Building a business on an online platform is not black and white. Kyle A. Duncan knew this when he decided to dive deep into search engine optimization (SEO) and discovered that how a business ranks on search results plays a significant role in its success. This realization opened up a world of possibilities, showing how businesses can grow and thrive with the right SEO strategy.

Around 71% of consumers' journeys start in a search engine. In the same report released by Forrester, 3 in 4 customers who enter keywords and find information in local search results are more likely to visit that business. The numbers reflect how businesses can no longer just exist and do marketing without considering their ranks online.

"Getting a higher rank on search engines could make or break a business. It is a delicate balancing act between quality content, keyword research and understanding, and relevant link building. It sounds simple, but it's no small feat," Kyle A. Duncan explained.

First Page

Kyle's brush with SEO resulted in the formation of Kyle A. Duncan, his SEO-focused agency. His past failures with his business endeavors set him up for a digital marketing conquest, and he has since made getting businesses on the first page his mission.

"To get to the first page, the most important part to do is none other than quality link building. It's not just a navigational link building, it's more context-based," Kyle A. Duncan said. Contextual link building allows for seamless integration into the narrative, providing additional information. This strategy has proven highly effective in improving search rankings and attracting organic traffic.

"Organic traffic is a gold mine for businesses. That's where you want to acquire your customers because these are real people who are actively looking for your business. Not to mention, there are lower acquisition costs when the traffic is organic," said Kyle A. Duncan about working on contextual backlinks. Contextual backlinks to other relevant websites help increase a business' searchability, and that's how you get your business on the first page of the search engine. 

Getting Friendly with Algorithm

After ensuring the basics, like content quality and backlinks, are there, it's time to get technical. SEO technicality has a lot to do with search engine algorithms, which are constantly being updated. Google alone can make adjustments 500 to 600 times per year.

"It can feel like we're always running to catch the next bus with the algorithm because you blink, and there's another update and adjustment," Kyle A. Duncan said about the algorithm. 

"But if you're serious about SEO as your marketing vehicle, then you must keep up with all the changes," he added. However, SEO algorithms work as rules to play by to impact website visibility and traffic. 

To play by the SEO algorithm's rules, a business can investigate whether its website's structure, including elements like site speed, mobile responsiveness, and navigational ease, is up to par. Going to the front room, a business needs to check on its user interaction metrics like click-through rates (CTR), dwell time (time spent on a page), and bounce rates. Another thing to revisit is using HTTPS to access the website domain to ensure a secure connection. 

The Takeaway

Navigating through all what SEO has to offer can be overwhelming. Forbes released the list of SEO's latest statistics, and one of them featured a study by Backlinko that put click-through rate (CTR) upfront. "CTR is whether or not users click through to a business' web page after being presented with an organic search result," Duncan explained. This is where the deal breaker lies; with top rankings, page one websites have an average click-through rate of 27.6%, compared to page two results, which have an average rate of 15.8%. It's about time rankings in search results are taken seriously to make a business last.