If you have a website, you will be getting traffic from Google – even if you are not running paid ads. This article will show you how to ensure you don’t lose that vital Google traffic.
Google has a share of over 90% of the search engine market, so ranking well in the search results will get your business ahead of the competition and boost conversions.
How Google ranks your website in search results will change this month (May 2021) with the Page Experience update. The good news is that the factors of this update are actually good practice for all websites, regardless of Google ranking signals.
So, here’s a quick checklist to make sure your website is optimised for best performance and for Google’s ranking signals:
- Improve your page load speed – if it is currently more than 3 seconds, you will be losing traffic. The ideal load time for desktop and mobile is under 1 second.
- Review how you use ads and images – every element of your website should add value to its usefulness and not distract from the content that visitors want to see.
- Optimise for mobile – make sure your website is easy and intuitive to use on mobile devices. Don’t assume that what works on desktop, works for both.
- Check your content regularly – make sure it is relevant to what people are looking for and update it often. Remove content that is out of date and check that all of your links are working.
- Make sure it is a safe environment – check how safe your website is via the Google Search Console. Use HTTPS, remove incorrect information and ensure it doesn’t contain any malicious content.
- Check out your competitors – if their user experience is better than yours, they will rank higher. The top listing in Google’s organic search gets 7% more traffic than the second position and 13% more than the third position.
Not only will these factors boost your Google traffic, they will also boost any paid digital advertising (PPC, Social Media Ads) you are doing for your business because a website that performs well will always outrank those that don’t offer a good user experience.
If you know how to ensure you don’t lose vital Google traffic, you know how to optimise your website for search – both paid and organic.
Need help in making sure your website is up to scratch? Get in touch to discuss an audit and action plan.