In the last few years, search engine optimization (SEO) has become a hot topic. Many businesses are looking for ways to improve their search rankings on Google and other leading search engines. Unfortunately, many of these businesses fail because they don't understand how SEO works or what it takes to get started.
Fortunately, there are some basic steps you can take to begin optimizing your website to increase your search rankings. It's important that you do this right the first time so that you maximize your results over the long term. The following is an overview of what SEO involves.
What is SEO?
Search engine optimization is a collection of techniques used to increase your website's visibility in search results. It's a way for people who type in keywords into search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing to find your site. By making sure all of your relevant content shows up at the top of these pages, you'll be able to attract more visitors.
If you want to learn more about how SEO works, read our guide to SEO.
How Does Search Engine Optimization Work?
There are several different strategies you can use to optimize your website. Each one can help to boost your traffic and increase your visibility within search engines. Here are a couple examples of these strategies:
Off-Page Optimization Strategies
These include things such as building links back to your website from outside sources. For example, if someone else mentions your business online, make sure you respond with a link pointing back to your site. This will help to build trust with search engines.
On-Page Optimization Strategies
Here, you're trying to make sure that your website looks and functions well for search engines. You do this by putting keywords throughout your text and code. Some of the most common practices are using H1 and H2 tags to highlight important words, adding alt attributes to images, and including keyword-rich headers and meta data.
You should always try to keep your website optimized for both mobile devices and desktop computers. If someone is searching for something while using a mobile device, they may not see your page. However, they still have access to the information contained on your site.
Why Is SEO Important?
When someone types a word or phrase into a search engine, the computer uses a variety of factors to determine which sites show up at the top of the list. These factors include:
The number of times each site is searched
The relevancy of the site to the searched query
The importance of the sites listed above yours when ranked by popularity
How well the site ranks against competitors' websites
How often the user clicks on the site
How much traffic the site gets
The quality of the content on the site
How popular the site is
Whether the site is linked from another reputable site
Whether the site contains spammy content
The age of the site
Google is constantly updating its algorithm to better serve searchers. As a result, it's difficult to know exactly how much weight certain ranking factors carry.
However, here are some general guidelines. According to Google's official guidelines, the following are some of the most important factors to consider when trying to rank high:
Use good titles and descriptions
Make sure your site loads quickly
Create useful content
Be honest about your site
Add a sitemap and follow Google's best practices
Have original, unique, and informative content
Write clear headlines and copy
Use social media to promote your site
Get reviews and comments about your site
Make changes regularly
Keep track of metrics
Google also offers lots of great resources to help you succeed. If you'd like to learn more, visit their website and check out their blog.
How Can I Start Improving My Site's Ranking?
After you've done your research and determined what you need to do to improve your site's ranking, you can start implementing the techniques mentioned in this article. We recommend starting with off-page strategies before moving on to on-page optimization. Start with Off-Page Optimization
Once you have a solid understanding of how SEO works, you can start focusing on improving your on-site optimization. Before doing so, though, you need to establish some strong off-page links.
You can do this by getting involved with forums where your target audience hangs out. When you post on these forums, ask if anyone knows how to contact them. Then, offer to create a resource for the community. Most of the time, people are happy to provide your site with a link.
As part of your outreach, you should also set up guest posts on related blogs and forums. Doing this will give you additional exposure and allow you to connect with more readers. Your goal is to earn links from authoritative blogs and sites. These are ones that already have a large number of followers who care about the topics discussed.
Next, focus on increasing the amount of traffic flowing through those links. To do this, make sure every piece of content you publish includes a link back to your site. Make sure the link points directly to your homepage. Also, add anchor text to your links so that search engines can identify them more easily. Finally, try to stay active on the forums and blogs you're linking to.
Once you've established a good network of off-page links, move on to on-page optimization.
On-Page Optimization Strategies
Now that you have a few dozen external links pointing back to your site, it's time to start adding more content. One of the easiest ways to do this is to write new articles and submit them to directories. There are dozens of free directories you can sign up for, but we recommend submitting your own articles to EzineArticles.com and HubPages.com.
Another thing you can do is to optimize your existing content. Add keywords to your title, description, and URLs. Use internal links as well as links from other sites.
Finally, check out our guide to writing effective content. Pay special attention to the advice regarding keyword density. Keep in mind that you only want to use a small percentage of your total content. Don't stuff your article full of keywords just to meet Google's requirements. Instead, use them strategically.
One of the most important parts of this process is testing to ensure you're doing everything correctly. Once you've implemented all of the recommended changes, start monitoring your progress. Pay close attention to the changes in your traffic and conversion rates. In addition, make sure you keep track of the metrics mentioned above.
After a few weeks, you should notice an improvement in your site's overall performance. If you're not seeing any significant improvement after a month, it might be time to reevaluate your efforts.