Which of these two pictures best describes your website?
On the left is Mr Spider’s web. It is beautifully designed and constructed. When it’s finished, he patiently waits. He is cool and confident his next meal will come. Sometime. And, hopefully, sooner rather than later.
On the right is the Vermilion Flycatcher. He has no patience. Unlike his fellow diner, Mr Spider, he pro-actively seeks and catches his prey. Lots of it. He is good at it and his meals are regular.
So, which picture best describes your website?
You may be content to have a passive website, one that acts as a digital business card like Mr Spider’s web. Quite a few businesses do. On the other hand, if your intention is to compete in a very challenging market place but your ranking is way below the cream at the top, you’re probably pretty disappointed. There are two principal reasons for his: first, fully optimised, really competitive websites resolutely hold on to their pole positions. Put another way, they are web savvy. Second, your website is hindering the search engines. It is not optimised and it isn’t compatible with the quality, accessibility and volume of the data that search engines need. Hence, the poor ranking.
Before rage engulfs reason, let’s explain.
Good website developers are specialists in making websites through design, structure and regular updating. But it is not enough. They are not necessarily specialists in making them responsive – that’s another, and entirely different, discipline, usually called SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). If you want to be good at it, you have to follow the ever-changing technological shenanigans.
Which is not unlike the way the Vermilion Flycatcher adapts to his opportunities. Technique and speed are of the essence.
Search engines work in two ways: first elimination of irrelevant websites (business type, location etc) then by recognising a variety of other essentials. This is where it gets complicated.
Firstly, it examines off-page factors – links from other websites, social media, directories, blogs and other external sources.
Secondly, it looks at technical SEO. The search engines use crawlers which access your website and snoop around your website’s internal organs: It examines things like ease of navigation, sitemap optimisation, security, mobile phone and tablet compatibility, the speed your website builds and a whole lot more. Heavy technical stuff. Then it indexes the contents for another day.
Thirdly, Keywords. These are computer-generated lists of words the search engines recognise. There are hundreds of them for each type of business. A well-chosen few have to be woven into the website text in such a way to make the text flow elegantly and persuasively AND to make sense to the search engine. The mysteries of search engine algorithms enable them to appreciate syntax and grammar as well as relevance. Clever though that is, you have to metatag every keyword to draw it to the attention of the search engines.
So the SEO expert works for hand in glove with a copywriter who understands the problem and has the wit to make it work for your customers and the search engines!
Now, here’s the mind-blowing fact: every search covers 1.8 billion websites and produces a ranked result in the blink of an eye!
This inevitably leads to the unpalatable fact that you have to play their game not yours. And, to play their game to advantage, you need the support of an SEO specialist. But beware, SEO is a debased currency. There are lots of so-called SEO specialists exploiting your ignorance and charging fees that will make you sick!
So, resist all those beguiling promises and find someone who speaks your language. Lets the results of his work be his testament. And, if you can, get a recommendation from someone who has benefitted from his excellence.
Remember: it may be more expensive to do nothing than do something!
Now try and answer the question: whom would you like your website to resemble: Mr Spider’s web? Or the quick-witted Vermilion Flycatcher who grabs his meals on the fly!
SEO examples
Here are some examples of the websites we have optimised:
Fortis Accountants (Hammersmith)
How We Can Help
There are a lot of different benefits to SEO and one easy takeaway from all this: you need SEO in 2020. We can help you increase your rankings, boost your reputation, and improve your website.
For more information about our SEO services, take a look at our website. To learn more, schedule a free audit with us!
PS –Shortcut to the top. Mr Cheetah (aptly named) will tell you all about the fastest way there is to get to the top. It will cost you money but, for some, it’s a run-away winner. It’s called Pay-per-Click. Read all about this fleet-of-foot character - coming soon.