If you are starting up a new business, one of the first thing you’ll be doing is setting up a new website, whether you have a traditional store or not. A website can not only gain you international notoriety, but it can also draw in local customers to you, that may otherwise not have known you existed. If you are just getting started in the world of websites, then you’ll need to understand SEO. SEO stands for search engine optimisation, it is what can help you appear on the first page of google, so as a new business what aspects of SEO should you be focusing on? Here we find out more.

Think Local

You may well want a booming international business, especially if you are selling a service over a product, but there maybe people in your local community that want your services. Until you explore this, you wont know! Make sure that when you build your site, you are clear about where you operate from, include local good news stories and charitable events. This way if someone googles your product or service in your town, you can be sure that you will the one popping up!

Long Form Content

When it comes to writing content for your site, you want to make sure that you are creating long form content. When Google crawls webpages, the more content you have on it the better. Gone are the days where you could load your pages with a few 300 word pieces. Now google is looking for long form content, so we’re talking 2000 to 3000 words a piece. It may seem like a lot of effort, but this is something that can be outsourced. Long form writing is a skill, especially if you are trying to appeal to a niche, so if you aren’t sure where to start, there are plenty of long form writers available online to you. The authority website t-ranks offers a good guide regarding this you can check out.

Site Navigation

When you build a house, you don’t just do it on ad hoc decisions, you build a map for the structure so you can plan where rooms are going to go and how people will move through the building. Creating a website is exactly the same, you want a clear path of navigation so what people can easily find where they are going and get back to where they started. Most site maps are built in a pyramid structure, with the most important page, usually the landing page at the top. Then you have the second bank and third bank each with more pages in than the last. You want to make sure that all these pages link to one another so that the user doesn’t get stuck and can’t find their way back. A clear and easy site to navigate will help your customers retain interest and keep them on your page.

Video Content

Video content is the latest trend the world over when it comes to website creation. Video content is becoming the new leader, more so than images, so including them on your site will help your rankings to no end, especially if your competitors haven’t caught onto this yet. You can’t just put up any video though, you need to make sure that it relates to your niche, even better, it will be one you created ourself. Make sure you tag the video and give it a good description, all these factors will increase your standing in the search engine ranks.

Mobile Devices

Google recently released a new update whereby they are now favouring sites that are developed solely with mobile user base in mind. These changes have already come into force, so now, if you develop a website that is only effective on a desktop, you will fail to rank. Put all of your effort into a mobile and tablet development to make sure that you can rank. This also means that your customers will have an easier time navigating. Desktop sites on mobiles aren’t smooth and they are difficult to use, so by having your own dedicated mobile development, you are keeping people engaged with your content.

Wrap Up

When it comes to starting up a business, the first thing you need to think about is website development. Websites are what get businesses out there for the world to see, but some do it better than others. Make sure that you are writing good content that will engage your audience in your niche. You also want to develop a coherent site map so your potential customers can figure out where they are going and most importantly, develop it for mobile. It is the development for mobile audiences that will make all the difference in your ranking, it will also keep people on your site for far longer!