Whatever kind of business you have in the Wirral, you probably already know the value of having a strong web presence with a good and engaging website. Your website acts like your virtual shop window even if you don’t directly do business online. It can attract customers, help explain what you do and showcase your goods or services.
However, there’s little point in having the most beautifully designed, engaging and functional website if no one ever visits it. You don’t only want to service existing customers – you want new ones to visit when they are searching online for the things you excel in. This is where SEO Wirral – or search engine optimisation – comes in.
What is SEO, and Why do You Need it?
There are a lot of elements that go into SEO, but the aim is very simple. It aims to put you as close to the top as possible when people search for relevant terms (known as keywords) in Google and other search engines.
Why is this important? Just think about the last time you searched for something on your phone, laptop or desktop computer. Did you scroll through the results or just look at the top few? It’s probably a safe bet that you didn’t go to the second page or beyond.
Now imagine someone searching for a term related to your business, whether it’s ‘dog groomers in Wirral’, ‘accountants Merseyside’ or anything else. If your business appears at the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs), people are likelier to click on it.
According to research, the first page of Google results gets 95% of user attention. It also matters where you appear on that page. Research has also shown that around a third of search traffic (32.5%) in terms of clicks goes to the top organic result (i.e. the first one under the paid ads you get these days). 17.6% goes to the second, and by the time you get to the 7th, it’s just 3.5%.
Interestingly, the total click-through rate for the top 10 results is 208% of the total number of searches, meaning, on average, people click more than twice on the first page of results. This might give you a second chance if you’re not in the top spot, but people are still more likely to visit your website – and potentially become a customer – if it appears towards the top of the rankings.
How does SEO work?
SEO works by making your website attractive to Google, Bing and other search engines, which all have their own criteria when deciding how relevant and important any given website or page is when people search for a keyword.
There are a number of different aspects to this, but the main parts are:
- On-page optimisation
Look at your website and ensure it has the right content for web crawlers (the bots that search engines use to explore and rank your site) and human visitors. Using the right keywords, providing relevant, fresh content, and correctly using elements like title tags can boost your SEO in this area.
- Off-page optimisation
Sometimes, things happening away from your website can help send people there. Link building, content marketing, effective social media marketing and local SEO efforts can all help drive traffic back to your website. Think of your main website as the hub of a wheel, with spokes leading back to it from all these other areas.
- Technical optimisation
The ‘under the bonnet’ part of SEO. Improving the performance and layout of your website can help with SEO, as well as improving performance and user experience when people visit. Poor page loading times, for example, are bad for SEO and a key reason why people leave a website they have clicked on.
How Can an SEO Agency Help You?
Here’s a little secret. SEO is essentially informed guesswork. Google and other search engines do not make their algorithms and ranking criteria public, so SEO experts must carefully measure, test, experiment and monitor what works and what doesn’t.
They also have to monitor updates and announcements, adjusting strategies as the big search engines continue to tweak their own technologies and techniques. Google does give some guidance, and the search world is constantly changing. SEO techniques that once worked, like keyword stuffing and link farming, are now counter-productive and could see your site being penalised.
Our SEO experts know all the tips and tricks and can help you to optimise your website and content to drive you up the search results pages, driving more traffic to your website. As a local company with a national reach, we also know that there’s a difference between local and national searches, and we can help you to perform well in both.
We can audit your website and other online assets, checking for areas that can be improved. We can also provide content marketing and other services that have been shown to drive traffic effectively, making sure more people end up at your site. Organic SEO is an ongoing process, and we will ensure you have everything you need to succeed in place.
SEO Services Wirral
We offer a range of SEO services in Wirral, including:
- Regular Content Posting – Search engines love new content, but strong, engaging content can also appeal to your customers.
- On-page Optimisation – This ensures all your pages are fully optimised for SEO
- Outreach and PR Campaigns – This can be a great approach for generating strong links to your site from elsewhere. Search engines like Google and Bing like this as it shows your site is trustworthy.
- Technical Fixes – It’s not all about content. ‘Behind-the-scenes issues with your website can impact SEO.
- Page Speed & User Experience Improvements – Slow loading speeds and poor user experience can affect SEO and, just as importantly, put off people who do visit your website. Addressing these issues can improve both traffic to your website and conversion rates when they get there.
Contact us today to find out how we can boost your SEO and get you to the top of those rankings.
Posted on Monday, December 19th, 2022 in SEO.
