After the booming success of digital marketing and SEO in recent years, should every web dev think about SEO when creating a website? Many web devs don’t think about SEO at all, which is fine, but when Google penalises a site for some reason everyone always comes back to an SEO seeking help. Web devs make the website user friendly, and digital marketers and SEO’s do the same but they also recognise that Google is a user too.
The simple fact of the matter is that if you want users to land on your site you will need to understand how search engines work, and understand what they want your site to do. In recent years search engines have become much better at picking out high quality, relevant and user friendly site’s. Businesses are beginning to understand that Google matters, and are making the link between good user interaction and Google rankings.
But Google Said Focus On The Users?
Yes, Google did tell you to focus on the users. Focusing on the users is all good and well, but at times search engines can get confused and this is understandable, as the way they are ranking websites is based on algorithm’s. Algorithm’s simply cannot assess a website in the same way that a user would, so it is good to accept that at times, you will have to build a website with search engines in the back of your mind, which is where the title of this article comes into play.
SEO A Requirement For Every Website?
Building a website is complicated, and making the perfect website requires a huge amount of thought and consideration. Think of this like a jigsaw puzzle, it wouldn’t be complete without all the pieces. SEO is one of those pieces. Chances are that if you have a website, you are competing against hundreds of other websites that are trying to do the same thing as you. SEO is what will allow you to do the same thing as your competitors, but will teach you how to do it better.
Being on the front page of Google for a popular term is of course a huge driver of traffic, and will allow your digital presence to experience success. SEO will also allow you to learn what users love, hate and don’t care about, so another useful part of utilising SEO is the learning curve that this brings about your exact audience. In all aspects of business knowledge is power, and this is often overlooked by businesses but should be thought about much more than it actually is.
Is My Website Incomplete Without SEO Then?
Your website isn’t exactly incomplete per say, but for all intensive purposes it’s just not as complete as it could be. There is always something that can be improved with a website, so a website will never really be complete but without SEO your website is likely lacking in multiple areas it could be excelling in. Content for example, with good SEO carried out on your site you will have lots and lots of new and relevant content added on a regular basis, which is great for your users as much as it is for search engines.
With SEO you will also have your landing pages optimised to say the right thing in a shorter message. Part of the art of SEO is the ability to portray your brand message as accurately but swiftly as possible. SEO also ensures that any page on your website achieves the goal that it was created to do, for example if you have a news site SEO will ensure that your homepage displays accurate and inticing news.
Things To Consider For SEO
SEO is a time consuming and complex task, so at times doing it internally is not a realistic or achievable goal. In this instance you will have to hire a digital marketing agency to maintain your website and it’s content, and it’s critical that you choose the right agency. If you use an agency they should be sharing performance reports with you on a regular basis, give you access to what they’re doing to make your website rank higher and how long it’s taking.
Read up about SEO best practises to ensure that your agency is staying within good practises, as any blackhat SEO can seriously hamper the performance of your website, because Google does penalise sites that appear to try and manipulate their algorithm’s. Good agencies will often communicate with you, and will be happy to explain their actions to you in a simplified way so you can understand why they are doing what they are doing and what the common goal is.
Is SEO Really That Important?
The simple answer is yes. SEO is that really that important. SEO will help you make your site as user friendly as possible, and will drive a lot of traffic to your site. Traffic that won’t just bounce away, but will interact and engage with your content. For online success SEO is critical, and it is not uncommon for a site to built with SEO as an afterthought which then goes on to perform horribly because it is simply not built with enough quality.
If a website is coded incorrectly from an SEO perspective (incorrect redirects, embedded content, no sitemap etc) it can take a lot of time to put it right. That’s why it is important to consider SEO as a part of your business plan from the get go. Think about what would motivate users to consume your content, and also think about what would motivate search engines to rank your website above your competitors.
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