Anyone can build a website. It’s not difficult and there are lots of tools online that you can use to create a great looking website for your business, personal blog or simply your hobby website.

Many years ago, if you wanted to have a website built for your business, you would have needed to connect with a web design company and let them develop the site for you based on your requirements. There would be a lot of communication going backwards and forwards between yourself and the web company before the project would be ready, and even then, there was no guarantee that the website would be how you wanted.

However, over the past few years, more and more people are building their own websites using online platforms that are extremely easy to use, and without needing to know how to code or have any experience with programming. Web development platforms such as Wix, Shopify and WordPress are available for everyone to use, and you can have your website up and running in no time at all.

The problem with doing it yourself is that a lot of the time your website doesn’t generate much traffic, and the number of visitors to your website could be counted on one hand.

The Importance of SEO

This is where SEO (search engine optimization) comes into play. Without SEO, your website is not going to perform well in terms of the number of people that visit it, as well as where it ranks in Google and other search engines.

The lifeblood of any website is traffic, and without it, you are simply left with a website that no one even knows exists, apart from yourself. If you think of your website as a car, then SEO is the gas it needs to perform. Without it, you aren’t going to go anywhere.

Depending on the business or service that your website is promoting, there are various types of SEO that can be applied to your website. If you are a business that serves a local audience, such as a hair salon or gymnasium, then you’ll want to concentrate on local SEO. However, if your audience is multinational, then you’ll require international SEO. There are lots of differences between the two, so the first most important aspect of SEO is determining who your audience is.

Where can I Get SEO?

Now that you understand the importance of SEO and how it will help your website and ultimately your business, you will need to start applying it to your website. 

There are two options for you – you can try to do it yourself, or you contact a professional SEO company, such as SmartRanking who are one of the top SEO firms in the Netherlands, and let them formulate an SEO campaign for you.

Hiring a Professional for SEO

There are many different factors related to SEO, which is why many people often find it very difficult when trying to do it themselves. If you have developed your own website, then there are some simple elements that you can take care of such as adding some of your keywords and search phrases into the titles and content of your pages. You could also do some basic image optimization such as resizing your images before uploading and using them.

However, in most cases it would be best to let the SEO professionals take care of everything. They will have a wealth of experience in ranking websites, and once they’ve performed an SEO audit of your website, they will be able to present you a plan of action. They will explain what work might need to be done on your website, which is known as on-page SEO, before they can start other things such as link building, press releases or guest posts, which is known as off-page SEO. 

If you want your website to rank well and start generating new clients and income, then the best option is get professional help. You’ll save time and money in the long run.

How To Choose SEO Service

When looking for the right SEO service company, there are a few basic tips that you should follow. This will ensure that your site does not disappear or fall off the search engines. Also, it would help ensure that your site will rank high enough so that it can draw the type of audience you were hoping for.

  • Check Their Portfolio: It won’t hurt to ask to see the portfolio of an SEO company, which may include the website ranking of their clients.
  • Check The Company Profile: It’s a good idea to check the people who make up the SEO company’s organization; check if you’re dealing with a legitimate and reputable company. What is their background? Do they have any SEO training? What is their niche?
  • Determine Their SEO Services: SEO services come in different types, such as keyword research, ghostwriting, link building, and blog content writing. By knowing their services, you’ll be able to determine if the SEO agency has everything you need to rank your website. 
  • Check Their Understanding Of SEO Trends: As you probably have noticed, Google’s SEO algorithm keeps changing. For this reason, you have to check if the SEO professional is highly knowledgeable and skilled in implementing SEO trends. 

Doing Your Own SEO

If you are determined to try to take care of the SEO for your website, then there are a number of things that you will need to learn. These will involve everything from keyword research, image and speed optimization through to having effective CTA (call to action) on your website, such as “buy now” buttons, and contact forms. There’s no point ranking well in Google if people are not able to complete actions or contact you once they’ve landed on your page.

The most important thing to be aware of is that SEO is not a quick fix. It does not involve simply doing a few things and then your website will magically start ranking and generating you a ton of traffic and revenue. It is a slow and continuous process, and one that can take several months before you even start to see an improvement in your rankings.

Make Use of Free Online Tools

Whether or not you are going to do the SEO yourself, or will be outsourcing it to a professional, there are a number of SEO tools and resources that you can find online which can be useful. 

There are several websites that you can use to test various elements of your website, and then learn what you need to do to fix any problems that are found. Most SEO companies will have their own procedures for auditing a website, but if you are planning on doing the work yourself, the information you can get from these will be very helpful.

There are online tools for everything such as image optimization and keyword density checkers through to simple, but effective things such as a CSS minify tool, which in case you don’t know, will better compress your CSS files to reduce file size and to speed up the loading of your web pages.

SEO is a process and is something that needs to be continued all the time. Once you’ve been able to reach your goals and are ranking in good positions in Google for your main keywords, you then need to make sure that you stay there on the first page. 

If you take your foot off the pedal, your website will eventually start to drop positions and you could find yourself three pages down in the results pages before you know it. As mentioned earlier, SEO is the fuel for the performance of your website, so you will want to make sure that you always have a full tank.