When it comes to starting up your business, there are a few key items that everyone goes through such as cash flow, legal requirements and sometimes premises. One of the last things to get going is often the website, but not a lot of consideration is made for search engine optimisation. Search engine optimization or SEO is what gets your business ranked on the first page of Google, if you aren’t sure why your start up needs it, here are 10 reasons why you do.
Visibility
People are lazy when it comes to looking for things online and whilst google throws up hundreds of thousands of results for your search, we never really look past the first page. A good SEO strategy will get your site on the all-important first page. This result isn’t instant though, it will require work and the strategy will need refining, so don’t expect to be ranked number 1 overnight on your first go. Check out T-RANKS to learn in-depth regarding this.
Builds Trust
There is a lot to be said for having a high-ranking site. People trust sites that are higher up google than at the back end of the results. The higher you rank; the more people will trust what it is you are doing. This trust will increase the level of clicks throughs that you have on your site. Have you ever gone to the 5th page of google and selected a site from that list? No? Neither have we.
Loading Speed
A good SEO strategy isn’t just about getting your site ranked, it also increases your load up speed. We are amazingly impatient nowadays and the longer the site takes to load, the more likely we are not to wait around. Good SEO cuts down this speed and makes sure that customers can access our content quickly.
Layout
SEO is all about how google and other search engines work through your site and deem its relevance to search enquires. This means that you need your website laid out in a format that is easy to use for the user and easy to crawl by the search engines. The end result of a good strategy is a website that has an amazing load speed and easy layout.
Mobile Optimisation
When you start developing your website, you’ll be given the option to develop it for mobile or desktop, if you develop it for mobile use, your site will be better ranked than if you select desktop. This means that you get a site that works on both devices and that ranks well.
Location
When starting up your business, you may well have a fixed location such as a shop. SEO can get you noticed in the local area, especially when the SEO is done well. A good strategy will make sure that when people enquire about businesses of your type in your local area, it will be you that ranks.
Increases Traffic
One of the most basic attributes of good SEO is that it increases traffic to your site, the more traffic you get the better the chances of conversion. You want to increase the chances of people clicking on your site and it is a good SEO strategy that can do this.
SEO Is Free
The good thing about SEO is that it can be a learnt skill. If you have the time to invest in learning, it really is one that will continue to pay off. SEO continually develops so you can always invest in yourself and develop your strategy. Once you have the basics on lock, you can change your site accordingly to help it rank better, but remember to be patient, SEO is a process!
Data Collection
One of the things that good SEO can do is give you a strong customer profile. Not many people leverage SEO in this way, but it can really help you get to know your customers and the better you know them, the better you can market your product and service to them. As a start up, you may have a vague idea of the customers that you want to attract, but that may well not translate. So, when you start your SEO journey, make sure that you are gathering data on who is clicking through to your site and then who is converting into sales or enquires.
Brand Value
In this day and age, you need to make sure that you are building a strong brand and the way you do this is through strong SEO. Building a brand requires a level of trust from the customer, authority from you and a strong website behind you. SEO not only creates a stable website that your customers will enjoy using, but it will also load quickly, have all the relevant information and really make the customer want to come back due to the user experience.
Wrap Up
When it comes to SEO for a start-up, it really is a factor that cannot be ignored. You want to make sure that before you develop your website, you have considered SEO prior to starting. It is easier to build a website with SEO in mind than make retrospective changes. A good SEO strategy not only increases the clickthrough rate, it also increases consumer trust and brand value. Make sure that you spend time understanding SEO strategy to get the best results for your start-up.
