Chances are you’ve heard of SEO (search engine optimization). It’s a helpful digital marketing strategy that’s necessary if you want to achieve better rankings for your website.
But what is SEO? SEO is the practice of gaining more quality traffic to your website through organic search results and engines like Google.
When done correctly, SEO can mean better rankings, turn prospects into potential customers, and improve the overall user experience with your website.
By following these 5 suggestions to boost your SEO, you can watch your website rise to the top ranks of the search engine results.
1. Produce Relevant Content
In the SEO world, content is king. Since there is no substitute for great content, it’s important that you:
Produce relevant, quality content as the number one driver to achieve better rankings for the search engines.
Create content that’s designed for your intended users that will increase website traffic and improve your site’s relevance and authority.
Understanding Keywords
In order to target certain keywords and keyword phrases, you need to research and identify these with your reader’s intent in mind. Think about how your audience might search for pages to get information and answers for specific questions.
Examples of what search terms often look like:
What is SEO?
How does SEO work?
SEO for small businesses
Top Benefits of SEO for small businesses
Is SEO worth it for small businesses?
Get to Know Multiple Keyword Phrases
It’s difficult for websites to achieve better rankings with multiple keyword phrases. You have a greater chance of gaining results if the keyword phrases are similar.
A page on your website might be able to rank if your keywords look something like:
“Small business SEO”
“SEO for small businesses”
Keyword Placement
Once you choose a keyword phrase for a page on your website, ask yourself these questions:
Can I use the keyword phrase in the page URL?
Can I use the keyword phrase in the page title?
Can I use the keyword phrase in the page headings and subheadings?
If you can answer yes to these questions, you’re on your way to better rankings. Remember to use keyword phrases that sound natural and are user-friendly.
Easy usability and readability are better for search engine optimization because great SEO is all about the user experience.
Content, Content, Content!
Aside from the page URL, title, and headings, content is the most powerful part of SEO because of its influence on search engine rankings. Give your content a boost by repeating your keywords and keywords phrases throughout the page.
Use keywords and keyword phrases:
Once or twice in the intro and outro paragraphs
Two or four times in the remaining content
Don’t forget to use italics, bold, heading tags for H1s, and other important tags to emphasize keyword phrases- just don’t overdo it! Remember that you want your writing style and language to read and flow naturally.
Never tamper with good writing for the sake of SEO. The pages with the best rankings are not written for the search engines, but for the reader!
2. Update Your Content Often
It’s no secret that the search engines favor good content. Your users do, too.
Updating your content is one of the best ways to keep your site relevant, so keeping it fresh is essential to achieve better rankings.
3. Insert, Review, and Update Metadata
Each page on your website has a space between the head tags to insert metadata and other information about the contents of your website.
You need to:
Insert the metadata information when designing your site
Review and update the metadata as your website changes with time
The Importance of Title Metadata
The title metadata is responsible for displaying the page titles at the top of the browser window. It also displays the page headline with the search engine results.
The title metadata is the most important type of metadata on your page.
Description Metadata
The description of text that browsers might use in your page search return is known as the description metadata or meta description.
A good meta description contains:
Two full sentences
Catchy, thought-provoking content
Think of the meta description as your website’s window display. It needs to be an appealing and concise description that encourages traffic to your website to help you achieve better rankings.
Keyword Metadata
While keyword metadata isn’t often used to boost search engine rankings, it’s important that you know your keyword phrases. It won’t hurt to add your keyword phrases to your keyword metadata.
Make sure to include a variety of phrases. As a general rule:
Try to keep your keyword metadata to about 3-7 phrases
Have each keyword phrase consist of 1-4 words
4. Have A Linkable Website
Focus on creating relevant links within your website’s content. Instead of using a “click here” link, try writing out the destination name.
“Click here” links have no search engine value aside from the attached URL. Having something like “Small Business SEO Program” is a link that’s rich with keywords and gives you a real shot at achieving better rankings.
Be sure to use:
Descriptive links by linking keywords
This not only boosts SEO but also improves your user’s experience. Easy, clickable links can help make browsing through your website easier for readers with disabilities or those who use screen readers.
5. Use Alt Tags
If you have visual or visual media on your website, you need to describe these using alt tags. Alt tags, or alternative text descriptions, allow search engines to find your page.
Alt tags are useful for helping potential users who use screen readers or text-only browsers to find your site. By having more readers visit your site, you can achieve better rankings.
Recap
These 5 suggestions are just the beginning of using SEO best practices to achieve better rankings for your website. If you’re looking to know more, we at The Mad Caddy recommend scheduling a free consultation with our experts today!