Top SEO Companies in Memphis: Bring in More Leads

Competition is fierce today. Before the internet, small to medium-sized companies competed for attention using billboards, commercials on TV or the radio, worth of mouth, and other more traditional advertising methods. The advent of the internet and search engines designed to make it easier for anyone to find what they're looking for has changed marketing and advertising permanently.

While traditional advertising methods are still viable, businesses today must be online, be aware of what the competition is doing, and work hard to get visitors to check out their website instead of a different one. Since most people will find out about the website through search engines, this is the place to start. Optimizing the website to gain a higher ranking allows Memphis businesses to reach more customers by staying ahead of the competition.

What Does Optimization Have to Do With Leads?

Websites that don't have visitors aren't going to bring in leads. It is as simple as that. When a website is created, it's not just going to start bringing in visitors and generating leads, as it won't be easy to find. Work needs to be done to make it possible for potential customers to find the website and to encourage them to check it out. This is where optimization can help.

Searchers online are most likely only going to click one of the first few links. When a website is created, it will not appear at the top. In fact, it may not appear in the first few pages of search results. Potential customers just won't be able to find it easily, as only a small percent of searchers will click through to the second page. Optimization helps the website's ranking increase, which allows more potential customers to see it.

Once a website's ranking increases, visitors are not only more likely to notice the site, but they're more likely to visit it, too. Major search engines like Google work hard to provide searchers with results that are most likely to have the information needed. When the website is ranked higher, searchers know it's expected to have what they're looking for, making it far more likely they'll click the link and take a look. This is where new leads are gained.

Reaching the Coveted First Link in Search Results

The majority of searchers click the first link. Most searchers will click on the first few links, and many will click on any links on the first page. Very few will click through to other pages to view the results. For this reason, the top spot is the most coveted. However, the ability to get to the top placement can vary based on the amount of competition. When considering the competition, it's essential to understand the different types of searches.

Many searches done today are based on short-tail keywords. Searchers type in just a few words and look through the results to see if it's what they need. Short-tail keywords can be more challenging to rank for since they aren't limited to a specific location. Location-specific results can appear, though, so using short-tail keywords on the website is a good idea. It just may be harder to get the top results when a local business competes against global companies for the spot.

Searchers looking for something near them, like a product in a local store or a service, will likely use long-tail keywords. These, as the name suggests, will be longer. They generally include a city and a state, which means the results will be localized. As far as optimization and ranking are concerned, this means it's somewhat easier to get a higher ranking. The competition will be more limited to local companies, and expert SEO can help push a business to the top, past the competing companies.

Optimization on a Budget

With all that needs to be done to reach that higher ranking, it's no surprise that business owners may be worried about the cost. Working with a Memphis SEO expert is crucial to rank higher, but it's often not as expensive as expected. It is possible to optimize a website on a budget and to keep it optimized, so it continues to rank highly.

Something else to consider is the return on investment. According to recent studies, SEO has one of the highest ROIs for marketing and advertising. The money put into SEO will generate a significant number of website visitors, meaning new leads and increased profits. Businesses that have taken advantage of expert SEO assistance have seen their company grow rapidly, making the cost well worth it. Is a New Website Needed?

Sometimes. Creating a whole new website is often unnecessary, as optimization can be done on any website. On the other hand, if the website is older or requires a lot of work to update, it may be time to refresh it. Whether or not to create a new website is up to the business owner and their budget in most cases, though older websites that aren't already responsive or are poorly made may need to be recreated to start optimizing them and reaching more customers as fast as possible. Business owners should speak with a Memphis SEO expert before deciding whether to create a new website.

What to Update and Fix

Websites can be updated to add new optimization. Many things can be done to optimize the site. Keywords, links, and more are added on the back end where customers won't see them. The site is adjusted to make it responsive, which means it will adapt based on the size of the visitor's device, making it easier for mobile users to view the page. Other adjustments can be made to create a more user-friendly website, which will help it rank higher.

There's a lot to do on the front end, where customers can see. Search engines want to point customers to the information they need, so there should be plenty of information on the page. This sounds simple enough, but it can be far more complex than it seems. Content must be high-quality and include keywords and links, which will help the page rank higher. It's crucial to have a website that's easy to navigate and that has everything a visitor might need. Along with optimizing the site, these updates will help generate more leads once the visitor arrives.

Preventing Potential Issues

There are potential issues with optimizing a website, which is why working with Memphis SEO companies is crucial. If the optimization is done incorrectly, it'll be ineffective at best. Search engines have requirements for optimization that must be followed, which change over time. Techniques used in the past, like listing keywords at the bottom of the page, can lead to the website being penalized.

Penalties can range from a lower ranking, which can be corrected, to being deleted from the search results. It's much more challenging to get the website back on the results once it's been removed, which is why using the proper techniques is necessary. SEO experts always keep up to date with the latest changes to the search engine's requirements and algorithms, so they know how to optimize a website without risking penalties.

Keeping the Website Updated

Once the website is optimized, work is still needed. Search results are dynamic – they frequently change as other websites become optimized, users change how they search, and search engines update their algorithms. Optimization is never one-and-done; it must be updated regularly. Working with SEO experts will mean that work is continually done to keep the website at the top of the search results for any relevant keywords.

In most cases, updating the site doesn't require as extensive work as the initial optimization, as a lot of the work is already done. When the algorithms are updated, more significant changes may be necessary. For instance, when mobile devices started being used more for searches, the algorithms were updated to promote responsive websites. Many business owners had to update their websites to make them responsive.

Updating the website can mean adding new internal links, increasing the backlinks, and adding new content. More minor changes behind the scenes are often needed, too. All of these changes will be done promptly by the SEO experts working on the site, so there is little for the business owner to worry about on their own. They simply work closely with the experts to keep the site updated and help it rank higher.

The majority of people are going to turn to search engines when they need something online. If your website isn't near the top of the search results, they aren't going to see your business. Ready to climb the rankings with ease? Work with Memphis SEO experts to start optimizing your site and make sure it has everything needed to bring in new visitors and leads. With the right help, you can reach the coveted highest positions for relevant keywords and will start to see your business grow.