Let’s go into hypothetical mode: Let’s say you own a company. Let’s say that company that sells tires, and you’ve got a website on a domain you’ve had forever. Let’s call this website “weselltires.com” and say you’ve had it for 10 years. However, when you’re typing in keywords into Google, from “where to buy tires” to even your name of “We Sell Tires,” you’re not coming up in first place. You may not even be on the first page. You’re frustrated and confused: you’ve had this website and great domain name forever, but your website ranks poorly on search results. Why? Let’s go over some of the most common reasons why this happens.

What Have You Done to Improve Your Website’s SEO?

SEO – Search Engine Optimization – is about improving the relationship between search engines (namely Google Search) and your website. These search engines use algorithms look at things in your website overall and in relation to whatever keyword someone typed in. These things impact how well your website will rank when people search for it. Let’s break it down a little more into three common categories:

Meta Titles and Descriptions

Both meta titles and descriptions replaces the default text that search engines automatically pull to show as the titles and description search results for any of your given pages. Search engines like them to fit certain length and keyword requirements because it makes it clearer for people scanning search results.

Good – and Lengthy – Content

Content is how search engines determine a large part of the quality of a page. Content, in this case, means words, but not just text but nuances like headers, sub-headers, and alt-text. Also important is having enough: we recommend a bare minimum of at least 300 words per page.

Security: Namely SSL

Search engines take the security of their users seriously. As such, Google is starting to down-rank websites that don’t use SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificates that secure user traffic onto a website. Read our blog What is SSL and Why Do I Need It? for more details.

Do You Have a Lot of Backlinks To and From Your Site?

Part of winning search engine results is also winning the popularity contest. Search engines do this by checking for hyperlinks that go from one website to another. A link that is on someone else’s website and links back to you is called a backlink. Through listing sites, social media, advertising, press releases, and partnering with other websites, you can get these all-important backlinks. Likewise, you should have backlinks from your website to other websites where appropriate.

Are You Being Passed Over for Paid Ads?

Back to the “We Sell Tires” hypothetical, let’s say when you’re typing in your keywords you see results at the top of Google that look slightly different. This is probably because they are paid ads that Google runs, known as AdWords. If your competitor is using your keywords, they’ll have this top slot above search results unless you’re willing to get into the AdWords game yourself.

We know this is a lot to take in. And believe us when we say we’ve only provided the broadest view on what you need to have your website (and online presence in general) succeed in this day and age. If you want help on getting your website to rank higher and be overall friendlier to search engines and their users, it’s time to contact Vision Advertising. We specialize in search engine marketing, website design and development, and much, much more. Contact us today, and we’ll help you sell those tires.