It might be surprising (although it really shouldn't be) to hear that as many as 73% of Google searchers never look beyond the first page of results. It isn't really any wonder that an entire industry, SEO, has evolved along with business as a means of ensuring that they can grab a piece of the pie.
More than 40,000 search queries are undertaken by Google every single second, and understanding how to make the search engines work with your business is essential if you want to really make the most of your online retail and digital marketing efforts.
The History Of SEO
Of course, it could be argued that SEO isn't really a new industry at all – certainly, some experts argue, it has been around since before the days of the internet, when enterprising individuals would advertise their goods in the classified pages of their local newspaper.
Back in those days, vendors' determination to ensure that their adverts reached the top of the page meant that the first column's entries tended to read as something similar to “AAAAAAAAAAAAA complete works of leather-backed Charles Dickens for sale – minimal damage to Great Expectations".
Things have moved on, of course, thanks to the latest innovations in technology and business, but the basic principle remains the same. With so much commercial activity now having made the move on to the never-ending web of the internet, constructing your online presence in such a way that it can be easily found in search engine queries is now essential. It isn't really surprising that it has become such a thriving and essential industry in its own right.
5 Things That Every Online Business Leader Needs To Know!
- SEO Is Constantly Growing In Significance – SEO has been incredibly important, but it is more essential to business than ever before, due to the speed at which multiple aspects of search marketing as a whole are developing. Both mobile and desktop searching continues to grow on a global scale, it is also becoming harder and harder to make sure that your business is findable, and that you can be heard above the noise of the internet.
Users today, if they cannot find what they are looking for on the first page, then they will typically refine their search, rather than clicking through onto the second or third pages. This means that business will need to rank highly for specific terms, rather than moderately well for multiple, general terms.
- It's A Never Ending Work In Progress – Back when Google and other search engines were fledgling start ups, SEO was a relatively crude endeavour and even basic techniques which included stuffing pages with keywords and links and including hidden text and duplicate content – techniques which are now heavily discouraged by SEO professionals – worked to improve website rankings.
The emphasis at the time was all about wooing the search engine and not really caring about the end-user, which always led to a lack of engagement or customer support. Never before has the saying “you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink" been more appropriate.
Google, however, has only reached the dizzying heights of success today by catering for its users. It was never going to stand idly by whilst the quality and relevance of search engine results were being eroded by the exploitation of its algorithms. Google wants its users to have a good experience, which means encouraging people and businesses to create great content and well-indexed websites.
SEO techniques which are cheap, quick and unreliable are no longer possible – modern SEO revolves around the creation of a long-term online proposal which forms a significant part of your overall business plan. It does not translate well to those businesses that are just looking to make a quick profit and vanish.
- Algorithms Are Always Evolving – Google is well known for constantly tweaking its algorithms. In fact, it has been said that Google's personnel will adapt the algorithms as many as 600 times every single year, and rolls out major updates such as Google Penguin and Panda. One of the company's biggest changes was 2013's Hummingbird, which saw the platform being able to complete user's searches before the finished typing them.
Older SEO experts might remember something known, affectionately, as the Googledance. Every time an algorithm changed, SEO specialists would scurry around making changes to minute parts of their website. This constant tweaking was performed in the hope that your site would be able to weather the changes of Google search engine.
- Anyone Can Do SEO – If you don't have the resources to seek external help, then you can start to work on your own search engine optimisation. Whilst understanding the many intricacies of SEO is essential when it comes to reaching the top spots of a SERP, simply considering the search-friendliness of your site and how your content is optimised for keywords can really make a difference, especially in the early days of your website.
Firstly, take the time to understand how people search for your products and services, and make sure that you identify the right keywords. Secondly, you need to create engaging content which revolves around topics associated with these keywords. Whilst it might once have been enough to simply stuff your content with these keywords, it is now essential to ensure that you are creating blog posts and articles which are useful to your audience. Thirdly, making sure that your site is easily understood by both readers and search engines is essential if you want your site to make any impact.
- It's More Important In Countries Like The UK – Here in the UK, competition for search engine optimisation is extremely difficult. This is due to the fact that there are far more businesses and professionals who are attempting to influence Google through their SEO efforts. This also means that Google are harsher with their penalties, and are more likely to punish a site that does not offer a positive user experience.
Obviously, there is limited space on the first few pages of a Google search, and with the range of applications and buy-now buttons which are pushed on to the user, competition is more fierce than ever.
SEO Services, Consultancy And Training
If you're looking for SEO services, then you need to look no further than Promote. We are one of the UK's leading search engine optimisation companies, and the very best SEO agency in Reading, with an extensive track record in helping business of all shapes and sizes, and from a wide range of industries, improve their online visibility through effective and ethical SEO techniques. We also offer consultancy services and the UK's most comprehensive single-day training courses, to help you make a real start on your website's search-friendliness right from the start.
For more information, please don't hesitate to get in touch with our friendly team today on 0118 380 1002. If you have any questions, then please email hi@promote.agency, and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.
