When you built your website, you likely created it with your users in mind, trying to make it easy for them to find and explore your content, and hoping that more and more users would flock to your domain to learn more about you and what you do.
However, folks often miss one key component when creating their websites. One of those users that frequents your website is a search engine. Does Google ring a bell?
Search engines, like Google, work alongside your website to help people discover your content. SEO (AKA search engine optimization) is about helping search engines understand your content and, in turn, helps users to find your site. With strong SEO comes good rankings, and although everyone wants to be on the first page of Google, your SEO needs to be top shelf first.
The following 5 tips will hopefully make it easier for search engines (not just Google) to rank and understand your website content.
1. Publish Relevant & Authentic Content.
First, let's make it clear that there is no substitute for great content. Quality, authoritative, authentic content is the number one driver of your SEO rankings.
Quality content created specifically for your intended user increases site traffic, which improves your site's authority and relevance. Fine-tune your web writing skills and present yourself as an authority on the topic you are writing about. Identify and target a specific keyword phrase for each content page on your website. Think about how your reader might search for that specific page. If you want to rank for multiple keyword phrases with your website, you will need to make a separate webpage on your site for each keyword phrase you are targeting.
2. Update Your Content Regularly.
Content is king in the world of digital marketing, and search engines share this sentiment, too. Regularly updated content is viewed as one of the best indicators of a site's relevancy, so be sure to keep it fresh!
Audit your content on a quarterly schedule and make updates as needed. You may even consider introducing new sources where appropriate, make additions and modifications, and keep your content fresh for your audience.
Tip! This is where having a well-formatted blog on your website comes in handy! Writing additional content, ripe with applicable keywords, on your blog can help boost your search engine rankings. Blog posts can even be shorter updates about the specific topics you are targeting, or about your business as a whole.
After choosing your keywords don’t forget to monitor them and analyze the results. There are often trending keywords or phrases, along with new keywords your competitors may be using.
3. Have a Link-Worthy Site.
Alright… What does this mean exactly? A site that’s Link-worthy has content that's so valuable that outside websites and publishers are inclined to link to it.
Look at it as a “piggy back” but in the digital landscape. A webpage that is content-rich, relevant, and factual, and helps site visitors learn more about what they are interested in is most likely to attract links from other websites, which improves your search engine optimization!
4. Consider Your Page Speed.
Listen, nobody has time for a slow website these days, including web browsers like Google. Your page speed is incredibly important for website ranking and it’s been used as a ranking factor by Google since 2018!
A fast website ensures an ideal user experience for your site visitors. If your page takes too long to load, it will have serious consequences due to the lack of time people are willing to wait, resulting in a higher bounce rate. Although bounce rate is not a factor which directly influences your SEO ranking, it just so happens to be tied directly to your page speed.
People spend literally seconds on your homepage before choosing if they want to explore it further or jump off. Read that one more time to really let it sink in.
5. Optimize for Mobile!
It’s 2024. People spend a TON of time on their phones and mobile devices these days. Although this tip is coming in at number five on our list, it’s one of the most important SEO tips we can offer!
Consider it a necessity to optimize your website for mobile devices. If not, you’ll end up having a high bounce rate, because let’s be honest, no one wants to stay on a website that is not formatted right for your phone. Incorrect formatting could have annoying faults such as buttons that don’t work or having to scroll to the side just to see the page entirely. For many folks, this is a huge turn off when it comes to spending time on your site.
A positive user experience makes people want to stay and explore your website, which again indicates that your page is relevant for the keyword you chose. In fact, mobile formatting is so important that Google has begun ranking sites with mobile-first indexing!
Knowing how to improve SEO ranking now shouldn’t be your only concern. It’s just as important to understand how to improve website SEO for the foreseeable future. Future-proof your strategy by getting on board with emerging trends like voice search optimization, keyword placements and careful trend watching.
SEO is continuous work, but with these tips, time and patience, your site can gain traction in the jungle of search engine rankings in no time!
Ready to start ranking?
Let Fox & Forth take the stress out of SEO!
We know that optimizing your website to rank on a search engine can be a tedious and downright confusing process. That’s why our digital marketing experts at Fox & Forth are here to help! To learn more about our comprehensive SEO and Website Creation services, get in touch with our experts today. foxandforth.com
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