How to get better value from your SEO spend
SEO: a popular misconception
If you own a website you’re most likely highly concerned about how well your website performs when users search online for your products and services. There’s nothing wrong with this; in fact, it’s essential if you want prospects and customers to know who you are are, and what you’re offering.
But here’s the snag. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation: optimising your website’s chances of being high on any given list of search engine results. But when have you ever sold your products or services to a search engine? What, never?
Search engines deliver customers to your door, nothing more
Think of a search engine as a road sign. You own a garden centre, so you put a sign up on the main road letting passing traffic know you’re there. It’s good business sense. But what will those prospects do if they follow the signs to find a run-down shed and a courtyard full of weeds? That’s right, they’ll go away without buying anything, and they’ll tell all their friends about their experience.
Having a good source of traffic counts for nothing if you’re website isn’t fit for purpose (there’s a whole other article there.)
Titles and meta descriptions are the road signs on the information highway
In order to offer your customers the best value possible, it makes sense to concentrate your attention on attracting the visitors most likely to become customers. And, this can be achieved without compromising your SEO effort.
We all know it’s important to use the right keywords in your titles and meta descriptions. It helps search engines know when to recommend your page. But what happens next? If a prospect searches for taxis in Tewksbury, and finds the first site suggested by Google has the title “Taxis in Tewksbury, Tewksbury Taxis, Cabs in Tewksbury, Tewksbury Cabs” what’s their reaction going to be? And if the meta description (the bit the search engine shows under your page title) is more of the same? Sure, you’re positioned well in the search results, but your business looks cheap and lacking in credibility. A good percentage of prospects will look further down the list for a company that communicates with them – not just the search engines.
Your titles and meta descriptions should be aimed directly at your prospects. Using the right keywords should come naturally, because you’ll want to direct your prospects to your site by telling them what you do, and why they should buy from you. So to use our fictional taxi company as an example, a title that reads “Reliable, affordable and comfortable taxis in Tewksbury” is going to generate a higher number of clicks that the keyword-stuffed example I gave earlier.
If you’re really clever, you’ll use the meta description to follow on from your title, enticing your customers to click through and buy your services. You could do this with a call to action: “Book your journey online and receive a 10% discount. All our drivers are CRB checked, polite and respectful. You’ll never hire another taxi in Tewksbury again.”
Quality or volume: pick one
Some of you might wince at the idea of taking one of your more competitive keywords out of your titles to make it more readable. But you have to ask yourself this: do you want to convert 1% of 100,000 visitors, or 15% of 10,000? Keeping your website competitive takes time and money, and is only worth the cost if it leads to more sales. By targeting your customers more accurately, you’ll become more economical. More of the effort you put in will be returned as revenue. Higher sales means higher levels of repeat business, and word of mouth recommendations.
About seoblogger:
Our SEO blogger is an expert in Web Marketing, Usability and Interface Design. He has been a vital part of The Blue Cube Communications since 2003. As the West Midlands fastest growing web marketing agency, we always strive to maximise return on investment for our customers.
