Search Engine Optimization (SEO for short) is a broad term describing a list of practices, both on-site and off-site, that make your site more appealing to search engines. The goal is that when a customer searches for a topic, event, or business, your site will be listed on the first page of the search results. Optimizing your website impacts how search engines will find your content.
Is there a “secret” to Search Engine Optimization? There’s not so much of a “secret” as there is a “standard,” meaning there are certain key metrics search engines like to see displayed on your website. In this post, we’ll discuss the basics of On-Site SEO–that is, the part of the search engine optimization process that you can directly impact on the front end of your website.
On-Site vs. Off-Site SEO
As mentioned above, there are essentially two different types of SEO: on-site, and off-site, the key difference between them being where changes are implemented. On-site SEO is basically any content, activity, or engagement on your website that makes your site more appealing to search engines. (Some of those metrics will be discussed in this post.) On the other hand, off-site SEO has to do with activities that don’t take place on your website, such as social media engagement, podcast and video marketing, and having other sites link to you.
SEO: Then and Now
Back in the day, search engines looked pretty exclusively for quantity of content as opposed to quality of content. This is why you might remember seeing older websites with long blocks of text that consisted of keywords repeated, over and over again, in different spellings and variations. Nowadays, search engines tend to be much more organic in what quantifies a good result. They look for what the page is actually about, instead of what the author wants the engine to think it’s about.
All this is to explain that SEO methods that worked 10+ years ago don’t necessarily work today; some, in fact, can actually count against you, and make your page less likely to be found. (Here’s a link to a great article that highlights some outdated SEO methods.) And, unless you know about current SEO standards, it’s easy to get caught up doing things that will hinder rather than help your Google rankings.
Suggestions
Below are a few brief suggestions for how you can increase your SEO score.
- Your metadata should be short, simple, and to the point, ideally between 40-60 characters for a page title, and 140-160 characters for meta description.
- Your keywords should be used organically, not awkwardly.
- Do have your writing be clear and concise.
- Do mention your keywords within the first sentence, if possible.
- Do use keywords in a conversant way throughout the page.
- Don’t overuse your keywords.
- Don’t force them in a way that doesn’t make sense.
- Have at least one internal link and one external link in the main body of your page. (The menu and side bars likely won’t count.)
- An “internal link” is a hyperlink that takes the viewer to another page within your site, such as routing them from the “About Us” page to a “Contact Us” page.
- An “external link” is a hyperlink that takes the viewer to a page outside your site, such as the one I posted in the paragraph above.
- Utilize images and videos throughout your content.
- Keep paragraphs shorter, and have more of them.
- Avoid run-on sentences.
- Have one H1 header on every page.
- Use H2 headers for paragraph titles.
- Every image needs an ALT tag.
We’re Here to Help
If this seems complicated, there’s nothing to worry about, because on-Site SEO is one of the many features offered by Inkblot Business Services. It comes included in our standard Web Design plan, and we also offer it separately as a service for clients with already established websites. Please feel free to contact us today so we can help boost your SEO score!
| Disclaimer: all content in the Inkblot Business Blog is presented as personal opinion, and is not to be taken as legal advice. |