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Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the art of improving a website’s search engine ranking. I say art because it is not an exact science. Afterall search engine optimisation practitioner’s can only research and experiment to find out what works best in SEO. Content is king in SEO. A inbound link building strategy is also vitally important in achieving stable results.
The landing page is the page on a website that a searcher arrives at when they clickthrough. There is certain criteria that a webpage must adhere to in order to engage the searcher. These include rapid loading times and contemporary design. The biggest mistake that ameteur SEO companies make is to optimise the website for search engines but neglect the landing pages. The most important aspect of a landing page is a call to action.
Think about what your ideal result should be from a website visit and make every attempt to facilitate this. If the website is for information then give reason for the visitor to return. Are you publishing new content tomorrow, the day after or next week? Inform them. Maybe you want the visitor to phone you? If so, have your phone number in clear view.
Do you produce a newsletter? Place your opt in where visitors are likely to see it. Website visitors scan content rather than taking time to read it. If they find nothing or interest then they leave. You must engage the user and provide clear navigation.
Optimising a website for search engine is of little use if the landing pages do not engage the visitor. If the website is optimised for targeted keyphrases then you are likely to get clickthroughs but if your landing pages are poor then visitors are likely to click off your site which, in turn, has an adverse affect on SEO because duration on site and number of pages viewed also has a bearing on search engine rankings.
So whether you have time to learn search engine optimisation yourself or you hire an SEO expert you should make sure that your landing pages engage the visitor and have a call to action or opt in. If you are hiring an SEO company and you know that your landing page is not up to scratch then see if they advise you to change it. If they don’t then walk away and choose another SEO company.
