Search Engines
11 November 2021
Search Engines are problem solving tools for information gathering and the big one is Google.
A big part of online marketing starts with your content being recognised and ranked by search engines. Search engines - such as Google - offer searchers page results judged by relevancy to their query. Having your site on the list of results is "an impression".
A "click-through" is when the searcher selects your website from the list of impressions.
Search Engine → Impression → CTR → You.
I like this quote from tortoiseandharesoftware.com - "A website is a cornerstone of digital marketing infrastructure, and a well-built website will naturally attract some traffic from search engines - aka organic traffic."
Your audience and what they are after can look like a moving target at the start of this marketing stage. You can hone in on your target audiences and begin identifying how to attract them to your site.
Two primary segments to consider in website planning are their areas of interest - problem-solving (organic) and preferential (pop-up ads or CTAs). The key is to get high enough on the search ranking to the click-through stage post-impression.
SEO - Search Engine Optimisation - is refining the total site content to provide the building blocks of relevant information for the engines. The algorithms calculate how relevant your site is to the searcher's query.
Your content strategy guides how and where to place information on any page when developing SEO. You have to relate your service to your audience because all that context is a part of your website's overall message.
Beyond Keywords
SEO goes well beyond the keywords in your site. Google, the search engine market leader, has many measuring sticks for sites apart from content. It updates its algorithms frequently, displaying the most relevant sites for any query to the searcher.
Site performance has become vital for gaining a great Google ranking since May 2021. Slow loading is increasingly frowned on by search engines that want to deliver great sites to their users.
Clear accessibility tags, compelling copy and well-planned site navigation all count to promote your site up the impressions list.
You should use a defined structure to make a boundary for each specific targeted group. Identified keywords are part of this.
