The Priority Is The Page

Photo by Annie Spratt from Unsplash

Details, details: Everything is always in the details, isn’t it?

Amid our regular reading on content creation, SEO, and other relevant industry issues this week there was a short article by Jeff Ferguson in Search Engine Journal with this simple headline:

Google Ranks Webpages, Not Websites

(We won’t wade into any debate about the use of both webpage and website as compound words: the focus here is on the meatier issue of search ranking.)

The headline makes, as the article goes on to explain, a true statement that some people are not aware of (or which some refuse to believe).

Most people not involved directly in SEO activities don’t know (or much care) about this, but those who are involved should know that this is true. Going further, they should also understand why it matters and take it into account in their operations.

We’re not shy about acknowleding that in posts here we sometimes are sloppy in the way we use these terms (web page and website). [Editor’s Note: Actually, we just did a search through all of our content and found only two posts where there was any possible confusion, and the context was clear in both. Score one for consistency and knowledge!] Yet while we aren’t always precise with terminology, this “page/site” distinction in SEO and in—our specialty—content creation is something that we’re always aware of. Search results and hits, as the article explains, are tied to individual pages; search results don’t exist as smaller parts of some aggregate attribute that roll up to a site. Except in the sense that any given site benefits from the cumulative hits attributed to all pages.

Why should this matter to you?

The answer is simple: Because each of your pages matters.

Don’t lose sight of the goals that drive your site content creation in the first place: you’re trying to place pages in search results in order to bring interested customers to your business. This can only be accomplished by providing customers with the content they’re looking for. The better your content, the more likely it will rank high in the appropriately targeted searches. And, of course, the more likely that customers will recognize your expertise when they follow a link to one of your pages. When that happens, they’re more likely to turn to you for the service they need.

The next step is actually a simpler one. Once a customer has reached your focused content, they should be able to quickly and easily contact you using other information (links, email, phone) on that same page.

Here’s a riddle with a trick answer

When is a website not a website?

All the time! Because Google doesn’t see or rank sites. Google sees and ranks pages.

This is why using a service such as WordWorks can be extremely important to your overall SEO strategy. We focus on quality content. Content first, content next, content last. The page, as a single entity, is where everything happens. Bringing business there is what matters, which is why all our effort goes into pages.

When you want every page to work for you, turn to Waltham WordWorks. We develop the content of each page from scratch with the best possible results in mind. Get in touch with us today to start creating new pages that showcase your expertise and give customers a reason to take you seriously.