, optimising your website to appear in search results (SEO), social media and digital ads amongst others.

There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to online marketing as different services offer different benefits, reaching different audiences. Much of what businesses look for as part of an online marketing strategy can be placed under three categories, which are:

• Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
• Social Media
• Pay Per Click (PPC)

Here, we will give you a brief introduction to these three forms of online marketing, what they are and what they do:

SEO

Search Engine Optimisation simply referred to as SEO, is arguably the most widely used form of online marketing by businesses. The ultimate goal of SEO is simple, as the name suggests, which is to optimise a website so as it appears as high up the results of search engines as possible for a keyword or phrase.

One of the popular misconceptions of SEO is that it begins and ends with keywords when there is so much more that goes into creating and maintaining a website that search engines like. This also includes making sure the website works as it is supposed to (i.e. doesn’t take too long to load and works well on both desktop and mobile devices), that the site has links from other authoritative websites and offers a good all-round user experience.

Social Media

For many new businesses, social media is where they first start. Social media can be used without spending a penny, which is why so many aspiring entrepreneurs take to the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to create social accounts for their brands. However, while anyone can use social media, it takes someone who knows what they are doing to make it work – this is why the largest businesses in the world employ teams of social media experts to manage their social accounts.

This is, after all, where your customers are most likely to engage with your brand, so you have to make sure that you get the tone right. Some businesses fall into the trap of utilising their social channels to talk about themselves, rather than what interests their audience. By engaging your customers via their social feed, you win their trust which has always been important when attracting and retaining customers.

PPC

Pay Per Click advertising often referred to as PPC, is a completely different ball-game altogether than social media, although much of it does happen through social channels. Allow us to explain; when you scroll through your Facebook or Twitter feeds, the chances are you will come across a promoted or sponsored post – this is a PPC advert that has been targeted to appear for someone like you. The idea being that by targeting potential customers based on interests and/or location, there is a better chance of a conversion.

Google Ads is the most popular form of PPC and this accounts for the results you will see right at the top of the page when you search for anything on Google. Brands will bid for placements on keywords - some of which will be much more competitive and, with that, more expensive than others - for their advertisement to appear on the screen of the user who is actively searching for their product and/or service.

Creating an Online Marketing Campaign that Works

For an online marketing campaign that works for your business, you may not need to invest in every single application of digital marketing, at least not straight away. By assessing the needs and long-term goals of your business, this will help to determine the online marketing services that will be most effective for your needs.

Wix, WordPress, Squarespace, Shopify. These are just some of the website building platforms that you may have come across when looking for the best way to start a website.

Each platform has it’s pros and cons, features and add-ons that we will explore in other articles but you’re just here to learn about the best, and why the best is WordPress.

WordPress - But Why WordPress?

There are many reasons why WordPress is the best option to use as a website platform but we recommend it because;

• It’s free
• It’s easy to use
• It’s well-supported
• It has a ton of documentation and how-to guides
• It’s completely scalable, accommodating small businesses up to huge global names

Whether you’ve got a bit of web know-how or want an opportunity to improve your skills as you go, WordPress is a fantastic platform to help get your business online. With a WordPress website you can easily;

• Sell products and services online
• Take bookings for appointments or events
• Run an informative and engaging blog
• Start a community forum
• Raise donations for a good cause
• Do anything you want to achieve!

Whatever you need your website to do, WordPress is the platform that can help you to do it and is supported by a library containing hundreds of secure, and well-built, plugins that make it simple to add the features and extras you need to support your visitor’s experience.

If you can’t work out how to do something, there is guaranteed to be a written online guide or step-by-step YouTube video to help you work it out. As one of the world’s most popular CMS (Content Management System) most agencies and marketers are already familiar with using WordPress. Meaning even if you get started by yourself, you can work with an agency down the line and you won’t have to spend time changing platforms or starting from scratch.

Some Common WordPress Misconceptions

As we mentioned before, there are many different platforms available and over time a few common misconceptions have popped up around WordPress and what it’s useful for. You might have heard;

‘WordPress is just for blogging!’

False. WordPress began life as a blog publishing system but quickly developed into something more, something bigger. Today, WordPress is the best choice for any website that needs to be regularly amended or added to, and with today’s audience need for frequently updated, engaging content - that pretty much covers all of them.

‘WordPress can’t do e-commerce!’

False. Not only can WordPress handle all your e-commerce needs but with support from WooCommerce, the WordPress e-commerce plugin, it does a fantastic job of it! WooCommerce is the most popular e-commerce platform, powering almost half of all e-commerce on the web and capable of handling everything from physical products to digital downloads.

‘All WordPress websites look the same!’

False. Although the look and style of WordPress websites are controlled by a ‘theme’, you have full control over your chosen theme from a free theme to a premium paid theme - both with high degrees of customisation or have a custom theme made that’s completely bespoke to your business.

When it comes to the world of online marketing, there is a lot to take in and we’ll be the first to admit it.

There’s a fair amount of industry-specific terminology that you might not be familiar with, and while you are still getting to grips with the basics, you can go from being a local business to one that is competing with household names for search traffic overnight. For this reason, it’s important for you to understand exactly what’s going on.

From the technical jargon and abbreviations that get thrown around through to the ever-changing, constant updates from Google, we’re going to give you the low down – and deliver the information that you really need to know.

Abbreviations and Acronyms

All of the below acronyms are used so often and so easily by those working in the online marketing world that it can sometimes be a little difficult to keep up, whether you’re new to SEO or not. To keep it simple for you, we’ve got an overview of what these terms mean – and then we’ll explain exactly why they’re important.

Understanding Online Marketing

Hopefully, this gives you a better understanding of online marketing, and how it will help you achieve your goals. While there are many other acronyms and abbreviations in use, these are the main ones that you are likely to come across – and knowledge is power!

If there’s anything else you have come across that you’d like to understand in more detail, please do not hesitate to contact us and we’ll be more than happy to help.

What is SEO? 

Search engine optimisation is all about improving the visibility of your website within Google search results. Whilst other search engines are available, Google is the biggest and their guidelines dictate a lot of what happens in online marketing. 

Doing SEO for your website is often referred to as organic, as the work is done has an indirect impact on your overall visibility on Google. Technical improvements, the addition of optimised content, link acquisition and building your authority and industry relevance are the fundamentals of organic SEO, but that’s not to say that this can be complemented by paid exposure through PPC, too.

In order to succeed with SEO, it’s vital you have a strategy that is tailored to your specific needs. There is no one size fits all solution so it’s important to get this right, whether you do it yourself or outsource to an expert. 

What is PPC? 

Pay per click is one of the most common methods of paid advertising in online marketing. Both SEO and PPC are highly effective at getting traffic to your site and boosting conversions – and subsequently enquiries or revenue – but when it comes to PPC, the difference is that you pay for the traffic you receive. 

The success of your PPC campaign will largely be dependent on the keywords that you target, the level of competition for these phrases and your budget. 

Over to you...

With knowledge comes power; the more you know about the world of online marketing, the easier it is to decide which route is best for you. This might be SEO on its own to help build your authority and organic search results, PPC to complement your existing organic results, or a combination of both to really give your business the push it needs.

If you’re ready to take the next step in figuring out what is right for your business and how to go about achieving your goals, then get in touch with our team to get started!