What’s all the fuss about S-E-O? It’s what brings people with questions to the people with answers.
Every time you search for something on your favorite search engine, there is a complex algorithm that calculates the relevance of the search terms to the content of your website. To make sure that your website has a strong relevance to search terms, you need to have strong connections between your website and potential search terms—and search engine optimization is born!
If you’re feeling a little confused about how this all works, here is a bite-sized guide to some of the most important facets of SEO.
Top 10 Tips for Awesome SEO
1. Analytics
This is an essential tool for gathering data on your website, its traffic, and the behavior of your visitors. Google Analytics is a free, very detailed and thorough application, but there are many others, each with their own unique features and advantages.
2. Keywords
High quality, relevant keywords mean useful search results for users. Focusing on specific keywords and search phrases for each page on your website will get you much further than dropping any related word you can think of into a lengthy mission statement in your header.
3. Social
Keep your followers informed, make new friends, and share your stories. All of these actions will increase the amount of activity associated with your website, which will increase your relevance and attention on the web.
4. Friends
It helps to have friends, clients, and followers who want to talk about you and your business. Something as simple as sharing a link to your website and expressing their gratitude will generate activity around your brand and attract more traffic to your site, both directly and indirectly.
5. Follow-Up
Once the job is complete, don’t just take the check and walk away—follow up with your client and make sure they are satisfied with your work. A happy customer can leave a glowing review on Yelp or Google Local, which will show up front and center on search results, attracting more customers who will want to have the same happy experience.
6. Blog
Offer something on your website that is a little more fluid and continuous than your static mission statement or capabilities. A simple news item or thought of the day goes a long way! By writing a blog post on a consistent basis (even once a month), you are actively publishing content to the web, adding to the credibility of your website.
7. Upkeep
A website with continual updates to their portfolio or products will out-rank one that has been sitting untouched with the same content for months or years. This will also provide a reason for users to come back and see what’s new, increasing your hits, your clicks, and your happiness.
8. Tags
If possible, annotate your blog posts, products, and portfolio items with little descriptors known as “tags” which is common to WordPress, Drupal, and other out-of-the-box website management tools. These labels will further refine your content and increase the searchability based on the topics you append to your work.
9. Creativity
The old adage of “thinking outside the box” is still applicable in this highly technical and formulized world of search engine optimization. There’s always room for a little ingenuity to put you one step ahead of your competitors or peers. Find a unique way to communicate or focus on the traits that make you stand out from the rest and emphasize these ideas.
10. Have Fun!
Don’t over think it. It’s okay to be yourself and reflect your company’s personality through social media channels and website content. There may be many complex computer algorithms connecting all the dots to bring internet traffic to you, but in the end it’s actual people that will be browsing your website and they want to connect with other people—not a highly calculated formula for attention.
Need some help making sure your website is optimized for search? Give us a ring!
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