The Search Engine Optimization (SEO) process can be tricky. Search algorithms update frequently to better meet searcher needs, which makes it more challenging to master if you're not an SEO expert.
But how do you know when your SEO efforts need a drastic change? Read on to find out the top signs that your SEO efforts need a serious overhaul.
SEO Review
To recap:
SEO is the practice of improving your web-based content to be better crawled by search engine bots that evaluate and rank your content against competitors. These bots take into account the accuracy of the information you provide, its relevance to particular search queries, and your authority as it relates to that topic.
If a piece of content scores high for its accuracy, relevance, and authority, you have a good shot of being placed higher in the rankings for a relevant search query.
Top Signs You Need Help with Your SEO
- Low website traffic
- Low conversion rate
- Your URLs are long and clunky
- Your website isn't built around the topic(s) you want to be known for
- Your website isn't mobile-friendly
Low website traffic
This is the most obvious sign that your SEO needs some work. Prospects that can't find you through search engines can't visit your site, so your traffic will be pretty low. This is especially true when you're starting up your business and don't have a loyal customer base to fall back on yet.
Low conversion rate
Conversely, if you have high traffic but a low conversion rate, it could be a sign that your site is ranking for the wrong keywords. That means users are finding your site through a search engine result, but after reading your website, they find it's not relevant to what they're looking for.
Your URLs are long and clunky
It may be surprising to learn that each page's URL plays a role in your SEO. When a page's URL is long, awkward, and doesn't fully align with the page's content, it negatively impacts your SEO score because the bots won't be able to figure out how to categorize the page.
Your website isn't built around the topic(s) you want to be known for
Your website should reflect your expertise. So, you shouldn't include irrelevant topics on your site. Irrelevant information confuses the bots and can lead to them mislabeling your topic authority or lowering your scores altogether.
Your website isn't mobile-friendly
In the smartphone age, mobile-friendly sites are a must. Approximately two-thirds of all internet searches are done on a mobile device nowadays. Prospects will be deterred by sites that don't load properly on their phones, so addressing this should be a top priority.
Conclusion
SEO is critical to your business's online success, and there are signs to be aware of when considering your efforts. Low traffic and conversions are tall-tale signs that your SEO needs some work.
Take a look at your website to evaluate the URLs. Are they long with lots of random characters, or are they short and clearly communicate what's on the page?
Then, ensure your website is built around the topics you want to be known for, whether that's skincare or cars or cool snacks — whatever your specialty, your website needs to clearly emphasize that.
And, your website absolutely needs to be mobile-friendly. Otherwise, a site that doesn't load properly on people's phones will be a huge turn-off to prospects who won't want to struggle through navigating your site.
Breaking the optimization process down into manageable steps will make it less overwhelming for you to tackle. But if you're looking to outsource this, picking the right SEO specialist will be essential to a successful project.
