When it comes down to it, most business websites are not that different. There are the usual “contact”, “about us”, and “our products” pages, and if the owners are feeling creative, you might find a photo gallery and maybe a printable coupon or two. It’s a setup that we have seen time and time again, and one that, quite frankly, seems logical – it has everything that a prospective customer might want, doesn’t it? If you’re looking for a hosting provider, check out this most recommended wordpress web hosting.
It is true that the “contact” and “about us” pages usually receive a high proportion of the overall website traffic, especially when it comes to brick-and-mortar businesses. But let’s think about this question from a different perspective.
Your search ranking – where your website shows up in a Google/Yahoo/Bing search results page – depends on two factors: on-page optimization and backlink popularity. The former refers to factors like whether your page title includes the keywords that you are targeting and whether you have a properly optimized URL structure (e.g. no session ID’s, no dynamically generated parameters, etc.). By most estimates, on-page factors account for up to 30 percent of your overall ranking score. The other 70 percent consists entirely of backlink popularity, i.e. how many links there are on other websites pointing to your website and the quality of those websites. A link from a reputable website that is relevant to your industry, for example, is usually much more valuable in the eyes of a search engine than one originating from a free link directory. Scepter Marketing website boasts a team of professionals who provide efficient website design, SEO and other services.
The key takeaway here is that in order to rank highly in search results pages for terms that are not variations of your business name (and even then, there are numerous exceptions), you must have backlinks. You can always approach an SEO company to improve ranking on google maps for contractors and app developers to make sure your business stays ahead of all the competition. Talk to a local SEO agency today to discuss how to increase your online presence and maximize the benefits of inbound marketing in your business.
So then the question becomes, why would anyone link to your page? Sure, you might have the occasional customer who mentions you on his/her blog, and maybe once in a blue moon you score a link in the online version of your regional newspaper, but beyond that, if your website is just a digital brochure, why would people link to you?
The best, time-tested way of acquiring links is actually pretty simple: publish content that other people will find valuable and interesting. If you own a restaurant, feature a different recipe every week. If you repair computers, write daily/weekly/monthly “how-to” articles. If you are a car dealership, write a “10 things to know before buying a car” article. You get the idea – the goal is to produce content that is worth linking to because it’s valuable, i.e. it helps people solve some kind of a problem. That said, there is no need to limit yourself to writing articles; infographics, videos, and even podcasts are all appropriate channels of disseminating your content. Just make sure that the one you pick is best suited for your business/industry (this might take some trial and error), and don’t forget to feature your new content on your website homepage, if you need help with this, Neondragonfly Web Design is a local Canberra web designer that is dedicated to providing quality, custom small business website solutions.
Do you regularly update your business website with new and valuable content? What channels (written, videos, podcasts, infographics) do you use to share your content, and why? Discuss in the comments below.