Search engine optimization (SEO) is used to drive more traffic to websites. If you use SEO properly and consistently, it helps search engines find your website easier and improve your website ranking in search engine results, driving more traffic.
SEO plays a crucial role in the success of every website. If people can’t find your website, it doesn’t matter how great it looks. Unfortunately, SEO can be quite complex and it’s not always clear how you should incorporate SEO into your site. Take a look at these proven SEO strategies that will help you improve your search engine rankings and drive more traffic to your website.
#1 Think like users
Creating content with SEO in mind can be challenging for some people. However, a great way of making your content SEO friendly is by remembering these few things:
- What would YOU search if you wanted to land on your website?
- Think of other ways people might search for your content and pick keywords out.
- Use keywords more than once, but not too often as it will come across as spammy.
While this strategy guarantee success, it’s a great start and will help your content rank higher. By providing answers and solutions you’re more likely to get others interested in your posts resulting in more social sharing and more visits.
#2 Obtain help from experts
When you’re new to the world of SEO, it’s understandable that you won’t be able to learn everything in one sitting. There are tons of ways of learning about SEO, but since you’re on the internet already, why not pick up information from other reputable sources?
Websites like The Digital Merchant, Neil Patel, Quicksprout and other popular SEO and marketing blogs will teach you the best strategies to use for growing your small business, including SEO, keyword optimization, and social media.
The main point to remember is that you’ll find many sources and tons of advice, but you must stick to well-known SEO and marketing leaders who tested their ideas and practice themselves. Following the wrong advice can lead to many problems. Find out who are the real thought leaders are and follow their blogs, social media accounts, and listen to their podcasts so you can learn from them.
#3 Integrate SEO into your web design
Did you know that the design of your website actually contributes to your SEO? If you’re getting your website professionally designed, it’s always a good idea to use a company that can make your design SEO friendly. You’ll be surprised at how much your design can affect your search engine rank! For example, we at Big Apple Media make sure that every website is SEO friendly and search engine optimized. For the website to be SEO friendly it needs to have the right meta tags, titles that use proper keywords. You must also submit your sitemap to Google and use analytics to monitor your traffic and other stats. Hiring a company that only specializes in web design and doesn’t know much about SEO will likely result in your website never reaching its full potential.
#4 Don’t forget images
The images that you’re using on your website also contribute to your SEO ranking. Start with the file name of your image. Saving your image using keywords that you’ve chosen for your content will help Google find your image easier. So, rather than saving it as a default image, you could use your keywords so that it helps boost your SEO. Also use alt tags with every image. Use related keywords and phrases to help Google better categorize your content. Finally, remember to optimize your images to make sure your website loads quickly. Large images lead to a slow site and Google will likely penalize your website if it becomes excruciatingly slow.
#5 Think about voice search
Many people these days use voice search using their mobile phones or devices while they’re on the move. A typical place for people to use voice search is in the car if you’re looking for directions hands-free. However, people tend to search differently when using voice search. For example, using a computer you’d possibly search “Iceland opening times”, whereas if you were using your voice, you’d probably ask something like “is Iceland open today?”. As you can see, this completely changes the keywords. However, Google will display the shortest and easiest answer possible for the user. This means that within your content, you should be using simple to read and also short form answers to ensure that you rank highest in voice search.
#6 Use the right keywords
Keywords are all well and good, and using common knowledge will help you to a certain extent. However, it’s always a good idea to research popular keywords so that you can make modifications to your content to ensure that it ranks higher. Simple words like ‘good’ and ‘best’ can make all the difference to how you rank – so do your research!
Try using tools like Ubbersuggest to find the best keywords to use when writing your content.
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#7 Analytics will help!
Google Analytics can help you more than you think. While many people use it to see how many hits their website has had each day, it can be used for so much more. Google provides in-depth details about your website and how it’s performing. One of the best reports to look at is the bounce rate on your pages. This tells you how long people are dwelling on your page. The longer people are spending on your website, the better the content must be! Take note of your high performing pages and use those as a base for your use of SEO.
#8 Go incognito
Finally, you may have noticed the option to go incognito on your browser? This can be extremely useful for those that don’t want their search history seen by others. But did you know that it can help your SEO too? When you type into the search bar of the incognito mode, you will notice different results than the ones you’ll get using the regular mode. This is because Google shows content specifically tailored to you when you’re logged in as a regular user. To see nonbiased results, use incognito mode.
These are just some of the strategies you can use to maximize your SEO strategies. SEO rules and guidelines constantly change and SEO evolves daily, so make sure to stay on top of all the latest developments and apply to your website so you won’t get left behind.
Photo by Alexandru Acea on Unsplash
