As an entrepreneur, you want to be found by potential customers without having to pay a lot of money immediately. To appear at the top of Google’s organic search results is a mystery itself for many entrepreneurs. But how do you apply search engine optimization in the right way?
What will you learn?
By appearing organic search results at the top, you increase your online findability.
SEO is about qualitative, relevant, up to date and unique content.
Google recently started mobile-first indexing.
Google the introduction
In the Netherlands, where FML Marketing was founded, Google is by far the most used search engine and the importance of being able to score well in Google is high. For example, the overwhelming majority (92%) of the people in the search results does not look any further than page one. And where 31 percent clicks the number 1 position, the number two and three are already considerably reduced to fourteen and eight percent respectively.
Two pillars
Search engine optimization is often referred to as SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and is based on two pillars: On-page: HTML, structure and content and Off-page: link building and social media. By actively implementing improvements in both pillars, your website will be better found. SEO is therefore seen as an effective marketing tool that can be used for branding and increase your conversion.
HTML
With on-page improvements, you can initially think of the optimization in the field of html. Give your site a good title and clear description (meta description). This is the information that is displayed in the search results and visitors have to go to your site. Then make sure that your site meets the expectations you generate with your title and description. The time that people spend on your site or not will affect your position.
Local SEO: Why it is important for your business
Structure
The structure of your site is a second on-page element that Google takes care of when positioning the search results. The loading speed and the mobile-friendliness of your site are also included. For example, Google recently started mobile-first indexing, where the mobile variant of websites is leading to the compilation of the search results. With this, Google responds to the increase in the use of the search engine on the mobile phone.
Quality Content
Due to increasingly smart algorithms, content is all about relevance. The golden rule is, therefore: write for your customer. In addition to quality and relevance, it is important that your content is current and unique. That does not only apply to your texts, but also to other forms of content such as images and videos.
Keywords
When determining relevance, keywords play an important role. By knowing which search terms people use, you gain insight into the behaviour of your potential customers. An extensive analysis, where you also look at your competition is recommended. There are several programs that can help you with this, such as Google AdWords, Ubersuggest and Google Trends. The search function on your own website can also give you ideas. Then it is important to respond to these keywords with your content.
Link building
In addition to on-page SEO improvements, you can also implement off-page improvements, which ensure that your site is better indexed. Collecting incoming links to your website (link building) is one of the possibilities for this. Here too, the incoming links must be relevant. So do not use automated programs for this, do not pay for links and avoid spamming on forums. However, it is good to link to a relevant website with a high authority and to invite people to assess your products. You can also use interesting content to ensure that people want to link to your site by themselves.
Social media
The use of social media also affects your ranking in Google. So these channels are suitable for direct contact with your supporters and collecting reviews. Make sure you place content on your website that people like to share via social media. So know where your target group communicates and be active there!