The invention of the internet and a developing trend of entrepreneurship have given rise to many mid and small-scale companies in different parts of the world. That has led to the growth of support function related to businesses as a ripple effect. In the world that runs on Google, every brand is a part of the intense competition of gaining visibility and its users’ attention. Google, and for that matter, search engines have changed the way information is accessed and used by the people. It has bought information and content of every sort right at the fingertips of people. Need to vent grievances about your recently purchased phone? You can find forums online. Need to shop for festivities? Online platforms are available. Need to know the tourist spots in Hawaii Islands? Google Maps are ready for your help. With the kind of convenience, the search engine technology has provided, it is significant for businesses of every scale to have a decent share of brand visibility and awareness, which are the primary sources of gaining traffic to the websites.
Search engines run on specific complex algorithms that determine the rankings of the web pages for a particular set of keywords typed in the search box. These algorithms keep on getting updated on a regular basis. Therefore, it is imperative for businesses to optimize their web pages and content to ensure they don’t get buried in the second page of search engine results. Apart from search engine optimization (SEO), there are many other services required by businesses to ensure a consistent and quality online presence. Some companies that offer these services are experts is SEO Santa Barbara region. Services provided by these companies can be summarized below:
- SEO Audit: This service is generally the first step to the following services offered by these companies; usually it is a free service. An SEO Audit report assesses the following factors:
- Does your webpage use URLs that are relevant to the theme and keywords?
- What is the length of your title tags and Meta Description? Are they in line with the theme?
- Do you use internal links?
- Is your webpage easy to navigate?
- Local Business Optimization or Local SEO: The first step of local SEO is ensuring that your business gets listed in the ‘Google My Business (GMB)’ listing. It increases the chance of your business showing up in Local Finder, Google Maps, and other organic rankings. The listed companies can claim a free listing on Google and hence can showcase their essential details such as the name of the company, address, contact details, business hours, etc. The companies that offer such services can guide you through this process seamlessly. Important here to note is to keep your information updated.
- Search Engine Marketing (Pay per Click) Services: Pay per click marketing is a form of internet marketing wherein marketers pay a fee to the publisher, every time users click on their advertisement. In this way, visits are paid and not earned. In case of Search engine marketing, a popular form of PPC, ads are placed on search engine’s sponsored links whenever there is a search on the keywords related to their business offerings. Professionals certified in the area of AdWords and Analytics can assess your business’ keywords and scoop out profitable opportunities if any.
- Social Media Marketing: This form of marketing that refers to the use of social networking sites to spread brand awareness and promote a product or services. Social media marketing generally comprises of establishing a social media presence, creating content that is worth sharing and getting feedback from potential and existing customers through surveys and contests. This type of marketing campaign targets a particular set of audience and is therefore proved to be very useful.
- Conversion Rate Optimization: An online marketing strategy that doesn’t result in conversion is as good as no strategy at all. Conversion optimization refers to the technique of increasing the percentage of visitors that land up to your website into actual customers. Professionals can set up a conversion tracking system to track the phone calls and contact form submissions. It gives a direction to up the conversion rates.
- Link Building Strategy: One of the important ranking factors to improve Search Engine Optimization is other websites which have links directing to your site. The process of enhancing the quality of those external links is called link building. These external links are generally a set of words or phrases that lead to your website. Have a look at the various types of links:
- When other sites are compelled to quote your website’s link without your knowledge, those are natural links.
- Website directories can list links to your site, known as posted directory links.
- When you have links to the other site and vice versa, it is called reciprocal links
- You can quote your links in blogs, comment sections, discussion forums, etc.
- Keyword Research: Professionals can assist and guide you through proper keyword research to improve the SEO for the set of keywords that represents your products and services. Keyword research aims at finding out the exact keywords that your potential customer will use to search for your products. If you can assess the right keywords, you can include them in your website’s title and main text. This consistency is beneficial.
- Content Marketing: Content can be in the form of text or infographics or video bulletins. Unless exciting and useful, content cannot draw or engage audiences. It is crucial in many ways. Quality content spreads very quickly. It not only enhances brand reputation, but it also poses your brand as trustworthy and reliable. Say if your content answers a particular question raised on a discussion forum, then this can lead the audience to your websites, which ultimately helps in organic rankings in search results.
 The gamut of services offered by the SEO companies is innumerable. Such services pave the way for growth and development of mid to small-scale businesses which ultimately leads to the economic development of a country.
