Site speed is an important factor in SEO because it can directly affect the user experience and engagement on a website. A fast-loading site can lead to better user engagement, increased time spent on site, and lower bounce rates. These positive signals can indirectly impact the site’s search engine rankings.

Search engines, such as Google, aim to provide the best user experience possible. As a result, they consider site speed as a ranking factor. Google has even explicitly stated that site speed is a ranking factor for mobile search results.

In addition to ranking factors, site speed also impacts user behavior. Research shows that users are more likely to abandon a site that takes too long to load, and this can lead to a higher bounce rate. High bounce rates can signal to search engines that the site is not providing a good user experience, and may result in a lower search ranking.

Therefore, it’s essential for website owners and SEO professionals to prioritize site speed in order to improve user experience, decrease bounce rates, and ultimately improve search engine rankings.

To increase your site speed, there are several steps you can take:

1. Optimize images: Large image files can slow down your site. You can optimize images by compressing them, reducing their size, or using a content delivery network (CDN) to serve them.
2. Use a caching plugin: A caching plugin can help your site load faster by storing frequently accessed data in the user’s browser cache.
3. Minimize HTTP requests: The more HTTP requests your site makes, the slower it will be. You can reduce the number of requests by combining and minifying CSS and JavaScript files.
4. Use a content delivery network (CDN): A CDN can speed up your site by delivering content from servers that are geographically closer to your users.
5. Reduce server response time: Slow server response time can cause delays in page loading. You can improve server response time by upgrading your hosting plan or optimizing your server settings.
6. Use a fast-loading WordPress theme: A lightweight theme can help your site load faster by reducing the number of unnecessary elements.

By implementing these strategies, you can improve your site speed and potentially improve your SEO performance.

The post The Importance of Website Speed and 6 Steps To Increase Speed first appeared on Philadelphia - South Jersey Marketing Company.

Over the years, the practice of marketing your brand and organization has evolved immensely. The space of digital marketing has grown and expanded since the dot com boom of the 90s. Within the last few years, digital marketing avenues have overtaken traditional marketing initiatives for many organizations. One major digital marketing avenue that has been popularized and practiced heavily is onsite search engine optimization (SEO). For some organizations, this could be the main focus of their marketing efforts. For others, SEO might not be on their radar. Let’s talk about how SEO works and how it benefits companies of all sizes, especially local, smaller organizations.

What is Search Engine Optimization?

Search engine optimization is the process of improving your website to increase its visibility when people search for terms related to your business within search engines like Google, Bing, and so forth. Higher visibility brings more attention to your site that can lead to a potential or current customer interacting with your business. 

Visibility is measured by search ranking. Your search rank is the position of your page within the search results for a particular query. Each query is titled as a keyword. Each keyword has two main characteristics. These two characteristics are volume and difficulty. Volume is the overall search volume for the keyword or in other words, audience size. Difficulty ranks how hard it is to rank for the keyword and maintain a high rank for it. Certain keywords will offer more value than others depending on the organization and their industry. Keywords can be broken down into three categories. These three categories are local, regional, and national keywords.

The Difference Between Local, Regional, & National Keywords

There are three different categories of keywords. Each category has a different level of reach and difficulty to rank for. Local keywords are keywords that are local to your area. For example, if you are a restaurant in Mt. Laurel, NJ, a local keyword could be “Mexican restaurants in Mt. Laurel, NJ.” Local keywords focus on a smaller area in comparison to regional and national keywords. Local keywords are easier to rank for than regional and national keywords due to less competition. 

Generally, local keywords are a lot more specific and focused while regional and national keywords are broader and spread out. Regional keywords are in the middle of the pack in terms of difficulty. An example of this could be a mechanic trying to rank for a keyword like “car repair in New Jersey.” The difficulty increases due to the keyword describing all of New Jersey rather than one city in New Jersey. Again, the difficulty reflects the competition for the keyword. There is a lot more car mechanics trying to rank for “car repair in New Jersey” in comparison to a restaurant ranking for “Mexican restaurant in Mt. Laurel, NJ.” 

National keywords are the most difficult to rank for but have the most search volume. An example of a national keyword could be a tire company trying to ranks for “tires.” The keyword “tires” is very broad and has the most competitors due to many tire companies being present across the whole country. The differences between industries and categories of keywords make keyword research very important. Organizations will have different needs and budgets for search engine optimization as well as the services they offer. All these details dictate what keywords make the most sense for the organization to go after and rank high for.

How Does Ranking for Keywords Work?

After keyword research is conducted, the efforts begin to rank for them. Your SEO efforts are divided into two categories, on-site and off-site. On-site SEO is the practice of making changes to your own website to improve your search rank. Off-site SEO is focusing on external factors that impact your website’s rankings. For the purposes of our discussion, we will place our focus on on-site SEO efforts. 

On-site SEO encompasses many different ways to improve search rankings. One of these ways is providing valuable in-depth content on your website to ensure your audience stays on your web pages. Website content can come in numerous forms such as written content like blogs, e-books, and white papers or enticing visual displays. Your content should be informative, engaging, and consistent. 

Another great on-site SEO practice is optimizing your title tags, meta descriptions, and image alt tags. All these tags and descriptions should be filled out with unique information that suits what is being described. Targeted keywords and ideal length ranges should be followed to optimize properly. 

Website design is a key factor for on-site SEO efforts to be improved. Your website should be designed with all devices and connections in mind. Web traffic can come from numerous devices which view your site at various display styles. It is important to have a responsive, mobile-friendly website to ensure that audiences can view and interact with your website properly on any device. Secondly, your web pages’ load times should be optimized. Your audience has various levels of connection. Your website should avoid putting strain on a person’s connection and be able to load in most circumstances. Your load times can be improved by switching hosting providers, reduction of image sizes, clean coding practices, and much more. On-site SEO efforts don’t stop at these three key points, however.

Why Should Local Companies Practice On-Site SEO?

Previously, we discussed the three main categories of keywords. A lot of the time, small and local companies feel as if they don’t have the capital to carry out on-site SEO strategies that make a difference. However, this is not the case. A proper local keyword strategy can be extremely beneficial for small businesses. Local keywords have less volume, but less competition as well. A top-five ranking for a local keyword can serve to be a lot more lucrative than simply ranking top-hundred for a national keyword. A local keyword on-site SEO strategy can allow your organization to capture an audience that is close to your service area that they may have never seen through other marketing initiatives. “Googling” your issues is the number one way to find a new organization to give your business to. The value of a local SEO campaign is endless. 

A local keyword strategy will allow your organization to not only increase visibility in their area but uncover solutions to possible operational issues as well. A strong digital presence can aid your organization in becoming more efficient. For example, optimizing your website might allow your audience to have an easier time finding your business rather than calling your store to ask for directions. You could potentially take your services or products and make them available for purchase online, which allows your organization to breathe when focusing on brick and motor sales. An on-site SEO strategy goes far beyond marketing.

How Can A Third-Party SEO Agency Help?

If your organization is on the smaller side, you might not have the manpower or time to devote to carrying out a local SEO strategy. Luckily, local South Jersey SEO companies exist that can take initiative for your organization at a lower price than hiring a full-time marketing employee. An SEO agency can provide its expertise and become a partner that teaches your organization the details of not only SEO but other digital marketing initiatives that could be valuable as well. A local SEO agency will be able to deliver more time and pivot local SEO efforts if needed while your organization can focus on what it does best on the operations side. 

If you have any questions about search engine optimization or other digital marketing services, reach out to Accularis Marketing Solutions at 1-(856)-793-9440!    

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The time to revamp an old website or to get your toes wet with your first ever website is finally here. During your internet search for what the optimal site is and what your style is, you probably have noticed that a lot of the world of website design is based on opinion. This makes it very difficult to decipher what actually is valuable and what is mere preference. Our experts across some of the best SEO agencies in South Jersey discussed some tips that are guaranteed to have your website starting off on the right foot. Here is the list.

Prioritize Site Load Speeds

One of the least debated facts about website design is that speed is king. Research from business experts all around the world point to the fact that the load times of a website influence many things such as user satisfaction to conversions and revenue. If your site is slow, visitors will feel compelled to leave a lot quicker. Users and search engines both care about this aspect of web design, so you should as well. A couple of different ways to achieve a faster site is to make sure the code is clean and there are only necessary moving parts. 

Utilizing The Fold

The fold may sound like a mythical world, but it is actually the portion of your website that can be seen without scrolling in any direction. With many devices available to use for internet browsing, it is quite the debate whether the fold is as important as it used to be. Nonetheless, the fold should always be the most important section of your site. This is the area that the user sees when they first visit. The fold should be able to draw in the user and hook them into exploring the site further. Research shows that almost 60% of people spend their browsing time above the fold rather than below it. Leverage this by including your descriptive headlines, call to action, and high-end media in the fold.

Keeping It Simple

Visual complexity scares users and confuses them. A clean and simple design is always best to allow for the visitor to be quickly educated on your brand. There are many ways to keep your website simple, but here are a couple of things to note. Don’t overuse carousels, sliders, and accordions. These website features are highly requested, but in most cases useless. 90% of users do not interact with any slide other than the first slide that is being shown. Tabs and accordions have similar problems. The extra click is very rarely given by the user in terms of viewing content. Another point is to stick to standard layouts. Play to what your users know. A user being able to achieve quick familiarity will make them more comfortable in navigating your site. It is possible to stand out in other ways than a funky layout. Lastly, prioritize scrolling over clicking. The only click to focus on is the lead capture form. If pieces of your content are located all over the place and require clicks upon clicks, it is less likely for a conversion to happen.  

If you have more questions or concerns about website design, give Accularis Marketing Solutions a call at 1-856-793-9440!

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