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The first half of 2020 has been a challenge for many businesses–big and small. Everyone is trying to navigate the ever-changing norms while dealing with a worldwide pandemic. 

Shutdowns, social distancing, CDC guidelines, wearing masks, curbside pickups…It is A LOT! It’s completely changing how consumers interact with the businesses they want or need. 

Let’s face it: Right now, people feel safer searching for products and services online. The days of window shopping and browsing through stores may be a thing of the past–at least for the foreseeable future. 

So how can you help your business thrive during these challenging times? 

Build an Online Presence

There’s no way around it. Everyone continues to deal with the anxiety and uncertainty brought on by daily news headlines. People feel safer shopping from home on their tablets and phones. 

Here’s the good news: Content management systems (CMS)–like WordPress–make it easy to create a professional-looking website for your business. There’s plenty of great, modifiable templates available. In fact, with a few hours of work, you can create a website ready for the world to view.

But then what? How will it attract eager consumers?

That’s where the real work begins. A nice, polished website won’t mean much if nobody finds it.

So how do you think people will find your website? After all, there are almost 2 billion websites out there. Seems kind of like finding a needle in a haystack. 

It doesn’t have to be. There are proven ways to attract interested people to your products and services online.

Expensive ads? Nope. Your budget is already tight. 

You can get organic (FREE) traffic to your website by understanding how search engines rank websites. Over 60% of online experiences begin with someone using a search engine. Ranking high means getting traffic. After all, who really sifts through all those pages of results?

Not many. In fact, less than 1% of those using Google click on results from the second page. 

Getting Your Website to the TOP of Search Engine Results

Search engine optimization (SEO) uses proven techniques to design and create content that search engines find desirable. You see, search engines have “crawlers” that analyze the content of your website. Using special algorithms, the search engines decide which websites are best for any given keyword search.

Isn’t SEO just adding a lot of relevant keywords to website content? 

If only it was that easy. Search engine crawlers continue to get smarter. Over the past five years, artificial intelligence (AI) has become an integral component in everyone’s online experience. Google and other search engines continue to roll out updates for their advanced AI machine learning technology. These advances directly affect every search query we make. 

This isn’t science fiction. It’s impacting every online business everyday. 

Simple tricks just won’t work. There are lots of rules and strategies for optimizing websites–and they are constantly changing. The structure of your content, readability, meta-descriptions, user-friendliness, and much more contribute to how your website ranks. 

In addition, search engines are focusing on more accessible websites than anyone could interact with. Recent laws require certain websites to make changes to their functions and content so users with a variety of ability levels have less difficulty using them.  

After all, search engines want to ensure they are providing the results people want to see. They continue to make it harder to use “simple hacks” for low quality websites to rank high.

Of course, if you are dedicated to making a quality website–and following some of the search engine’s preferences–you can definitely rank high and get that cherished organic traffic. 

But there’s more…

Websites are Not Just for Pleasing Search Engine “Crawlers”

Your content needs to create a connection with the people you bring to your website. After all, the “back” button is pretty easy to hit. You’ve probably done that several times today while browsing the web. 

Search engines may bring the audience. Your CONTENT makes the conversion. Writing content that gets the attention and desire of prospects is crucial. Making sure your customer service and sales funnels are spot-on makes that extra traffic PROFITABLE!

These days, your content serves another IMPORTANT purpose… 

There is a lot of fear and anxiety out there now. Many people don’t want to take unnecessary risks. If you are selling a product or service, you need to let your potential customers know you are doing everything in your power to keep them safe. Clearly explain your business practices that ensure the safety of everyone involved.

Is this all making sense?

Let’s Pull It All Together…

We covered a lot of ground in a very short time–especially if creating a website is new to you. 

Here are the key points:

• Now, more than ever, you need to develop an online presence that starts by creating a website.
• SEO strategies help drive more FREE traffic to your site (no expensive ad campaigns).
• Your content creates connections helping prospects get excited and feel safe using your products and services.
• Pull all this off and your business can survive and even thrive.

Unsure where to start? Need more help understanding how SEO and great content works? 

As an entrepreneur, you have plenty to worry about. Do you have a bunch of extra time to figure out SEO best practices, regularly create valuable content, get the attention of social media, and ensure your website is working properly?  

If only there were more hours in the day…right?

Afflatus Media has a dedicated team that will boost your online presence. We know what brings organic traffic. We have a process that gets MEASURABLE & TRACKABLE results. Let us do the research, collect the data, and then create the solutions that make your website a lifesaver during these turbulent times. 

See how Afflatus Media CAN HELP YOUR BUSINESS! You can even get started with a FREE site crawl and report of your current website.

Opportunities are still out there. Let’s find them together.