Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an important digital marketing tool. It improves your search rank and can lead to more site visitors. But how do you know if your site needs SEO?
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Conduct A Quick Search
Go to your search engine of choice and search for your website. Type in key terms that are associated with your site and see if yours comes up. Keep trying different words and phrases until you find your site on the first page of results. The more specific you have to be, the more likely it is you need SEO. Example: You run an Xbox Gaming blog. Search for things like ‘xbox gaming’ ‘gaming blog’ ‘xbox blog’. If your site is appearing on the first page when you search for this, then everything is fine. If you have to start searching specifically by searching for the actual name of your site, then you need SEO. If you type in the name of your site and it still isn’t on the first page then you have a major problem.
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Analyse Your Site
Use web analytics to gauge your site’s statistics. Here you can find out exactly how many people visit your site and how they get there. If you find that the majority of people are visiting your site through social media or shared links, then that can be good/bad. It’s good because you want visitors to matter how they find you. It’s bad because it means you aren’t optimizing search engine results. Search engines remain the number one way for people to find your site. If no one is finding you through a search engine, then you may need SEO. I say may because if you’re happy with the amount of people finding you through other means, then thats fine. But for people who want to grow and get as much coverage as possible, they’ll need SEO.
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Get A Second Opinion
Enlist the help of a web marketing agency to establish if you need SEO. An agency will be able to analyse your site thoroughly and might have more advanced software. Seeing as it’s their job, they will have better, paid, analytics tools than the free ones on the web. They’ll also be able to help you improve your SEO if need be. Make sure you trust the company first and understand exactly what they’re going to do to your site.
Assess Your Goals
SEO is essential for any business site willing to grow. But that doesn’t mean it’s essential for everybody with a website. If you run a small blog, then SEO might not be necessary for you. You may be happy with the audience you’re already pulling in. SEO can take a lot of patience and time, so you need to decide if it’s worth it. A general rule is, any site that’s looking to make money, needs SEO. You simply can’t afford to make money and not have search engine optimization for your site.
These are some of the ways you can figure out whether or not your site needs SEO. Remember that SEO isn’t the only marketing technique you need for success. Here’s a list of marketing tips for beginners, to help you improve site numbers
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