More than ever, websites and the Internet are involved in our lives. Whether it’s working from home or cutting the cable bill in exchange for several streaming accounts, we’re increasing our time on the web. This matters the most for those of us that want to attract an audience and even do business online.
Being able to have your website and web content pop up early in Google’s search engine is an advantage to having your content seen by others. According to research, 75% of consumers/searchers never go past the first page of results. That’s why SEO (search engine optimization) is the key to better success. Here are 5 critical tips:
Coordinate Your Content with the User in Mind
There’s a variety of reasons people use a search engine. They could be shopping, selling, needing a local service, curious about last night’s box scores, needing a weather forecast, or just browsing for entertainment and diversions.
Your content must be aligned with what the industry calls “user intent”. When creating your website and webpages, keep in mind how the user intends to search for your content. Is it transactional, informational, or entertaining? There are various strategies for web content and it is important you are aware of what best suits your site’s SEO needs.
Use the Right Images
Most websites are not built by professionals. There are an estimated 2 billion websites on the Internet, and most of them are built by hobbyists or people trying a side-gig that don’t have thousands of dollars to pay a pro to build a site for them.
And because most sites are built by less-than-professional developers, the wrong coding and often the wrong media get applied to websites causing issues related to design, speed, and optimization. The speed of a site is used heavily in determining the search ranking. So be sure you’re not using poor quality or poorly compressed media on your web pages.
Make Your Site User Friendly
Design matters. It’s that simple. Make your site look appealing and avoid unnecessary tabs and links. Every picture and word is taking up real estate on your page, so scrutinize your choices. Be creative, but don’t overdo it.
Also, make your site easy for users to navigate. Don’t leave clients or viewers scratching their heads about what to do next. Simple site navigation, especially if you’re attempting to use it for commerce, is crucial.
Use Long-Form Content
If it makes sense for your website, consider longer articles. A study by a leading SEO innovation company, their research suggested that long-form articles (posts with 3000+ words) get 3x more traffic, 4x more shares, and 3.5x more backlinks than articles of average length (901-1200 words).
If you want people to share your information, consider writing longer, thoughtful articles related to your subject matter. Give the audience material worth sharing. Social Media is a great place to share short, concise thoughts. But your website can be utilized for much, much more. And, in turn, that will help drive traffic to your content.
Titles and Meta Descriptions Matter
From Google: “Titles are critical to giving users a quick insight into the content of a result and why it’s relevant to their query. It’s often the primary piece of information used to decide which result to click on, so it’s important to use high-quality titles on your web pages.”
Use target keywords, avoid duplicate tags, be concise while being descriptive, and make sure you have the user in mind.
