A presence on Google Search is the perfect opportunity to show you have the answers to a customer’s questions.
Google is still by far the most used search engine in Australia with a whooping 95% of the market share.
When 93% of online experiences begin with search engines, and 75% of Google users don’t scroll past the first page of search results, your ranking on Google’s search results page could have a significant impact on your online traffic.
A presence on Google Search is the perfect opportunity to show that you have the answers to their questions. Or the service you provide is the solution to this person’s problem. But if your website isn’t showing up when a person search for your service or product on Google, then you don’t exist.
How Google Search works
So how does Google work? Well, it starts with a person with a thought, an idea or a question about something they want answers to. That person may have seen or read something online, saw a post or ad on Facebook or Instagram, or heard something at work.
When a person is on Google, their intent is strong: they’re purposely looking for answers, they are captivated, and they’re looking for your product or service online fast.
Within Google’s search engine results page (SERP), a person will be served with the organic results at the top of the search results page – a prime location. Google places websites or pages with high-quality content and relevancy to a person’s search at the top of SERPs for free.
But not always.
In most cases, at the very top of search result pages, are paid ads.
And to get to the top of search results on these paid ads is through Google Ads.
But before you start spending money on Google Ads, here are some free and simple ways to help your website show up higher on Google’s Search results page.
List your business on Google Maps
If you provide a service or business where customers can visit you, or you can visit them at a site, get your business listed on Google Maps now. Having a Google My Business Account can serve as a mini Google website (if you don’t have one yet). Just like a website, you can list your services, contact details and hours, images and engage with audiences for free.
A presence on Google lets your future customers know where you are and how to contact you quickly. And when time is essential, your business listing on Google Maps is very important.
Make your landing page short and sweet
Our online attention span is short, less than 15 seconds , so websites need to have quality information that addresses their audiences’ problem or answers to their question. So make sure your website or landing page has a great copy, a clear call-to-action button and optimised for search engines (SEO).
Leverage YouTube
YouTube is the second most used search engine next to Google Search, so it makes sense to have a presence here. If you are taking videos on your iPhone or smartphone to upload on Facebook, there’s no reason why you can’t upload the video (albeit longer) on your own YouTube channel too.
YouTube audiences tend to watch longer videos on the platform with many going to YouTube for tutorials, how-to videos and as an alternative to free TV.
If you can showcase your services, or provide an educational material by simply sharing how your products are made, this is the platform for your business. If you have a Gmail account, you can create a YouTube account and have it verified using the email or a phone number. It’s that simple.
Here are a few tips to make the most of a single video shot and have it published across Facebook and YouTube:
- Only use a snippet or 6 to 15 seconds of the full video on Facebook. Use it as a promo and encourage your audience to watch the whole thing on your YouTube channel.
- Post the full video on YouTube (up to 15 minutes by default or longer for verified accounts)
- Like Facebook, make sure your YouTube channel matches your other channels or is descriptive of what you provide. Don’t forget to fill in the About us (channel description), add in a channel art (similar to Facebook’s Cover Photo) and icon.
- Keep your channel clean and use playlists to group videos together.
- Give your video a great name, description and links to other channels. Don’t forget to add meta tags.
Do you have a Facebook or Instagram account? Find out how you can help improve your social media SEO and increase visibility on Facebook searches.
Need more information on Google Search or how to create a digital path that’s right for your business? Drop me a line here or leave a comment below and we’ll see how I can help.
