In the fast-paced, constantly changing world of digital marketing, staying ahead of the curve is crucial for success. As we near the end of 2023, is your website ready to achieve success in 2024? To ensure your online presence is performing at its best, it’s essential to invest in a holistic approach that covers multiple aspects of your website’s functionality and performance. In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into four key areas that can transform your website’s performance and ultimately drive major growth for your business: Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Accessibility, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), and Core Web Vitals (CWV).
How Do SEO, Accessibility, CRO, and CWV Set the Stage for Success?
All four are crucial aspects of a successful web presence. Each one plays a unique and central role in enhancing the performance, search engine ranking, and user experience of a website. SEO acts as the gateway to visibility, enhancing position, relevance, and click through rate in search engines. Accessibility makes the website user-friendly and inclusive for individuals of all abilities, expanding the site’s audience and reach and ensuring compliance with legal requirements. CRO focuses on refining the user journey, optimizing funnels and conversion pathways, giving you the best chance of converting visitors into customers. CWV goes hand in hand with SEO but provides an emphasis on loading speed, visual stability, and interactivity, boosting user engagement and search engine performance. Together, these elements create a comprehensive and cohesive strategy, coming together to contribute to the holistic success of your online presence and your business.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – Drive more organic traffic, get more customers
SEO is a core part of the foundation of a successful online presence. The goal of SEO is to get more new and returning visitors to your site, and ultimately reach a higher number of your target customers, resulting in more business. It involves a broad range of strategies and techniques designed to improve your website’s ranking and visibility in search engine result pages. Below are just a few benefits of investing in SEO:
- Increased Visibility: By ranking higher, your website has significantly better chances of being discovered by potential customers. A study of billions of search results showed that over 25% of users click on the first Google Search result, and while being anywhere on the first page is generally considered a strong ranking, the 10th result only gets a 2.5% click through rate. Imagine what a 10 times multiplier of web leads could do for your business.
- Targeted Traffic: Certain searches come with immediate purchase intent attached. With effective SEO and careful choice of keywords, you can attract high-value visitors who are more likely to convert.
- Enhanced Trust and Greater Brand Awareness: Consider how you might feel about a website that appears in the first page of search results versus one you had to scroll through 6 or 7 pages to find. Initial trust is much higher for the first site. Additionally, performing activities that will boost your SEO such as improving your meta titles and descriptions and doing technical SEO have the bonus benefit of improving user experience and thus trust in your site and brand. Even if users aren’t clicking on your search result, just scrolling by increases brand awareness over time.
Accessibility – Reach a broader audience and enhance user experience
Web accessibility is not simply a legal requirement, it’s also an ethical consideration and a good marketing decision for your business. Ensuring your website is accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities, is crucial for the following reasons:
- Inclusivity: According to data from the Pew Research Center, 75% of Americans with disabilities reported that they use the internet daily. Just like any brick and mortar building, your website will be more inclusive if it is accessible. People with disabilities deserve access to everything the world has to offer, both physically and digitally.
- Compliance: Achieving website accessibility is not just an inclusive gesture. It is also a legal requirement. Lawsuits related to digital accessibility have steadily increased in the past several years, going from 2,314 in 2018 to an estimated 4,220 in 2023. Don’t put your business at risk by failing to implement accessibility practices.
- Competitive Advantage: By offering a website everyone can use, you gain a competitive advantage. If you are ignoring disabled people, you are limiting access to a huge market segment and leaving money on the table.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) – Improve your funnel and boost sales
CRO is all about improving user experience and funnel flow on your website to increase the percentage of users who contribute to your business by taking a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. By focusing on CRO, you can:
- Maximize ROI: While SEO is a worthwhile investment, it can take time to achieve results. CRO can have an immediate impact on your sales and help you make the most of your existing traffic. By improving the user experience and making it easier for visitors to convert, you can boost your revenue without increasing your ad spend.
- Improve User Experience: A website optimized for conversion offers a smoother and more enjoyable experience for both new and returning visitors, which can boost your customer loyalty and positive word-of-mouth. When users have a positive experience on your site, they’re more likely to become repeat visitors and convert in the future.
Core Web Vitals (CWV) – Elevate user experience and rank higher in search results
Google’s Core Web Vitals are critical metrics for search engine ranking and user satisfaction. Optimizing your website’s performance can have a significant impact on your online success. With CWV improvements, you will benefit from:
- Higher Rankings: Google relies on Core Web Vitals as a huge part of its ranking system. By optimizing CWV on your website, you can improve your search engine rankings, leading to more organic traffic, improved brand awareness, and all the other benefits that come with appearing near the top of the search results.
- Faster Loading Speed: Websites that load quickly keep visitors engaged and reduce bounce rates. On average, a page that loads within 2 seconds has a bounce rate of 9%, while a page that takes 7 seconds to load has a bounce rate of over 32%. Faster load times are also favored in search engine rankings, improving your SEO.
- Improved User Retention: A responsive and interactive website that loads quickly and meets CWV standards keeps users engaged and encourages them to explore further, increasing the chances that they will take a desired action such as signing up for a newsletter or making a purchase.
If you are ready to partner with WebArc to launch your site into greater success in 2024 with our accessibility, SEO, CWV, or CRO services, let’s talk! Contact us today.
