Search engine optimization gives you the chance to optimize your content for search and show up when users are searching for content that relates to your products and services. Business Insider provides the following definition of SEO:
At its most basic, “SEO” means finding ways to increase your site’s appearance in web visitors’ search results. This generally means more traffic to your site
While intense SEO can involve complex site restructuring with a firm (or consultant) that specializes in this area, there are a few simple steps you can take yourself to increase your search engine ranking.
Ultimately you can decide which practices you want to apply to your website, and how important you think each is. Because search algorithms are so secretive, no one actually knows how they work and which are the most important ranking factors. Have a look at these tips and incorporate them into your strategy for a better online performance.
Do Your Keyword Research
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Keywords are what notify search engines that you have content relevant to a user’s query. If you are not using the right keywords in your content there is a very big chance that your content will not be found or indexed when someone is search for a specific phrase or set of keywords.
Once you have identified the right keywords they need to be used in all the right places without any keyword stuffing taking place. Your keyword should be incorporated into your article heading and used sporadically throughout your content. Your keywords should also be incorporated into your image tags so they can be indexed just as easily as content, especially with the new changes to Google’s Images platform.
Remember not to be tempted to do keyword stuffing and that you should only be focusing on one keyword per page. Too many keywords will not give spiders enough clear direction about what content your site includes and how it is relevant to user searches.
Use Your Keywords In Your URLs
Searchengineland.com states the following:
Use keywords in your URLs and file names, such as yourdomain.com/red-widgets.html. Don’t overdo it, though. A file with 3+ hyphens tends to look spammy and users may be hesitant to click on it. Related bonus tip: Use hyphens in URLs and file names, not underscores. Hyphens are treated as a “space,” while underscores are not.
Not only will users be searching on your website for information but spiders too. Spiders need a site that is easy to navigate, which includes lots of internal linking and an intuitive site map that makes it easy for content to be found and indexed. Be sure to give spiders (and users) a site map so they can get through your content more easily.
Have Links That Point To Your Website
The more links that are coming to your website, the more important the search engines think your content is.
Moz.com explains it like this:
Since the late 1990’s search engines have used links as votes – representing the democracy of the web’s opinion about what pages are important and popular. The engines themselves have refined the use of link data to a fine art, and complex algorithms create nuance evaluations of sites and pages based on this information.
As time has gone on, SEO experts have started questioning the validity of back linking. Some suggest it is more important than ever while others say that it is no longer one of the defining factors in a website’s search engine performance. Regardless of how much weight it does actually carry, having high quality websites that link back to yours should be part of your search engine optimization strategy.