Back in July, we talked about the importance of digital skills now more than ever. Now new data from Salesforce says that 80% of the UK workforce admit that they don’t feel ready for the digital-first world.
BT have teamed up with Google to deliver 1-to-1 mentoring and free webinars to help you and your business with essential digital skills. This week we’ll be looking at Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and data analytics, and how these digital skills can take your business to the next level.
What is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?
In simple terms, SEO aims to improve the visibility of your website when someone searches for related products or services.
Search engines, like Google, use algorithms to rank search results and this determines the order these results appear in response to the search terms.
There are several ways your business’ visibility can be improved for related search terms. Firstly, it’s important to get an understanding of how your website content is viewed by search engine bots. This can be done by using a URL inspection tool, which can help to identify any access issues, such as to image files, that might be causing low search engine rankings.
Accurate page titles are also important as they identify the content of a particular page for both search engine bots and users. Titles should be accurate, concise, and unique to get the best results.
How will it help my business?
SEO is an essential part of digital marketing for businesses today. For many, search engines are their primary source of information when looking for new products and services, meaning that optimising your website is vital to get ahead of the competition.
What’s data analytics?
Data analytics is the process of gathering raw data and making it useful for your business.
There are a number of stages involved in data analytics, starting with the categorisation of data you are looking to collect based on relevant factors. This is followed by the collection of data from sources such as internal systems. This data is then organised and cleaned to allow for analysis to take place.
There are several forms of data analytics. Descriptive analysis aims to highlight trends in data over a particular period, whereas diagnostic analysis will uncover the root cause of such trends. Predictive analysis will attempt to forecast future data trends and prescriptive analysis will make suggestions for the best course of action for your business.
How will it help my business?
Most businesses will generate a lot of raw data, whether it be through their social media channels, their web servers or from other sources. Making use of this data can help your business make better decisions, allowing you to see trends that can put you a step ahead. Analysing data can help you to identify and manage risks, develop products that fulfil your customers’ needs and increase sales.
BT have teamed up with Google to offer training and 1-to-1 mentoring to help your business in the digital world. You can access free webinars with experts, covering topics such as SEO and data analytics. Find out more here.
Got questions about SEO or data analytics? Want to share your experience of BT and Google’s mentoring for small businesses? Join in with the community here.
^SamG
