SEO: are you getting the most from your website?

17 May 2019

You've spent both time and money ensuring your website is appealing, modern and engaging. However, without a properly-implemented search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy, all your efforts could go to waste. Putting SEO algorithms into place is key to attracting new clients to your website. Here, we take a look at SEO and its benefits in greater detail.

SEO and its benefits

In this day and age, most people use internet search engines to source specific products and services. The most successful websites are often those that use SEO algorithms. SEO assists in boosting a website's searchability and ranking on popular search engines, helping to increase traffic on the site.

A site with good SEO will appear higher in search engine rankings, and will ultimately be easier for potential clients to find.

Implementing SEO may initially seem daunting; however, it doesn't have to be complicated, and can often serve as a much-needed boost for your site.

Considering on-site and off-site SEO

Effective SEO strategies include a mix of both on-site and off-site SEO. On-site SEO has to do with making your website attractive to both visitors and search engines, whilst off-site SEO deals with promoting your site through link building, content marketing and paid advertising.

'Behind the scenes', search engines evaluate your website, and will often look at the HTML of the site; whether keywords appear in your site content, URL, HTML tags and meta descriptions; and your XML sitemap. Most on-site SEO revolves around keywords that accurately describe the site. Spending time on keyword research is vital: websites with good SEO target relevant words and include them in optimum places on the site. For example, an accountancy firm in Birmingham might use such keywords as 'accountants in Birmingham', 'accountants near Birmingham', 'accountancy firm Birmingham' or 'Birmingham accountancy company'. You will also want to include these keywords in page titles and your website's URL.

In regard to off-site SEO, search engines are much more likely to rank your website higher if there are a number of credible sites linking back to it. Consider connecting your website with your social media pages, as well as online directories and the websites of professional bodies, such as the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).

Blog posts and news stories are also great ways of generating links to your website. This content can be shared on your social media pages, and link back to your site.

Having a mobile responsive website is also important: your site should load and fit screens properly when viewed on devices such as desktop computers, notebooks, smartphones and tablets.

Assessing website traffic

Once on-site and off-site SEO strategies have been implemented, you may wish to monitor and assess your website traffic. By doing this, you could gain valuable insight into your clients' online behaviour: what are they searching for? How much time do they spend on your site? Which pages do they view?

A number of search engines offer free analytics tools. Using these, you can view which pages on your website are the most popular with visitors. Analytics tools also allow business owners to view the keywords visitors use to find their website, and diagnose technical issues with their site.

Practice Track Online provides accountants with SEO strategies designed to generate genuine, relevant leads for their firm. For more information, click here. Alternatively, please call us on 0800 181 343, or email info@practicetrackonline.co.uk.

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