Marketing advice
Raise your rankings
Make your website easy to find on the internet with these tips on Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
It's a basic fact that everyone knows, but sometimes we may need reminding that to run a good, profitable business, you need a good website. Long gone are the days when a cheap website package would do the trick, just to get you online. These days customers expect a professional web presence that tells them exactly what you do and it needs to persuade them that you are the company to do business with!
Depending on the nature of your franchise, making sure that the website works well at a local level can be vital. If you provide a product or service that relies on passing trade, you can probably rely on the franchisor to provide the correct web presence. It needs good branding and information, along with the correct details of your own franchise.
On the other hand, if what you do depends on someone finding your own franchise or branch online or in a directory, perhaps for a distress purchase or something they don't need to buy often, getting your online presence and 'searchability' right is vital.
Assuming you have a great website, fulfilling all the criteria of information and style, what you need to do is to drive traffic to it. There are a couple of ways to make your website easy to find. One is free, and it relies on you, or your web developer putting in the right content. The technical term is 'search engine optimisation', or SEO.
Search engines are things such as Google or Yahoo where you type in a search term and expect it to come back with exactly what you wanted. Take some time to think what people might search for when looking for the product or service you provide. For example, if you're an optician they may not key in the word optician, they may be looking for designer spectacles, or designer specs, or trendy glasses - even prescription sunglasses. You need to include all of these terms in meaningful content within your site - and not just in a list - it needs to be part of significant sentences. It can be hard work, but it's worth it.
Once you begin to see results and your website moves up the page rankings of the search results, don't fall into the trap of thinking that the job is done. By constantly updating the content and keeping it fresh, you can remain ahead of your competitors and continue to climb the rankings. Search engines such as Google use extremely advanced algorithms to calculate where your website appears in the rankings. To score highly, the content must not only be relevant to the search term entered by the user, but must also be updated regularly to demonstrate that the web site is current. Asides from the SEO aspect of keeping content up-to-date, customers who visit your website will prefer to read current news and information and are more likely to spend longer on the site if it holds their interest, therefore giving you a better opportunity to convert to a sale.
Biography: Kerst Ward
Founder of Ward Lovett, an established advertising and PR agency with a specialist digital division creating websites and online business solutions.
Contact: Kerst Ward
Email: Kerst@wardlovett.com
Web: www.wardlovett.com
Phone: 01543 501 111
