How To Generate Qualified Leads Through SEO

• 93% of consumers use search engines to find and access websites

• 75% of those do not scroll further than the first page

• 57% of internet users search the web every day

• Google has 90% market share in the UK

• The first page results receive 91% of all search traffic

• The top 3 search results receive 62% of all traffic

• A 1st place ranking typically receives 32.5% of all search traffic

• Google receives 7.2 billion daily page views

• Google receives 620 million daily visitors

• Google has an un-bias approach when it comes to ranking web pages within the search results. Google uses bots and an advanced algorithm to analyze and index web pages

• Google’s priority is to deliver the most ‘relevant’ and ‘high quality’ web pages to it’s users as quickly as possible and essentially provide the best online experience

• Highly regarded sources suggest that Google uses over 200 ranking factors when indexing web pages

• Links equate to around 40% of your overall search ranking due Google counting these as votes of confidence, much like a referral

• Google provides a limited number of guidelines on how to enhance your online presence within search, however leading search analytical companies such as MOZ continuously test and assess website performance in correlation to changes within the algorithm

• According to leading sources, distinctive characteristics affecting search results at present include; fresh content, web page loading times, social presence, links and website content

• You cannot pay Google to enforce a certain ranking of your website within the natural results

• Certainly not, it still equates to around 40% of your overall online authority

• A simple test to identify whether link building still works is to search for a term called “click here”. The Adobe PDF reader will rank top, due to thousands of other web pages linking to it. If you notice the Adobe PDF reader page contains no trace of the words “click here”. A clear indication that link building is still very powerful and a key factor to how websites rank

• Do not just target highly competitive search terms

• Do not pay for links. Google does not like website owners that try to manipulate the search results. Google will be aware of most websites that offer this service

• Avoid linking to poor quality websites – Google draws a logical conclusion that spam links to spam and quality links to quality

• Build links naturally. If your website has been online for 1 year with 10 links and then next month your website has 2,000 dodgy websites linking to it, Google will use a logical approach to presume that these links were easily manufactured and in essence add little value

• Do not overuse the same anchor text – a natural selection is always best

• Do not expect fast results, in some instances success can come quickly, however you may wish to focus on more competitive terms at this point

• Understand who your target audience is, where are they based and what terms do they use to find your websites like yours? Its best practice to select up to 7 keywords per page within your website. Try to select one trophy term, 3 medium and 3 less competitive terms – Google Keyword Tool

• Once you have identified your keywords, it’s time to identify who your competitors are and how powerful they are online. It’s at this point that you’re able to draw a comparison between your website and a competitor. This will enlighten you to the challenge ahead.  – MOZ Open Site Explorer Tool

• Once you have selected your 7 terms it’s a good idea to check where your website currently ranks using the SEO Book ‘Rank Checker’ add on for FireFox. Alternatively you can purchase another tool such as Cute Rank.

• Include keywords within your meta – title, description & keywords tag

• Include keywords within the H1 and H2 tags of your web page

• Include keywords within the first paragraph of a web page

• Include keywords within the ‘alt’ text of images

• Keep your blog up to date with new, fresh content containing at least 350 words and ideally 500 words +

• Increase the loading time of your web pages –Google Page Speed Tool

• LSI – Use similar keywords and terms within your website content. ‘Cheap Cleaner’ could also be ‘Low Cost Cleaner’

• Internal link building – Use text within your site to make it easy for people to find other relevant pages

• Create an XML & HTML sitemap

• Make your web pages useful, interesting and informative. Google tracks how long people are on your site for

• Create a Google Maps listing

• Build links from reputable websites – e.g. bbc.co.uk

• Gain links from industry relevant websites – e.g. Web Design Ledger

• Gain links from local websites – e.g. local network websites

• Add your website to reputable directories – Yell, Yahoo etc

• Guest blog on industry relevant websites – news websites are looking for new content

• Help people on forums – links and potential business

• Increase your social following and share your website URL with other users – social links are starting to affect results

• Diversify your anchor text when building links – e.g. “Cleaner in Dunmow” “Cleaning Company in Dunmow”

• Update your blog on a regular basis with high quality or engaging information

Like everything in business, some things work better for some companies than others, the same applies to SEO. It’s vital to test and measure how your website is performing and whether your SEO efforts are making a positive impact to your ranking.

• Google Analytics – this tool produces charts and graphs indicating where, how and when visitors reached your website and what pages they went onto

• Cute Rank or Rank Checker – As mentioned previously, SEO can be a long drawn out process, however tracking your success will ultimately inform you of your progress so you know what is and what’s not working

• Domain Authority & Page Authority – The reason that sites such as Wikipedia rank on the first page for nearly every piece of content they have is due to their Domain Authority. Focus on improving this. It will take time, but it’s a great way to gauge how powerful you are against the competition – MOZ Bar

• Effective SEO is achieved through marketing your business professionally online. Remember that your focus should be on improving the overall user experience on your website

• The best approach to SEO is to focus on developing your online reputation. Engage with your customers and industry through social media. Attract people to revisit your website through new content. Build trust with Google by building referrals (links) from other websites and improve your web page loading speed and overall website experience

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