Good SEO is important, but websites should also be user-friendly and accessible on all devices to help SEO ranking on a simple Google Search. People quickly leave if they cannot easily access the information, they showed up to the site to read. I have been to many websites to shop for the latest fashion trends; because I am impatient, I exit the website before making a purchase when it’s not user-friendly. Not only is it important to have a good user experience (UX), but also it is crucial to have a website that is linked to the search engines with the most traffic: Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
Where do you begin? You begin by making small changes to your Search Engine Optimization or SEO. You want to get your website to show up naturally and on the first page of search engine results. Without a doubt, putting keywords in the right places helps your SEO to move on to that first page. It can sometimes take time to set up and maintain it, but that is why you should hire the right firm to do the work effectively and in a timely manner for your business. The goal is to start bringing more traffic to your website and be listed on the first page of a search result. Each company that hires a Digital Marketing firm to support their digital presence, can then shift their attention to other important areas, such as sales or new product development once the SEO is running smoothly and doing its job. After all, oh the places you’ll go if your business is first on a Google search!
The first company that I found when I typed in “digital marketing firms near me” was Company A. After taking a look at the above the fold, I found that the 8 tabs at the top of the page allow the visitor to find what they want quickly. Directly above the fold, there is a place to type in your information, and just under that is a button that says ‘request a proposal’ but you do need to scroll down in order to see that. The website looks appealing to the eye and also ranks well in terms of SEO because it was the first website to pop up after the Ads that were before it. My advice for this company is when you scroll down, there are about four ‘request a proposal’ buttons and that can possibly push someone away from taking that action. I would move some of those buttons to different locations and take a few proposal buttons out. People get the point. They saw the first button just as I did. The layout is nicely done, and I can definitely see how people would hire this firm with the website alone because you can find what you want easily, they also give a very detailed yet succinct description of each service they have to help you grow your business.
The company listed directly after Company A on the Google search was Company B. Right off the bat, I see a call to action above the fold. There is a phone number to call, an email, a free analysis button, and a reserve your consultation button with the price listed, as well. The first red flag I have is the color choices. There are over 20 colors on the first page alone. My eyes are not brought to a specific place. I became distracted because I didn’t know where to look. In my opinion, less is more in terms of color. The content on this website is good. I think eliminating colors would benefit this company greatly by bringing in more clients. I was able to do an SEO audit report on this company and they have keyword consistency. This is good to help them show up on the first page of search results by focusing on specific words that are relevant to their business. For example, words such as online marketing, social media management, digital growth, and media marketing, just to name a few. There are many marketing firms out there and if they aren’t marketing themselves in the best possible way, they will lose clients to their competitors.
The final company that I analyzed was Company C. When I began looking at this company’s website, I was on the go and therefore on my phone. I noticed that it was mobile-friendly. I may be wrong but there is a good chance that you are reading this blog post on your smartphone. If you have potential customers looking up information that is relative to your business and your website is not mobile-friendly, search engines do not know you exist. In terms of above the fold for this company, I see a ‘contact us’ in the right-hand corner, which allows a visitor to request a quote. The UX is great. I knew that if I was someone looking for ‘Digital Advertising’, I would go to the ‘What We Do’ tab and find ‘Paid Media and Digital Marketing’ in the drop-down menu and I would be directed to that page to seek additional information about what they do and how they would run a Digital Marketing campaign. When doing an SEO audit report, Company C has well-constructed Meta Descriptions and Title Tags. However, they could improve their speed. This website was, by far, my favorite out of the three.
Having a website that has been optimized through SEO, is user friendly and has a call to action above the fold are all vital factors in making sure your website is successful. A beautifully designed and optimized website for any business is essential in this digital age, but if the website is not ranked with the top search engines, your business will most likely not bring in traffic. As a result, there will not be many desirable actions made to your company in terms of a call, an online booking, or a purchase of the product or service through an e-commerce website. You will lose customers and cash and eventually your business. Keep your company up to date with search engines and success will likely be in your company’s future.
