For the uninitiated, SEO is about making your website more visible on search engines in order to increase visitors. It sounds like a fairly straightforward concept, but for those new to SEO, it can be difficult to know where to start.
Search Engine Optimization can prove to be a worthwhile investment, but where should you begin? And how can you make sure your efforts are successful?
Choose the Right Keywords
Keywords are perhaps the most fundamental aspect of SEO. Without selecting the right key terms and phrases, customers will not be able to find your site. Then there are businesses who go over the top, cramming in as many key phrases as possible – this is commonly referred to as keyword stuffing. Far from helping, this will actually hurt your efforts, making your site unappealing to visitors and lowering your search engine rank.
The same also goes for choosing generic keywords that bring up millions of results. For example, a travel company may use vacation, but this is too broad. Instead, consider using specific locations, things to do in, or tags such as luxury and budget.
Start a Blog
Essentially, SEO is all about content. This may include landing pages, product pages or descriptions of services. Another great way to increase ranking is through the creation of a blog. This can generate a dedicated audience and readership, as well as providing the opportunity to engage with customers and clients. However, a blog is quite a commitment and can be quite time-consuming, therefore, it’s generally not advisable to start a blog for SEO purposes alone.
Produce Great Content
If you do decide to start a blog, you will quickly come to realise that writing quality content takes time. In turn, you might be tempted to up your SEO game by taking a few short cuts. A quick search will reveal software that can rewrite content, allowing you quickly produce new work. However, duplicating work can lower your rating and hamper all of your efforts. Instead, invest in original and relevant content to boost your SEO performance.
Produce Content Consistently
Another important point about blogging: it must be done often and consistently. When it comes to running a blog, original content with the right keywords is not enough. If content is uploaded weeks apart, readers will likely become disinterested and search rank will drop. Aim to post regularly in order to keep readers interested, as well as to produce new keywords and terms for search engines.
Make it Mobile Friendly
80% of internet users access the web through their smart phones, so it has never been more important to make sure your site is adapted for the needs of multiple platforms. With Google’s new update, search engines can now detect if your site has not optimized for mobiles, which can damage how high it ranks in the results.
Include Internal Links
Internal links means linking one page from your website to another, which can be very effective for SEO. As well as helping in terms of navigation and page views, internal links can also help to boost page ranking, by encouraging users to move from one high ranking page to another. Tip: when using internal links, always link to content that is topical, relevant and appears natural.
Always Keep Up-to-Date
The mobile optimization update is not unusual, in the fact that it’s one of hundreds of changes. Many businesses make the mistake of learning the basics of SEO and then never taking the time to research and adapt their approach. SEO is ever-changing, so set up alerts and keep up-to-date with the latest news, so you can alter your company’s strategy and make it as effective as possible.
SEO can be an effective way to increase site traffic, brand awareness and customer spend. However, if you stuff keywords and fail to optimize for mobile, it could lead to a lower rank. If you’re new to SEO, consider outsourcing to an industry specialist, such as Ingenuity Digital, or use an analytics tool to track your efforts.
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