We all know the Covid-19 pandemic dramatically transformed online shopping, not only for retail but for pretty much all types of searches.
Late in the pandemic a survey by Shopify of New Zealand consumers highlighted the changing online habits, with 88% stating that Covid-19 would continue to influence their future shopping and search behaviors, and 60% reporting increased online activity and that has continued to be the case.
With over 8.5 billion searches on Google daily and an average of 4 million results per keyword, how can you enhance your online local presence and connect with your customers when they are searching?
Here are some key tips you can implement yourself, along with ways Linku2 can support your business.
Google Rankings
Did you know that 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine, and Google holds over 90% of the search engine market share? At Linku2, we focus on improving Google rankings.
The further down a website/page appears in Google results, the less likely it is to be seen by potential customers. High rankings on Google are crucial since click-through rates drop significantly for pages not on the first page of search results.
Top positions on search engine results pages receive the majority of impressions and clicks, leading to substantial traffic increases for your site. And, as you would expect, whilst sponsored/paid adverts appear at the top of Google it is the authentic, organic search results that achieve the higher click through rates (see below).
2024 Results
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
SEO is crucial for achieving high rankings. It involves optimizing your site/page to get traffic from free, organic search results. Organic traffic, being earned rather than paid for, is more authentic, achieves higher click-through rates, and garners more trust than paid advertisements.
Key SEO tools include:
- Keyword usage
- Schema markup
- On-page SEO (optimized keyword content)
- Off-page SEO (valuable backlinks, social media, brand promotion)
- Understanding user intent
- Optimizing page load speed
To track, monitor, and influence your rankings and traffic, use:
- Google Tag Manager
- Google My Business
- Core Web Vitals
- Search Console
- Google Trends
Benefits of SEO
SEO offers numerous benefits, such as:
- Increased traffic
- Trackable and quantifiable ROI
- Cost-effective marketing
- Improved site usability
- Enhanced brand awareness
- Boosted credibility
- Competitive advantage
- Wider audience reach
- Improved user engagement rate
For a detailed explanation, see our "The Benefits of SEO" article.
DIY SEO or Professional Help?
While you can undertake SEO yourself, it can be time-consuming. Alternatively, you could hire an SEO agency, which typically costs around $2,500 per month. Linku2 offers a more cost-effective solution with our SMART Plan, providing comprehensive SEO services for your Linku2 page and associated links with high-achieving results.
DIY Option
If you do your own SEO the amount of work you can put in will depend very much on your access to your site. Below are some tips from us if you manage your own site you can -
- Before you begin research the keywords you'd like to be found under and remember to include long tail keywords(phrases generally 3-5 words long) these can often be more targeted for you. Use tools such as Google Keyword Planner, MOZ Keyword Explorer or Ubersuggest.
- Find a good SEO plugin, make sure you read up on it and use all it's available tools
- Complete and optimise your meta data. Max length for your title (and best length for optimisation) is 60 characters, max length (before being truncated by Google) for your description is 155-160 characters. Ensure both your title and descrption contain your main keywords but also ensure they make sense, draw a reader in and of course, space allowing add a call to action. Also bear in mind emotional titles have a higher organic click through rate!
- Add Schema - you can find all schema language references at https://schema.org/ (see below for Schema explanation)
- Ensure you complete your social optimisation including Facebook open graph optimisation
- Remember to include titles and alt text for all your images for optimisation
- Once you've done everything you feel you can then test your page with tools such as Google Rich Results test, Structured Data testing tool and Mobile friendly test, website speed and performance optimisation (a good tool is GTMetrix). Check for keyword density (a good tool is https://www.seoreviewtools.com/keyword-density-checker/)
- If you write your own blog articles that's great, these can be a great tool not only to draw in customers but also create warm leads. Nowadays it's a great temptation to us AI and why not but just be aware. A good AI tool is ChatGPT however remember to always check the output and check for authentification (a good tool is GPT-2 Output Detector) and also check for plagerism (a good tool is duplichecker.com)
- And finally, of course, remember to submit your page to Google for indexing (do this if you are just making changes to your page also)
Linku2 Suggestions
Alternatively, if you feel the above is a little out of your league, or perhaps you just don't have the time to spend doing this then Linku2’s SMART Sponsor and Deluxe Plans provide an alternative option by providing an onsite page (on our Linku2 site) which is customized and optimized for your business and your keywords. This page for your business includes:
- A summary of your business
- Keyword-rich content
- Authentic backlinks
- On-page and off-page SEO tools
- Page speed optimization
- Google tracking
- And, naturally we use all the above mentioned tools in optimisation and best SEO practices too!!
Our support staff are experienced in SEO practices, with our core focus to get our pages containing your links and information within the top 8 rankings for Google organic searches (dependent also on our specific regional or specific keywords to the site you are listed on). We also aim to get your own Linku2 page as high as possible (although this can be challenging and is, in fact, unnecessary with your links clearly reachable on our page).
Ideally we aim for Google Position 0 which is a rich snippet although this can be a tall order!! Rich snippets, which display additional data from the specific page, make search results more eye-catching and can lead to higher organic CTR.
Schema Implementation
Our customized pages of course include schema setup. Schema is a standardized code vocabulary recognized by Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Yandex, allowing webmasters to embed schema code in HTML. Proper schema implementation increases the chances of obtaining rich snippets, placing your page content at the top of SERPs.
Get Started Today
If you wish to undertake your own SEO we are happy to chat and give you some advice, alternatively email us for us to link you to your region or keyword specific site for you to check out how Linku2 may be able to help you to boost your Google search rankings and reach your customers more effectively online and help your business to Go Local, Grow Local ....
Email: admin@linku2.co.nz