The Down Low on SEO
SEO. SEM. SMS. OMG. The lingo of digital advertising can be confusing. It’s hard to keep all the acronyms straight and know what each one does. Not to worry, we can help you figure it out. Well, at least the importance of SEO for catering businesses.
What does Search Engine Optimization do for you? In short, Search Engine Optimization is used to help your website show as a proper result on a Search Engine Result Page (SERP) such as Google. SEO is affected by many aspects of your website, including back end meta tagging, website ease-of-use, navigation, and more. Having your website properly optimized can help you rank higher as an organic search result, which increases the chances of your website being visited and ultimately you receiving more calls.
Properly optimizing your website can be confusing. So here are a few tips to help you get started and increase your rankings.
- Develop a list of keywords to include in post titles, content, and back end meta tagging. Be sure to use a mix of branded and unbranded keywords. (For example, if you are Tulip’s Bakery in Brooklyn, New York you may choose keywords such as Brooklyn Bakery, Bakery in New York City, Tulip’s Bakery, Tulip’s in NYC, etc.)
- Create original content for your website. This includes adding non-stock images to your website, posting new content to your website’s blog, and adding rich media content (such as videos) to your website.
- Keep your Meta Descriptions short. Google tends to cut off website descriptions after 160 characters. Be sure when you use them they are concise and potential web visitors will be able to read the full description.
- Create a user friendly website. Google and other search engines scan for things such as ease-of-use of your website and your bounce rate. If you bounce rate is high because the content does not appeal to the user it resulted for or because your website is frustrating to use and has hard to find content Google will rank you lower on the search pages.
You can find more about Search Engine Optimization from Google. After defining your keywords and putting them into practice you can use Google Analytics to see where you rank for certain keywords or phrases. Remember, though, that Google changes the algorithm and what it looks for often so be sure to check in or read an article every now and then about what Google is looking for now.