We know that all businesses need a good website. A website makes your business look more professional, reliable and authentic. It’s an opportunity to showcase your products and services and it’s a place where you can proudly display your company’s reviews and recommendations. What’s more, a website can open you up to many more customers, especially when you are attracting them adequately with a carefully constructed digital marketing strategy.
However, simply having a website isn’t good enough. You need to have everything in place and just right, including your content, your PPC and your SEO – in order to shine, to climb the rankings and to attract leads. For those of you wondering why your website isn’t attracting traffic or converting visitors, we’re here to help. Here are three quick fixes you can implement today that will make a real difference to your traffic.
- Watch Out For Duplicate Content
Duplicate content is defined as content that appears on the internet in more than one place – having duplicate content across your own website is something that could be costing you traffic and damaging your SEO. When you have duplicate content, Google struggles to determine which page is the most relevant for the given content. In this situation, Google is simply forced to choose between the pages, deciding which one should rank higher in the search engine results pages – ultimately, you have wasted your time creating two pages, when really that content only belonged on one page.
It’s clear Google looks unfavourably on duplicate content. According to Google Search Central themselves:
“…in some cases, content is deliberately duplicated across domains in an attempt to manipulate search engine rankings or win more traffic. Deceptive practices like this can result in a poor user experience, when a visitor sees substantially the same content repeated within a set of search results.”
If there’s one thing Google hates, it’s deliberate attempts to play the system, especially when it’s at the cost of user experience. As a result, websites with a high percentage of duplicate content are likely to be penalised, and their traffic will tank.
To avoid this happening, you should spend time doing keyword research and mapping out these keywords to relevant pages to ensure you are not cannibalising any of your pages. Each page on your website should be focused around a given keyword and relevant LSIs, and the content on that page should revolve around that keyword. If you find yourself wholesale copying content from another page of yours, take the time to ask – is this page even really needed? Could you just add to, and optimise, the existing page?
- Ensure Your Page Titles and Meta Descriptions Are Optimised
If you haven’t been optimising your page titles and meta descriptions, you need to start now. Page titles are a ranking factor, and one you have direct control over. Be sure to use your target keyword in your page title, while making it clear what the user can expect to find.
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Meta descriptions, while not in themselves a ranking factor, certainly have a bearing on Click-Through Rate (CTR) and traffic. For this reason, you want to take the time to craft compelling, accurate, informative meta descriptions. In this way, page titles and meta descriptions work together as a team – you can use your page titles to rank for a given keyword, but you need to have an enticing meta description to encourage people to choose your website over that of a competitor.
So take the time to write page titles and meta descriptions that will actually convert. Don’t duplicate, and ensure they are the right length.
- Do You Have Any Broken Links?
Google might have a lot of algorithm changes and tweaks, but they’re not trying to trip us up – they’re simply attempting to refine the search results to ensure the right content gets in front of the right eyes. To do this, they prioritise user experience. And one thing users hate is the dreaded 404 page.
Broken links can have a notable impact on your SEO efforts. 404 pages can worsen your bounce rates and stop your link juice flowing! To improve your traffic in the long term, simply use a tool like Screaming Frog to scan your website and find broken links, so you can fix them or redirect them as needed. A healthier website makes for a happier customer.
Finally, the Bigger Problem: Targeting the Right Audience
Last but most certainly not least – are you sure you are appropriately targeting your desired audience? Remember, it’s not the overall quantity of traffic that matters, but how relevant that traffic is to you and your business. After all, tripling your traffic in one month will be of no use to you if none of that traffic converts into paying customers or clients. So to solve your traffic problem, it’s worth drilling down into your target audience and keywords.
Take the time to identify your target audience. Figure out what they would search for if they wanted to find your content or service page. Don’t fall into the trap of simply going for the keyword with the biggest search volume. You want a more targeted keyword. It always pays to be more specific. It will attract the right kind of people to you, and these people will be pleased that the content they found is exactly what they were looking for. Shorter-tail, vaguer keywords with higher search volume will likely not bring in the people who are interested in your business.
Suffering low traffic to your website can be frustrating, but thankfully, there are a lot of tools at your disposal. Dedicating time to a carefully considered keyword strategy and upping your technical SEO efforts will go a long way to boosting your traffic, as will investing in PPC and paid social. Leaning into these tools while emphasising your USPs will help you stand head and shoulders above the competition.
About the Author: Larry Kotch is the co-founder of The Brains, an award-winning digital marketing agency. Ranked #3 in B2B Marketing’s Global 30 under 30, Larry leads a dedicated, remote team of talented digital marketing professionals.
Craig Upton supports UK businesses by increasing sales growth using various marketing solutions online. Creating strategic partnerships and keen focus to detail, Craig equips websites with the right tools to rank in organic search. Craig is also the CEO of iCONQUER, a UK based SEO Agency and has been working in the digital marketing arena for many years. A trusted SEO consultant and trainer, Craig has worked with British brands such as FT.com, djkit.com, Development Finance, Serimax and has also supported UK doctors, solicitors and property developers to gain more exposure online. Craig has gained a wealth of knowledge using Google and is committed to creating new opportunities and partnerships.