WEB.COM GROUP INC Just a few years ago, search engine optimization (SEO) was very technical and not for the faint of heart. Developers and SEO experts quickly learned how to game the system, so SEO evolved to be much more organic and content-related.
In truth, you don't have to spend a lot of money hiring someone to "do" SEO for you (though it can be helpful to work with an expert to uncover the keywords you should be focusing on).
Just follow these 8 easy tips to ensure search engines love your website:
- Write 300 words per page
Search engines need to "read" at least 300 words in order to properly index a page. Now, 300 words might sound like a lot, but it's not really. If you focus on listing the challenges your clients face, how you solve them, throw in a testimonial, and add a call-to-action, you should be able to get to 300.
- Blog
Small business that have more than 50 pages on their website get 48 percent more traffic than those with 50 or fewer pages. Most of those pages can be blog posts. If you ever needed a kick in the butt to take blogging seriously, consider your butt kicked.
- Keep your blog active
To piggyback off the previous tip, search engines love websites that are continually being updated. It not only demonstrates that the website is active, but as you update your blog, people will visit your website to read your latest blog post. That contains a nice feedback loop of more traffic, which means more visibility for your brand, which means higher ranking in search results.
- Add links to blog posts
Another little trick is to add links in your blog posts to articles, information, etc. posted on well-known and reputable sites. Those links build credibility - at least in the eyes of search engines.
- Use keywords
Not only do you want to use keywords on your Web pages and in blog posts, but you want to add them to page titles, blog post headlines, and blog post tags. Just remember to sync up keywords across titles, headlines, and tags, or you'll confuse search engines and they'll be unsure of what content is really on your page.
- Add visuals
Because humans love visuals, search engines love them, too. You will be rewarded for including visuals on your website and in your blog posts. This can range from original photos to stock photos, stock art, custom illustrations, and infographics.
- Optimize visuals
Search engines cannot "see" visuals - shocker, I know. They can "read" them, though, which is why it's so important to optimize them. Add a title, alt text (that appears if your image doesn't), and a description, all of which should include keywords.
- Use an SEO plug-in
If your website is built on WordPress, check to see if you have the Yoast SEO plug-in on it. If you don't, ask your developer to add it. Yoast is a little miracle worker, because it will tell you exactly how to optimize your page if your score is less than green (orange is OK, red is bad).
What else do you regularly do to ensure your website gets decent traffic?
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