It doesn’t take a multi-million dollar marketing budget to achieve a dominant presence online, even if you’re up against nationally recognized names.
But, big brands go there by slowly growing their business until they were the dominant force they are today. Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, started selling used books in his garage. As you know, his brand is now one of the most recognized names in e-commerce. He didn’t start with a massive marketing budget, and he didn’t become a billionaire overnight.
“Build it, and they will come,” right?
In today’s online landscape, it’s not enough to have an awesome website. While a critical first step, the best site ever conceived isn’t going to make sales by itself. It needs to get found by as many people as possible, and more importantly, the right people.
Search engines are the number one tool consumers use to find the products and services they need. By optimizing your platform for the most relevant searches to your industry, we’re going to drive your best customers right to your door. The people who’ve already decided to purchase what you are selling. It starts local and grows as you do.
Your website is the foundation for your digital footprint in Washington DC and beyond. It’s where your leads learn about you, your products and your services. Ultimately, they then decide whether you’re worth their time and money. In 2019, consumers aren’t going to put up with a slow website that’s difficult to navigate or doesn’t capture their attention. Why would they?
With just a click of the back button, they are on a competitor site that is modern, responsive, and gives them the information they came for. We’ll make the conversation about how you can help them, and how you stand apart from your competitors.
Year after year, Direction Inc has been recognized as one of the top marketing companies by some of the largest brands worldwide.
Upcity
Yahoo Finance Award 2019
Google Partner Since 2017
Expertise
Just because your customers are nearby doesn’t mean they don’t use the web to find businesses like yours who have what they’re looking for. Think about it this way. What did you do last time you needed something local and didn’t already have a relationship with a provider?
Did you Google it? Did you read reviews? How many times have you done business with that provider since?
While the internet has had a significant impact on national and global commerce, business owners who are ignoring its power right at home are never going to get to that stage. Nearly everybody is online. It doesn’t matter if they’re searching worldwide or within two blocks. When they’re looking for exactly what you provide, they should be finding you.
Those who are taking command of their presence online in DC are earning more business and cultivating new relationships with the community daily. Business that should be going to you! Each person that clicks on your competitor’s website instead of yours is costing you money.
SEO (search engine optimization) is a set of guidelines (over 250 to be exact) to optimize sites to be found in search engines. Essentially, effective SEO skyrockets your business’s website position on search engine result pages. In today’s competitive Washington D.C. market, SEO is more imperative than ever. Search engines such as Google and Bing serve millions of people per day, all of whom are seeking answers to their problems.
If you have an online store, blog, or any kind of website for that matter, SEO can help you grow your business toward your goals.
Improve your Search Ranking. Most internet users make mental note of the rankings for the terms they search online. In their minds, your ranking is a vote of confidence. According to Google, most search engine users will click on the sites listed on the first result page, ignoring the rest. Thus, if you want to increase traffic to your website, and, in turn, make your business more successful, then it is important you find a way onto the first pages of search engines. Once you achieve that foundational goal, it is now time to focus your efforts toward the top three spots. The only way to succeed in this endeavor is by following proven SEO tips and tactics.
Gone are the days when short articles would rank higher. Both Google’s algorithms and web users love to consume in-depth and information-rich content. Create detailed, informative, and comprehensive posts that are robust in both content and keyword amount. According to a recent Searchmetrics report, Google now displays a preference for long, well-researched content more than ever before. The study indicated that the average content length of the first 30 search results was 1,140 words. The number was even higher for the first ten results, with an average word count of 1,285. Thus, when writing content, strive to cover every aspect of your topic and ensure the total word count is preferably 2,000+ words.
For your page to be relevant and your search rankings to improve, your site must be mobile responsive.Responsive websites provide the user with the same experience regardless of the device used to access them. To present users with the best possible web experience, Google has developed a preference for Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) in its search results. To rank high in 2018, ensure your website is mobile-friendly.
Adding images and videos to your page enhances the user experience. For SEO purposes, ensure that you scale your images correctly. The larger the photo or video, the longer your page will take to load. Further, it is important that you remember to make your targeted keyword the alt text and create a title that is unique and applicable to the image or video. Alt tags should describe what is shown in the picture or video. Properly optimizing your photos and videos can help your website rank higher for the relevant keyword.
To beat the competition, you need to know who they are. Familiarity with who is ranking in your industry is imperative. Spy on every move your competitor makes by tracking their search ranking, along with any other actions they take to boost their business. Step one of this critical process is to find out what keywords your competitors are targeting by using tools such as SEMrush or Ahrefs. Subsequently, you must analyze their site optimization, keyword density, meta information, internal linking, web design, Google My Business Page, and social media presence.
Keyword focus is vital to successful SEO. To get the most from your campaign, carry out keyword research and be confident your company can convert for targeted terms. Use SEMrush to analyze what your competitors are targeting, or Google’s Adwords Keyword Planner to see search volumes. It is imperative that you understand the different types of keywords and determine which work best for you. To assess the relevance of a particular query, Google looks at LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords. LSI notes patterns within the concepts, topics, or terms of an individual page. Therefore, when creating long-form content, consider naturally including LSI keywords. Your SEO goal should be to rank all synonyms and related queries. The three most prominent keyword types are:
Keyword density was formerly the only way for Google to determine the relevancy of a particular web page. That was how the concept of keyword stuffing was invented. This previously successful approach no longer works. In 2013, Google launched the Panda algorithm with the goal of improving search relevancy. The implementation of Google Hummingbird two years later further promoted this goal. Google now penalizes keyword stuffing; this is not something you want happening to your site. To determine the proper density of main and LSI keywords for your content, analyze top-ranking competitor sites. Most do not exceed a keyword density of 2-3%.
Formerly known as Google Places, Google My Business is a unified interface that enables Google to have an easier time finding your business. To optimize your local rankings, take the time needed to set up this account. The process involves providing essential business information, including (but not limited to) your address, phone number, category, and opening/closing times.
On-page optimization is crucial to the local optimization of your site. Make sure that your title tag and meta description both contain the primary keyword, city, and state of your business. Equally important is ensuring that your landing and sales pages contain unique and relevant content.
SEO is the most effective tool for online business retention and acquisition. According to a recent study, roughly fifty percent of online buyers begin their shopping experience through a search engine. Therefore, it is essential that you optimize your online business to garner a constant targeted traffic flow. In order to avoid not being found online, it’s important to understand the common mistakes that may be harming your online business.
There are many steps needed to be completed in order to start and succeed as a business in DC. With Maryland and Northern Virginia right around the corner, It’s a place of fierce competition.
As the world is becoming more and more digital and online businesses are thriving, having an SEO strategy along with your business strategy is just as important as any other items on the checklist.
If your business is in DC and you’d like to take it to new heights, get in touch with us to see which SEO package is right for you!
We’d love to work with you in growing your business. Send us a message here and we'll get back to you as soon as we can!
