As a public sector program or service provider, you likely want your ideal audience to find the support that’s available easily and quickly online.

We make assumptions that people will search on their national, regional, or local council website or Local Enterprise Partnership website for support available, however, they will need to click many times to find what they are truly looking for AND they might not even think to look on the council /LEP website, as many are not aware that there’s support available!

Let’s imagine that a local business wants to find out if there’s funding available to grow their business.

They’re highly unlikely to go to their local council website.

They’ll type that search into Google (They might use the search term: Is there free funding available for my business) and find a whole host of private sector companies offering funding (in return for a share in the business or at high interest rates) as well as the banks offering business loans.

But what if you’ve got matched funding to offer them to grow their business? Wouldn’t it be great if your programme or service webpage got found when they were conducting searches that are highly relevant to the programme or service on offer?

Your webpage or website about your service needs to appear in search results for the terms that people are using!!

That’s where Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) comes in. You’re then making it easier for people to find the information they’re looking for with minimal effort and clicks. Optimisation also increases the change of higher engagement rates when visitors are directed straight to what they are looking for.

KEYWORD RESEARCH

Although there are various methods of optimising a webpage, keyword research is one of the most effective methods that can be used to boost visibility and increase web traffic. Through this process, you can analyse trends and determine which exact keywords potential customers are using when searching for what you offer online This will allow you to target these key terms more effectively to ensure maximum visibility on search engine results pages. You can also use free tools such as Google Keyword Planner to determine similar phrases that would attract the right people to your ‘offer’.

ATTRACTIVE LANDING PAGES

Once people have found your website/page, optimising it requires more than just choosing the right words; it’s also important that you create an attractive landing page that clearly explains what’s being offered and why it’s beneficial. Utilise multimedia such as videos, images, graphics, and infographics throughout the page – this helps attract attention while simultaneously breaking down complex information into simpler chunks that any visitor could understand quickly. Ultimately, the goal is to make sure visitors have a positive experience while visiting your page – which leads them closer towards enquiring or signing up for the support on offer.

SEO Basics

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the practice of increasing the visibility of your website in a search engine’s search results to improve its chances of being seen by potential users.

It involves both on-page and off-page techniques that are designed to achieve higher rankings in organic (non-paid) search engine queries.

On-page SEO includes activities such as keyword research, meta descriptions and titles, content creation, image optimization, heading tags, internal linking structure, site speed optimization and more. Implementing best practices for mobile usability can also improve your site’s ranking in mobile searches.

Off-page SEO focuses on building relationships with other websites through link building and social media engagement. Link building involves creating backlinks from other related websites that point back to your own website. (it would be super useful if you could get a backlink from your council or LEP website!) Social media engagement entails creating content that encourages users to share it across various social networks like Facebook, Linkedin or Twitter.

Overall, good SEO helps attract qualified visitors who are interested in the services on offer– not just by random visitors who happened upon the webpage by chance.

Interested in finding out more?

A 15-minute conversation with us to discuss your goals and how search engine optimisation will help you to achieve those goals costs you nothing!

Simply call our friendly team on 01245 791969 or drop us an email to [email protected] to arrange a confidential chat.

The Social Accelerators, founded by Caroline Thomas in 2010 advises clients around the UK on strategic marketing of your public sector funded programme, project or portal.

Her firm designs and runs digital marketing campaigns, conducts online research and designs online client journeys that get the results you need across social media, websites and email campaigns.sear