When I was just starting out in SEO, I thought two of the most important factors were rankings and traffic. Everything I focused on revolved around those two goals. Now for those of you who have studied SEO over the past few years understand why this was so foolish. Don’t get me wrong, traffic and rankings do matter. They just don’t matter as much as I thought when I was starting out.
Unless you run a site that is paid for only by impression advertising, traffic doesn’t make you any money. Conversions make you money. You make money when people contact you after they visit your site. You make money when they fill out a form, make a phone call, or come by your office in person.
Perhaps you’ve been trying to do SEO on your own for a while. If you’re getting traffic, but you’re still not making money, you might want to look at the ability of your site to convert. Perhaps your visitors can’t find a way to contact you from your homepage. I’ve visited sites where I can’t find a phone number at all. If you run a local business, a phone number is still a must. If I’m considering hiring a plumber or electrician, I want to talk to a real person, not just fill out a form online.
Your site must also help visitors understand what you do. You should have a clear description of the services you offer. Your web presence should give your visitors a flavor of your business. If you run a restaurant, put your menu online. Spend a little bit of money to hire a local photographer and have them take pictures of your restaurant. Make it look inviting.
SEO is the start, not the end of your online marketing efforts. These were hard lessons we had to learn in our own company. As we’ve grown, we added tools and experience dedicated to helping visitors convert. Getting your site found is the easy part, but earning conversions is what makes you money.
About the Author
Tyler Brooks is a SEO and video production specialist at Proof SEO.
