SEO optimization is one of the least understood pieces of the digital content puzzle. If you’ve looked into options and automation for it you’ll find an almost intentional mystification of the whole SEO process. The truth is that it’s not mysterious, but it does require skills and creativity to master. And there are some pieces that you can do yourself, quickly, that will make a big difference.
Anyone who has a website or a blog has heard the terms: optimize, Google, search engine optimization (SEO) and keywords. There is a great deal to know about getting your website up and running and a well-optimized site helps ensure your business is easy to find in organic searches, increasing the likelihood that potential customers find you and further boosting your sales. Let’s dig into three ways you can optimize your website for the Google search algorithm:
Step 1: Know What Your Customers Are Searching For
You are an expert in your industry. You know all the words associated with your products and services. However, customers might not. Using empathy to put yourself in their shoes is a powerful tool to use throughout your marketing strategy.
First, uncover what your customers are searching for. Keywords are critical. These are the terms potential customers enter into Google. You want to be the result. For example, if we are looking for a company that plans birthday parties, keywords might be:
- Birthday
- Party Planner
- Parties
To find keywords, do market research by asking your audience, testing out different keywords in Google yourself or by working with a team, like ours, to analyze the terms your competitors are using and those that will deliver the best results.
Long-Tail Keywords
Keyword phrases or “long-tail” keywords are also needed. Following our example, long-tail keywords might be:
- Party planners in the UAE
- Birthday event planning company in Dubai
Integrate these words and phrases into your website copy and blog articles. Google will recognize your website as something searchers using these words will want to click on – increasing your site’s visibility.
Trending Topics
Use social listening to learn what’s important to your audience right now. You can also search for trending topics on social media to generate ideas for relevant topics and keywords. YouTube and Twitter have a “what’s trending” section. Or you can join Facebook groups to see what people are talking about.
Step 2: Create Pages Optimized For Search
Now that you have keywords and content topics, it’s time to optimize your webpages for search engines.
Create ‘Search Intent’ Content
Creating search intent content is similar to finding trending topics. Your goal is to write articles that people want (and need) to read using those keywords. Strive to include one keyword or phrase in every paragraph.
Branded URLs
How URLs look makes a difference. Depending on your website hosting and platform, you might be able to change your URLs. We recommend using short, easy-to-remember URLs without dates.
An example of our birthday party event planning, the URL could look like:
birthdayplanning.com/birthdays-done-right
Though the average consumer doesn’t look at the URL that carefully, Google likes them to be short and straightforward.
Meta Descriptions
A meta description is a short blurb underneath your site title and link, telling what that page is about. If allowed by your hosting platform, edit your meta description to display your information in the search page accurately.
Adding your keywords to the description is also a good idea. For example:
Birthday Planning – Home
We make birthday party event planning easy for all ages, from toddlers to elderly family members …
Step 3: Make Your Website Accessible to Search Engines and Humans
You want to be picked up by search engines. However, that will do no good if your site is not user-friendly. These three things are easy fixes to make sure actual people want to hang around and return to your site.
Ensure Your Site Loads Quickly
Think about your own experiences with websites. A slow-to-load webpage is annoying. Your search engine rankings will suffer if your page loads slowly. Things that can affect site speed include large files, videos and too many plugins.
Mobile-Friendly
Some people rarely touch a computer but have a phone in-hand all day. Setting up your website to be mobile-friendly and perhaps even mobile-first is a good idea. The goal is to make your site as comfortable as possible for consumers to hang out for as long as possible.
SSL
Have you clicked on a site and a warning appears telling you that it could be unsafe? This is a site lacking security certification. Usually, your website hosting platform covers this for you. But if not, you’ll need to get SSL to prevent users from turning away.
SEO is complex, ongoing and requires both a creative and technical eye to master. The most successful websites have a team working on their SEO. If expert-level optimization is what you are after, let’s talk. We will optimize your site and explore additional SEO benefits with you – taking out the mystery while adding in the profits.
Wishing you light and love. ~Hema
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