Transcription
As with brand or content, I believe that SEO is something that everybody in business should have a basic grasp of. It’s too fundamental to modern business for people to bury their heads in the sand and call it a dark art.
Besides, at a strategic level, it isn’t complicated. Yes there may be hundreds of signals working in Google’s algorithm but there is no point worrying about these individual signals, because nobody knows them. Not even the world’s most experienced SEOs actually know what Google’s algorithm is built up of, so it’s a non issue.
Instead, all any of us can do, and this doesn’t require the ability to code or any understanding of algorithms, is to ask ourselves two questions.
First of all, what does the user want to see? Actually you’re best placed to make this call. Do they want to see technical information, pricing information, testimonials, do they want to buy online or enquire, do they need to see lots of emotive visuals or is it a more rational process?
This is not complicated is it. And you know the answers better than anyone because it’s your audience.
Secondly, we need to ask what Google wants to see. Well this is even easier because you’ve already answered it. Google exists to give the people what they want, so as long as you’ve done the first part and considered the infinite array of things that a user might be hoping to find when they land on your web page, then Google will love it and will rank it well.
Small detail – you of course need your designer to ensure this wealth of information is structured in a nice, digestible way, but there are all sorts of ways of doing that, particularly by using tabulated or drop down content so that you don’t overwhelm the user. This is particularly important on mobile.
That’s it. Of course there is a bit more to it than that but as a business owner or director that’s all you need to know. It’s then up to your designers and deverlopers to ensure the thing is built well, and up to your pr and marketing people to ensure that you’re genuinely building the brand so that the domain is well trusted by people and therefore by Google.
See you next time.
