Most SMEs (small to medium-sized enterprises) recognise the importance of online visibility because in the 21st century in order to have a business you need to be online. The marketplace’s digital move means that competition is fierce and as such, many brands go completely under the radar. You really only ever know brands with enough financial power to pay for advertising space on major sites whereas millions of SMEs can go utterly untouched. In this way, it’s important to know how to unlock oceans of potential customers. You do this through search engines, of which Google is the largest and most influential by far.
How to Check Your Google Ranking – Find Your Business Online
The issue a lot of businesses have is they don’t know where they rank on Google. Problems often arise as a CEO or employee of an SME spends a lot of time on the company site, using Google to search for their company so they can easily be duped by the company’s name being the first thing they see on their personal Google search.
Google Search Confusion
This is simply because Google has remembered your preferences and works to make things convenient for you.
To get a true gauge of your standing, open an Incognito tab, this runs a search without any ‘cache interference’ (a true search without a history from your previous internet searches) and so the search is not influenced by previous searches. Go further still, by searching keywords rather than the actual name of your company as this will actually let you know what it’s like to be a customer who hasn’t even heard of you. This is important so that you can begin work to increase your Google ranking with a realistic perception of where you originally ranked.
Example / Incognito Search
Here’s an example, a customer will likely navigate to Google when looking for a personal trainer. If they live in North London they will then likely type into Google: “Personal Trainer, North London“.
You may have searched this yourself on your own computer. But if you’re a PT in North London then your personal searches/own website navigation will have been remembered by Google. So when You search, Google simply shows you what you have navigated to previously. To see what the customer sees, it’s imperative to run an incognito search, as mentioned above. If you were then (for example) a “Personal Trainer” in “North London” you will see from searching: “Personal Trainer, North London” where you factor on a search, where someone doesn’t know you or know of your website. From here you can see where you rank.
How to Bump Yourself Up
Emocto!
That’s right, we are here to offer a whole host of neat devices for your business. Primarily, Google Ranking. This can become complex. Our I.T. team ensures your ranking is in optimal shape and that you can be found online. Being found online or being at the top of that elusive Google search means Mulla – the green stuff (money) and lots of it! Emocto is The Marketplace for online service companies.
The Basics
As a side note – you can also ensure you don’t overlook the basics…
Usability
First of all, it’s important to work on the product you have. In this case, this means your website. Regardless of whether you make wedding cakes or offer financial advice, your website must be user friendly. This means ensuring it is easy to navigate. Even the slickest SEO campaign can matter very little if the website doesn’t make sense. Your Google rankings will suffer if Google finds it difficult to crawl.
Mobile Optimisation
As the digital age propels itself forward it’s almost unrecognisable from when it began in the 1990s. Now the majority of people access the internet more than half the time from a mobile or tablet. Some businesses are confined entirely to that tiny screen! Therefore it’s important to make sure your business is mobile-friendly. You can assess this for free here.
Links
Often sites will be made with loads of links and not all of them will work. Ensure this is fixed so that every digital pathway goes where it is supposed to. Spotting those 404 errors can bump rankings up exponentially. Furthermore set up a Google Alert to notify you when your business is mentioned and then you can contact the webmaster and request these mentions be turned into links. With these changes and some patience, your website will start to steadily climb the rankings of Google searches and your business will reap the rewards.
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