There are many reasons why your website should be search engine optimized, but the most important to me is the ability to find new clients without using paid advertising.
When you hear SEO, I know it sounds like that magical thing that only a few people know about, but somehow it increases the chance of being found on Google. One part of that statement is correct, it does help you to be found on Google, but unfortunately, it's not magical. However, SEO is one of the most effective ways of driving traffic to your website without paid advertising.
Below I will details a few technical and non-technical ways of driving traffic to your website without paid advertising.
Adding Meta Titles and Meta Description to your website helps Google and other search engines to understand your website. The more the search engines know what you are offering on your website, the better they can suggest it in their search engine results.
Search Engines primarily work because of content. The more information you have on your website, the better it will be for Google and other search engines to understand the purpose behind your website. Having a blog enables you to have a lot of information for the search engines to determine the main topic of your website.
The Google My Business profile on Google is like a doorway to your website. Google tries to provide their users with as much information about your company as they can. Google tries to match your company with search terms. If they feel like the search term is a good match with your business, they will show your GMB profile as the first match. It is powerful if Google connects your company to high-valued search terms. This is essentially a win-win for Google. They are able to give their users valid information and you are able to drive traffic to your website.
A website icon may be overlooked as an SEO enhancement, but Google prioritizes the website with icons. This icon is visible in Google's search engine responses, and it helps users to identify companies.
Schema is a technical enhancement, but it helps Google to learn more about your business and provides the content to users in a format that is easy to consume. The setup of Schema is very technical with adding code to the website, this is where you may need to get a web developer involved.
Back-links are essentially getting someone to add a link to your website on their website. When someone adds a link to your website, Google views this as a good thing because it says that someone else values your content. If a site has a good rating with Google links to your website, Google looks at it as a high-value referral.
These are just a few items to get started in making your website work better to find new clients without expensive ads. As a Web design/developer, I understand that the cost of developing a website can be costly. However, I also think that if you use the website to all its potential, it can help you to recognize a return on investment.
