If you’re not high on Google – you’re nowhere.
That’s the message from an internet marketing specialist, who warns businesses that they risk missing out on a share of the multi-billion pound Christmas shopping market if they don’t optimise their websites to appear high on search engines.
Ben Norman, author of Getting Noticed on Google, is an expert in search-engine optimisation. This is where popular search terms relating to the goods a website sells are targeted to ensure the site appears high on internet searches when those phrases are used.
Online spending is set to hit a record $7bn this year, 40% more than was spent in the run-up to Christmas last year.
Norman advises businesses who to want to attract some of this money to:
- Realise people do not search for a business name, but for products or services.
- Select the right key words. Search engines look for key words, which relate to people’s search criteria. For example, a site selling football tops should appear top on phrases such as ‘buy football top’ or ‘football tops for sale’. The better you target the key words, the more chance a website will appear higher up search results.
- Know your market. Businesses should search for the products they sell to see how competitors are using search engines and what key words they are using.
- Align your site with your customers. By making websites simple to navigate with the key products and services clearly visible, search engines and potential customers will find it easier to locate sites.
Norman, who runs search marketing business Impact Media, thinks businesses would be foolish to miss out on the online Christmas bonanza.
“Approximately 50% of online purchases are preceded by research on a search engine. As web users are getting savvier in their online searches, businesses have to proactively position themselves in front of potential customers using search engine pages.
“The routes to achieving prominence on search engines can be straightforward and make a major difference to how websites are found.
“The benefits of selling products online are undeniable. With traditional media there is normally a period of time between a consumer seeing an advert and making a purchase. Websites allow businesses to connect directly with customers who are ready to buy.
“This is a situation businesses cannot afford to miss out on.”
