Make Your Website Work Harder for You

April 2nd, 2013 | by: SM SOLD | Posted in : Marketing, Services, New Technology

Whether you have had your website for a few months or a few years, there are always new ways to improve the way customers come across your website. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a critical part to any website.  Being listed on the first page of a search engine is crucial to finding new customers.  Follow a few of these simple guide lines to help boost your online marketing!


START WITH A SOLID FOUNDATION

Having the correct programming structure that will allow the Search Engines to index your site is up most importance. What\'s in a URL? For the SEO world, everything!  When building a great page name, consider your keyword research or the top keyword for the page. Or, if it\'s a real estate, consider a targeted area as a term plus the word real estate, property, or home and then the address with location and city. Whatever you decide, don\'t add spaces because " " instances aren\'t attractive to search spiders. Leaving no space between words is also an improper method for search engines to decipher key term separation. At the end of the page name we find the declaration of the scripting language (maybe that is too technical for this post.)

FOCUS THE HOME PAGE & PRODUCT PAGES ON YOUR CUSTOMERS’ INTEREST, NOT YOURS

You want customers who are coming to your page to find out what you sell and the product or services you have to offer quickly. It’s easy to get caught up in your accomplishments and long descriptions of why your company is special and unique. This belongs on the company profile page, not the home page. Get their attention with benefit oriented headlines (think H2 tags) and text drawing them into the type of properties or services you offer. If they care about the type of company you are, they will look for that on another page. This will also help search engines pick up your services when searched for, rather than your company achievements.

BE SURE YOU HAVE INCLUDED IMPORTANT SUPPORTING INFORMATION

Turning web surfers into customers is one of the hardest things to achieve. To become more successful in this area be sure to provide your buyer with lots of supporting information to make them feel more comfortable buying from you. If you provide a consulting service your supporting information may be case studies of a few previous clients and how you helped. With internet becoming the main source of purchases in today’s market it is important to provide all the important information that’s available.

BE SURE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION IS EASY TO FIND

Customers not only want to be able to get more information onproperty or services from you, but also who you are and how to reach you. They may have questions about merchandise, or have a problem with an order, or prefer to talk to a real person instead of ordering online. Avoid losing potential inquiry by including your phone number, email address, and office locations on every page.

SHARE LINKS WITH OTHER BUSINESS IN YOUR COMMUNITY

Even with search engine optimization and online marketing, business is still very much about the people you know. Talk to a few agents in other markets who sell similar types of homes or have complimentary services. Help each other’s pages by exchanging links and giving each other referrals. If you are in the luxury market, create a concierge section in your area in case your clients want to make a few changes to their new home.

MAKE SURE YOUR SITE LOOKS PROFESSIONAL WITH EASY NAVIGATION

Finally, first impressions are extremely important for any website and now Search Engines are give you style points. Are your graphics of professional-quality and clear? Are all the fonts the same size, type, and color throughout the site?  Colored background graphics or textures can make these hard to read, but if they are used they should be appropriate to the content of the site (i.e do put a picture of you and your dog on the home page). Having a user-friendly website is crucial for the user experience.  Make sure your site is clutter-free and not confusing! If either of these are a problem for customers they may get frustrated and leave your site all together.  Using Macromedia Flash does not allow the spiders to crawl your site and makes your webpage load slower another black mark on your SEO score.

These are all great ways to market to potential clients by improving your results in the search engines. Let SM Sold help you redesign your website and improve your results with the creativity and knowledge of our team! Contact us today to schedule a free consultation to expand your online business. We’re passionate about making your business goals a reality, providing you with the latest marketing techniques.