Competition today has become a matter of who can sell themselves best on the internet. The billboards are no longer on the streets, and commercials are no longer on television. It has become a matter of how well you can stand out on various internet platforms and grab the attention of the people who never seem to pay attention.
Fact is, the more you are seen, the more visitors you have to your platform, and therefore, the higher the number of potential customers you are able to engage with. You can even use a website traffic checker to recognize patterns in your website’s user behavior so that you can identify opportunities, improve content and come up with working marketing plans. Well, a study by TopDesignFirms shows that 21% of businesses face low traffic to their website, which affects their ability to retain customers and, therefore, low revenues. But the big question remains: how do you increase your visibility and engagement? If that’s the question in your mind, then you came to the right place for answers.
Create a compelling website
Your website is more or less your digital store. The better it looks, the more people are going to be attracted and intrigued to browse around for longer. Well, a report by Semrush states that users form an opinion concerning a website in just 0.05 seconds. Interestingly, another study shows that 75% of users judge the company’s credibility based on its web design. So, this means that your site must be designed in such a way that it will capture the attention of users as soon as they step in.
A good website must be visually appealing and professional. Actually, Zippia reports that 38% of users say they cannot engage with a site if they deem it unattractive. Ensure that you are allowing white spaces, uncluttered layouts and quality media. Wistia reports that people spend 1.4x more time on sites that had videos than those without. Importantly, have a website that does not have a problem with speed or lagging. Essentially, slow pages will have your visitors frustrated and encourage them to leave. Therefore, you must ensure that you have pages that have fast loading times so that you do not discourage users.
Another thing you need to ensure is that your website is optimized for mobile use. Most people are now operating using their smartphones, and if your website does not work well with phones then you might lose many clients. In fact, Statista reports that by the end of 2023, almost 70% of the global population was using smartphones. Optimizing your website for mobile phones will not only improve your user experience and engagement but will improve your SEO rankings.
Perform SEO, but don’t forget the latest updates
Can you imagine that only 49% of small businesses prioritize SEO investments? As if that’s not enough, 18% of small businesses have no intention of pursuing SEO efforts like link building, keyword research or content creation. This is such a loss for them since SEO is the highway to be on Google’s first page. Well, it might take time to do everything, but when you get it right, the gifts are endless.
When using SEO, there are a number of practices that you should follow to ensure success:
- Use local SEO placements.
- Ensure to follow best practices such as keyword-targeted content, image optimization and building links. These have been tried and tested and have stood the test of time.
- Beware of mobile errors since websites are now indexed using mobile-first indexing.
Use a business blog to target more keywords
The main pages of your website are limited in terms of how well you can optimize for keywords, apart from, maybe, location and services. Truth is, you do not have much text to work with, especially if you want to put in the right keywords that visitors might be looking for. Therefore, it is important that you have a business blog where you can dive into keywords that can enable you to rank higher in searches. Actually, DemandMetric reports that 70% of consumers would rather learn about a company through blogs rather than through traditional advertising. That’s not all, 82% of the readers say that they are more positive of brands that make customs blogs and 70% submit that they feel more connected to a business after reading its content.
A good blog will involve various keywords dealing with various aspects of a consumer’s journey. The more your website appears as the first search on Google, the higher the traffic to your website, meaning that you have more chances to engage with your visitors and probably convert them. On that note, ensure that you are publishing regularly. In fact, statistics show that companies who blog four times a week receive 4.5 times more leads and 3.5 times more traffic than companies blogging only once every week.
Final word
Despite the fact that you have been in business for the last 20 years or are just starting out, having great online visibility will be your make or break. You cannot afford to have a website that will not create a statement in the minds of visitors and make them want to stay longer. If not that, you do not want to miss the opportunity of ranking high in the searches of your potential clients.
