Make Sure Your Website Gets Noticed with Help from a New York City SEO Company

People use Google to conduct more than 8.5 billion searches per day. That's an increase of almost 3 billion just over the last couple of years and with only one search engine factored into the equation. Why is that important for businesses in New York City?

For one, it emphasizes just how valuable an online presence can be. Just having an online presence isn't enough these days, though. Since only a fraction of consumers are willing to scroll beyond their first pages of search engine results, or even the tops of those pages for that matter, ranking highly in their searches is crucial. New York City SEO can make that happen.

Taking a Closer Look at SEO for New York City Businesses

Most business owners have at least heard of SEO at this point. Those who are new to the business world may not entirely understand what it is or why it's important to their companies, though. Even some veteran entrepreneurs may not quite have a grasp on the concept yet.

SEO stands for search engine optimization. In short, it's the process of making a website appear on the first pages of consumers' search engine results pages, or SERPs. Ideally, businesses fare better by appearing as close to the tops of the SERPs as possible. Of course, that's no easy feat at this point.

More businesses are online now than ever, many of which are vying for attention in the same market niches. Competition among businesses is becoming increasingly fierce, and that extends into the realm of online marketing. Those with solid SEO strategies are sure to win the race to the tops of the SERPs..

Exploring the Most Important Facets of a Winning SEO Strategy

All that being said, SEO is a complex field made up of numerous facets. Each one is just as crucial as the rest, and they all work together to build and maintain a winning SEO strategy. Consider some of the most important elements of search engine optimization for New York City businesses to keep in mind.

From a Technical Perspective

First of all, let's take a look at the technical side of SEO. This encompasses all the factors that ensure a website works properly, looks good, and loads quickly when people visit it. It also guarantees search engine web crawlers can find the website and index it for future reference.

When a website is indexed, a search engine can find it when people conduct searches for the products, services, and information it has to offer. In turn, it'll be ranked according to its indexability and relevance among many other factors. Numerous aspects enter the mix when web crawlers scour a website to find what they're looking for.

Website Structure

Website structure is one of the aspects that affect crawlability and indexability. If a site is disorganized, it's not as easy to crawl and index. On the other hand, sites that are organized and follow what's known as a flat structure are ideal.

Internal Links

Internal links are important as well. Those are the connections between one web page and another. For example, they could include the links from a homepage to each of a company's service pages. When links are working correctly and no pages are left dangling, so to speak, crawlers can easily scan them and file them away for later.

Structured Data Markup

Structured data markup also factors into the technical side of websites' rankings. It allows search engines to see and understand the text and other elements on websites. It also helps retailers by ensuring information about their products is displayed clearly and accurately. Structured data markup can affect the way visitors see website content as well.

Page Load Speed

As Google and other search engines scrutinize websites, they also take into account how quickly they load. Fast load speeds make for happy viewers whereas slow-to-load pages have the opposite effect. Most people aren't willing to wait more than a couple of seconds for a page to load. Because of that, pages that aren't set up to load quickly won't rank as highly as those that are.

Mobile Friendliness

Whether a website is mobile friendly will affect search engine ranking as well. About 60 percent of searches are conducted via mobile devices at this point. Websites that aren't responsive or adaptive to mobile may not rank as highly as their owners would like.

Covering All the Technical Bases

Those are some important technical SEO aspects that can affect a website's crawlability, indexability, and rankings. Many others also come into play. For most business owners, covering all those factors is virtually impossible.

Working with a New York SEO company can make a world of difference. SEO experts can audit a business's website to determine whether it's in a position to rank highly. They can also eliminate all the issues that may be holding back that website and hampering the amount of traffic it receives.

On-Page SEO Factors to Keep in Mind

Technical factors basically work behind the scenes to make a website work properly and aid in boosting its rankings. Certain other elements need to be present as well, though. One of those is on-page SEO. That includes all the aspects of a business's individual web pages and its website as a whole.

Content

Content has been one of the main drivers of a successful website for quite some time. It's made up of all the written and visual components of a company's web pages. Written content should be easily readable and provide information that's helpful to viewers.

Written content on a website should also be broken down into fairly small paragraphs as opposed to being a single, large chunk of written material. It needs to be arranged in a hierarchal manner as well. That means it should have H1, H2, and H3 tags. Bullet points and numbered lists can further improve the visual appeal and readability of written content.

Visual content is equally important. It helps to keep visitors interested while also providing its own level of information. Visual elements can include videos, pictures, infographics, charts, graphs, and a long list of other components. They should be accompanied by captions, their own structured data, and alt tags for optimal results. Visual content also needs to be relevant to the written content it accompanies.

Keywords

Keywords are crucial for optimized content. These are the terms and phrases people use when searching for products, services, and information. When they're strategically included in written content, captions for visual content, and other opportune places, they'll help to improve a website's rankings.

Not just any keywords will do, though. Business owners and marketers need to think about the keywords that are relevant to the products and services they offer. In turn, they need to use phrases that pertain to them. It's best to use variations of keywords, too.

Conducting thorough keyword research to find out which search terms prospects are using is essential. From there, those terms can be included in website content to have a positive impact on rankings. When search engines find content with keywords that correspond to users' queries, those are the pages they list in their SERPs.

Local SEO to Target Customers and Prospects

Many consumers look for local companies to do business with. That's especially the case when it comes to medical care, in-person shopping experiences, dining opportunities, legal needs, and the like. Companies that count on the local crowd must tailor their content and keywords accordingly. Doing so helps to connect New York City businesses with residents and visitors.

Using Off-Site SEO for Higher Rankings

Not all SEO takes place on a company's website. Some of it revolves around outside sources. That's where off-site SEO enters the mix. Its main purpose is to bolster a website's authority. Authority is important in the eyes of search engines as well as consumers.

Off-site SEO can consist of an array of strategies. Social media marketing is one of the most popular right now, and it's not likely to fade away any time soon. Businesses can promote themselves on their own social media profiles as well as on others. Guest blogging, making appearances on podcasts, and having links from other high-quality websites pointing to a business are also effective options.

Off-site SEO basically gives a website more exposure among consumers and search engines alike. That improves visibility and credibility. As a result, it can also usher a website further up in search engine rankings.

From the Human Viewpoint

Making sure all the previously mentioned elements are in place is essential. Without them, websites may not rank highly in SERPs. In fact, they may not rank at all. Still, making sure a website is optimized for its human viewers is also vital.

Giving people a positive experience when they visit a website is certainly important. Websites should be easy for visitors to navigate both visually and physically. All links should be working correctly. If a page indicates it holds specific information, it should deliver on that promise. Page load speed and mobile functionality play key roles here as well.

Keep in mind, search engines keep track of how long visitors linger on a website and how many people quickly click away in favor of other sites. Websites that can't hold visitors' attention for very long tend to drop in the rankings. Those that keep visitors interested rise through the ranks.

Bringing It All Together

Each of these SEO aspects can affect a website's position in the SERPs be it for better or for worse. Many of them overlap. If technical SEO hasn't received its fair share of attention, the user experience will suffer. In the event off-site SEO has gone ignored, a website's local visibility could deteriorate, and so forth.

Propelling Your Website to the Top

All these factors are essential to a website's search engine rankings. Sites that appear at the tops of SERPs are more likely to get the most traffic and make the most conversions. Websites that fall beyond the first pages of search results generally get overlooked.

Search engine optimization can improve local businesses' visibility in several ways. This is a complicated field, though, and it's constantly changing. Because of that, companies need to partner with a New York City SEO company to improve their rankings and ensure they stay at the top.

All businesses can benefit from improving their SEO strategies. Services are available to meet the needs and budgets of companies of all sizes and in all market niches. Don't hesitate to contact the local SEO specialists to propel your website to the top and make sure it stays there.