If you’re new to SEO it can feel overwhelming, stressful, and daunting! With terms like backlinking, keywords, long tail phrased, creative content, and page rankings, on-page SEO, crawling websites, it’s hard to know where to start. There’s so much to consider! The good news is you don’t need to be an expert to reap the rewards of a great SEO plan. We’re always looking for the best tools to make websites produce their desired results.
SEO is a marketing strategy focused on improving visibility in non-paid search engine results. SEO incorporates both creative and technical elements required to drive traffic, increase awareness in search engines, and improve page rankings. From determining the keywords best suited to generate traffic to your website (i.e. keywords and phrases) to creating a friendly experience for the search engines, there are many moving pieces to an effective search engine optimization strategy. If you’re confused, you’re not alone but we are here to help! We’ve put together a list of the top five SEO tips everyone should implement to improve their website.
Fix any item that slows your site
A slow website is the kiss of death in today’s fast-paced marketplace. Once upon a not-so-long-ago time, we would wait up to five whole minutes for our favorite sites to upload. A whole five minutes! Well, this is no longer the case. One of the most critical factors for SEO is page speed. A slow page will frustrate/disrupt the user experience and may end up discouraging customers from buying your product or service.
According to Strange Loop, a 1-second delay in page load time can generate a 7% loss in conversions. Users also associate a slow website with an untrustworthy site. So get rid of any non-essential elements slowing down your site. Depending on your platform, consider deactivating plugins you may have installed but aren’t using or declutter your sidebar by removing any nonessential widgets. You’d be surprised how much faster these simple changes will make your site.
Link to other relevant websites and have them link to you
According to Bryan Clark, co-founder of Copyblogger Media, “Linking out to other blogs is critical to growth.” We know what you’re thinking, “won’t linking to other sites lead people away from my website?” Technically yes, but link building is a fundamental aspect of an intelligent SEO strategy. When you are a leader in your industry, developing valuable content and linking to authentic blogs, you’ll find that more readers will naturally link to your site. This is when you will reap the rewards of effective link building. Be sure to carefully consider your options, linking only to trustworthy and reputable sites. The last thing you want to do is lead your user to an unreliable or unsafe site!
Have web analytics in place at the start
After clearly defining your SEO goals, you need software to track what’s working (and what’s not working). Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and other web analytics software help to track your SEO success. Additionally, tools like CrazyEgg track where your visitors are clicking, and how they navigate away from your site. Ultimately, the more you know about your user and your website, the more you can adapt your site to their likeability.
SEO keywords
When it comes to keywords and phrases, write for humans first. Period.
Keywords are no longer the sole factor to drive search results. Although keywords and long tail phrases are still important to SEO strategy, these words must be used in a thoughtful, engaging and relevant manner. As you develop your content, the focus should remain on how your visitor will engage with your product or service. This will naturally increase site traffic.
Don’t forget the Title and Meta descriptions
The Title of a webpage is the top part that you see on your web browser. It’s also a good indication of what the page is about and what content users (and search engines) can expect to find on that page. Ensure that you have a unique title for every page on your website.
According to Neil Patel, “One of the most important SEO tips that most people neglect is the well-crafted meta description.” So be sure to create unique and relevant meta descriptions for every page. Never repeat content. Search engines despise duplicate content. When in doubt, remember SEO relevance is more important that creativity or cleverness.
If you stick to these important SEO tips, you’ll be on your path to generating more organic traffic, creating better content, acquiring more leads, and increasing your revenue. If you’re not sure where to start, our SEO Audit and SEO Strategy services can provide you with the insights and direction you need to achieve your goals.
Founder & CEO
