3 Ways to Increase Blog Traffic

Blogging has become one of the most popular ways of communicating, sharing information and developing your brand. In fact, according to WordPress, over 409 million people are reading more than 23.7 billion pages every month. With such a large potential audience, it is not surprising that 53% of marketers say blogging is their top priority when it comes to content marketing.

Creating a consistent blog is a beneficial way of increasing traffic, leads and sales for your business. By providing potential customers with knowledgeable and relevant content, you position your brand as an industry leader, building trust with your audience. As well as this, a blog can be valuable in engaging with current contacts and can be beneficial in reviving relationships with lapsed customers.

Once your blog is set up, it will not gather any traction unless you nurture it with consistent articles. Here are three ideal ways to increase traffic to your blog and increase engagement:

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION

75% of internet searchers on Google never scroll past the first search results page. Therefore, if you want to attract new readers to your blog, it’s important that it appears on that first page. SEO is the essential component of digital marketing that can achieve this.

SEO uses intricate techniques and strategies to obtain high-ranking placements in the search results page of a search engine (SERP). It works to increase the authority and relevancy of your website in order to increase visibility.

SEO is constantly evolving as search engines often adjust their algorithms to improve search results for users. To increase traffic and extend your reach, it’s vital that you implement SEO processes to amplify your blog content out to new readers.

Search engines use high-tech programs, or bots, to scan your blog and website for information such as:

  • Keyword selection
  • Link building
  • On-page optimisation
  • Off-page optimisation
  • Building natural links

That blog post will then be indexed based on several algorithmic factors, which affects your search engine ranking. Search engines like a constant supply of fresh, relevant and engaging content. Therefore, the more often you update your blog, the more frequently your website will be found.

SOCIAL MEDIA

There are currently over 3.3 billion active social media users, and each one of those individuals have formed their own connections, followers and friends. To tap into this expansive network, you should develop a concise social media strategy that incorporates your blog.

As a company, share your latest blogposts from your company page and reach out to your followers to keep them up to date with your latest content. This ensures that you maintain engagement with your existing network, providing them with information that may be beneficial to them.

When someone engages with your blogpost on social media, your posts will then appear on the timelines of your engaged audience’s connections.

You can increase outreach by asking your employees to share the company blog from their personal profiles too. As well as this, you can interact with influencers, top pages and relevant groups.

Some of the key benefits of using blogs within your social media strategy is that you can develop your entire marketing plan, amplify brand awareness and generate conversation around your company and content. For example, if someone responds to your blogpost, other people may then respond to them too. Then, as more people get involved, your brand and post has sparked conversation, engaged with a wider audience and increased awareness of you, your company and your website.

EMAIL MARKETING

According to DMA Insight, 99% of us check our emails every day. For some, that’s as many as 20 times a day.

On your website, you can set up an email list which allows individuals to ‘opt in’ and sign up to receive your latest blogs. Then, you can separate your database via their interests. You can then use this segregated audience as a tool to push your content to an engaged audience. These individuals may then forward on your email to other colleagues, friends or their own customers if they think your content would be interesting or relevant to them.

Email marketing allows you to push out your content to a vast number of individuals and increase visibility quickly and efficiently. There is usually a low cost, and you are reaching out to an already engaged audience who know you and your company, meaning they are likely to engage with your content.

By emailing your blog content out, you make it easy to engage and re-engage your audience. Your company network is likely to be busy and may not often have the time to check your website for your latest content. By emailing it out to them, they may see something that is relevant to them, and so they will click through to your blog.

If you post content out more than once a week, you can compile those posts combined with some old, niche content into an email newsletter, which increases exposure. If you’re sending an email to someone which contains four or five blog titles, you are four or five times more likely to engage with them.

EDGE CREATIVE

We are an integrated marketing agency who understand the importance of content; we create relevant and informative content for our clients in order to attract, engage and retain their audience. Alongside this, our graphic design team can supply imagery, infographics and animations to your content so you can really get the most out of your marketing.

If you are interested in finding out how EDGE Creative can help increase your blog readership, whether this is through social media, search engine optimisation or email marketing, get in touch by calling 0121 355 8092.

REFERENCES:

https://fitsmallbusiness.com/business-blogging-statistics/

https://wordpress.com/activity/

https://dma.org.uk/uploads/misc/5a1583ff3301a-consumer-email-tracking-report-2017-(2)_5a1583ff32f65.pdf

https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics

Increase Engagement on Your Website Through Animated Content

A great way to deliver a dynamic and impactful message on your website is to incorporate animated videos. Animated videos have the potential to work with you to create a visually appealing website that will engage with your audience on multiple devices. For example, we created an animated GIF for our client, Midlands LTA and their Spooktacular campaign. The GIF utilised motion and visual effects suited for the theme and target audience, and was posted across social media and helping our client reach users across desktop and mobile.

According to research conducted by Small Business Trends, companies using video enjoy 41% more web traffic from search than non-users. This, as well as an ever-increasing focus on video content within marketing in recent years, is why you should be paying attention to what animated videos can do for your business via digital channels. This focus on video and animation is important because you will be able to quickly grasp your audience’s attention and enable them to share your content across multiple devices and platforms.

WHERE DO I BEGIN?

You’ve received visitors to your website, but how do you keep them there? There is no question that movement attracts attention. So to take advantage of this, you can incorporate animation via videos, GIFs, and illustrations across your website to explain, inform and act as calls to action for your audience. You can also incorporate sound effects, music and voice-overs to add extra information and excitement.

We created an animated GIF for The Holistic Boot Camp to raise brand awareness and showcase their forthcoming holistic retreat, revealing the beautiful beach location, fitness activities and beauty treatments. The GIF was posted across social media to help our client reach users across devices and encourage shares and engagement.

WHY SHOULD I USE ANIMATED CONTENT?

Animated content such as GIFs, vlogs and explainer videos is a great way to create an emotional connection with your visitors, explaining ideas and conveying messages easily and in a fun and friendly way. This is backed up by market research, for example, HubSpot, Video Brewery and Switch Video collected the 50 best explainer videos, and out of these, 86% were animated.

Animated content can help to give clarity to complex information, making it more comprehensible to those who may speak a different language, younger audiences or people who may be new to the topic at hand, for example. Another benefit of animated content is that it can help you convey information quickly, as you may only have a few seconds to grab your visitor’s attention. Therefore, they have mass appeal that can allow you to connect with audiences across the world and capture their attention from the first click. For example, Dropbox added an animated explainer video to their homepage and saw a massive 10 million new customers and a £35 million increase in revenue.

WHAT SHOULD I KEEP IN MIND?

As always, it’s important to begin with the core message you want to convey and the impression you’d like to leave on your audience, and then build your content from there.

It is important to understand that animated content must serve a purpose. It should firstly have a practical function for your target audience and secondly reflect the brand personality of your website, but remember, don’t overdo it – a website cluttered with animation that has no meaning may lose you visitors – it needs long-term relevancy!

HOW CAN EDGE HELP?

EDGE Creative have worked with several clients to produce high-quality and engaging animated content that incorporates movement, visual effects and brand identity to promote businesses and events in a variety of industries. We can produce animated GIFs, videos, vlogs, explainer videos and much more to explain, inform and promote across multiple devices and platforms.

Web animation is a design trend that EDGE Creative will be giving even more attention to this year. Our animation expert, John, has had a very busy 2018 so far, working on multiple animation projects as well as the redesign of our website, with an improved user journey and additional animated content!

Why not add an EDGE to your website? Call us on 0121 355 8092 or email us at info@edge-creative.com to talk about animated content and how it can work for your brand.

5 UK Essentials for a Search Engine Optimised Website

The term user experience (UX) is about ensuring users find value in what you are providing to them. Giving users a comprehensive and simple journey through your site, being able to navigate your website well without unnecessary steps to get to their end goal.

To put this into context, all users visiting a website are looking for information or a solution to a problem. They want to find the information or product quickly and simply; if this is not achieved, they will leave without converting.

Websites are the multifaceted shop window of your business. They serve to build lasting relationships and sell your products or services, but many miss the mark.

SEO works to draw prospective clients to your website via search engines as you climb the rankings. UX helps users to locate the information they need once on your website and is the catalyst for building and maintaining a relationship with prospective clients.

Both are often seen as separate ways to solve separate problems, but that is not the case. Without SEO, your UX is redundant and vice versa. Here are the 5 UX best practices for developing your SEO:

RESPONSIVE AND MOBILE-OPTIMISATION

In a world that is becoming increasingly mobile-centred, it’s more important than ever to ensure that your website functions as well on mobile devices as it does on desktops.  To put this into perspective, using the data from the Cisco Visual Networking Index, “global mobile devices and connections in 2016 grew to 8.0 billion, up from 7.6 billion in 2015.” With an increase in mobile traffic of 63% in 2016.

If your website doesn’t have mobile users in mind, they are likely to leave and return to their search query. If you’re not sure your website is optimised, you can test it at Nibbler or GTmetrix to give you a starting point.

IMPROVED WEBSITE PERFORMANCE

It’s no secret that Google considers page speed in the ranking of websites, as algorithms punish slow websites. Page speed is a key factor in all aspects of UX.

According to a report conducted by Google Tools:

“Mobile sites that load in five seconds earn up to two times more mobile ad revenue than sites that load in 19 seconds”

Improving your page speed yields dividends when it comes to user experience and search rankings. To access your web page speed, you can obtain data from Google Analytics within the Behaviour tab and using Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool.

CONTENT IS KING

Whilst SEO boosts website visibility, the on-page content engages and informs the audience in a way that supports the user experience. Google’s Panda algorithm oversees punishing sites that do not add value to the user experience, specifically content-thin sites or sites with low-quality content. To ensure your content follows Panda’s algorithm, putting an information architecture in place is a good starting point. The information architecture is the science of organising and structuring the content of a website in a logical order, which is owned as a Symantec structure. The current trend is to centre design around the user.

If you’re not sure whether your website is hitting the mark, ask your customers or clients. For example, send them an email asking them how long it takes them to find a snippet of information or a specific product. See what the results are; it might surprise you.

USER-FRIENDLY NAVIGATION

Webmasters and businesses often overcomplicate the navigation of their website, which not only confuses those arriving at their website but also search engines as well.

Users can navigate through your website quickly and efficiently, which encourages conversions and supports the overall user experience. Test your website’s navigation by comparing it to the user-friendly best practices from Thought Co.

USE IMAGES TO SUPPORT CONTENT

Imagery and graphics are certainly important from an aesthetic and branding point of view, but they have functional properties in that they contribute to the UX and SEO as well.

Without imagery, content can lack engagement and necessary visuals to inform the user further. This is detrimental to the UX as well as SEO in that you can be found in search engines for your images if they are optimised for this with alt-text.

To test the readability of your site, you can use apps such as Readable and WebPageFX.

CONCLUSION

SEO leads to increased traffic to your site and helps it attain a higher position on SERPs; however, it’s UX that will determine whether the traffic can be sustained and converted into customers.

SEO and UX work together to direct qualified traffic to your website and convert it. Webmasters wanting to improve website performance in all aspects should focus on the two and adhere to the above best practices.

If you need help with your website or are looking for help to design and build your website, look no further than our development team. Give us a call on 0121 355 8092 or email us at info@edge-creative.com.

Don’t Leave Copywriting Behind!

You might have heard that in the online world of 2017, visual is everything! With 87% of online marketers using video-driven content, it is taking hold of social media and digital content more than ever. However, all this focus on imagery doesn’t mean the power of written content should just be pushed aside.

At EDGE Creative, we’re big on written content that draws the reader in and depicts your brand to audiences that matter to you. Excellently crafted and well-suited copywriting is required for a multitude of media messages such as emails, blogs, websites, sales tools, brochures, press releases, advertising campaigns and much, much more.

Here are some important guidelines we adhere to when communicating a written message for a company like yours.

START WITH A BANG!

Snappy headlines and impactful opening sentences are fundamental to hooking in your readers’ interest and encouraging them to read on to the end of the piece. The beginning is the most important part of any piece, especially if it’s for sales-driven content. Therefore, we give lots of time and attention to the written word.

We work our magic to start your storytelling in an inspiring way, whether it’s for online content such as a website or email marketing piece or an offline campaign such as a magazine advert, corporate brochure or an explosive sales-driven piece.

MAKE IT MEANINGFUL

When it comes to quality, there’s no use in filling up space with words. To get your message across with clarity, it must mean something! We focus on concise, structured content that is authentic, unique and packed with business potential in every sentence.

CHECK IT, CHECK IT, AND CHECK IT AGAIN

It pays to proofread work thoroughly to ensure sentences are strung correctly, words are spelt accurately and dreaded minor typos are nowhere to be seen.

Correct grammar will also help to maintain your business’s credibility and reputation as a professional and trustworthy organisation. We understand the importance of this, so we always make sure content is read by multiple members of the team to ensure spelling and grammar are in tip-top shape.

FIND YOUR STYLE AND VOICE

It’s best practice to create a distinctive tone of voice for your writing style. This is so you can accurately talk to your readers to convey your brand’s personality. The correct tone of voice will give a consistent “feel” and “voice” to the content across your marketing collateral.

You will need to incorporate this into your brand guidelines to communicate your message constantly throughout all your marketing.

Are you looking to write a blog, interview, Q&A, or a collection of stories? Do you want to develop your brand voice? Does your content need to be factual or opinion-based? These are all important questions that you will need to explore and answer to get started.

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

When writing content to grab attention, traditional may not always be the best approach. Think about what’s different about your brand and ask why your potential clients should listen.

At EDGE Creative, this has been our forte for some time now. Our experienced team build imaginative, innovative and thought-provoking brand stories to make an impact on content that sets itself apart from the rest.

COMBINE STRATEGY WITH CREATIVITY

Fantastic ideas are just one piece of the puzzle. To create engaging content that helps the right people notice your brand, we ensure our blogs, email marketing, website, and printed material follow a set structure that’s bespoke to the brand values it communicates and considers the use of calls to action if required.

A good strategy involves envisioning the objectives and the purpose of the content you wish to create from the get-go.

WHAT NEXT?

We’re an integrated creative agency that produces and creates everything in-house, from design to web. If you’d like to get in touch to find out more about how we can help with content writing, call us on 0121 355 8092, or drop us a line at: info@edge-creative.com.

What Are the Future Digital Trends?

First in the line-up is Chloe, our Digital Account Executive. Giving you a full round-up of digital trends and what’s on the horizon for the next 6 months, here are her thoughts on what could be coming up.

The digital landscape has changed dramatically over the past 6 months, and it’s not showing any signs of slowing down anytime soon. The digital revolution is well underway, as consumers’ daily lives now centre around all things digital more than ever before.

1. VOICE SEARCH

Digital assistants are becoming more integrated into our lives with the help of Apple’s Siri, Google Personal Assistant and Microsoft’s Cortana. The integration has gone further into our homes, with the introduction of products like Google Home and Amazon Echo.

It might not seem like this would have a massive impact on digital marketing. However, there has been a change to the way we search for things. For example, if you were searching via text for the CEO of Microsoft, you’d probably search “Microsoft CEO” using a short phrase to find your answer. When you use voice search,h you’re more likely to search “who is the CEO of Microsoft?” There is a subtle change in the use of language here.  Of course, we have an impact on the keywords we use as Digital Marketers, and considerations we will consider when planning a campaign. There is potential for this to have a big impact on the way consumers find information and the type of marketing we use to reach them.

2. AUGMENTED REALITY & VIRTUAL REALITY

With the launch of the iPhone X, there is a push on augmented reality, fusing the physical and digital world. Within the coming month, social media channels will potentially incorporate it into their offerings. Looking at an example, the Pokémon Go phenomenon, the popularity of this was initially nostalgia-driven. It also grew in popularity due to the newness of the technology and widespread availability globally. The total immersion of the game and interactivity among users were one of key benefits of the game. More apps, social media and games will centre around augmented reality.

The same for virtual reality, this is becoming more accessible and affordable. There is plenty of scope for how VR can be incorporated into a marketing strategy. For example, it could be used for a Hotel to promote their venue for weddings, by showcasing actual weddings at the venue, rather than a tour of the space. Immersing potential clients in the experience of the venue.

3. INSTANT EVERYTHING

When consumers grow up surrounded by social media and technology, the expectations of instant communication and entertainment become inevitable. Generation Z consumers gravitate to instantaneous social channels such as Snapchat, Facebook Live, and Musical.ly. The obvious downside to this is that there is an expectation for instant responses and activity. This expectation is set to increase, with marketers having to be very adaptable to change content within a few moments.  Also, innovation will need to happen rapidly and to a high standard.

From a business perspective, there are some exciting opportunities ahead, with some of these emerging technologies. In terms of using voice search, digital marketing professionals can adapt their keyword strategies to expand the reach of campaigns. With augmented reality and virtual reality, there is scope for brands to be able to immerse their customers to fully experience their offering. Instantly, everything will quicken the pace of how strategies are implemented and brands’ adaptability to digital changes.

These are the key trends that I think are set to make the biggest impact on digital marketing within the next year. Let us know if you agree or share your views with us on Twitter: @EDGE_Creative.

Changes to Google SERP Rankings

WHAT’S CHANGING?

Pop-ups and Overlays

This could involve websites that show large, obtrusive interstitials, which pop up and obscure the main content of the page. This could be when the user is looking through the website, or immediately after it is accessed. The changes don’t affect pop-ups about cookies, age warnings or pop-up ads that take up a smaller, reasonable amount of space on the page. These new guidelines aim to help improve the mobile search experience, as pop-up ads can be especially obtrusive on a smaller screen, meaning that users are unable to easily access the information they are looking for.

HTTP vs HTTPS

These changes are also going to affect websites that are using HTTP instead of the more secure HTTPS. HTTPS is often used to provide a secure, end-to-end encryption between the user and the website, to make sure that no one can intercept data like passwords, card details and details submitted in forms. Web pages that use HTTP instead of HTTPS are more likely to be ranked lower, as Google is now planning to use this as a ranking signal, and is planning to strengthen this over time.

This doesn’t just affect the search ranking, however, as Google have announced that they are going to start displaying a warning symbol alongside websites that don’t use HTTPS, alerting users that the page is “not secure” if they collect details from a user’s cards or passwords. This is part of a long-term plan to mark these pages as “not secure”, eventually moving to a red warning, which Google believe will have more of an effect on the user.

Mobile-friendly Search Results

In addition to these changes, Google has announced that it will no longer be displaying the “mobile-friendly” tag in mobile search to keep search results uncluttered. This is because most results when searching on mobile will already meet these criteria. This won’t affect the decrease in ranking for websites that are not mobile-friendly, however.

HOW CAN WE HELP?

At EDGE, we understand how important it is to make sure that your website reaches its full potential. Why not get in touch with us to discuss your website today?

Could Geo-Targeting Be Your Next Marketing Tool?

WHY IS GEO-TARGETING USEFUL?

Nearly 83% of all internet usage is from mobile phones, and the number of people accessing the internet from their phone is creating big opportunities for marketers to target us on a hyper-local level. Not only this, but marketers can now dynamically target our behaviour and personalise our experience by matching campaigns to our physical location.

To show you just how effective geo-targeting can be, in some cases, the ability for marketers to target consumers with real-time ads has driven a 50% increase in footfall and a 25% increase in purchases. This can be directly associated with how relevant the advertising is concerning what someone is doing and where they are when they receive it.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

15.2 million UK users are using a location-based service either to search for a local business or check into a location such as cafés, clubs and shopping centres.

Geo-targeting, or location-based marketing, works by delivering content to a user based on their geographic location. Currently, businesses can do this in several ways:

  • Social media apps with check-in features, such as Facebook and Foursquare, enable customers to receive promotional offers from shops and businesses close to their location at the time they check in.
  • Companies such as Groupon and Amazon have pushed forward a mobile couponing model where a marketer can target their campaign to appear on the device of a customer browsing the internet within a given distance of their business. All a consumer needs to do is click on a mobile banner and redeem a coupon in-store.
  • Businesses can use classified advertising on platforms such as Google+. This is being used more frequently by smaller service-based businesses as there is less wastage when compared to other forms of advertising.

WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF GEO-TARGETING?

The Mobile Location Leadership Forum predicted that location-based ads will eventually make up 40% of ad spend, and the number of location-aware applications will triple by 2019.

Bruce Rogers, chief insights officer and head of the chief marketing practice at Forbes Media, reported that 90% of sales still occur at in-store locations, but while shopping, consumers are still heavily connected to their devices, which means marketers have a direct line to in-store consumers.

Every brand and retailer is interested in creating an experience in which purchasing an item is as easy as ordering an Uber taxi. Location may be the key to creating a relevant and convenient experience.

TIPS ON GEO-TARGETING FOR YOUR BUSINESS

  • Find a venue where you will reach your target audience. Stadiums, airports, universities and shopping centres are examples of specific venues that can be targeted in order to reach audiences. Use these consumer characteristics to time and target your marketing. For example, airports on weekdays are a great source of business travellers looking for high-end restaurants
  • Define a radius by distance or by time around your store/area of interest. Geo-fencing allows marketers to set a perimeter around a physical location in which ads can be delivered. For geo-fencing ads, they may include creative messages acknowledging the user’s location or may include location-based features such as a store locator. Another way to define a perimeter is not by distance, but by time. A company named iGeolise developed a platform they call TravelTime, an API that allows mobile apps and sites to search by time rather than distance.
  • Use location-specific keywords when browsing in a search engine. For example, ‘city centre restaurants” provide location intent that you can target. Include location terms such as area code, postcodes, neighbourhood, community name, nearby landmarks, and popular venues.
  • Predict your geographical audience. Geography can also be used to predict desirable demographics and information about users in that area. Neighbourhoods can often be delineated by residents’ income bracket, age, ethnicity, education, and many other demographics or interests.
    Knowing your business’s target audience and matching it up with where they live or work helps you find those who might be most interested in your product or service.
  • Analyse consumer behaviour and preference by their past search visits. Location history of a consumer provides a lot of information specific to that person: where they like to shop, what they like to buy, how often they make the trip, and even how they get there. Obtaining this information gives great insight to marketers that enhances the ability to target consumers and deliver relevant, responsive location-specific ads and information, even if the consumer is not currently in that area.

HOW HAVE OTHERS USED GEO-TARGETING?

IKEA attempted to increase in-store traffic through geo-targeting. They created a test campaign on Facebook using targeted advertising. The campaign was conducted over two weeks, matching Facebook usage and EE data to measure the uplift in visits to the Ikea store in Cardiff from those who had seen targeted Ikea adverts on Facebook. The results showed an 11% average increase in store visits among more than 172,000 people who were served adverts, compared with an otherwise identical same-size group that had not seen the adverts.

Location has always been important within marketing, even in more traditional forms such as newspapers. When a business is advertising in a newspaper, they will pick the publication based on its target audience’s location and interests. With access to geo-targeting, location is set to take on an even bigger and more up-to-the-second role in marketing, which can now be measured rather more reliably.

What is SEO? Search Engine Optimisation Basics

WHAT IS SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION (SEO)?

In simple terms, Search Engine Optimisation, or SEO, is the process of gaining more traffic to your website from search engines like Google or Bing.

Many search engines exist, but we’ll refer to Google throughout this blog as it is the search engine with the largest index of web pages.

Every time a user searches for a word or phrase, known as a search query, Google reviews all the web pages available on the internet that might match that search.

Let’s imagine, for example, that you’re a web developer. A search query that might be relevant for you would be: “Do I need a new website?”

WHY IS SEO IMPORTANT?

Without implementing SEO practices into your marketing strategy, your online visibility will be reduced, meaning your sales and lead potential will be limited. How can you market your web development services online if potential clients can’t find your website?

SEO is the process of driving ‘free’ and relevant traffic to your website by helping your website appear on the search page after a user searches for a service or product you offer. This is typically preferable to other visibility methods, such as paid advertising on Google or social media.

By free, we mean that you don’t pay to rank higher.

With an increased level of relevant traffic to your website, combined with an optimal user experience, you’ll benefit from:

  • Improved visibility and brand awareness
  • More leads and sales
  • A strong foundation for other forms of marketing.

HOW DOES SEO WORK?

If done correctly, when fresh content is published on your website, Google bots (also known as “spiders”) will crawl your website and review its web pages.

Google will then index the page(s), meaning it becomes available to view on the internet.

Each time a search query is entered into the search engine, Google will rank the page based on several factors, including, but not limited to, relevancy to the user’s search query and technical performance, such as speed and authority.

However, Google alone has an index of trillions of web pages. This means you’re battling against countless other websites trying to reach the number one position in those search results.

If the SEO strategy for your page is successful, that new page will appear on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) for relevant searches.

Watch Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, explain how search works.

GOOGLE SERP STRUCTURE

A user has searched Google for “website designers” and is directed to a SERP.

At the top, you have ‘paid’ results – these are advertisements that owners have paid for to appear at the top of the page. This is known as Pay Per Click marketing or PPC for short. These paid results can take multiple forms depending on the type of promotion.

Underneath the adverts, you then have the ‘organic’ results. This is where you’re vying against your competitors for your webpage to appear higher on the list.

TYPES OF SEO

There are many subtypes of SEO, which can be grouped into the three main categories discussed below. These factors work in unison to judge and improve the ranking of your website.

WHAT IS ON-PAGE SEO?

On-page SEO refers to everything we can optimise directly on the website, including:

Keywords – these are the phrases that you’re trying to rank your web page for, such as “web designers in Birmingham.”

Content – your webpage(s) should include the relevant keywords and other associated phrases and topics.

Internal linking – visitors to your website should be able to easily navigate to this page from other areas of your website. This includes the main navigation menu, from category pages, or other related blog posts.

Page speed – people are impatient, and Google knows this. So, if your website doesn’t load quickly, you’re at a severe disadvantage when compared to your faster competitors.

WHAT IS OFF-PAGE SEO?

Off-page SEO refers to techniques that don’t occur directly on your website. This can include social media, email marketing, and more, but in most cases, we’re talking about Link Building.

Link building is the process of getting other websites to link to yours. For example, your client may write a blog about the new website you’ve built for them and might choose to credit you and link directly to your website from that blog.

Links indicate to Google that your website is popular, relevant, and trustworthy. The more quality backlinks pointing to your site, the more authoritative it is, and the higher the chance Google ranks you above everyone else.

Backlinks are singular, meaning that if a single client links to your website three times, you have three separate backlinks.

WHAT IS TECHNICAL SEO?

Technical SEO refers to the overall quality of your website’s structure, referring to how well your website is built. There are a few subcategories that Google uses to determine this, including:

Page speed – we have discussed loading speed before, but it’s worth another mention in technical SEO. Google prioritises faster web pages as they provide an overall better user experience.

Mobile-friendliness – your website’s mobile performance is an essential ranking factor. This is what Google ranks you on, regardless of whether you gain more traffic from mobile devices or not. Mobile friendliness is especially important in E-Commerce SEO.

User experience – your clients should be able to find what they need when they visit your website. If not, they’ll likely get frustrated and leave, meaning you’ve lost out on a potential lead.

WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS?

Now that you understand the basics of what SEO is, what should your next steps be?

Learn how your SEO is currently performing and how you’re faring against your competitors by claiming your FREE SEO and web audit. We’ll send you an easy-to-understand presentation along with our pricing should you wish to start a campaign with us.

Alternatively, discover how we fully manage an SEO campaign by understanding the processes we go through.

LET’S START A CONVERSATION

As a search engine optimisation company, we’ve helped businesses throughout the UK boost web traffic, grow their customer base, and increase leads and revenue.

We can handle all your marketing needs, from website design and development to social media management and content generation.

If you’d like to find out more about what we do, get in touch by emailing info@edge-creative.com or calling the office on 0121 355 8092.