With millions of pages on the web and thousands more being added daily, SEO is one of the most important tools that webmasters and marketers have at their disposal to stick out from the crowd; as Google’s guidelines for “credible SEO” narrow and the field becomes more competitive by the minute, it’s more important than ever to reexamine and prioritize the two central factors that search engine optimizers contend with daily: website optimization and traffic optimization.
Website Optimization
With website optimization, the name is fairly self-explanatory; optimizing your website is about offering the best possible UX, or user experience, to visitors. Implementing even a few of these strategies will not only boost the relevance of your site, it will also impress your users and improve conversion rates.
- Your webpages should load quickly; invest in fast, reliable hosting and a competent web developer
- Prioritize your navigation; the pages on your site should be easily accessible from within the site itself
- Invest in awesome content; the best way to draw users to your site is to make it worth their while, and content is an excellent incentive
- Implement a call to action; give your page a purpose, and give your visitors direction, all in a practical and unintrusive format
- Keep a clean site; compress your images, remember to use alt and meta tags, and create unique and relevant descriptions
Traffic Optimization
Optimizing traffic to your site is just as much about testing as it is about marketing and visitor retention; traffic optimization requires search engine optimizers to take an analytical approach to their website, and often is a much more unpredictable source of site traffic than website optimization.
The most important thing that you can do to optimize your site traffic is to use targeted keywords; unfortunately, there is no cure-all for poor traffic optimization. Every website is different, and needs a unique set of targeted keywords to reach a relevant and interested audience. The best way to improve your traffic optimization is to test and implement a set of keywords that will appeal to potential site visitors, which will in turn generate more traffic.
The Verdict
Traffic optimization isn’t a sure thing, and the outcome is based almost solely on the relevance of the keywords that you use. Website optimization, on the other hand, is a pretty safe bet; a site that offers a better UX will always rank higher than one that is disorganized or broken. That isn’t to say that one form of optimization is inferior or less useful than the other; both traffic optimization and web optimization have their place and offer their own unique benefits. However, for the average search engine optimizer on a limited budget, site optimization offers a stronger web presence and covers a lot of bases at once from a business standpoint.
Whether you’re looking to improve your web presence with site optimization, traffic optimization, or a bit of both, 678PC can help. Our holistic approach covers all facets of search engine optimization, and has benefitted many small businesses seeking to take advantage of the power of the web. If you’re in need of a reliable, affordable site, 678PC also offers premium WordPress services. We’ll build a website from the ground up, tailored to your business or message; whatever your web-based needs are, 678PC is here to help; give us a call today!