You know the old saw about a tree falling in the forest and there being no one to hear it? It seems that it doesn’t make a sound.
Our experienced Las Vegas web designer can tell you that the forlorn tree is your website if it gets lost among the billions of pages on the internet. It might be the most relevant site on the web in the eyes of your prospective customers, but that hardly matters if no one sees it.
Fortunately, there are relatively simple ways to draw attention to your site and make sure it ends up near the top of results pages when web users seek out the kind of information you provide. Here are a few.
Produce rich, relevant and high-quality content that appeals to readers and Google indexing.
The Google search engine knows the difference between quality content and fluff, and it will rank your website pages accordingly. Numerous studies have shown that readers have little interest in scrolling far down search results pages and are even less interested in checking out the results entries of subsequent pages. They glance at the first few entries at the top of the first page and conduct their searches from there.
Google algorithms place greater emphasis on high-quality content that offers a rich, informative and relevant reading experience with plenty of actionable information and advice. If the copy is sparse and yields little usable data, it will show up far, far down the search results page — or many pages away. If that happens, your site is the tree that you don’t hear falling in the forest.
Be sure that your content is strategically search engine optimized.
SEO is the use of keywords that reflect the language that Internet searchers use when looking for content like what you offer. SEO strategy involves thinking like your readers and writing in a way that keeps their search strategy front of mind.
Don’t use industry buzzwords unless the readers you’re looking for are knowledgeable in those terms. Remember, it’s not about what you want to say. It’s about the language your prospective readers will use in seeking out web pages like yours.
It also doesn’t mean merely seeding your page content with multiple uses of a few keywords so that your content reads awkwardly. Figure out your keywords and how to use them organically while telling your story. Use them to answer your readers’ questions in an informative and appealing way.
When optimizing your web pages, don’t forget the graphics. Make sure you’re using relevant imagery and then add keywords to the captions and alt text and title text.
Make your pages look as good as they read.
No one sticks around long to read through solid blocks of seemingly endless words. If your page looks cold, intimidating and dreary, you’ll lose your readers before you’ve communicated your message even if you do get them to land on your site with topnotch SEO strategy.
Break up those long copy block with subheads, captions and short, approachable paragraphs. Use photos or other graphic elements to attract the eye further and encourage reader commitment. A video clip or two can further draw attention when appropriate to the messaging.
A talented website design Las Vegas professional can show you how to use typography and copy placement strategies to avoid chasing your readers away and keep them involved in your message.
Get outbound and inbound links.
A website that have links both going to and coming from other sites are favored by Google ranking. That’s because links serve as a sort of “endorsement” of your work by other relevant professional sites.
It’s a natural process to link to other sites from your content when it adds value to your messaging but always ask for permission first, as a courtesy. And make sure the link opens in another window, so your readers don’t lose their way back to your site when finished reading from the link.
One way to encourage other website owners to link to yours is by writing guest blog posts for bloggers with content that’s compatible with your own. Some sites actively solicit writers to do this, while others will welcome your offer of contributing a post for the “payment” of a brief bio and a link to your site. After all, posts written by knowledgeable guests is content that the bloggers don’t have to take the time to write for themselves.
Update your content regularly.
Keep things dynamic, not static. The Google algorithm can detect “stale” copy, which is material that isn’t regularly changed or updated. Whatever your business or pursuit, things change. New trends appear, products are launched, industry news pops and promotions and special pricing are introduced.
Don’t keep this information to yourself. You should look at your website at least a few times a week to make sure the “news” is still new, your marketing forecasts aren’t now common knowledge, and your hiring page isn’t describing a job opening for a position you’ve had filled for the last several months. (Think how uncomfortable it will make your current employees reading job descriptions that sound exactly like what they’re doing now.)
Consult a professional.
Chances are, you don’t do websites for a living. You do whatever your professional line of work is for which you have a website. That’s why it’s understandable if what you read above sounds a bit beyond your capabilities or too labor-intensive for you to undertake on top of all of your other business responsibilities.
When you hire an experienced and talented Las Vegas digital marketing company, your website gets the sharp focus and attention of someone who does user-friendly website design Las Vegas for a full-time living. They know how to maximize the appeal and the effectiveness of your website and regularly update it so that it becomes a valuable sales tool.
When that happens in 2019, your tree will be heard when falling in the forest — no matter how many other trees are around.
