Your website is the frontman of your online business, and sometimes, even for your offline business. When people search for products, services, or information, their primary goal is to find what they need quickly, and your primary goal is to have them find YOU! When it comes to SEO, Google is a big-league player in making sure the people searching, and the businesses in their database all reach their goals, but make no mistake, Google is more interested in the people searching finding what they need than they are in you, or your business getting the traffic.
So, in a world so cold, how do you turn up the heat on your business's website? The answer is simple, give the people what they want, and follow Google’s guidelines to stay in good graces with the search engine giant.
It seems like a lot to take on, pleasing everyone at once, but if you optimize correctly, you can maximize, and improve your website, and with the right maintenance tools, you can keep it going strong.
Having the right tools for any job is essential…so start by signing up with SEO Toolbox from SEOsitecheckup.com
Where to Start?
The first place to start is with your business idea of course, but let’s assume you already have that covered, and now you just want to know how to create a website that is optimized for the search engines, easily accessible to visitors, and that generates profits….so what do you do?
Your first step is to understand what the search engines are looking for….without that important piece of information, in the beginning, you will be spending more time chasing your tail than counting your money…that’s a fact!
So, What Do The Search Engine Want?
- Content
- Performance
- Authority
- User Experience
The above four basics look simple enough, but each has its own complexity that has to be solved by each website owner, there is no golden rule to follow that works for everyone, but having the foundation in place is key to creating the right formula for your business.
Content: The content on your website is determined by your theme, the text on the page, in your tags, titles, and descriptions should all follow the same theme, and of course, be unique, high quality, informative, and useful to your visitors.
Performance: The performance of your site may not seem important to the search engines, but believe me when I tell you…IT IS! How fast your site loads is something Google actually looks at, and how your site functions is another key factor Google takes into consideration. So, you need to make sure your links are all working, that you have a sitemap in place, and that your pages load fast.
Authority: Establishing authority is a huge factor for high Google rankings. Does your site have content or information that other authoritative sites find useful enough to link to, or to at least refer their visitors to?
User Experience: Google takes into account how users feel about your page, and no, they do not ask each visitor how they felt about their experience, but there are algorithms that can tell them, so be mindful of that when designing your website. Your site should be pleasing to the eye of your visitors, easy to navigate, safe, and offer what the user needs. A high bounce rate is a bad sign to Google, so if people are jumping on and off your page like a trampoline, expect to see your rankings go way down!
What Do The Search Engines NOT Want?
Another question that should be answered before starting your SEO campaign is what do the search engines NOT want to see on your site? Having all the right answers is great, but sometimes it is better to have both the right, and the wrong answers to make the best decision.
- Keyword Stuffing
- Purchased Links
- Poor User Experience
- Low-Quality Content
Keyword Stuffing: Overusing any keyword is a big no-no in the SEO game. Yes, back in the day it was the way to reach top rankings, but guess what? People are not wearing leg warmers anymore, styling their hair with an entire can of hairspray, and they are not stuffing keywords anymore either, and all for good reason!
Purchased Links: Purchasing links may look like a quick solution to getting your page some authority, but all it really does is weaken your reputation within the search engines.
Poor User Experience: Loading your page with ads, making it difficult for visitors to navigate to find what they want, and having uninformative information, low-quality content, or irrelevant text on your website will create a high bounce rate.
Low-Quality Content: No, Google does not read every piece of content on your site like a human would, they do it better as a robot would. They have created algorithms that scan text for relevancy, originality, spelling, grammar, and many other factors to determine if it is high quality or useless trash.
Start Making the Magic Happen
Now that you have the basics out of the way, and a decent understanding of what the search engines are looking for, and what they are not, you are ready to get to work on improving your website.
Choose the Right Keywords
Choose the keywords that make the most sense for your business. If you are selling cupcakes, then you have a variety of keywords to choose from, such as cupcakes, baked goods, sweets, etc. Choosing keywords for your business uses basic common sense. What are you selling or offering, and how will your customers search for what you have to offer?
If you have a geographic base, you can add locations in front of, or behind your keywords for a more specific search.
Determine the primary, and the secondary keywords, and keep in mind, the most likely primary keyword is probably the least likely one to get you ranked at the top. The keyword ‘cupcakes’ would most likely be the one offering the most competitive.
Use Keywords Strategically
- Content
- Tags
- Titles
- Descriptions
Use Hyperlinks for your keywords to emphasize a section, and take advantage of the opportunity to send visitors to another part of your page, possibly a shopping cart where they can order your cupcakes.
Optimize Multiple Channels
Multi-channel optimization is a huge factor in the success of a website, much more now than it has ever been. Social media campaigns work towards building a brand, making connections, gaining authority, and of course, driving people to your site. Learn how to properly use these platforms, and stick with your keywords and keyword phrases when posting for top brand consistency.
- Google+
- YouTube
Domain Name Selection
In order to have a solid overall foundation in place, the domain name selection must be done carefully, and with a little thought. Using sub-directory root domains (example.com/site) versus sub-domains (site.example.com) is the best practice to start off with, but there are plenty more helpful tips.
Keep Domain Names Consistent
Make sure that when you type in your domain name with the www., or without the www., that the visitors are taken to the same place. The search engines see two different sites in these instances, and without the proper redirection, your inbound links become diluted as well.
Avoid Changing Domain Names Unless Necessary
If you purchase a domain name, you may be compelled to change the name to something new and fresh, but keep in mind, that old school name was working when you bought it, and it is recommended to NOT fix something that is not broken. Unless the previous owner did some shady things while running the site, keep the name the same for the best results.
Add Keywords to the URL
Insert keywords into the URL for optimal results
Do Not Forget to Go Mobile
Everyone has a smartphone, iPhone, iPad, or another portable device in their hands, and you know they are searching for information, products, or services, so make sure you are optimized for the mobile sites, so you can be found by those millions, maybe billions of searchers.
Maintain Your Website, and Improve Results
Maintaining your website, and improving upon your overall results with users, search engines, and even social media platforms is simple. SEOsitecheckup.com provides all the tools you need in one simple place. You can get a quick view of your sites overall performance, and even detailed reports on how it can be improved.
If your content is low…SEOsitecheckup.com will show you, just register for the Toolbox, and get information like this….
This quickly lets you know that you need more content on your site for Google to find you relevant in the searches.
Get a full SEO analysis on your site for free! https://seositecheckup.com/
