Last week, we talked about what search engine optimization is and why you – as a small business owner – should care. But that said, knowing what SEO is pretty different from knowing how to implement this science on your own website!
Now, what you need to keep in mind is that SEO can be complex. Companies like Google and Microsoft employ some of the smartest scientists and mathematicians to make their algorithms as effective as possible. If you dig too deeply into the recommendations made by SEO strategists, you’re bound to feel overwhelmed.
Technique
#1 – Optimize your title tags
Every page on your website should have its own unique title
tag. However, not all title tags are created equally!
From an SEO perspective, a good title tag should:
·
Include both product- or service-related keywords and your company’s
brand name
· Be both intriguing
and informative enough to prompt search engine users to click through to your
page (as title tags are typically used in the snipped displayed in the natural
search results)
In addition, as you’re crafting your title tags, avoid
“keyword stuffing” these important fields. Title tags that are no more than a
string of all your website’s target keywords (in this example, something like
“Auto Body Coupons, Auto Body Discounts, Auto Body Savings”) frustrate visitors
and can lead to over-optimization penalties by the search engines.
Technique #2 – Create compelling meta descriptions
Along with your title tags, the
section of every page on your website should contain a customized meta
description. These brief page summaries should be no more than 150-160
characters long and should include at least one mention of your page’s target
keyword phrase.
Following our previous example, your
meta description could read something like this:
- “Need quality auto body repair work done at a discount price? Check out the latest auto body coupon codes from Frank's Auto of San Francisco, CA.”
Technique #3 – Utilize keyword-rich headings
Both the title tag and meta description should be included
in the section of every page on your website – but what about the rest of your
page’s content?
When it
comes to your pages’ body text, one of the best things you can do to improve
your overall SEO value is to include <h2> and heading tags containing
your target keyword phrases in your content. Not only do the search engines
place added weight on the words found in these particular tags, the visual
relief they provide to your website’s readers will help them to move more
efficiently through your site’s content.
Last week,
we talked about what search engine optimization is and why you – as a small
business owner – should care. But that said, knowing what SEO is pretty
different from knowing how to implement this science on your own website!
Now, what
you need to keep in mind is that SEO can be complex. Companies like Google and
Microsoft employ some of the smartest scientists and mathematicians to make
their algorithms as effective as possible. If you dig too deeply into the
recommendations made by SEO strategists, you’re bound to feel overwhelmed.
So instead
of stressing yourself out, start with any of the following seven SEO
techniques. All of them can be easily implemented whenever you have a spare
hour, making proper website optimization an attainable goal for even the
“non-techiest” of small business owners.
Technique #1 – Optimize your title
tags
Every page
on your website should have its own unique title tag. However, not all title
tags are created equally!
From an
SEO perspective, a good title tag should:
Be no more than 70 characters (including
spaces)
Include both product- or service-related
keywords and your company’s brand name
Be both intriguing and informative enough
to prompt search engine users to click through to your page (as title tags are
typically used in the snipped displayed in the natural search results)
To see
what this all looks like in real life, let’s look at a hypothetical example of
how this and the following SEO techniques could be put into practice…
Suppose
you run an auto body shop in San Francisco, CA. You’ve recently launched a new
website which includes a page on your current specials. After conducting your
keyword research, you’ve decided to target the phrase “auto body coupon,” along
with location modifiers that put your website in front of consumers in your
city.
In this
case, a good title tag could be:
In
addition, as you’re crafting your title tags, avoid “keyword stuffing” these
important fields. Title tags that are no more than a string of all your
website’s target keywords (in this example, something like “Auto Body Coupons,
Auto Body Discounts, Auto Body Savings”) frustrate visitors and can lead to
over-optimization penalties by the search engines.
Technique #2 – Create compelling
meta descriptions
Along with
your title tags, the section of every page on your website should contain a
customized meta description. These brief page summaries should be no more than
150-160 characters long and should include at least one mention of your page’s
target keyword phrase.
Following
our previous example, your meta description could read something like this:
“Need quality auto body repair work done at
a discount price? Check out the latest auto body coupon codes from Frank's Auto
of San Francisco, CA.”
While meta
descriptions don’t hold nearly the SEO weight that they used to, their presence
in the snippets found on search engine results pages plays an important role in
your site’s overall click-through rate (CTR). By writing your meta descriptions
in a way that captures search users’ attention, you’ll increase the number of
visitors who choose to click on your listing compared to your competitors’.
Technique #3 – Utilize keyword-rich
headings
Both the
title tag and meta description should be included in the section of every page
on your website – but what about the rest of your page’s content?
When it comes
to your pages’ body text, one of the best things you can do to improve your
overall SEO value is to include <h2> and heading tags containing your
target keyword phrases in your content. Not only do the search engines place
added weight on the words found in these particular tags, the visual relief
they provide to your website’s readers will help them to move more efficiently
through your site’s content.
Technique #4 – Add ALT tags to your
images
ALT tags originally came about to provide visually impaired website visitors using text-to-speech devises with additional information about the content on their screens. And though this initial purpose is still valid, the content found in these fields is also important when it comes to SEO.
Technique #5 – Create a sitemap
In the
world of SEO, the search engines’ indexing programs – commonly referred to as
“spiders” – play the important role of analyzing new websites (or new content
added to existing websites) and adding their content to the lists of pages that
can be displayed in response to user queries.
Technique #6 – Build internal links between pages
Another
way to help the search engine spiders to catalogue all of your site’s pages is
to create internal links that connect your different pieces of content.
As an example, instead of simply linking to your “Contact”
or “About Us” page from your navigation bar, consider adding text links to
these pages from within the body content found on your home page.
Technique #7 – Update your site regularly
One final SEO technique you’ll want to implement is to
update your site periodically. Because the search engines’ top priority is
serving up the results that will best meet their users’ needs, they prefer to
share websites that contain the latest, most up-to-date information. In addition,
the more content you post to your site, the more keywords your website will
include – increasing your odds of generating search engine traffic.
Instead of getting overwhelmed by the number of different
SEO techniques out there, start with these seven basics. Over time and with
continued commitment to pleasing both your readers and the search engines, you
will start to see results!
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