Set up data analysis
While it sounds technical, these 'Analytics' come with easy to follow
instructions to help you understand who is visiting your site and how they're getting there, so you can target your marketing efforts appropriately.
Research keywords
Use free keyword tools, such as Bing's Keyword Research Tool†
or Google's Keyword Tool†, to see which words and phrases related to your company receive the highest
volume of searches each month. You will be able to sort through all the words to select ones that are commonly searched for, but aren't highly competitive
or expensive. Then, make sure those keywords appear throughout copy and titles on your web pages and marketing content.
Optimise your website
Search engines use software robots - sometimes called
'spiders' or 'crawlers' - to assess the words, links and visitor activity on your site. This information is used to
determine how relevant your site is to people searching for certain words, and prioritise it in search results accordingly. Here's what you can do:
- Create a website that is informative, relevant and easy to use - Show search engines that your website is valuable for their
users by writing high-quality copy for every page, using relevant keywords within the text, including useful navigational links
and adding social media buttons so that visitors can share your content.
Encourage others to promote your website
Search engine crawlers also look to see how many people,
and which people, are adding links to your site on their own pages. If they see that a lot of reputable people are linking back
to your site, they will increase your rankings for certain relevant terms. To get people linking back to your site, you can:
- Create shareable content that people will want to pass on to their friends and followers. This can be informative advice or entertaining stories.
- Consider adding a blog to your website, so that you can regularly add new shareable content. Otherwise, you only have your web pages to place content on.
- Develop genuine relationships with bloggers who write about your sector, or who have an audience similar to yours. Offer to write a guest post for their
blog and include relevant links back to your site, so some of their readers will visit your website.
† Please note that these are just examples of the types of analytics and keyword tools available and Lloyds Banking Group does not endorse the services they provide.
