“How do I SEO my website?” is a question I hear a lot.
First, what is SEO? Search engine optimization is defined by Google as, “the process of maximizing the number of visitors to a particular website by ensuring that the site appears high on the list of results returned by a search engine.”
Further, Google states, “the key to getting more traffic lies in integrating content with search engine optimization and social media marketing.”
While Google Search Engine does not share its algorithm, but there are many things you or your webmaster can do to help your website’s Search Engine Ranking Position (SERP). Google is basically try to serve up websites that are relevant and useful in response to the user’s search query. So the methods we recommend you do are in response to Google’s objective so you can swoop in and save the day for your website’s SERP.
Meet the Super Hero of On-Page Organic SEO
Do you wonder what you can do to help your website get found on the Internet without paying thousands of dollars for paid ad campaigns? Super Hero Organic SEO is here to save the day. She has magic powers to share to help your website achieve higher rankings.
SEO Super Power 1: Unique, Compelling Content
Write unique compelling content about your products or services and what makes your business special. Or actually better put is, describe the problem your potential client has, and how your offering can help them solve it. Do NOT copy someone else’s words – Google will see that this is lifted and not value this page. Your site’s SERP may be penalized with too many pages detected with unoriginal content. To get the most from this Super Power:
Keep It Fresh: Add new content consistently; fresh content is better ranked than old, stale content
For example, if you have two websites that are identical or similar, continually add some more content on their site on a consistent regular basis that is custom, unique content, not copied from someone else. Don’t leave it the way it was published from day one; the updated site will continue to rise in at search engine ranking, while the stagnant site’s SERP will decrease.
This is why many website include blogs which makes it easy to continually add new content that is keyword rich. You may consider enhancing your blogs with images videos or audios. This increases the likelihood that humans will read it too.
» Learn more about using your website content for Inbound Marketing to attract new clients.
SEO Super Power 2: Keyword Phrases
Use keyword phrases relevant to the web page you are optimizing, remembering to select from your potential customer’s perspective and how they would search to find a business, product or service like yours, such as” website designers near me.” Remember that many searches are now done with voice versus typing. Place keyword phrases in the page where ever sensible, such as in the following:
- Heading tags – these are section titles and considered more important than paragraph text, so including keywords are helpful here.
- Front load – first sentence in first paragraph
- Image filenames – instead of using image1.jpg, you can use a name that is relevant to image using keywords, whenever appropriate, e.g., dog-flea-spray.jpg;
- Image Alt tags – use brief description of image, using keywords whenever appropriate
- Meta title – which is 60 characters or less that describes what that page is about, again using keywords and Geo tags.
- Meta Description – according to Google’s blog, there is no limit to the number of characters allowed. However, if pulled into the snippet that appears below the page title in search results (which may be different on mobile vs. desktop), it may be truncated to 155-160 characters. It should be a short blurb containing keywords as possible, but be enticing so that a reader is encouraged to visit the web page.
- Meta title, title and description should be unique for each page. They should be specific to what the content is on that particular page. If you don’t update your own website, check with your webmaster to be sure this is being done.
Optimize each web page for its specific, pertinent keyword phrases. Don’t try to optimize the entire website on each page.
For example, you are selling marbles, it’s fine to have your home page optimized for keyword phrases about assorted marbles. But if someone is specifically looking for RED MARBLES, have a web page optimized for “red marbles” so this web page is served up by search engine results. The white marbles represent other words on the page that support the keyword phrases. Perhaps, how red marbles are used or are the favorite of top marble shooters.
A more realistic example could a pet store. The owner may choose to have a particular web page in their website optimized for “dog flea control products.” The keyword phrase for this specific page should be about your “dog flea control products”, not about “pet store”. This web page can help their pet store attract itchy dog owners in the summer months.
WARNING: Stay away from the Dark Side, i.e., the old world practice in a galaxy long, long ago of keyword stuffing; that is putting keywords in just to put them there, as bullets or try to hide with colors that match your page background. Search engines are onto this and your page ranking may actually be punished for this. Using our metaphor above, the right glass does not have ONLY red marbles in it, i.e., does not just repeat the keyword phrases over and over, “dog flea control products dog flea control products dog flea control products dog flea control products.”
SEO Super Power 3: Incoming Links
You can also improve your website’s SEO by taking action outside of your own website. Claim your listings and add website’s URL address on business citations or online business listings such as manta.com Merchant Circle, Yellow Pages.com etc. Learn more about incoming links in our articles: why you should care about backlinks and what to know about backlinks.
Another way to increase incoming links is to build relationships with influencers and/or bloggers in your industry and niche. If you have a relationship with reputable, high-authority site owners, perhaps they would do an article about you and your company’s products and link to your site and create an inline context link. You could offer a free sample for them to try and review.
Another Dark Side WARNING: Do not confuse this with paid farm links sites which can damage your website’s reputation.
So use these three SEO Super Powers to land your website on Google’s first page!
Want help with your website and Internet presence? Contact UmeWorks in Torrance at 323 638-9328 or info@umeworks.com to discuss your website needs.
