It used to be simpler. If you were looking for a service, you could plop open the 10lb yellow pages and blindly search through hundreds of pages of businesses all under the same category, nothing really setting one apart from the other. Overtime, businesses could pay to have larger print in the directory, or even place an ad with color and pictures to attract attention. As a business owner, if you wanted to expand your business, you would need to find yourself in multiple yellow books and quite a large yearly fee to boot.

As the digital age grew stronger, the need for a reference book, like the yellow pages, quickly diminished, and the World Wide Web introduced us to a more robust way of finding products and services. As search engines evolved, it became easier for the consumer to find a business to meet their needs, but harder for businesses to stand out among the droves of competition across the vast internet. Simple methods like having a website, explaining what you do, and having your contact information prominently displayed didn’t matter as much anymore. It became all about the type of words you use and how they pertain to your business.

That is where SEO originated from. SEO, search engine optimization, is simply the process of making your website stand out on search engines over your competitors. It sounds simple, but the act of SEO optimization and maintenance can be a painstaking process, especially for those not as specialized in the practice.

Let’s break it down to the basics. You have a website. Your website explains to potential customers all of the different products or services you offer, areas you cover, and how to contact you. Sandra is in need of your service. She searches the internet for a business to meet her needs. Through her search, hundreds of businesses all claiming to be the absolute best and offering various deals, claims, and testimonials before her leaving Sandra in a sea of competitors with no way of really knowing who is the right one to choose.

So how does Sandra find you? The answer is SEO. You see, people don’t search for your products or services like you would search for them. If Sandra doesn’t know your company, she certainly isn’t going to search for your specific business. Plus, you are in the industry and live and breathe it every day. Sandra knows she needs to get her front door fixed, but she doesn’t know if she should be looking for a contractor, handyman, or window and door specialist. All Sandra searches for is what she needs. Door repair.

With SEO, algorithms are run to differentiate how potential customers are looking for your products and services and how they are actually searching online. Those algorithms will pick up on the types of words they use during their search, the most common phrases entered during a search, their location in terms of your business, and more detailed information about what they actually need. Once your SEO specialist has run the algorithms against your industry, they can infuse your website with the exact type of keywords, phrases, location alerts, and specifics of the types of clients you want to attract. With a strong SEO strategy, your ideal clients will virtually “fall in your lap” during their search.

When search engines rank websites, they do this by analyzing two factors. These two factors are the single, most effective method of increasing your ranking and attracting more potential customers to your website. And what are the two factors you wonder?

Authority and relevance.

Search engines want to match you up with the best resource for what you are searching for. That’s how they keep people using their service. If they didn’t find you the right matches, you would search elsewhere, right? So search engines, like Google and Bing, became very particular about how they rank websites.

Authority

The search engines want to know that, when they match your website with a search, they are delivering a result that meets the criteria of the search terms, has enough valid information in their website to be a reliable resource, and provide in-depth and current content on that particular subject. Current content, robust amount of information, and extensive knowledge on the subject makes you an authority on the topic. The more search engines see your website as an authority in your specific industry, the more you will appear at the top of the search results, therefore attracting more customers to your business.

Relevance

This is where it can get tricky for some businesses. Relevancy is staying ahead of the curve, adapting to advancements in your industry, and, most of all, ensuring your website updates and content are kept up to date in regards to your services. If your website is over 5 years old, it doesn’t really matter how good your content and branding is if you aren’t adding and updating that content to show the search engines you are still relevant.

Did you know there are an average of 175 new websites created every minute! That’s right – every minute! If you aren’t updating and adding new and relevant content infused with specific SEO keywords on a regular basis, chances are there are hundreds of other sites that are, and they will soon push you lower and lower on the search results.

This might sound overwhelming. How are you supposed to focus on running your day-to-day business, manage employees, and oversee operations if you have to be updating your website all the time? The good news is, with the right SEO strategy and implementation, you don’t. Once you partner with a company that specializes in SEO management, they will be able to monitor the way people are searching for your industry and ensure your website stays relevant and authoritative against the competition.

Need an award-winning SEO optimization company to help pull your website off of page 3? You’re in luck! Perfexion, Inc. is your local SEO specialist. We have helped hundreds of small to medium sized businesses tackle the frustrating world of search engine optimization and grow their businesses with smart strategies that fit their marketing budgets. We provide an in-depth analysis of your current market, your biggest competitors, and how they compare to your current ranking. We offer thoughtful options to propel your business forward and attract more traffic and conversions to your website.

If you are ready to increase your sales and attract more customers – Perfexion, Inc. will get you there!

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Reasons your website may not be as effective as it should be…

You did it! You started a business! You have your employees working, sales are happening, and you have a website up and running. Things are falling into place. Fast forward 5 years. Your business is growing. You’ve hired a few more employees. Sales are pacing well – but deep down you feel there is more that can be done. Oftentimes, business owners set up their website in the beginning, but then, it sits out there in the tremendously vast internet among over 1.6 billion other websites out there.

It was working great for you in the beginning. What happened?

An average of 252,000 websites are added into the interverse every single day!  Other businesses, like yours, are all fighting for the attention and commerce of internet users.  So why, in only 5 years, may your website not be performing for you as it did before?

Websites are not a “set-it-and-forget-it” project

Just like other aspects of your business, your website needs to be continuously maintained, updated, and refreshed to stay relevant. In the beginning, your site is crushing sales numbers, engaging with new customers, and increasing your brand awareness. Overtime, competitors with similar products and services freshen their websites, add new content, update images, and add additional features for a better user experience. What happens? Their websites start showing up higher in search results than yours and you begin to fall to the bottom of the page, maybe even page 2 or 3.

Think about your own search habits – how far down on a search page do you go when looking for your answer? Chances are, not more than about halfway down page 1. Consumers crave immediate satisfaction in today’s fast-paced world. They want answers and they want them quick. If they have to dig around the internet to find you, chances are they won’t.

Technology for websites changes all the time

Just like cell phone companies are always advancing technologies surrounding their devices, website advancements are happening every day. From interactive tools to e-commerce platforms, the right website can truly take your business to the next level. For this to happen, you must ensure your website is integrated with the latest features and most advanced user interfaces. It’s always been said, first impressions are everything.

Let’s look at a practical example. Imagine you are searching for a kitchen remodeler. This is typically a large investment purchase. You’ve done your research and know what you want and are now on the search for the perfect company to entrust the heart of your home too. One company has 99% small print text on their website. They have a phone number. Very limited images.  Only a home page and a contact page. While it may be a great company, their website isn’t showcasing their talent and expertise. 

Another company has beautiful before and after images scrolling across the main screen. Their contact information is displayed on every page and prominently displayed throughout various places. They have an interactive chat option for you to get immediately connected with someone who can help. They offer multiple different methods of communication with them, including a quick fill contact form, chat box, email, phone, and showroom location. They have pages throughout their website that go into greater detail about the different stages of the kitchen remodeling process, estimated timelines for projects, details on various options for our remodel and articles and blogs about choosing the right countertops and most durable flooring for a high traffic area of your home.

Now, with all that information in front of you – which one do you think more consumers will engage with?

People want the ease of convenience. In order to win their business with so much competition, your website needs to be the sounding board for what sets you apart, why a consumer should choose your business to work with, and what makes you an expert in your field. As your business grows, so should your website.

You have no call to action

Once a visitor lands on your website, it is critical that you direct them to exactly what action you want them to take. Do you want them to call? If so, your content should direct them to “call now for a free estimate” or “call now and speak directly to the owner”. If you prefer visitors to fill out a form with their contact information and some details about their project, then your site should be guiding them to the contact form page or link. If you don’t direct your website visitors on what type of action to take, 9 times out of 10, they won’t take any action at all. 

You have an outdated design

Just like clothing styles change overtime, so do website designs that appeal to consumers. Designs can change based on trends, industry, competition, economy, or age. 

New trends in web design pop up all the time. Minimalistic, sleek, artistry, formal: based on your services and target audience often determines how often your website design platform will need to be updated. If you are in the technology and/or ecommerce industries, your design trends will change more rapidly than say maybe a business in the home services industry.  Design trends are important for a few reasons. They show the public that you are updating and maintaining your site on a consistent basis, which indicates you are progressive and stay ahead of the curve. Your website design indicates that you care about the user experience and want to provide the optimal platform for customers to interact with your business and learn more about you. As design trends become popular, visitors to your site may find an older design more cumbersome and confusing, which could lead to them leaving your site without engaging with your business. Trends can have a direct effect on functionality. Design trends that incorporate a lot of features were prominent 3 or 4 years ago. Today, more and more companies are opting for a cleaner and streamlined look, which can be more appealing to the eye.

However your industry is affected, website designs need to be “freshened” every few years. This does not mean you have to purchase an entirely brand new website every 2 years. The suggestion is to freshen up the overall look, feel, colors, and overall features that the site consists of to keep your website relevant and attractive to potential customers. 

You do not have the proper SEO throughout your website

Yep – this is the biggie! SEO. The key to everything when it comes to your website. We are going to take a deeper dive in a future blog about SEO, but let’s do a quick overview. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. 

How does SEO work? It’s actually pretty simple. When a person does a search on a search engine, or any query search across the web, they type a series of keywords or phrases into a search bar to find the best match to answer their need. 

The search engine uses proprietary algorithms to scan websites across the web that include the same keywords and or phrases that person is looking for. The websites that have the most keywords or phrases that match that person’s search are shown at the top of search results. Websites that don’t, fall to the bottom, and essentially never get seen. 

While the explanation sounds really simple – SEO is a very complex task made up of customized strategies and continuous maintenance. Web marketers use special technology to discover which keywords and phrases, including variations of these, that are most commonly used for your industry. They then use specialized content, coding, alt text, and page links to embed within your website for optimal search results. 

The better your SEO, the higher your website will show up on search engines leading to an increase in business and revenue. An important note to remember – SEO is a continuous building of keyword structures throughout your website. Because search terms change frequently and most businesses offer a multitude of products or services – SEO is a very specialized skill that, to get the best results, should be managed by an SEO specialist.

If you are wondering why your website may not be performing up to par or are looking to refresh your website for better functionality, appearance, and attract more customers – we would love to help! Perfexion, Inc. is a full-service interactive agency specializing in web development, branding, search engine optimization, IT networking, and custom software design. Perfexion is your complete web presence solution-based company. If you would like to learn more about how we can help your business, click here to schedule a complimentary consultation.

WEBSITE pfxn.com
E-MAIL hello@pfxn.com
CALL 610-783-7660
SAY HELLO