Optimising Online Business Tools

Most businesses today have some level of online presence, and at the very least, a website. Having an online presence is one thing, but making this presence a true business tool is another thing completely. In the UK alone there are 175m Google searches per hour and 2.9m Google searches per minute, so making your business stand out in this online marketplace can be a challenge indeed.

Typically, most companies in the channel see Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) as the best way to make their online presence felt, and rightly so. Unfortunately, all too often these tools are implemented as a one-off answer to the problem of assuring online presence rather than as rolling solution that needs to be tweaked and refined to deliver the best results.

Like a product placed on the bottom shelf, businesses that appear low in search result rankings, run the risk of not being noticed or worse becoming irrelevant. To succeed against your competitors, you want your business to be right at the customer’s eye level – SEO can help deliver this.
Search engines scan webpages and categorise them based on the use of certain “key” words or tags. SEO can ensure your website includes the words your customers are searching for, which increase the chances they will find you. As trends change, a new product line launches, new buzz words are being introduced or the landscape becomes more competitive, your key words may change to reflect these influences.

SEO can also enhance the online presence of your company which adds credibility to your business. It does this by organically growing a business’ online presence through the use of web links- both inbound and outbound. By having other sites link to your website (inbound links) with similar content it helps build your credibility and attracts new visitors. Outbound links allow you to link to other sites with similar content-growing your online presence naturally.