Achieving high search engine rankings is a top priority for most businesses and site owners. By ensuring your webpages rank highly for relevant keywords, you can increase brand awareness, secure a high conversion rate and boost your sales. It’s essential, therefore, that you outrank your competitors and reach your target market.
However, effective SEO isn’t just about achieving high rankings. To ensure on-going success, you need to maintain these rankings too. Many businesses assume the hard work is over once they’ve secured a top spot on search engine results pages (SERPs). In reality, rankings aren’t static, and your webpages could drop down the list at any time.
If you’ve noticed your rankings are gradually reducing, it’s important to understand why. Once you know what’s causing you to lose your position on SERPs, you can take action. The most common reasons for losing rankings include:
Backlinks are a critical element of SEO. Known as a key factor of off-page SEO, they connect your webpages to external sites. High authority domains are particularly important when it comes to securing backlinks as they help to endorse your own webpages.
However, websites change over time. Securing a high authority backlink one month doesn’t necessarily mean it will be there next month or month year. In the same way that your internal links may need to be updated or removed to eradicate dead links, it’s important to check the validity of your backlinks.
If you’ve cultivated a good backlink network, don’t simply assume that it will continue to help you get great rankings. If these pages are removed or modified, your backlink could disappear. As you won’t necessarily be notified, the first sign of disappearing backlinks could be a drop in your rankings.
Google rates websites that regularly update their content. As well as giving users access to fresh information, posting new content gives people a reason to revisit your site. In a best case scenario, failing to update your content means an increased bounce rate, reduced time being spent on your site and a boring user experience. At worst, out of date content could mean you’re delivering inaccurate information or advice to your users.
It’s easy to see why Google won’t rank webpages highly if they’re not updated. The search engine is focused on redirecting to content that’s accurate, valid and useful. Out of date content simply doesn’t tick these boxes, so you can’t expect to rank highly with it.
To secure consistent high rankings on SERPs, you need to cater to user behaviour. Knowing how users search for information is critical to making sure they find your content, for example. But user behaviour can change at an alarming pace. When users begin to search different or consume information in a changing way, your site needs to be ahead of the game.
A good example of this is the move towards non-text based searches. Increasing numbers of people are using voice searches to access online content. If your SEO strategy is still focused solely on text-based searches, you aren’t catering for the change in user behaviour. As a result, you can expect your rankings to drop over time.
No matter how effective your SEO activities have been thus far, you need to pre-empt and respond to changes in user behaviour if you want to maintain high rankings.
If you’ve noticed your rankings dropping, it’s essential to take steps to rectify the situation. The fact that you’re already moving down SERPs means things are already going wrong with your SEO campaigns. By responding swiftly, you can prevent your rankings from dropping even further and, potentially, climb back to the top of the rankings once again.
To stop your hard work and SEO campaigns going to waste, take a look at these top tips for preventing a decline in your SERPs rankings…
Google and other search engines introduce new algorithm changes all the time. In addition, existing algorithms may be modified slightly. If you’re managing your SEO in-house, it’s vital to keep on top of these changes.
When algorithms change, the way sites are indexed and ranked can change accordingly. This means you’ll need to tweak your webpages and SEO activities to ensure you’re satisfying the latest algorithms. Maintaing high rankings is an on-going process, so keeping on top of algorithm changes should be a top priority.
If you’re losing your position on page 1 on Google, it may be because users are searching for content slightly differently. They may be using a different form of tech to access content or they may simply be inputting different words and search terms. Whatever the change is, it’s important to understand it. Once you know how user behaviour is changing, you can update your SEO campaigns in response. This will ensure your content is still being presented to users when they search for terms and keywords that relate to your business, brand or site.
As well as checking your own site for dead internal links, you’ll want to ensure your backlinks are still alive and kicking. If they’ve been removed or if the authority of a site you’re linked to has dropped, this could be affecting your rankings. Fortunately, this can be very easy to rectify. By securing new, high authority backlinks, you can effectively re-endorse your webpages in the eyes of Google. In doing so, you’ll prevent your rankings from dropping any further and begin to climb back up to the top.
If you haven’t implemented a content marketing strategy, it’s time to do so. Your site needs to be updated on a regular basis, so plan ahead and schedule information, insightful and original content. In addition to this, revisit your existing content and update it where necessary. If you feature cornerstone or evergreen content on your site, for example, make sure it is still accurate and relevant to your users.
Remember – content is solely about what’s present on your site. Your content extends to your social media posts, video marketing and email newsletters. Regular audits will help to ensure your content is up to date, accurate and properly optimised.
If you’ve updated your content, checked your backlinks, studied user behaviour and responded to algorithm changes but your rankings still aren’t where you want them to be – it’s time to seek expert help. With a free, personalised video audit, our expert SEO strategists will analyse your website and identify issues which could be harming your search engine rankings.
With a tailormade video for you to access, you can benefit from bespoke advice and information relating to your site. Why make do with generic tips when you can access custom advice for free?
To find out more about maintaining top SEO rankings, get in touch with ClickSlice today. You can arrange your FREE personalised video audit by contacting us on 020 3287 3638 or emailing us at hello@clickslice.co.uk.
Simply tell us your URL, keywords and areas you’re targeting, and our in-house SEO consultants will begin preparing your bespoke website audit. With limited free audits available, there’s no time to waste if you want to secure top rankings. Contact ClickSlice now and secure the top spots on SERPs today!
Over 75% of users never look beyond the first page of search results.
Getting your website to page 1 on Google has never been more important.
With the first five search results accounting for over 67% of clicks, getting to the top of page 1 should be every businesses top priority.
Of course, understanding Google’s indexing algorithms isn’t necessarily straightforward. Furthermore, you are competing with millions of other websites who also want to secure the top spots. Fortunately, help is at hand.
At ClickSlice we know what it takes to get your business to page 1 of Google. If you want your rankings to soar, take a look at these top tips for SEO success…
The first thing you need to determine is what keyword (search phrase) you want to be on page 1 for. Your site doesn’t need to rank highly for every search a user makes.
Instead, you want to rank highly for keywords with high buyer intent, AKA the keywords that are most likely to generate your business money.
Let’s imagine you run a plumbing business based in London… targeting a keyword like “How do I unblock a sink” is probably not the best strategy as people who search for this are typically interested in learning how to unblock a sink themselves, meaning they will not require your services.
You’re much better off targeting a keyword with a high buyer intent behind it such as “Sink unblocking London”.
People who search for “Sink unblocking London” are interested in finding someone who can unblock their sink. Which as a plumber would be a service you offer, making it a perfect keyword to target.
Pro tip: If you run a SAB (Service Area business) you can rinse and repeat this method for all the locations you target.
Now you’ve got your keywords finalised, it’s time to look at who you’re competing against.
Just as it’d be tough to start a successful supermarket store across the road from Tesco, it’s difficult to rank on the first page of Google when the competition is fierce.
So the next step is to understand the competitive landscape—starting with who you’re up against.
To do that, search for your keyword and look at the first page of results.
If all you see is massive well-known brands and you’re a small start-up that nobody has ever heard of, then getting to the first page is going to be quite tough.. At least in the short to medium time frame.
For example, look at the search results for “car insurance.”
Every result is from a huge brand—Admiral, MoneySavingExpert, GoCompare etc.
This is a clear sign that those who are looking for car insurance typically want it from a well known, established brand. Ranking on page 1 against these guys would be tall order even for the smartest SEO.
Make sure you take note of the websites you see on page 1 for the keywords you want to target, if over 50% of them are big well-known brands, then have a rethink and niche down some more.
Once you find the keywords you are happy with you to need to optimise your actual page to include these keywords on them, however, just don’t just stuff them anywhere, you want to include them in the key placeholders.
Find out where we place keywords by downloading our EXACT 5 step process we use at ClickSlice when optimising websites to get them on page 1.
Once users are on your site, it’s your job to keep them there. Whilst getting your keywords included in the key place holders are critical, users won’t stick around for subpar content. That’s why you need strategic content optimisation and management to ensure you get on page 1 on Google.
When you fill your webpages with innovative and original content, you’re giving users a reason to stay on your site and increasing the amount of time they spend on each page. This is a massive ranking factor and something Google measures.
If people are coming onto your website and only spending 2 seconds on your page then its a signal to Google that your content isn’t great, as a result, Google will give your website lower rankings, resulting in no organic traffic.
You want to make sure your content read wells, is engaging and gives people a reason to read on.
Also, pay close attention so what you are writing on your website and ensure it answers exactly what the person searches for.
For example, you would have found this article by searching for “How to get on page 1 on google” or something along those lines, as a result, this whole article is focused on giving you information about how you can get onto page 1. If we were to start talking about Youtube ads or something irrelevant then you would lose interest.
Your customers are no different, focus on providing high quality and relevant content
Pro Tip – Everything you publish on and off your site is ‘content’. From your homepage and blog to your social media posts and meta descriptions; everything you publish online should be part of your content optimisation strategy.
What happens behind the scenes of your website is just as important as what users can see. Backlinks are simply a mention of your website on an external website, backlinks are seen as a vote of confidence in the eyes of Google.
However, you don’t want just any old backlink for your site, you want high-quality backlinks that are relevant.
Securing backlinks from high-authority domains is one of the most effective ways to boost your rankings. Of course, obtaining these backlinks isn’t easy. Domain authority is based on a score from 1-100; the higher your score, the better your domain authority.
When high authority domains are linking to your webpages, it boosts the reputation and authority of your site.
One way to obtain backlinks to your website is to reach out to authoritative websites in your niche and ask if you can submit a guest post on their website.
A guest post is simply where you write an article as a “Guest” and it gets posted on an external website.
The article you write for the site would contain a link in it which links back to your website.
It’s a little time intensive and explains why over 55% of webpages don’t have any backlinks at all.
However, it’s 100% worth the effort. In fact, It’s exactly the method we used to rank ClickSlice on page 1 on google for “local SEO services London”.
Lastly, to rank highly, your site needs to be SEO-friendly and deliver a great user experience (UX). This means fixing broken links, optimising the structure and increasing loading speeds. In addition, you’ll need to ensure your site meets Google’s mobile-first indexing requirements. (Hint – responsive web design is an easy and effective way to achieve this).
By making your site intuitive and logical, you’re on the right track. A slick design can certainly enhance a website, but its functionality needs to come first. Think of your site’s structure as its foundations – without a solid grounding, everything else falls apart.
Make it easy for users to navigate your site, even if they’re first-time visitors.
By maintaining an intuitive, user-friendly and fully functional website, you have the building blocks you need to get on page 1 on Google.
Getting to page 1 on Google can transform your business. With increased brand awareness, higher conversion rates and increased sales, higher rankings quickly equate to better commercial performance.
But getting to page 1 on Google isn’t your only aim. Staying on page 1 on Google is just as important for long-term business success.
With over 200 Google algorithms to contend with, maintaining placement on page 1 isn’t easy. In fact, it requires consistent optimisation across an ever-increasing list of parameters.
In addition, you’ll need to predict how Google’s ranking and indexing algorithms will change over time. As new tech comes to the forefront, for example, you need to know how it will change user behaviour and algorithms in order to optimise your content and maintain your rankings.
While these 5 tips give you the basics of things you need to consider to improve your website rankings, we’ve also put together the EXACT 5 step process we use at ClickSlice to optimise websites to get them on page 1.
Grab a FREE copy of it today and start getting your website moving in the right direction.
Great content is at the heart of any successful business. Whether you’re aiming to increase your rankings, grow your enterprise or generate sales; you rely on content to make it happen. Created to inform, persuade, engage and sell; the right content turns your target market into loyal customers.
It’s no surprise, then, that great content is central to effective SEO too. If you want your website to rank highly, it’s essential to create content that Google loves. Whether you’re launching a new business or running an existing enterprise, a tailored content marketing strategy is critical to your success. By using Google’s algorithms as a guide, you can create content that engages your target market and helps you to rank highly on search engine results pages (SERPs).
With the potential to optimise your conversion rate and increase brand awareness, engaging content can transform your business. Want to learn more? Take a look at these top 5 tips and create content that will lift your rankings today…
The days of ‘keyword stuffing’ are long gone but your content should still be content rich. Of course, your keywords should appear naturally in any content you publish. Furthermore, the presence of keywords or key terms shouldn’t devalue the content.
Instead of trying to stuff keywords into a blog post, for example, evaluate why the keywords are relevant to users and create content accordingly. To ensure your content creation is keyword focused, it’s essential to undertake detailed keyword research first. Once you know what key terms you want to rank for, you will be able to take a more strategic approach to content creation.
Everything your business publishes is content; from social media posts and website images to online articles and offline adverts. Blog posts are a fantastic way to add fresh, new content to your site and engage with your target audience. However, they aren’t the only type of content you should be publishing on a regular basis.
A comprehensive content marketing strategy involves using different mediums. When you’re devising your content strategy, aim to create content in as many forms as possible, including:
Remember – Content can be shared across different platforms. Maximise its impact via multi-channel promotion. In addition to this, you can use the basis of one piece of content to create another. A video script can easily form the basis of a blog post, for example, while How-To guides can be collated into a company eBook.
Google likes websites that are regularly updated, so you’ll want to create content that’s fresh and original. However, it’s also important to publish evergreen and cornerstone content. This is content that stands the test of time and remains relevant over months or even years.
Evergreen content should be as timeless as possible. When used correctly, evergreen content will continue to attract traffic to your site, so choose topics that are always going to be relevant to your business and your target market.
In contrast, your time-sensitive content should feature promotions, events and news. These can cause significant spikes in website traffic, but they won’t necessarily generate on-going interest. Christmas-themed posts will increase traffic from October to December, for example, but will garner little interest throughout the rest of the year.
When you create content strategies that combine evergreen and time-sensitive content, you’re satisfying Google and giving users a reason to keep coming back to your site. Establishing both your expertise and your innovation, evergreen and time-sensitive content gives you a two-pronged approach to maximise success.
If you want to reap the benefits of an inspired digital marketing campaign, you’ll need to ensure your content is properly optimised. Google will rank your webpages highly if they feature great content, but it needs to know it’s there.
By optimising your content, you tell Google exactly what your webpages are about, as well as what and who they are relevant too. To do this, you’ll need to use tags, such as <title>, <h2> and <h3>. Meta descriptions, title pages and favicons are also small but essential optimisation techniques.
To really boost your rankings, take a look at your page and content layouts too. As well as increasing your webpage rankings, the layout of your content could help you to ensure it’s promoted by Google in the form of featured snippets. Lists, bullet points and how-to guides are popular types of content for featured snippets, so be sure to include these on your website.
If you want to improve your SEO rankings, you need a winning link building campaign.
Link building is a form of off-page SEO that helps to improve the credibility of your website. Getting links to your site placed on other reputable sites establishes your authenticity and boosts your rankings.
While the premise behind link building sounds simple enough, a successful campaign can be tricky to execute. If you want to get on the first page of Google, take a look at this step by step guide and start building your link building strategy today…
When you create content, focusing on your target audience is, perhaps, the most important element. Whilst there are numerous algorithms you need to bear in mind, Google’s overriding objective is to satisfy its users. To do this, it wants to offer search results that are relevant, accurate and informative.
As Google places increasing importance on search intent, you can get to page 1 of the results by publishing original, engaging and insightful content. Although you’ll need to upload or modify your content regularly to meet Google’s requirements, don’t simply post content because you feel you have to.
Instead, focus on producing high quality content that will be valued by your target market. No matter what type of content you’re publishing, it needs to engage the user, persuade, inform, entertain and, ultimately, convert them.
Creating a content strategy and producing top quality content takes time. From the initial research to writing, filming or collating, you need to spend a significant amount of time creating content that works for your brand. Fortunately, you don’t have to do it alone.
At ClickSlice, we specialise in getting your website to page 1 on Google. To achieve this, we undertake comprehensive keyword research, create bespoke content for your business and publish it in all the right places. To find out how we’ll transform your business, contact ClickSlice now on 020 3287 3638.
For today’s businesses, having a website is non-negotiable. Whether you’re an online-only retailer or a bricks and mortar service provider, it’s essential to have a web presence. However, merely being visible online isn’t enough to ensure online success.
To turn your web presence into tangible results, you need to be ranking on the first page of Google’s search results.
Want proof?
Over 75% of searchers never go beyond the first page and over 67% of clicks are reserved for the first 5 organic search results.
Although reaching the second or third page of Google can be a great achievement for a new website, it isn’t going to have any noticeable impact on your business. In fact, being stuck on the second page of search results means you’re missing out on…
When your webpages are consistently featured on the first search engine results page (SERP), users become familiar with your brand. Even if they don’t click on your webpage initially, you’re putting your brand on their radar.
Most people search for similar keywords repeatedly. If your website offers tips on puppy training, for example, new dog owners will be searching for related terms for weeks, months or even years. If your webpages are on the first page for every search they undertake, your brand awareness increases exponentially.
No matter what sector you operate in, you’ll want to be known as an industry leader. Establishing your authority isn’t always easy but strategic SEO can make it happen. Users rely on Google to cherry-pick the highest quality search results for them. When your webpages are appearing on the first SERP, users automatically regard your brand as being well-respected, reliable and influential.
This perceived endorsement has a major influence on user attitudes and behaviours, which means users are more likely to interact with your brand if Google is ranking you highly.
Businesses rely on incoming leads to facilitate sales. Without incoming enquiries, you won’t increase your market share or grow your business. While some companies generate a portion of profits via outbound lead generation, it’s incoming leads and repeat business that account for the majority of your turnover.
Want to create brand awareness for your business and generate incoming leads? Find out how with our FREE 5 Step Checklist! Here, we tell you everything you need to know to get your website on page 1 of Google and achieve online success. Why wait?
Prior to making any type of online or in store purchase, 88% of consumers conduct research online. With the vast majority of your target market researching related services and products online, your content needs to be front and centre. We already know that over 75% of users don’t go further than the first page of search results, so it’s clear that this is where you need to be to generate leads.
If you’re generating some website traffic but it isn’t converting into sales, you need to find out why. Many businesses assume their SEO is working if they’re getting traffic to their site, but this isn’t necessarily the case. Effective SEO should always benefit your business. Traffic that doesn’t lead to conversions isn’t growing your business. With the right SEO, you’ll achieve an enviable ROI and online success.
It’s no secret that good SEO practices help build great websites. In fact, Google’s ranking algorithms are directly related to the structure and quality of your site content. When your webpages are ranking highly on Google and hitting the top spots, they are going to be optimising your conversion rate too. This, combined with the increased brand awareness and enhanced reputation which comes with ranking on the top SERP, means you’ll be soaring beyond your sales targets and achieving online success.
Building a user-friendly website and filling it with original, informative content is fantastic for your business but you’re missing one thing: traffic. Without consistent traffic, you aren’t going to generate sales or grow your customer base.
To generate traffic, you’re going to need to rank highly on Google for search terms that are related to your business. Google is the number one search engine and accounts for over 75% of all online search traffic. While other search engines are relevant, Google is the main player when it comes to boosting your website traffic.
Despite this, 91% of websites never get any traffic from Google. With over 1.7 billion websites registered globally, that’s over 1.5 billion that aren’t getting traffic from the world’s largest search engine. It also means there are almost 200 billion sites generating traffic that you need to compete with.
If you want to be amongst the 9% of sites that generate website traffic from Google, there’s only one way to do it: increase your rankings.
In today’s digital world, low rankings can be catastrophic for businesses. Of course, it’s hard to overcome the lack of brand awareness, reduced conversion rate and lack of inbound leads that moderate rankings offer. Fortunately, our FREE 5 Step Checklist gives you a sure-fire strategy for online success.
Despite the importance of ranking on page one of Google, very few businesses have the in-house resources to increase their SEO rankings. Currently, Google uses over 200 algorithms to rank webpages, so it takes a significant amount of expertise to secure and maintain the top spots on SERPs.
Fortunately, you don’t need your own SEO department to get the results you need to grow your business. At ClickSlice, we know what it takes to get your website to the top. From in-depth keyword research and content optimisation to online outreach and reputation management; we’ve got the experience and expertise to get your webpages on page 1 of Google.
If you want to increase brand awareness, generate traffic, optimise your conversion rate, enhance your reputation and improve inbound leads, contact us today.
Call ClickSlice now on 020 3287 3638 or email us at hello@clickslice.co.uk to find out more.
Today’s entrepreneurs have the world at their fingertips, literally. The internet has made it possible for anyone to become a successful entrepreneur, but that doesn’t mean everybody does. Despite the illusion of fast-tracked success and adoration, being a successful entrepreneur takes more than a bit of hard work.
In fact, the life of an entrepreneur is less glamorous than you might imagine, particularly when you’re starting out. Of course, if you’re willing to put the effort in, you the rewards are spectacular. Want to be your own boss and make it on your own terms? Take a look at the five must-have things every successful entrepreneur needs…
Contrary to popular belief, success doesn’t happen overnight. If you’re looking for a fast-tracked way to make it to the top, entrepreneurship probably isn’t for you. Every ‘overnight success’ you encounter has spent years toiling away behind the scenes to get to where they are now. Furthermore, the path to success is rarely easy.
Whether you’re inventing a new product, launching a new business or creating an innovative social enterprise, you’ll hit stumbling blocks along the way. To be successful, however, you’ll need to find a way to get around them, through them or over them.
When you start out as an entrepreneur, chances are you’ll be working on your own a lot of the time. Budding entrepreneurs rarely have the budget for staff, fancy offices or vast amounts of equipment. In fact, a coffee machine is probably pushing it. Instead, you’ll be flitting from one job to another as you try to get your organisation off the ground.
Fortunately, the staff, equipment and fancy offices for come along, providing you stick at it long enough to be successful. Entrepreneurs are known for their precision and attention to detail, so if you’re detailed-oriented and organised, you’re already on the right track.
Every element of your product, service or brand is going to be scrutinised. Investors, competitors, customers and clients will be queuing up to assess what you’ve got to offer, so it’s essential that every detail is covered. If you’ve got the tenacity to cover the seemingly minor details, as well as the major ones, it will stand you in good stead for life as an entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurs are known for their hard work and you will certainly need to put the hours in if you want to be successful. However, working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week isn’t sustainable in the long term. Many entrepreneurs who devote too much time to their work end up burning out before they can enjoy their success.
If you want to build an entrepreneurial career, you need to find a way to balance your long hours with some form of relaxation. Whether that’s time with family, socialising with friends, hitting the gym or practising a hobby is up to you.
Of course, being an entrepreneur isn’t the right choice for someone who wants to clock out everyday at 5pm or enjoys working part-time. Being your own boss may sound attractive but, in reality, it’s a hard slog with limited downtime.
The trick to building a sustainable career is an entrepreneur is factoring in that downtime and making it a priority. If you can do this, you’ll be able to build long-lasting success in your industry, rather than fleeting fame.
As entrepreneurs tend to work alone when they’re starting out, it can be hard to let go. When things start moving forward, however, it becomes impossible to undertake every task without assistance. Entrepreneurs have a tendency to micro-manage, which is frustrating for everyone involved.
The best entrepreneurs are self-aware enough to recognise their own strengths and weaknesses. What’s more – the know when to call in help. If you’re launching a social enterprise and you’re not a tech wizard, for example, there’s no point spending hours trying to troubleshoot your network when issues arise.
By hiring staff and outsourcing to companies, subcontractors and freelancers, you can build a reliable professional network. This will give you the resources you need, whenever you need them. Furthermore, outsourcing your needs to specialists means you can access their expertise in the most cost-effective way. By doing so, you’re freeing up more of your time, which you can dedicate to your core business activities.
If you’re going to be a successful entrepreneur, you’ll need some form of publicity. Whether you want to be a recognisable face, or you want your brand to become a household name, marketing and promotion is critically important.
In today’s digital landscape, the internet is the most effective way to build a profile and establish a new product or service. No matter what sector you operate in, it’s vital to have a positive online web presence.
Anyone can setup a website, but this doesn’t mean that people will automatically know where to find you. Instead, you’ll need to invest time in promoting your brand online and attracting clients to your content.
Search engine optimisation, content marketing and PPC are all effective ways of doing this. As well as providing long-term results, you’ll find that building an online profile brings immediate rewards too. With the right expertise, you can promote your online profile and see your traffic spike within hours.
There’s a lot that goes into making a product, service or brand successful but publicity is always a key factor. However good your USP is, it won’t sell if people don’t know about. To generate interest, you’ll need the right tools build your profile and engage your target audience.
If you’ve got what it takes to become the next successful entrepreneur, ClickSlice can help. Our SEO services are guaranteed to increase your search engine rankings and generate increased website traffic. Want to build your profile and gain maximum publicity? Contact ClickSlice now on 020 3287 3638.
Your click-through rate is one of the most important metrics to monitor. In fact, many people see their CTR as the most important measure of their online marketing campaigns. But what impact does your CTR have on your SEO? Conversely, how does your SEO affect your click-through rate?
With so many aspects to consider, we take a look at the relationship between click-throughs and SEO success. Read on to find out how to enhance your SEO and increase your CTR…
Your click-through rate, or CTR, tells you how many people have clicked on a link to your website. If 100 people see your advert and 10 people click on it, for example, you would have a click-through rate of 10%.
A well-executed marketing campaign includes persuading users to visit your website or landing page. The first step is getting your advert in front of your target market. A high number of views or ‘impressions’ means that your adverts are being displayed in a good position.
The second element involves increasing the number of people who actually click on your link. With well-written adverts, for example, you can enhance your CTR and see an increase in your traffic.
Increasing your click-through rate means that more people are clicking on links and, therefore, visiting your site. Furthermore, high click-through rates are linked to better rates of conversions too. As well as sending more traffic to your site, a higher CTR should mean that your sales increase accordingly.
Ultimately, a healthy CTR indicates that your online marketing campaigns are working. By hooking prospective customers with your marketing content, you’re enticing them to visit your site. At this point, you can deliver substantially more content and persuade them to engage with your brand.
Absolutely. Search engine optimisation determines where your webpages rank for specific keywords. If you’re the first result when people search for ‘bakeries in London’, for example, more people are going to see your advert. When compared to ranking on the third or fourth page, for example, the number of impressions you will receive is dramatically different.
When your adverts receive fewer impressions or views, less people will be clicking on your links too. On one hand, this isn’t too problematic. Consider the following example:
Advert on page 1 of Google receives 10,000 impressions and 1,000 clicks = 10% CTR
Advert on page 4 of Google receives 10 impressions and 1 click = 10% CTR
Statistically, your CTR remains the same in both instances. This means your content is working well and is persuading 10% of users who see your ad to click on it. In reality, however, there is a significant difference between getting one click and getting 1,000!
By increasing your impressions, you can, therefore, increase your CTR too. To achieve this, you’ll need to enhance your SEO and improve your rankings.
Fine-tuning your marketing content will, of course, have an impact on your click-through rate but, if no-one is seeing your ad, then they can’t click on it. By using SEO to rank highly for relevant keywords, you can increase your organic CTR. As a result, your web traffic will increase, as will the potential rate of conversions.
This one is a little bit trickier but bear with us and we’ll explain. Google is notoriously secretive when it comes to their ranking algorithms. We know that some factors, such as the quality of your content, undoubtedly affect your SEO rankings.
However, Google has been reluctant to confirm or deny all the factors they take into account when ranking sites. This has led to differing opinions over what really matters when it comes to SEO. Despite this, most SEO experts now agree that your click-through rate does have an impact on your rankings.
Search engines set a baseline of how they expect a webpage to perform in terms of CTR. If your ad is current halfway down page two of the search results, for example, Google might expect you to have a click-through rate of 3%.
If your advert starts over-performing and your CTR soars to 15%, for example, Google is going to start wondering why. Furthermore, it will be keen to capitalise on your success and should, therefore, rank your webpage more highly.
Conversely, if Google expects your advert to have a CTR of 3% and you’re only achieving 1.1%, this could send you further down the rankings.
Whilst this hasn’t been confirmed by Google itself, the latest data does appear to show that your CTR will impact on your SEO rankings. Due to this, it’s important to keep your CEO to the baseline level or above it.
In essence, SEO and CTR have a symbiotic relationship. They are innately linked and typically perform best when they are both fully optimised. Due to this, it’s important to implement effective SEO strategies. Similarly, you’ll want to monitor your CTR to determine how successful your SEO campaigns are.
Whilst the relationship between CTR and SEO is important, don’t lose sight of the value of CTR as a single entity. When people are clicking on your links, it means they’re visiting your site. This is the main aim of any SEO activity, so a high CTR should always be welcomed.
To achieve consistently high CTRs, however, you’ll need to put the effort in with your SEO. Fortunately, help is at hand. If you want to learn more about improving your SEO performance, why not get in touch with us?
With in-house SEO experts ready to answer your burning questions, we can provide all the info you need when it comes to enhancing your SEO, boosting your CTR and increasing your ROI! To talk to a member of the team, contact ClickSlice now on 020 3287 3638.
A functional website is essential for any business, but how do you ensure your site delivers a great customer experience? Whilst the aesthetic of your site is critical, its development is, perhaps, even more important.
The setup or development of your website is, essentially, the building blocks upon which your online presence rests. A poorly developed site will inevitably result in a poor user experience, or UX. When users can’t access quality content easily, they will deviate to alternative sites.
In fact, it’s estimated that your website has less than four seconds to impress users. If it doesn’t, they’ll be off to a competitor site before your homepage has even finished loading. However, it isn’t just the initial loading times which have a bearing on how long a user will stay on your site. If there is a lag at any stage of their journey, users will disappear from your site as quickly as they arrived.
As users place such a high importance on page loading speeds, it’s become an important factor in determining website credibility. Now part of Google’s SEO algorithms, your site won’t rank highly for any keywords if it’s marred by slow speeds.
Of course, it isn’t just loading speed which has an impact on SEO rankings or user experience. To satisfy users, your content will also need to be easily accessible. However quickly your pages load, they won’t be any use to your audience if they can’t view, engage and navigate around your site.
So, how can you ensure your site delivers a great UX when users are visiting from an endless range of devices? With mobile internet users now overtaking desktop users in every demographic, there are no set display parameters to work with. Instead, your website will need to cater for users visiting on screens ranging from 5” on smartphones to 50” Smart TVs.
Designing an innovative and engaging website can be tricky at the best of times but it’s even more difficult when you consider the variables you need to take into account. Fortunately, there is an effective way to ensure your website caters to every visitor.
A responsive website ensures that your webpages are displayed optimally, regardless of what device a visitor is using. Whether they’re browsing from a smartphone, tablet, laptop or TV, a responsive site delivers your site in the most user-friendly way. Quite simply, it responds to the user’s individual display demands.
It’s clear that a responsive website improves the user experience. Capable of displaying your site perfectly to every user, visitors will find it easy to read or view content. Furthermore, navigating around your site will be easy and straightforward, which will reduce your bounce rate.
However, responsive websites bring important SEO benefits too. We already know that UX is critical to high SEO rankings. As a responsive website improves UX, you can gain credibility with Google based on this alone.
In addition, a responsive website helps you to satisfy Google’s newly introduced mobile-first indexing. As Google is using this indexing method to facilitate ranking websites, it’s vital that you adhere to it, and a responsive website will enable you to do so.
In response to changing user behaviour, Google introduced mobile-first indexing in 2018. Recognising that more people were surfing the net on mobile devices than on laptops or desktops, Google gives priority to websites which are mobile-friendly. In terms of indexing, Google will look at the mobile version of a website before it reverts to a desktop version.
Whilst site owners traditionally ran two different websites to facilitate functional mobile use, this is no longer the case. A responsive website negates the need for a separate mobile version of your site completely.
As a responsive website recognises the user’s display parameters and adjusts your site accordingly, there is no need to develop a second site at all. For site operators, this is welcome news. By switching to a responsive site, you can essentially halve your work. Instead of having to update two websites, a responsive website means you can focus your efforts on one site, whilst improving UX at the same time.
Furthermore, you won’t be penalised under Google’s new mobile-first indexing policy. The search engine understands the flexibility of responsive websites and judges them accordingly. With a responsive website, you’ll meet the criteria of their mobile-first indexing strategy and climb the rankings accordingly.
Choosing to have a responsive website is beneficial for site owners in a variety of ways. Due to this, it’s important to update your existing site to a responsive version as quickly as possible. By doing so, you will enhance UX, reduce your workload and find it easier to satisfy Google’s algorithms. As a result, your rankings will improve, and you’ll find it easier to attract visitors to your site.
Crucially, the enhanced UX delivered by a responsive website means you’ll find it easier to retain site visitors too. With a reduced bounce rate, users will remain on your site for longer periods of time and be more motivated to engage with your content. In short, switching to a responsive website can have a dramatic impact on your conversion rates and, ultimately, your profits.
Your site design and development are the foundations to your online success, so it’s important to get it right. Once your responsive website is up and running, you can begin to implement effective SEO strategies.
To learn more about the SEO benefits associated with responsive web design, contact ClickSlice now on 020 3287 3638.
Backlinks have been the mainstay of search engine optimisation for years, but in a changing digital landscape are they still relevant? With routine algorithm changes and SEO methodologies, how much should you be relying on backlinks to get you to the top of the rankings? More importantly, should you modify your backlink strategy to increase its efficacy?
Backlinks are simply links which connect your website to other sites online, but they’re extremely important when it comes to search engine optimisation. Your backlinks help search engines to determine how important, influential and reliable your website is, and this can boost your rankings.
Traditionally, websites benefitted from having lots of backlinks because this helped to establish the site and its content. In basic terms, the more backlinks you had, the more significant your site was. As a result, high numbers of backlinks were a good way to increase your SEO rankings.
Absolutely. Backlinks still help to establish your website’s authority, and they still play a considerable role in determining your rankings and how search engines view your site. As a form of off-page SEO, backlinks are still extremely important. However, the way backlinks are perceived by search engines has changed in recent years.
The number of backlinks on your site is no longer seen as an indicator of your website’s importance or authenticity. Whilst a healthy number of backlinks may be advantageous when it comes to your rankings, search engines, such as Google, now assess the quality of your backlinks as well.
High-quality backlinks are links high authority domains. Well-known, secure and popular websites are typically deemed high-quality, and they’re often recognisable names. Well-known sites, such as, Facebook, Forbes YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram are all examples of high authority domains, and creating a link between your site and any of these websites would be extremely beneficial for your SEO rankings.
Conversely, lower quality backlinks are connections to websites which don’t necessarily have a high authority domain. These sites may not be as well-established or well-known, and they won’t automatically boost your rankings on search engines either. However, that doesn’t mean you should avoid lower quality backlinks in their entirety.
The quality of your backlinks is crucial to your SEO success, but it’s important to remember that content matters too. If you want to link to a website which doesn’t have a particularly high domain authority but has original, informative and relevant content, then it could be worthwhile. Whilst you may not gain much from this type of link building in terms of SEO, connecting your users to content fresh and interesting content has its own rewards.
However, it is important to avoid low-quality backlinks, as these could actually have a negative impact on your SEO rankings. Traditionally, quantity reigned when it came to backlinks, and this lead to some unscrupulous tactics. With people eager to boost their rankings, sites were created simply to serve as backlink connections, rather than delivering relevant content.
To prevent falsely inflated rankings, search engines started to pay more attention to where your backlinks were going. Instead of focusing solely on the number of backlinks on your site, Google cares about their value. As a result, the quality of your backlinks became increasingly important, whilst the quantity of your backlinks became less influential.
Yes. Quantity still matters when it comes to backlinks, but not necessarily in the way you might think. Hundreds of backlinks may have ranked you more highly on a SERP (search engine results page) in the past. Now, however, it could do just the opposite.
Having hundreds of backlinks won’t necessarily improve your SERP position. Furthermore, hundreds of low-quality will actually put you lower down on SERPs and damage your SEO strategy. Whilst a decent number of backlinks can be beneficial for your website and its rankings, quality matters. Backlinks will only have a positive impact if they’re high-quality. Of course, backlinks of moderate quality can be valuable too, providing they link to relevant and worthwhile content.
Most users want to know whether high quantity or high-quality backlinks will benefit their site, but it isn’t quite as simple as that. Whilst high-quality backlinks will place your site higher on SERPs, a high quantity of backlinks could actually lower your rankings, depending on their quality.
Like most digital marketing and SEO concepts, the use of backlinks has changed over time. Whereas quantity once reigned supreme, high quantities of backlinks are now only beneficial if they’re also high-quality. As low-quality backlinks could have a negative impact, it’s important to look at the value of each potential link. In fact, focusing on quality before quantity is essential if you want to use backlinks to boost your SEO rankings.
To learn more or to enhance your backlinks today, contact ClickSlice now on 020 3287 3638.
Local SEO has increased in prominence recently, with ‘near me’ or ‘nearby’ searches rising almost month-on-month. For bricks and mortar businesses, this trend highlights a shift in the way people are looking for services. In response, companies must incorporate ‘near me’ searching into their SEO strategy.
Users have always relied on search engines to find shops, restaurants and amenities in their area. In this respect, local SEO is nothing new. However, the way users are searching for local services is changing. Traditionally, users would add particular location to specify the geographical area in which they wanted to search. This shift towards ‘near me’ searching has removed the need for users to pinpoint their locale. As a result, it increases convenience and UX when it comes to searching for nearby businesses and services.
Quite simply, users add the words ‘near me’ to key terms when they’re using a search engine, such as Google. In doing so, they expect to see SERPs showing relevant businesses or services in the current area. If you’re out and about and what to stop for an impromptu lunch, for example, you might enter ‘restaurants near me’ or ‘cafes near me’ to find a selection of eateries nearby.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the increase in ‘nearby’ searches has correlated with the rise of mobile devices. With cheaper data, more functionality and faster response times, mobile device usage has risen across every demographic in recent years, culminating in more people using mobile devices than laptops or desktops.
Currently, almost 90% of ‘near me’ searches come from mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets. With the ability to find local services in any area, adding ‘near me’ to a keyword or key term ensures efficiency for the user, so delivers a better UX.
The way we use technology evolves over time, and the shift towards mobile devices and voice automation been a significant factor in the rise of ‘near me’ searches. We’ve become used to increasingly intelligent indexing and highly-relevant SERPs, despite providing less detailed search terms and keywords.
‘Near me’ searches are easy for users, and they provide good results. Instead of having to specify an area or maximum distance, users can simply add ‘near me’ to whatever they’re looking for and rely on Google to do the rest.
Furthermore, ‘nearby’ searches are ideal if you’re looking for amenities, products or services in an area you’re unfamiliar with. Whether you’re in a new town, city or country, adding ‘near me’ to your search will give you more information about your immediate area and the amenities available.
Search engines have sought to track and identify a user’s location for years, although more advanced location tracking has been controversial. Originally using IP addresses to determine your location, search engines now use a range of tracking methodologies to isolate your geographical location. With location tracking more accurate than ever before, the quality of ‘near me’ SERPs has increased, and it’s become a mainstay of local SEO.
In fact, more accurate location tracking has put ‘nearby’ searches on a par with location-included searches. In contrast, ‘near me’ queries offer more convenience and faster searching. As a result, users have embraced this new way of searching for local services.
Voice searches and the use voice-activated tech has exploded over the past couple of years. Smart home devices becoming increasingly popular in residential environments is just one example of the trend. Whilst mobile device personal assistants have been around for some time, the improved results delivered by Cortana and Siri have ensured their continued usage.
However, when we use voice-activated tech, we look for things differently. You don’t necessarily type how you speak, so it makes sense that these two search mediums operate differently. To offer accurate SERPs, Google has invested heavily in AI. This technology determines exactly what users are searching for, and which results are likely to be most relevant to them.
Search engines now have a greater understanding of what users mean when they add ‘near me’ to a search. Combined with their ability to pinpoint our real-time location, the results from these searches are increasingly accurate. As a result, users have continued to use ‘near me’ searching at a prolific rate. To date, this particular search trend is showing no signs of slowing down.
Businesses who want to attract local clientele to their premises must engage in effective local SEO, and ‘near me’ searches are a critical component. Whilst search engines can accurately identify user location, they have yet to establish an effective way of determining what geographical areas a website is targeting.
For digital marketers, this means your SEO strategy should still incorporate locations which are relevant to your clients. It won’t take long for Google to find a way to determine what locations websites are targeting, but it’s not there yet.
In the meantime, your content and your page title should still contain the locations you want to reach. This will enable search engines to match your content to users in the relevant area.
However, the change in location searches provides us with crucial information about user behaviour. The improved accessibility and accuracy of ‘near me’ searches increased convenience and enhanced UX even further than before. Now, users can provide less information but receive more tailored and relevant SERPs. Indicative of the move towards more intelligent indexing and results, ‘near me’ searching is just the beginning.
The rise in ‘near me’ searches is underway but it’s not too late to benefit from this new user behaviour. As users continue to search for amenities and services close by, it will be websites and businesses which respond to ‘near me’ searches that will attract users and custom – both online and offline.
To incorporate ‘near me’ searches into your local SEO strategy, contact ClickSlice now on 020 3287 3638 or say hello@clickslice.co.uk
Over the years, it’s become increasingly harder to get prospects to visit a website. Given the rapid rate at which search engine algorithms change, it’s likely that this will keep on being an arduous task in the foreseeable future. Once you factor in the fact that online businesses are increasing in number, you can clearly see that competition will keep being stiff.
As you start out, be prepared to register almost zero traffic on your website. Having revealed this, you need not despair, we’re committed to helping you get more traffic to your brand new website in a couple of days. If you’re able to stay consistent, you’re likely going to see all your hard work come to fruition.
While this may seem like a no-brainer, there are still plenty of businesses today that are not active on social media.
Before you create a social media page, it’s important to first conduct proper research on your industry and your customers’ preferences. Once all this is ascertained, you’ll have a good idea on which platforms are ideal for your business and where your customers like to flock whenever they’re online. Failing to conduct proper research may see you in trouble as you’ll be operating from a point of darkness.
If you’re a B2B business, then, it’s advisable to check out LinkedIn. It all depends on the nature of your enterprise and what you’re looking to achieve.
If you’d like to become visible in a short span, then, it’s safe to play with the right set of hashtags and monitor your quick progression on platforms like Twitter. Since hashtags act just like keywords, it becomes easier for customers to spot your business as they scroll through their feed or as they’re searching for information online.
Importantly, you need to always remember that content is king. If you’re really looking to leave a good impression in the minds of readers, make sure you come up with scintillating content. With this approach, your clientele will find it easier to connect with what you’re really saying and chip in with a suggestion or two.
You can also develop backlinks as you interact with people on social networking platforms. While at it, it’s vital to remember that these platforms thrive on human interaction, so try to strike a balance between site promotion and socialisation.
Search Engine Optimisation is the way to go if you’re looking to grow your audience. At present, projections show that 51% of all website traffic originates from organic search and another 10 percent from paid search. With these numbers, it’s clear to see that you need to have a solid plan in place to really stand out in search results.
Since your audience is targeted, you’ll have a higher chance of converting them into willing buyers. As a consequence of the high number of prospects coming to your website, you’re likely going to register more returns for your investment.
Content optimisation for search engines is definitely something you need to try out. Making small tweaks to your content like the manner you arrange your image alt text can make a big difference. The same applies to add meta descriptions and creating internal links to new content.
As you go about writing and publishing content, always be on the lookout for opportunities to introduce internal links. This kind of linking can enhance your SEO strategy and provide meaningful content to users.
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