Before SEO
- Thu, 11/17/2011 - 18:16
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A lot of business owners often ask how could they improve their website ranking in search engines and especially Google. Of course a lot of “marketing experts” will come up with an immediate and easy answer: Search Engine Optimization (a.k.a. SEO).
Well, this is what we believe. Sure, SEO could be an important part of an online strategy, but it’s not magic. There are other elements, more crucial, for a successful website. The top 2 of them are of course Content and User Experience. It’s always good to keep this in mind.
So, what’s our advice for a business owner?
1. Think like your clients
Ask yourself the right questions. What would you like, as a client, to find in a website like yours? What kind of content, texts, images, information would you be interested in? What reason would you have to return again and again at this page? Why would you like to share it with your friends in facebook? If you answer correct the above questions, you probably have a very good description of the content your website should have.
2. Design a rich user experience for your website
The way your visitors interact with your content should be a top priority for you. When a website feels easy to use, robust, intuitive, pleasant and useful, users will visit it again in the future. User experience is what differentiates a poor website from a great website.
3. Give your website the attention it deserves
Your website is not like a space rocket - create it, launch it and you’re done. It’s an important part of your business and a very effective tool. Engage personally, update it regularly, observe, evaluate, adjust and improve it. Just like any other part of your business.
As Matt Legend Gemmell wrote recently in his famous article, SEO for Non-dicks: “The key thing to understand is that the rules of SEO aren’t magic or arbitrary. They’re based on the goals of a search engine, which is to find relevant results. Relevance implies genuineness, and genuineness implies trust. So, shockingly, you should try to make your site’s content trustworthy, genuine and relevant. All of the rules have come about due to their utility in detecting those three positive metrics…”
We couldn’t agree more!