Table of Contents
This post provides tips for improving your search engine rankings.A beautifully designed website is not enough to attract users and clients. Organic search is still a main driver for website traffic, and this only increases with voice search capabilities increasing in Johnson City area homes. And of course, everyone today carries a smartphone with voice search capability. That means your search engine rankings must be higher than your competitors. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is all about boosting your site’s discoverability by search engines and users.
Use Keyword Research to Optimize for Key Search Terms
Keyword research involves discovering the most popular words and terms that your target audience is using to perform searches on Google and other search engines. You should also discover the main search words and terms your competition is using. You may want to improve your rankings for some of those, too; however, it may be better to use similar terms that rank high but are not used by competitors.
Begin with the pages on your website that have the most content, and offer the most value to your potential customers. Optimize these pages with relevant and popular keywords and phrases. Make sure each page is primarily focused on a single topic and optimize it with appropriate high-ranking keywords or phrases. Use them:
- In the page title
- In some of the page headings and sub-headings
- In the page meta data
- Naturally throughout the page text
- In internal site links
Write Relevant Copy that Provides Value to Users
Google algorithms search for relevant copy as much as they seek to identify related keywords and phrases. You should write the most informative copy that provides your users significant value. Focus on this first, and optimize for keywords second. Seek to identify problems or needs your users and potential customers have and then produce copy that meets those needs.
Write on a 6-8th grade reading level and be clear about the solutions you offer. Don’t give away all your knowledge and expertise for free; save something for paying customers. But providing relevant, valuable information will keep users returning to your site and will establish you as an industry leader. This will convince potential customers to choose your products or services when they are ready to buy.
Use Header Tags in Your Page Formatting
Header tags are a means of formatting the type on your page to gain attention. It is also great for organizing your content for easier reading and understanding. Web pages are not newspaper pages; they must be optimized for screen-reading. This means plenty of white space around brief paragraphs and larger-type headers that are clearly visible to break up sections.
Use H1 for your main page heading and H2 for all major sub-headings. H3 and H4 can be used for lesser headings or emphasis text. Be sure to always use keywords and phrases in your headings. Making use of subheadings is one of the best ways to improve search engine ranking. Heading tags also attract the attention of search engines and signal text that is of more importance than regular copy. They also make it easier for users to skim the page for information they need.
Get Wise About Linking
Linking is both an art and a science. From your main page URLs to internal and external links, you should be strategic about using keywords and other terms that help users know what each page contains or where each link leads.
Internal links lead to other pages on your website that contain relevant information. You should select a phrase that describes the information being linked to and use that as a hyperlink to the correct page. Try to use relevant keywords in your internal links. The keywords you hyperlink are called anchor text. This gives the user and search engines context about the page you link to, so it is important to use meaningful keywords in the hyperlink.
External links lead from your site to other websites that contain helpful information or relevant resources. Only link to reputable websites that are not in direct competition with you. Other sites that link to your website add a measure of credibility to your site with users and with search engines, thus helping your rankings.
Optimize Images with ALT Tags
Images give visual support to your copy and provide an appealing aspect that makes reading and absorbing information easier. Search engines look at the ALT tags of your images for information that describes the image. Always optimize your page images by using descriptive ALT tags that include keywords and phrases.
ALT tags are also important for making your site accessible to handicapped users. ADA-compliant websites have descriptive images to help users understand content. Most business websites are required to be ADA-compliant now.
Get Mobile-Friendly
More users are arriving on your website by using mobile devices than ever before. This means your website design must be responsive to various types of devices, from tablets to smartphones to desktops. The content, images and navigation must be clear and easily used on these devices or users will choose other competitor sites that are easier to navigate and understand.
Your website must also load quickly on all types of devices. Google and other search engines rank sites partially on how fast they load and users will not wait long before moving to a more usable site. This is a development issue and must be handled by a skilled designer. An essential part of this service is user acceptance testing.
1-FIND SERVICES is your Johnson City source for website design and SEO. If you need help with improving your website search engine rankings, we have the expertise you need. Contact us today about SEO help and digital marketing.
