Driving Sales from Your Website

Is your website generating an acceptable number of qualified leads for you today? If the answer is no or not really, then some website optimization may be in order.

Your website needs to be discoverable by folks looking for the products and/or services that you offer. That requires increasing website visibility. A website that is optimized for organic search visitors will, over time, acquire higher visibility, which will mean more visitors and more of the right sort of visitors, a few of whom should then convert to leads on the site (provided some conversion optimization is done, more on that in another blog).

Website Visibility

The idea is to improve your website’s ranking on search engine results pages, primarily on Google which has most of the search traffic after all. Being on page one of Google is clearly best. Being featured on later pages, after page two, will mean that the chance of getting leads will diminish dramatically.

So, how do we get your website to feature on page one or, at the most, page two?

Keywords Optimization

Keywords are the foundation of search visibility. These are the terms and phrases that potential customers type into search engines when looking for products or services like yours. Identifying the right keywords is the first step, and it involves understanding your audience’s search behavior and selecting the right terms with high enough search volume but low to medium competition. It is a good idea to start with low competition keywords and then move up the ladder to more competitive, higher-volume ones.

On-Page Optimization

On-page optimization refers to optimizing individual pages/posts on your website to rank higher. There are several items to take care of. First off is the page content itself: making sure that it is engaging, informative and that it includes the chosen keyword. Then there is a need to optimize HTML tags and appropriately link the page to other pages on the site.

Off-Page Optimization

Off-page optimization focuses on activities outside your website that can impact your rankings. The most important aspect is building high-quality backlinks from reputable sites. Backlinks function as votes of confidence from other websites, signalling to search engines that your content is valuable and trustworthy.

The following activities will help:

Guest Blogging: Writing guest posts for industry-related blogs and including links back to your site.
Social Media Posts: Sharing your content on social media platforms to increase visibility and attract links.
Influencer Outreach: Connecting with influencers in your industry niche to gain endorsements and backlinks from their websites.

Technical Optimization

Technical SEO involves optimizing your website’s pages to make it easier for search engines to crawl and index the pages, and for visitors to find the pages and load them on their browsers. Key aspects include:

Mobile-Friendliness: Ensuring your website is responsive and provides a seamless experience on all devices: mobile, tablet, and desktop.
Site Speed: Optimizing images and videos to avoid heavy files and leveraging server caching to improve your site’s loading time.
Sitemaps: Creating and submitting XML sitemaps to help search engines discover your pages.

Monitoring and Adjusting Your Strategy

SEO is not a one-time effort. It requires ongoing monitoring and adjustments. Tracking traffic, understanding user behavior, and identifying areas for improvement are required to stay ahead. While getting onto page one of search results is the goal, there are several leading indicators to help us guide our way and make sure that we are on the right track. Moving up the ladder on search results takes time and monitoring leading indicators can be very helpful and serve as a feedback and control system. Regularly updating content, optimizing it for any new keywords, and keeping an eye on your competitors would be needed to maintain and improve position.

Conclusion

Driving sales from your website involves a combination of strategic planning, ongoing optimization, and constant monitoring. By understanding and implementing best practices, you can enhance your website’s organic visibility, attract more quality organic traffic, and ultimately, boost your sales.

Start optimizing your website today and watch your business grow!