The most frequently asked question people ask me, when they found out that we develop websites is “Do you do SEO, too?” Business owners know they “need SEO”, but few know what’s involved.
The goal of SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is to get you the highest SERP (Search Engine Results Page) listing possible. In other words, you want your website to show up in search results for specific keywords, or keyword phrases, as high up as possible, on Page 1, or as close as possible to Page 1, on a variety of Search Engines, especially Google.
* According to StatCounter Global Stats, in October 2014, Google commanded 89.99% of all search engine traffic. So for purposes of this blog, I’ll refer primarily to Google.
Here are some basic things you need to know about SEO:
- First, Google is in control. It is estimated that Google uses over 200 algorithms, or formulas, to determine who shows up where. Exactly what those formulas are is a closely guarded secret, but below you will find some more commonly known ranking factors. Knowing these will help you to manage your own website or to partner effectively with your website developer in designing and maintaining your website.
- Second, know that it takes time. Google does a “complete crawl”, or indexing of the web about every 6 weeks, so it could take as long as 8 weeks before changes you’ve made to your website have any effect on your SERP.
- Many business owners, after having a website built, check it off their “to do list”, and they move on to other projects; but, website effectiveness and SEO are not a “set it and forget it” deal. Once you’ve built a site, you must freshen up content regularly. Blogging is one popular way to accomplish this.
- It is also recommended that you update content on each page of your site on a regular basis – at least on a quarterly basis, if at all possible. The more significant the amount of content that is updated, the better – but be careful not to “throw the baby out with the bath water”. Older pages with fresh content are potentially given a higher Google rank than a completely new page, so don’t dump an old page altogether and replace it with a new one.
- Amount, quality and originality of content make a difference. When composing the text for each website page, you’ll want at least 300 words per page, but more is better, as long as the information is relevant, and original. Writing fluff that includes the keyword over and over will be penalized for “keyword stuffing.” Also, resist the temptation to cut and paste from other websites, as Google could penalize your site for having duplicate content.
- Before building your site, or updating it, do your keyword research. First write down a list of all the keywords for which you believe a prospective customer, client, or patient might search when seeking the type of products or services you offer. Then compare your keywords and keyword phrases to those most commonly searched, by consulting Google’s Adwords Keyword Planner.
- Including your keyword in the your URL, especially as the first word in the URL gives potentially higher rank. For example: dentistwestknoxville.com may rank higher than westknoxvilledentist.com.
- Include your keyword in your site title, as this is a strong indictor of keyword relevance. Include your keyword in your site description as well, up to two times to score a better Google rank. This is accomplished in the back end coding of your site.
- Using your keyword in your H1 bold heading on your website page can act as a second site title tag, causing Google to view your site as more relevant and therefore delivering your site as an answer to a keyword search. This also is accomplished in the code of your website.
- Ensuring that your keyword appears near the top of page, within the first 100 words, also helps to boost search engine results.
- Keyword phrase order is also a key factor. For example, people may be more likely to search for “apartment for rent” than “rent apartment”. Another reason why keyword research is important.
- Include a variety of content like photos and videos in your site. Note that Google can’t read a photo, so be sure to include alt-tags, or descriptive text for each photo so that Google can find this content as well, for a rankings boost.
- Make sure your site is easy to read and easy to navigate. Don’t be too simple, but don’t go above your prospective clients’ heads on your web content. Google will give preference to a website with quality information that is easy to read and is well organized.
- Google prefers websites that are “responsive” in design, meaning the site re-sizes to match the size of the screen that they viewer is using, whether desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone.
- This may seem logical, but a surprising number of websites make the contact info hard to find. For best SEO results, place your local address, phone number and other contact info on each page, as close to the top of the page as possible, or at least “above the fold”, meaning within the first page, without having to scroll down.
- Include a sitemap in your website. A sitemap is like a table of contents for the search engine. It helps the search engine find your content quickly and easily. You can generate your own with the help of online sitemap generators.
- Page loading speed should be as fast as possible. Google’s goal is to deliver the fastest and most accurate results related to a user’s searched keywords. You can use the page speed insights tool, available through Google’s webmaster tools, to measure your page loading speed and to get recommendations for improvements.
- Install Google Analytics on your website. Not only will it give you valuable information regarding your visitors’ search behavior in reaching your site and while on your site, but it will help Google rank your site as well. For instance, if visitors are checking out multiple pages on your site versus “bouncing” off your site within one page view, Google will attribute a higher rank to your site.
- Outbound links, to other relevant websites will also elevate your Google rank. For outbound links, you might, for example include several links as resources for your customers, such as a link to the local symphony’s website, if you own a musical instruments business. For best results, link to sites that are reputable and carry a measure of authority related to your industry.
- For inbound links to your site, contact the owners or webmasters of other relevant sites and ask them to feature a link to your website. For example, you’ll want vendors you represent to link to your website, as well as any organizations to which you belong, such as your local chamber, the Better Business Bureau, professional associations, etc.
These are just a few of the most basic rules you’ll want to follow in order to improve your page rank. Here’s the bottom line: make sure the company you engage to create and maintain your website is knowledgeable and delivers more than a template cookie cutter site. Second, you need to actively participate in the creation of your site. Your web presence needs to be original and reflect as much of your business’ individuality as possible. Third, be patient regarding results, and keep developing new content to remain as relevant as possible on an ongoing basis. Last, if the goal of having a website is to garner new business and build up existing client relationships, then SEO is best handled by seasoned professionals.
For a free online audit or your current online presence, visit www.highroaddigital.com and scroll down to the Digital Diagnostics section. Complete the brief form in order to receive your detailed report. Or, you may contact High Road Digital to be connected to a Digital Marketing Consultant who can answer your questions about digital and traditional marketing. We go above and beyond to deliver personalized service that drives results.
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