Smart business owners know how important search engine optimization (SEO) is for their company’s websites. SEO, when done effectively, will help to increase a website’s visibility on the search engines.
 
This means that their website will show up in the top search results when someone searches for a keyword or phrase that applies to their business. Being in the top results can send thousands of targeted prospects to your website.
 
In fact, smart SEO can help your business in many ways!
Consider these benefits of SEO: 
1. You will see anincrease in traffic. As your website becomes more optimized over time, it will start to rank higher in the search engines for various search terms. As this happens, you should see an increase in traffic, or prospects viewing your website. Ultimately, this should increase your sales too.  

2. It will increase the credibility of your business. Your customers are conditioned to believe that the best businesses are those ranked at the top of the search engines, whether that is true or not.  When you rank highly, your prospects perceive your business more favorably, which leads to an increase in sales, conversions, and brand recognition.

3. SEO can lead to long-lasting results. Radio, print, and billboard ads produce short-term rewards. SEO, on the other hand, helps to deliver long-term rewards. By investing in SEO, your online presence increases, resulting in a more profitable return on investment (ROI).

​4.You are in control of the cost. Whether you are building backlinks, creating a social media presence, or creating blog content, you will know how much it will cost beforehand. Once you know what each service will cost, you can determine which you believe would give you a better ROI.

6. SEO helps encourage users to visit a local store. It has been shown in numerous studies that having an online presence can also increase visits to your offline premises. If you have a restaurant, for example, a potential customer could check out your menu or customer reviews before making a reservation. 

7. Your social media following will increase. As your search engine rankings increase, more visitors will arrive at your website. Even if they do not immediately buy from you, they may still end up checking out your social media platforms, follow them, and then become buyers later on.  These new followers can also share your marketing messages, leading to an increase in social traffic and sales.

8. SEO helps put you ahead of your competitors. As you integrate SEO and various other online marketing techniques into your business, you will move ahead of those competitors who have not implemented these techniques.  ​

SEO is incredibly important nowadays, and if you are not implementing it in your own online marketing activities, you are limiting your results, sales, and profits. Look at what your competitors are doing and see what you can do to rise above them. It will be worth your time and effort.

Altitude Business Solutions are committed to helping Small Business Owners navigate their way through growing their business. Helping them assess where there are issues and providing the recourses and contacts to give Altitude to their business. We offer online training, Social Media Services & Website Services.  Subscribe to our social media channels to be alerted of new content.

First published December 2017

engines will rank your website highly for that search term.
For the highest rankings, go more in-depth than your competitors, provide clear answers, and provide graphics or illustrations to help your reader understand the content clearly.


2. Try to rank for longtail keywords. These are keywords that are niche-specific and may have very little search engine traffic. The reason why you will be aiming to rank for these terms is that there is less competition, so they should be easier to rank highly for.

• Ranking highly for these terms will be easier and maybe quicker to achieve too.
• Plus, if you rank highly for lots of these terms, your overall traffic will increase.  At this point, you may be able to consider ranking for more competitive search terms.

3. Get customer reviews. With local businesses, reviews submitted about your website online can affect your search engine rankings as well.

• For many reasons, it’s worth your time and effort to ensure that you are providing the best service possible for your customers. This will lead to great reviews and more customers!

4. Copy your competitor’s on-page SEO strategy. Visit your competitor’s website and study their content. You may think that creating longer forms of content is best when it comes to ranking. However, this is not always the case. Check whatever pages are ranking for each particular search term.

5.  Build internal links. For each of your longer, authoritative articles, link smaller supporting articles in your website to this main page. This will help your longer page achieve higher rankings.

6.  Ensure that your website is easy to navigate. If your website isn’t easy to navigate, your visitors will just click off your website and go somewhere else. This can lower the time spent on your website and increase the bounce rate. These are both negative SEO factors.

7.  Have a mobile-friendly website. These days, most internet users will access your website through a mobile device. If your website isn’t rendering properly on mobile, this will have a negative impact on user experience, rankings, and sales. So, be sure to optimize your website for mobile devices as well as desktops.

8.  Increase your page speed. Page speed refers to how fast your website page loads, and this affects your rankings.

• A faster-loading website improves the user experience of your visitors. No one wants to be waiting for a website to load. Chances are if they have to wait more than a few seconds, they will leave the website entirely.

​
9.  Get an SSL certificate for your website. It has been shown that having an SSL certificate on your website increases your website rankings.

• These days many search engines will warn its users that a website without this certificate is not secure, which will result in a user leaving the website immediately. This harms your rankings and possibly your reputation as well.

 
If your website is still new and has yet to establish any authority within the niche, or if the competitors in this particular niche have very few backlinks, then it is certainly possible to rank highly for various search terms using these strategies.
 
As your website becomes more competitive, then building backlinks will certainly help you to continue to rank higher.
 
But in the meantime, don’t worry about the backlinks. Draw your visitors to your secure, quick-loading website and provide quality content that they’ll want to engage with and share with others.

At Altitude Business Solutions we work with you to come up with solutions to your business problems and set a plan for implementation.  It all starts with our Discovery call where we will find out more about your business and discuss options for you moving forward.  For Queensland Small Business Owners we will also discuss the Government Funded Australian Small Business Advisory Services program and if your business can take advantage of discounted services.

Contact Us to book in today
Phone: 0419 183 451 
​Email: altitudebusinesssolutions.au@gmail.com

Gone are the days where you business can successfully grow without a website.  And for those of you thinking that everything has moved to social media, well that's a blog for another time.  In today's business world having your own website means you can transact across the glob and also give you a quick and easy point of reference of your business for your customers.

Here are five essentials every business website should include:

1. A powerful home page
Your website’s home page is the first impression you give the online world about your business: It is a representation of you and your business and it's so important that its easy to use and has all the elements expected. It should clearly communicate your business’s brand image through appealing visuals and copy, along with:

• What your business does
• Who it serves
• Why it exists
• Why a customer should care

There are many creative ways to approach your home page, but it should include (at minimum): your logo, a brief description of your business and a navigation menu that directs users to other important pages on your site.
Now that at least 68 percent of Americans own smartphones, according to Pew Research Center, your website should also include responsive design features that ensure it’s as easy to view and navigate on smaller screens as traditional desktop computer orientations.
2. User-friendly navigation Whether your navigation menu expands across the top of your site or in a sidebar, it must be easy for site visitors to locate, and should include logical categories that make it simple for site users to find the information they seek. According to an infographic, poor navigation is the No. 1 reason people abandon a website they’ve visited.
Consider how you can best structure your navigation menu and the categories (and possibly, subcategories) it will contain based on common questions a new customer to your business might ask. For example:

• What broad categories of items or services do you sell?
• What do those products or services cost?
• Where is your business located; what are its hours of operation?
• How do customers purchase items or services, and what forms of payment do you accept?

Ideally, a clean navigation should use logical sequencing and titles that help customers easily identify the section of your website they need to visit.
3. Search features Include a search box feature in addition to your site navigation menu so customers can type keywords or phrases to find the information they need when the navigation menu doesn’t meet their needs. When customers type content into the search box, they’ll be presented with relevant pages to visit, so they don’t have to handle their search manually. (The more content you have on your site that addresses all possible keywords, the more beneficial the search box feature becomes.)
4. Access to help Despite the marketing benefits that a website offers small businesses and online customers, there are times when customers want to connect with a human. Your website should include the option to connect via phone, email and at your physical location, if you have one. Amazingly, Social Media Today reports that 93 percent of small businesses do not publish an email address that customers can use to contact them.
5. FAQ pageThe more you engage with customers online and off, the more you’ll sense patterns in the types of information customers seek, and the questions that arise in regards to your products or services. Offer a page of frequently asked questions and their answers on your site to make it easier for customers to find the detailed information they need.
A small business website is an affordable and effective way to expand your online reach and potential to market to prospects and customers. Yet it needs a few critical elements to make a positive impression. Incorporate these five important website elements into your site to build an online presence that brings customers directly to your business, no matter where they’re located. 

At Altitude Business Solutions we work with you to come up with solutions to your business problems and set a plan for implementation.  It all starts with our Discovery call where we will find out more about your business and discuss options for you moving forward.  For Queensland Small Business Owners we will also discuss the Government Funded Australian Small Business Advisory Services program and if your business can take advantage of discounted services.
Book your complementary 20 minute discovery call today.

*blog courtsey of entrepreneur asic pacific

As the number of people visiting your website increases, you want to convert those people as clients.  Below are five tried and true methods of converting those who peruse into those who pay.
1. Demonstrate how your product is ideal. The idea is to convince your visitor that they do not need to continue looking at other sites; your site has it all, and your product is exactly what they need. 

• : The goal is to show your visitors that they need you.  Make your visitors feel like you are addressing them and not just bragging about yourself.  For example, instead of listing testimonials, try describing various situations and how you helped the client. You want the client to recognize him/herself in the scenarios. 

 
2. Utilize home page sign ups.The more convenient your contact information, the more likely your visitors are to actually use it.  Many people only view a site once, so grab their attention early on and start the relationship right away.
 
Remember: Many people are wary of new relationships, even if it is a simple web presence.  By circulating a weekly or monthly newsletter/ezine, you can maintain contact without seeming overly pushy. 
 
3. Immediate gratification goes a long way.Give your visitors something they can use immediately.  Whether this is a free gift incentive, a fantastic Top 10 List, or downloadable forms, provide every visitor with a takeaway resource. 
 
Remember: Don’t forget to put your name on these documents!  Publicizing yourself, your site, and your product is vital.  Every pdf or downloadable document your visitors print is one more piece of advertising.
 
4. Create a sense of personal commitment. If you portray yourself as invested, your visitors are more likely to think you are invested in them.  Be direct. Make it personal.  Above all, make it crystal clear that you can help solve their problems.
 
Remember: Position yourself as an invaluable resource and make your contact information accessible and easy to locate.  This brings you one step closer to gaining a new client. 
 
5. Quality is obvious.When it comes to your actual website, you get what you pay for.  While it may seem expensive in the beginning, think about how much money will be generated from a professional website. 
 
Remember: Website maintenance  is extremely involved.  Not only does the content have to be exact, the design, development and usability must be exceptional.  It is usually beneficial to contract with a designer who can transform your product ideas into a credible and professional website. 

At Altitude Business Solutions we are committed to helping as many business owners as we can reach new levels of success.  We do this through our 45 minute phone chat where we find out all about your business and where you want it to be as well as giving you a Success Blueprint so you can take action in your business today.  Yes this service is free book your phone session into our diary now.

At Altitude Business Solutions we work with you to come up with solutions to your business problems and set a plan for implementation.  It all starts with our Discovery call where we will find out more about your business and discuss options for you moving forward.  For Queensland Small Business Owners we will also discuss the Government Funded Australian Small Business Advisory Services program and if your business can take advantage of discounted services.


Book your complementary 20 minute discovery call today.