Getting your business noticed takes time, effort, and patience. With over a billion different websites on the Internet, getting your company’s website to stand out from a crowd can be tough. It is very easy to imagine that just having a great looking site will get you the attention that you need, but there are so many things that you need to do in order to get your website to the top of the search results. 

Why do you need to be at the top of the search results?

When was the last time you looked at the second page of results on Google? In fact, when was the last time you even opened a site that was not in the top five sites on the list? Chances are it doesn’t happen very often. 

Search engines work on the premise that they will find you the right site for your search query. They may well return a million possible hits, but they really only expect you to look at maybe one or two results before you find what you need. 

The search engine algorithms that work to sort out websites and filter them into a specific order are very evolved, and they continue to improve each year. They understand what users want, and they look at many different factors of your website in order to decide whether you are a suitable option to be the number one suggestion on the results page. 

With all of these complex areas to consider, many companies hire a digital marketing agency to manage these elements for them, and it is often these businesses that are the most successful. 

What does Search Engine Optimization entail? 

There are lots of elements involved in SEO, and the list grows as technology develops and our use of it evolves. The fundamentals of SEO can be broken down into ‘on-page SEO’, ‘off-page SEO’ and ‘local SEO’. 

On-page SEO focuses on elements that are a part of the website content. Ensuring all relevant search keywords and phrases are included in the text is vital. It makes a huge impact on the performance of the site in the rankings. On-page SE0 also includes looking at titles, headers, and images to make sure that they are displayed in ways that the search engine will like. It also takes into account elements such as the speed of the website and how well it functions on different devices. 

Off-page SEO aims to market the website externally. This includes practices such as link building, which involves getting your website linked to by other websites. 

Local SEO is a strategy that works well for businesses that exist in a brick and mortar format. By listing your company with all of the many different business listing sites, you will rise through the ranks and appear in search engine elements such as Google’s Local Pack.