Do you feel like you’re falling behind in getting sales leads from your website? Have you lost your page rank on Google to competitors? Do you envy your competitors’ websites?
If your answer is “yes” to any of the aforementioned questions, you most likely have some optimization problems with your website. Let me explain in some detail exactly what we mean, so you can discuss it with your webmaster, internet department or seo consultant. This is a newer field, but one that you should be familiar with as it has a big impact on your sales revenue.
Where to start?
Let’s get some statistics out of the way:
71–92% of online search engine users do not search beyond the first page. (Moz.com)
62% of desktop/41% of mobile of online search engine users click on the unpaid (organic) website results, compared to 2% desktop/2.8% mobile on the paid ads. (Jumpshot/Moz)
Google uses the proximity of your location to the user’s location in showing the three ads under the map.
All pages are assembled by the search engine at the time of the search in less than a second.
64% of all searches in the U.S. are on Google. (ComScore)
With the above in mind, you can see that while people have more choice than ever before, the path to getting your sales is becoming narrower and narrower. Google is where the searches are taking place and even then, only on the first page.
What does this mean for your Detroit area business in 2019?
Your website is going to need to appear on page one of a Google search for some set of keywords searched by a prospective customer.
Simple. That’s all there is to it. But, we all know it’s not that easy.
So, now that we have over a decade of watching and refining how websites are optimized, we’re able to make some important suggestions that will definitely improve the page rank of your website. Getting it to page one may require the special skills of an SEO consultant, but if you and your internet staff follow these recommendations precisely, you’re going to see some improvements.
Winning website page rank authority in 2019:
CONTENT AND LAYOUT
KEEP IT SIMPLE. Most visitors will be on your website for less than one minute. Keep the layout and the content simple & concise so they can find what they’re looking for very easily, buy and be on their way.
FEW VISITORS SCROLL. DON’T MAKE THEM SCROLL. Install a web tracking piece of software on your site like Hotjar. Give it a couple of weeks to track your traffic. You’ll see what we mean.
PUT FORMS IN THEIR FACE. Want a form completed? Don’t hide it. Make it prominent, and repeat it often. If you tell them what you want them to do, they’ll do it. Show them.
PHONE NUMBER IN HEADER. Make it prominent. Don’t make them search for it. Doing so may cost you the business.
“CONTACT US” PAGE. Put it in the main menu or header. You can repeat it again in the footer, but it can’t just be in the footer.
“ABOUT US” PAGE. These are huge and drawing more traffic. Unless you’re Dan Gilbert or Quicken Loans, prospects probably want to learn more about you and your company before they buy from you. Don’t shirk your content on this page. Make it rich and inviting, so that prospects feel confident doing business with your company.
LIST OF SERVICES. Make them prominent and list them all. Some prospects might not know all that your company does.
There are many more, but this will give you a good start.
TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS
WORDPRESS CMS. This is the #1 content management system (CMS) in the world, used by 59% of all developers. Google has endorsed it. Need we say more?
SITE LOAD SPEED. Very important for high ranking by Google. Keep it at 3 seconds or less.
CDN TO IMPROVE LOAD SPEED. If your site is loaded with images, videos and/or heavy code, implement a CDN like MaxCDN. Small monthly cost. Big returns in faster load time.
RESPONSIVE DESIGN. In 2019, your site must be responsive on mobile. Run, don’t walk, if your site is not responsive.
MOBILE FIRST INDEXING. Google now uses your mobile site to determine page rank. If it has “issues,” they will spill into your desktop ranking.
SITE CODING FOR SEARCH ENGINES
TITLE TAGS. Write according to “best practices.” You might as well tell the search engines as much about your site as you possibly can. Here is your chance.
META DESCRIPTIONS. State succinctly why they should buy from you. If you don’t complete, the search engines will fill in this area on your Search Engine Results Page (SERP) with whatever they think is the most relevant section pulled from your page, which is not always the best sales pitch.
TAG YOUR PICTURES. The search engines cannot index pictures or images or videos. Media title and alt tags tell the search engine what the content contains. Your webmaster or SEO company must do this on all media.
GOOGLE AMP PAGES. These “accelerated mobile pages” are specifically set up by your SEO consultant to be read by Google and be ranked higher on mobile site returns.
SCHEMA TAGS. The search engine companies established Schema.org to set standards for coding pages for superior ranking and performance. Complicated, but worth it.
Doing business in 2019 in Detroit, Michigan should be lots of fun because the City and whole Metro area are on the rise and thriving again. It’s almost like it’s 1950 all over again!
We have everything. This is a metropolis. How many cities have what Detroit has to offer…and without the hassle of unbearable traffic congestion? Not many, if any.
We love Detroit! Tell your friends. Tell your kids. Tell your relatives. Tell them all what a great place Detroit is to live, work and play in, not to mention what an absolutely beautiful state we live in. Michigan is as beautiful as any of the top ones and more beautiful than most.
2019 is going to be a great year in Detroit for business. Increase your sales. Open up another channel of revenue from your website and thrive! Onward and upward!
