It may sound like an oversimplification but it’s important to note that while the goal of search engine optimization strategies is to achieve a high ranking on search engine results pages for your industry keywords (and in some cases local search positioning), the ultimate goal of your strategy is to stimulate website traffic that leads to conversion. Whatever conversion means to your business, conversion is the ultimate goal. In some cases, conversion means an online sale of your product or service. But in other cases conversion means to stimulate use of your contact form. In other cases it may be a signup to your subscription list. In some cases, it’s a phone call to your business. It may simply be the case that a conversion for your website is consumption of your content (as in the case of a news blog). Whatever the goal, you want to achieve an action that you value beyond a ranking on Google.
Because your ultimate goal reaches well beyond the simple ranking on Page 1 or 2 of Google, Yahoo or Bing search results, your strategy should also. And that moves your methodology beyond tactics that websites and SEO blogs advocate to rank your site. A winning SEO strategy reflects a thoughtful process by which users not only make their way to your website, but that also directs them to the information they need to learn more about your business or brand and evaluate how well you rank against your competitors. Finally, you want them to take the next step to avail themselves of your product(s) or service(s) and simply the way forward for them to do that.
So, when planning your SEO strategy, keep in mind two things: (1) you have to layout how/where customers get the information they need – whatever it is – like rates, services/products, and reviews; and (2) you have to make it extremely easy for them to convert – whether that’s purchasing your product or service or getting someone from your business on the phone.
When you take into account these two elements of your website design and SEO strategy, you keep customer experience at the forefront of your planning and when you do that you ensure the customer’s needs are met first. That’s key to ensuring you make/keep your customers happy and keep them coming back and telling other’s about your business.
No matter how beautiful your web design plan is, these two elements should be top of mind in your strategy. No matter how many new services or products you add to your website, these two elements should be top of mind. If they aren’t, you’re doing it wrong. Don’t let any other aspect of your website or SEO design get in the way of information flow and ease of conversion.
Your website design begin losing its way when these two elements begin to fall by the wayside. You don’t have to be a professional web designer to understand this or how it applies. Visit your website and ask yourself if its clear where to find information about your business, what it does, and how it compares to others. Then ask your self how easy is it to interact with the brand, to take steps to connect with management, to inquire about your service or product. Ask yourself how easy is it to buy your product? If the information flow is confused or the process for achieving a sale is too frustrating, your customer could go bye-bye and you’re left with a beautiful website that does absolutely nothing to grow your business.
If you would like to speak with a Proctor Digital website design consultant and learn more about how we can help build a beautifully designed website that incorporates seamless user-experience and conversion strategies, call us today at 773.664.5819. We would love to help!