Market your website: SEO

We have a website, now what? A website is a marketing tool that you have to market.

The most important and perhaps the most inexpensive strategy is to rank high in search engines-such as Google, Yahoo or Bing. When Internet users search for your products or services, your website needs to be the first one they find or at least on the first page search results. The people who are searching for your products or services are precisely the people you want to find your website. Increase your visibility by optimizing your site. This method is called Search Engine Optimisation, abbreviated as SEO.

Why SEO?
Due to the high marketing value of targeted search results, it is vital to rank high in search engines to take advantage of this opportunity. SEO gives you the chance to dominate your online competition, drive traffic to your website to convert visitors into leads and sales.

How does it work?
SEO examines how search engines function and what people search for. It guides the search engines so that it recognizes your website’s relevance whenever a  specific keyword is typed into the query box.  Keyword research is critical to obtaining natural search engine placement and should be at the top of your list when mapping out your SEO strategy. The idea is not to trick the search engines but to give them enough clue as to what your website is about. All website that we design are optimised for the top search engines. It is a process that clearly outlines the progress of web development including properly designed pages, prominently placed key search term and valuable reader content.

Here are a few tips to drive traffic to your website:

Online tactics

• Begin a blog  on your website, hosted on your own domain.
• You may want to become a part of the online communities for businesses: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. You can put a link to your website on your page which increases traffic to your website.
• Find a group where meaningful dialog is taking place and ‘soft’ sell your site.

Offline Tactics

• Ensure that all stationery, business cards, flyers, brochures includes your company’s URL.
• Enclose your URL in any display or classified ads you purchase in newspapers or yellow pages.
• Don’t neglect e-mail as an important way to bring people to your website. Creating a monthly email publication is a great way to keep in touch with your prospects,
• Add your URL to your email signature. Most email programs carry the option to designate a signature to appear after every message you send.

Search engine optimisation process includes researching keywords, creating content, building links and making sure your website is visible in the search engines by pairing on-site optimisation with off-site tactics.