Improve your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) & boost traffic
Has your website’s traffic slowed to a crawl like an LA freeway? Have your site’s rankings dropped to Ford Pinto’s safety-rating levels?
Check out these four quick tips to tune-up your website’s content, rev up those search engines and boost traffic.
But before we hit the road . . . some SEO fundamentals
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the science and art of improving the organic ranking of your website when someone searches a word or phrase related to your business. Search engines use complex algorithms to determine how relevant your website is to the phrase being searched. This relevance is based on the quality of your website’s content and how well it is tailored for SEO.
Tip #1 Keywords are, well, key – plan accordingly!
Good content starts with a proper focus on keywords. Even before you did the layout of your site, you should have figured out the words or phrase for which you want to rank, and they should be specifically targeted to your chosen community or audience. Keyword research helps you have a better understanding of what your target audience wants, helps guide your editorial and marketing processes and ultimately determines what your company is known for.
It’s never too late to do keyword research and our recent article details how and why to do it.
Tip #2 Blog, blog and blog some more
Now that you have your keywords sorted, incorporate them with blogging. Blogs will keep your web content fresh and relevant. They are the easiest and best way to produce new website content – which Google loves! But don’t just blog indiscriminately, have a plan for what, when and how much to write. Longish (550+ words) industry-specific blogs are good, but don’t limit yourself; blog about your history, why you do what you do. Not sure why blogs matter? Check out our blog about the importance of blogging!
Tip#3 You’re special, so be unique
You know you’re different from the others, so let the search engine bots know it. Clean, unique, original, quality content that stands out from the rest will get the attention that it deserves . . . or at least, more than the other guys who all sound the same.
Tip #4 Be active online
Try to make a name for yourself on places other than your own website. Improve your chances of being found through local searches by being part of directory sites, from Yellow Pages to the Chamber of Commerce. Business pages on reputable websites, such as Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn, are a good way to index your name across different web sources on the web. So post those new blogs on FB and LinkedIn, and create some buzz!
And if people share or link to your blogs and websites, that gets noticed by search engines. Likewise, review sites can be important! Essentially, the more ways your business is mentioned online, the better you will do with search rankings.
Other SEO improvement tips
Limit the length of your site’s page titles and descriptions and use keywords at the beginning so that people can see them on search results pages before they get cut off. Create relevant links within the text; don’t just say “click here,” try to be as specific as possible while also using keywords. Finally, consider hiring someone to see how to optimize your site’s load speed or adjust internal links and navigation processes to enhance SEO.
When it comes to SEO, content is king. For superior content that converts, get in touch with us at RP Copywriting today!
