Although most panels at Search Engine Strategies are not sponsored, Day 2 of the conference did offer insights from companies that actually paid to present. One company was Think Profits, which is headed by Shawn Moore who presented to a packed ballroom regarding the necessary component to ranking on the first page of results in Goolge.
Why’s the first page of results so important? According to Think Profits, about 91% of searchers (using data sourced from AOL) click on a result on the first page, while only 5% go on to click on the second page of listings, with subsequent pages getting even fewer click-throughs. Although having the number one ranking is a difficult task on its own, ranking at least somewhere on page 1 is absolutely crucial.
First step to getting ranked organically on page 1 is having quality content. We’ve all heard that “content is king” and it still holds true. Without quality copy, images, and video on your webpage, search engines like Google will not simply assume that you’re an authority when it comes to the topic you’re trying to rank for.
Navigation and site architecture cannot be overlooked. Allowing both people and the search engines to move through your website and find your content is a crucial element of being indexed and ranked well. This also means that some types of Java and other drop downs should not be used to ensure the pages of your website can be crawled.
Blogs make a world of difference. Blogs allow website owners to produce fresh original content on a regular basis, which is precisely what Google and other search engines love! The more content you have, the more pages can be indexed and ranked within the SERPs.
Inbound linking is like a vote for your website. Quality, keyword-rich inbound links and drastically improve rankings. Taking the time to promote your website and get links from related automotive websites and blogs can pay off significantly in terms of improve search engine rankings.
Choosing the right database that isn’t hard to find could make or break rankings. The data behind a website is crucial, and making sure your database is crawlable is easily missed. But if your database can’t be seen by the search engines, you’re going to miss out on big rankings.
Electronic press release submissions. With the advent of Universal Search, which adds a variety of content within search results, press releases can help you more than ever before since they could be included in the SERPs right next to your website listing.
Choose the right domain name strategy. Your domain name could be a powerful way to rank for a specific keyword. Although choosing a branded domain name for your dealership may be unavoidable, having keyword-focused URLs can yield positive results. In addition, registering your domain for more than a year indicated to Google that you’ll be sticking around for a while. For car dealers, the initial idea is to go the branded route, which isn’t necessarily wrong. But looking at Used Cars Burnsville, the domain is far more relevant and keyword rich as it includes Minneapolis Used Cars within the domain, which may not be the best for branding, but it’s certainly a good tactic for searchers to find their website!
Although these tactics make up the most valuable components of a search engine optimized website, it’s also important to consider just how you will be converting this traffic.
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More on car dealer rankings shortly.
