Working your way through the ranks: Why Google ranking is critical

With the constant buzz around social media and paid online advertising platforms that continue to advance, you could understandably ask: “is Google ranking even relevant anymore?” Well, good question. The short answer is: yes, absolutely! And the long answer is this entire blog article…

First, let’s swiftly deal with PPC…

Pay Per Click advertising is no replacement for organic search ranking. Why? Because between 70 and 80% of users ignore paid adverts entirely.

Now for social…

“You need a social presence”

“Social has replaced websites, blogs and email marketing”

“PPC and SEO are dead. You need to invest in social instead”.

You’ve heard it all. But it’s simply not true. While social should be an essential part of your marketing efforts, 93% of all traffic comes from search engines. That’s 93% of all online enquiries, sales and first points of contact. And while social is great for reaching audiences you may not reach via search (as well as actively engaging with them), your website remains THE most powerful tool at your disposal. It conveys your brand identity, presents your service/products in a way that you choose and can capture all-important data to inform your future marketing strategies (such as which products are the most viewed, what pages drive the most engagement and what types on content lead to the most traffic and sales).

Ranking - Time to look at the nuts and bolts…

Ranking is decided by hundreds, if not thousands, of ‘ranking signals’. This includes links, site structure, social presence, load time, whether the website is mobile-ready, keywords, fresh content, time on site, bounce rate and much, much more.

We’ll be honest, all the above should be part of an ongoing strategy. It’s arduous work (and rather complicated). But it’s worth it. Here’s why…

The power of Google position: Digging into the data

Google aims to do two things: show searchers the pages/products/information that they are looking for, and direct users to pages that are the best and safest. Over the years, it seems that they’ve perfected their role, with a market share that today stands at 90.31%.

#1 position in Google would net you 33% of search traffic, while 60% of clicks go to the top three websites in search engine results. And if you need any further proof that continually working your way up the ranks matters, consider this: 75% of users never click past the first page of search results.

So we hope it’s clear – ranking matters. It always has, and unless the internet transforms into something unrecognisable, it most certainly will for many years to come. Want to find out what a month-on-month improving search position could do for you? Call the Wiser Web team on 01953 852939 or send us a message via our contact page, and we’ll be right back in touch.