The short answer: yes. Of course, it is. Ranking at number one is the easiest way of demonstrating your authority and getting the most traffic. However, does that necessarily mean that you’re going to get more business than the websites ranking in positions 2-5? Perhaps…perhaps not.
In this article, we’re going to look at whether or not being at position one is the most important thing to focus on. First of all, it’s important to take an inward look on the way that you search as a consumer. Do you always settle for position one? Or have you often found yourself purchasing something from a store at position three, or reading the article at position five?
Focus on your conversion rates
Your competitor might be sitting comfortably at position one, having worked hard at optimising their website for longer. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t get plenty of business sitting at position two or three. The first thing you want to do is ensure that your “clicks to conversion” rates are as high as they can be. But what is the best way of achieving this?
- Awesome product descriptions: Somebody searching for your products or services are going to visit position one first, but they’ll likely open a couple of tabs as well. This means that there’s a good chance that they’re going to visit your website before going ahead and making a purchase. So, offering them the most thorough product descriptions can improve your chances of securing their business over your competitors. This means, a thorough description, including clear and concise bullet-points, all features & benefits, and a clear call to action.
- A simplified order process:
How easy is it for visitors to convert into business? Focus on streamlining your inquiry / shopping cart functionality. Ultimately, the website with the cleanest and easiest user-experience will likely triumph.
- “We’re sorry to see you leave”: Websites which offer 10% discount to visitors attempting to exit a page experience great success. Try implementing a few different techniques and see if your drop-off-rates are reduced. You don’t have to stick with anything permanently. It’s all about experimenting as much as you can to find the most suitable optimisation for your website.
Increase your spread
Rather than focusing hard on a couple of competitive search phrases, it’s worth broadening your scope. If you focus on search phrases which have less competition, you’ll have a much easier job of ranking at position one for them. Certainly, the search volume might be lower, but if you’re dominating the first position with an incredibly well-optimised and user-friendly website, then that will be top-quality traffic at your disposal.
Yes, you should almost certainly be focusing on the most competitive phrases as a long game tactic. However, if you’re new to SEO, then it’s worth adopting a smarter approach to your inbound marketing, as opposed to throwing everything that you have at the highest competition positions.
Consider implementing Paid Advertising / Google AdWords
Whilst you’re working on your organic rankings, it might also be worth implementing a Google AdWords campaign to ensure that you’re coming up at the highest positions in the most competitive SERP’s now & again. How aggressive you choose to be with this is entirely up to you. Do your research and decide on whether or not it’s an avenue that you’d like to explore. Ultimately, the bigger the net, the more fish you’re going to catch!
Conclusion
Ultimately, the end goal is to try and sit at position one for as many of your phrases as possible. However, just because you don’t make it to position one right away, it doesn’t mean that investing in your SEO will have been a complete waste of time. Be sure to monitor your traffic, where it’s coming from and how much of it is converting to business. If you’re sat at position three but still doing significantly better than you were before you started your SEO campaign, then it’s worth upping the anti and pushing harder to reach the golden hill!
Don’t give up hope and certainly don’t lost heart just because you’re struggling to knock your competitor off their position one slot. Simply focus on what you can do to ensure that potential customers are favouring your products and services over theirs.
For more information on SEO, and how you can benefit from climbing the rankings on Google and improve your online awareness, contact us today!