Search engine optimization (commonly known as SEO) is all about showing people you have what they want and making your website more attractive to search engines.
Do it well and you’ll climb the ranks. Do it poorly and you’ll fall.
The goal is to increase organic (read: unpaid) traffic to your site, which search engines like Google consider a stronger signal than paid traffic, ultimately convincing Google to list you higher on queries.
When it comes to search engine optimization, search engines are looking for a handful of very important things, including:
- Authority and credibility
- Quality content
- User engagement
- Relevance
- Website optimization
- User experience
The specific algorithms used by search engines to determine how websites are ranked are top-secret. However, there are some tried and true SEO strategies guaranteed to give you a leg up.
Here are some of our best tips.
Climb the Rankings With These 7 Search Engine Optimization Suggestions
Only Publish High-Quality Content
The days of poorly written content and sacrificing quality for the sake of quantity are long over. If you’re constantly (or even occasionally) churning out garbage, expect to be knocked down a few pegs. Unique, relevant, valuable content is an absolute must.
Keyword Research Matters
Keywords can be tricky. If you focus on the most popular ones, you’ll be lost in a sea of competition. If you try to narrow things down too far, you run the risk of missing your target audience entirely. The secret? Keyword research!
Get Your Site in Gear
SEO isn’t entirely about what people see on your website — it’s also about the way they experience it. Slow loading speeds, broken links, a lack of mobile optimization and about a hundred more website woes can all spell disaster. If you haven’t done a website audit lately, now is the time.
Start Earning Backlinks
Backlinks occur when another website likes your content enough to link to it on their site. And since no business marketer worth their proverbial salt would link to subpar content, Google thinks backlinks are pretty darn important.
The best way to get backlinks is to create content that’s worth linking to. You can also explore guest posting for other sites or sending them your content directly and pointing out why they might like to share it with their own audience.
Optimize Your Site for Local Search
If you sell shoes on the internet, you have a ton of competition. If you sell shoes in a small town in Idaho, you have significantly less competition. By including your location in your content, website title, meta tags, etc., you’re weeding out people looking for shoes in Los Angeles and drawing in people near you. Local search for the win!
Eliminate Unnecessary Pages
Do you have pages on your website that exist for little to no reason? Blog posts that just aren’t getting the traffic you hoped for? Two “about us” pages when one would suffice? Those weak pages are affecting your search ranking, even if you have a ton of stronger pages.
Get rid of them!
Focus on Customer Reviews
While you should absolutely showcase your customer reviews on your website, there’s something to be said for off-site reviews, too: They can help your SEO. Reviews on third-party sites like Yelp or Angi build trust and authority, and sites with high levels of trust and authority can rank higher in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
It’s Time to Get SEO-Savvy!
Quality SEO doesn’t happen overnight. It times time, effort and more than a few stress-induced headaches to make it work. But when you put enough oomph into it, it all pays off in the end!
Would you rather concentrate on serving your customers and leave the SEO to someone else? Mischa Communications is here to help! Let us show you how we can take your business to the top!