Thank You, Bob Dylan, for Giving Us the Words
Like many writers, we know we can always count on Bob Dylan lyrics to illustrate a point. These words, originally penned in the early 1960s, are truer now than ever before, but we’re not speaking of political turmoil. We’re speaking of technology and search engine optimization. Is it a stretch? We don’t think so, and we’ve allotted ourselves 500 or so words to persuade you, too.
Here’s the Situation
The Internet has changed the way we find information, products and services. Instead of the Yellow Pages, we turn on a connected device. Instead of the dictionary, we visit a dictionary website. Instead of a catalog, we search online.
Yet how that process works — entering a phrase or question into a search engine — also changes all the time. Ostensibly, the search engines want to serve you the sites that most likely will answer your question, but it’s often not an easy question to answer, no matter how many 1s and 0s you use.
As a result, the Internet has gone through several changes, as search engines look for the best algorithm to deliver the answers you want. Then you have the tech savvy developers who fudge the system with keywords, backlinks and paid ads. The past few years have seen this tug of war reach epic proportions.
On top of all that are the changing stylistic preferences of the public’s changing tastes. They want drop-down menus, menus down the side, fewer words, more words, sidebars, no sidebars, lots of photos or one good video. If you tried to keep up, you spent a lot of money.
And the point is this: What can you make of the mess that the Internet has become? If you have a business website, how can you stay on the first page of results when the formula the search engine uses to determine what’s “relevant” keeps changing?
It’s a serious question that deserves a serious answer. Luckily, you don’t have to rely on a search engine for this answer. You have Ray Access.
Assess Your Website
If you haven’t updated your website in the past five years, you may not be taken seriously. It’s no longer enough just to have a website; you need an active site. You need to provide useful information to your audience. To get their business, you have to first attract their attention and then hold it with the answers they are searching for.
Keywords matter, but not as much as having information people want. Readability — subheadings and lists that make the content easy to scan — matters too, but only if you have information people want. Let Ray Access give you a website assessment to determine the strengths and weaknesses of your current site.
Obviously, if the information on your website is out of date, no one will return, even if they happen upon your site. Your website is your Yellow Pages entry, your storefront and your company reputation, all wrapped up in a pretty package. If you’re not attracting visitors to your website, it might be time for a facelift. Or at least a remodeling with new content. If you need help, ask us for some affordable guidance.
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.
