5 Simple Steps To Improve Your Website’s SEO
Search engine optimization is a process. It's not a “one size fits all” nor is it a one-time solution to all your website woes. However, there are many SEO elements that you can fix yourself. You don’t have to be an SEO expert to start getting your website on the right track.
Here are 5 actions you can take right now to start improving your website’s SEO!
1) Knowing how to target the client
The first thing you have to do is think about your audience. What keywords will they be searching for? What other sites will they be visiting? How are they most likely to reach your site, and what will they be looking for? If you don’t understand your audience, organizing your website is going to be that much harder.
Key Points:
- Think about exactly what users will be looking for on your website.
- Try to think of ways to segment your market so you have different targeting patterns.
- Do some research on the competition-see how they are attracting visitors to their website and how you can adopt those strategies on your site.
2) Relevant, useful content
When you write content on your website, keep it concise. Readers don’t want to have to hunt for the facts or important details that they are looking for. Your text serves two purposes: to entice the readers and to be seen as useful pages by search engines. Be sure your balance your text with relevant keywords for the content that you want to share.
Key Points:
- Don’t overload a page with text. For that matter, don’t rely solely on graphics, either. Your page should strike a nice balance between the two.
- For SEO purposes, make you use relevant keywords and include both internal and external links. All of these elements help strengthen your SEO ranking.
- Update your content regularly. If the topic becomes irrelevant, a link no longer works, or page usage drops considerably, it is time to consider replacing the out-of-date content.
3) Schema Markup
Schema are the technological core of SEO. They provide structure for your website, make it easier for search engines to find relevant information, and, if used correctly, can help increase the click-through rate (CTR) for your website. Depending on what type of website you have, there are many different types of schemas that you can utilize that can improve your appearance on Google search engine results pages (SERPs). Schemas work to clarify your content, and the clearer your content, the higher your SEO ranking.
Key Points:
- Include as much information as you can in your schema. The more information you can include, the better. The rich snippet you create for your business on the SERPs will be much more detailed and informative. However, if you use information that is incorrect or overuse data, your snippets will disappear and your SEO rankings will drop.
- There are many websites that provide code so that you can implement your own schema. Try to use plugins in order to save time. Use them to help you make sure you insert the code correctly. Tip: Use JSON-LD to save time when formatting schemas.
4) Mobile-Friendly Website
According to Invesp, by the end of 2017, over 2 billion smart phone users will make some kind of transaction on their mobile device, and 95% of users look up local information about a business before visiting it. These statistics regarding increased mobile device usage means that your website must be completely optimized for both desktop and mobile users alike. One major difference that can become hard to manage is the size difference of the screen. If the information is not coded correctly, reading information on a mobile screen can become very difficult and drive users away from your site, and your service.
In addition to making your site mobile-friendly, invest your time in creating an AMP (Accelerated Mobile Page) version, either by editing the AMP WordPress plugin to fit your website design and all your custom post types, or by developing it from scratch for other content management systems (CMSs).
Key Points:
- Take advantage of app indexing so that the content on your app is easy to locate.
- Cut down on the number of URLs or redirects. Mobile users find it easier to locate content on one page rather than on multiple pages. Even if they have to scroll down a bit more, it’s still easier than using a navigation menu on a mobile device.
- Make sure your content can adjust to the different sizes of device the user might have (smart phone, tablet, PC).
5) Meta Tags
Meta tags are critical for search engines and for the user. While meta rankings do not have an impact on SEO, they do have an impact on click-through rates, or CTRs. Th more attractive and clear your meta tag content is, the more likely your page will be visited, and that in turn will help to increase your overall SEO rankings.
Example:
(Screenshot from Google.com)
Key Points:
- Each page on your website should have unique meta tags. If pages have the same meta tags, it does not help the user find what they are looking for, and it also makes it hard to organize a sitemap of relevant content.
- Meta tags have character limits. Make sure not to exceed these limits, but also not to go too far under the limit. A meta tag that is too short is just as bad as one that is too long. Meta titles should have no more than 62 characters. Meta descriptions should have no more than 156 characters. There are no limits for H1 (the page title) and H2 (sub-headings), but titles and headings should always be short and to the point.
When you’re optimizing your SEO, be mindful of the user experience. The true of goal of SEO may be to increase your ranking in search engine results, but the changes you make to your site are going to impact how the visitor responds to your site. With the right combination of these elements, along with updating other SEO factors, you can optimize your website for success for both the search engine results and the user.
