Launching a new website without Search Engine Optimization (SEO on a new website) is a little like deciding to open a high-fashion clothing store in the middle of the woods. Totally beautiful, but who’s going to find it? And if they do, they may not pick up on the relevance of having Haute Couture available in the forest. For most businesses, but particularly small businesses, integrating SEO from the get-go is crucial to ensure your phone rings and your business grows.

Let’s explore how SEO can help you hit the ground running and have your new site be a veritable bustling hub of customer activity.​

Why SEO on a New Website Is Essential to Increase Call Volume and Overall Traffic

Imagine you’ve just set up a lemonade stand, but not just any old lemonade stand. This one is a thing of beauty. Fresh pressed lemons, the choice of sugar or honey, ice or shaved ice to make slush. I digress, but you get the idea – it’s AMAZING. There’s one small snag that actually isn’t so small though… It’s hidden behind a giant oak tree. Without signs pointing to it, even the thirstiest passersby will miss it. Similarly, a website without SEO is well-concealed from potential customers.​

Visibility: SEO ensures that the customers who are looking for your products and services are able to find you in search results when they’re on the Google machine. The better the SEO on a new website, the higher you will rank in search queries. And the higher you rank in search queries, the more likely customers are to find and visit your site and, ultimately, call you. ​

Usability: Good SEO practices enhance user experience by making your site easy and intuitive to navigate, ensuring that your potential customers are able to find the information they need without excessive amounts of time or frustration. ​

Conversions: An SEO-optimized site guides your customers toward various potential actions, such as filling out a form, making a purchase, or picking up the phone to call you. Clear calls-to-action (or CTAs) and accessible, easy-to-find contact information are key components of effective CTAs on your website. ​

How SEO Works Behind the Scenes to Put Your Best Face Forward

You could think of your website as a stage production of your favourite musical. No judgement if your favourite one is still RENT. We love it too. In this little metaphorical production, SEO is the stage crew, and your site content is the actors. While the actors (your content) are in the spotlight doing what they do best, the crew (SEO) ensures everything runs smoothly behind the scenes.​

Site Structure: A well-organized website helps search engines (and customers) understand and index your content effectively, improving your rankings as well as people’s experience on your site. ​

Responsive Design: In this day and age, you have to assume that at least half of the internet users out there in the world are browsing on mobile devices. This means responsive website design is essential to ensure your site looks amazing and functions well on any size of device. And not only will your potential customers appreciate this, but search engines will favour it too.

Keyword Targeting: Digital marketing specialists working on your site should be researching and incorporating relevant keywords into your content. The more you and your marketing gurus can line up your site content with the terms your customers are typing into search engine queries, the more likely it is that they’ll find you.

The Process of Building Your Site’s Performance with SEO

Building a high-performing website is like constructing a house—you need a solid foundation, quality materials, and the knowledge to put it all together without the roof caving in.

Relevant Keywords for Each Page: Each page of your site should focus on it’s own set of specific keywords to attract targeted traffic. Keeping everything dialed in for each individual page helps search engines direct the right users to the right pages. ​

Intuitive and Mobile-Friendly Design: An easy-to-navigate site that’s optimized for mobile devices keeps users engaged and reduces bounce rates. ​

Fast Load Times: Users expect quick-loading pages. By optimizing your images, using browser caching to your advantage, and minimizing the amount of complex code, loading times on your site can significantly improve.

SEO-Ready Content: Creating valuable, informative content that incorporates keywords naturally not only appeals to users, but also lets search engines know that your site can be counted as an authority on your subject matter. ​

Technical SEO: This includes optimizing meta tags, using clean URLs, and ensuring your site is secure (HTTPS). Technical SEO helps search engines find, crawl, and index your site more effectively. ​

How Local Businesses Can Benefit from Incorporating SEO into Their New Websites

How do you let your customers know you’re here to stay and ready to be found? Incorporating SEO with the help of a digital marketing specialist can benefit your potential customers AND your bottom line.

Increased Site Traffic: Effective SEO strategies lead to higher search engine rankings, which means more potential customers visiting your site. ​

More Leads: With increased traffic comes more opportunities for conversions. When potential customers find your site through organic searches (not by clicking on a sponsored ad), they are often actively seeking your products or services. ​

Higher Conversions: An optimized site that uses clear calls-to-action and provides users with easy navigation encourages visitors to take the next step – like calling your business or making an online purchase. ​

Cost-Effective Marketing: Unlike paid advertising (otherwise known as PPC or Meta ads), the results of SEO on a new website can take a bit longer to achieve, but are also longer lasting. Once your site ranks well, maintaining that position requires less investment, and search engines will direct more and more customers your way. When you look at it this way, SEO can provide a higher return on your investment over time.

Building Trust and Credibility: Appearing at the top of search results and being found easily signals to customers that your business is reputable and trustworthy. Positive customer reviews and local citations further enhance this perception. ​

In conclusion, integrating SEO into your new website is not just beneficial—it’s downright essential. Effective SEO by digital marketing specialists can be the difference between your business being a hidden gem or a go-to destination. By focusing on SEO from the start, you ensure that your business has the help it needs to thrive online. 

So, don’t let your website be the best-kept secret; let digital marketing specialists use SEO to shine a spotlight on it and watch your business grow!​