EXPORTING WITH DIGITAL TOOLS: SEO

MEANING OF SEO

Making a great site is not enough if we don’t concentrate on boosting its visibility, too. In short, if we don’t invest in SEO: Search Engine Optimization.

In other words, a series of technical and content measures that lead to greater volumes of traffic from search engines to our pages. Optimization that helps our website rank higher on search engine results pages.

Users who come to our site in this way are classified as organic traffic. That is, thanks to us.

MASTERS OF THE WEB

News of a law on digital services in the European Union was just released in the past few days. A first step in controlling the algorithms (when democracy is at stake) which secretly determine what we see on search engines, such as Google and the various social networks.

Like it or not, the rules are made by Big Tech and, if we want to “emerge”, we must know and follow these rules.

It is estimated that there are over 1.7 billion websites (which obviously fluctuates every day), compared to 4.5 billion users (Source: https://websitesetup.org/). Why should a user, who doesn’t know us, find our website and see our products/services? SEO activity greatly increases this probability.

LET’S REDO THE SITE!

This is the phrase that I often hear repeated by the most far-sighted entrepreneurs. But spending just to make the site more “pleasing” is a bit like investing in a beautiful shop in a remote village in the mountains. Nobody will pass by and see it. Just as the position of a physical store is important, so is the positioning of our site on the web.

Unfortunately, however, we let ourselves be fascinated by the aesthetics of the site, and underestimate the design aspects that improve visibility. We don’t have to redo the site to please ourselves but to attract more users!

SEO SPECIALISTS

I am not an expert on the subject and therefore I do not want to deal with technical issues. For that I’ll pass the ball to the experts. But I will anticipate some topics on the subject of SEO; without being exhaustive. Topics that are almost always made up of abbreviations:

  • Use a search-engine suitable software (CMS or ‘Content Management System’ in jargon).
  • Assure that the site is also visible (and adaptable) on/to mobile devices.
  • Have the necessary technology to guarantee security (SSL certificate).
  • Make sure that the computer hosting the site is reliable and fast.
  • Get links from other sites (backlinks).
  • Write content that people want to read.
  • Optimize your pages with keywords (preferably in the language of your target markets).

Don’t be scared, rely on a specialist in this area that you trust.

ADVERTISING

There is also another way to bring users to our site: by advertising. Typically, with Google Ads and all social networks that today have various sophisticated forms of promoting our content.

Keep in mind, however, that advertising immediately gets us traffic to the site but, if we stop paying, the traffic stops. SEO, on the other hand, can be a continuous source of organic traffic. However, it is not bad to use advertising from time to time to give a boost to visibility on a new market we are entering.

CONCLUSIONS

This is the fifth article on the topic of Exporting with digital tools aimed at small and medium-sized businesses.

Unlike the previous tools I’ve illustrated, for SEO you can do some things yourself but for many you will need to rely on an expert. The important thing is to not neglect this aspect in order to move quickly – and clearly visible – on digital highways.