A search engine browser window shows your website as the top result
SEO is a unique concept for many. However, it is an essential aspect of a marketing plan for any business. Proper utilization of an SEO strategy can help you generate organic leads and can do wonders for your business. If you are new to SEO or just need help improving your SEO strategy, these tips will help you get started.
- Make Sure Your Content is Easy to Read
Google prides themselves on providing resourceful and accurate information to users who have a search query. The search results page will contain results from websites that help to answer that specific query. This is why you will want to spend time optimizing each individual page. You will want to make sure that the content is easy to read and understand. If you are answering a question or providing specific information, do so without beating around the bush. Do not muddle down your post with confusing terminology or random content strung throughout the post. You will also want to focus on ensuring that there are no errors on the page. Does the page load correctly? Are there spelling errors in the page? You will want to make sure that everything checks out on the page to give it the best chance at ranking high on search results pages.
- Use Proper Formatting
It is not enough to just make sure that your content is easy to understand, you will also need to have the proper formatting to go with it. For instance, you do not want to continuously type out one very large paragraph and then be done with your post. That post will need to be further formatted. This will include making sure that you add proper headings, punctuation, and sentence structure. Bulleted lists can also help to break up structure to help add to your post. Keep paragraphs short, sweet, and to the point. Use variations of short and long sentences to keep your post interesting.
- Keep a Focus on User Experience
The end goal for your content is to convert a potential customer to purchase your products or services. You may be wondering the best way to make this happen. The foundation for this lies in user experience. In the first few seconds that a user lands on your page, they have already developed their first impression. This impression could work for or against you. You want to be able to capture the user’s attention right away, but also keep it long enough for them to convert. At the very basics, this means ensuring that your pages and buttons are operating properly.
- Get Rid of Anything That Slows Down Your Website
Users want content and pages to load quickly. Nobody wants to have to wait for anything to load. Having a page with a long loading time hurts your user experience and could hurt your conversion rates. Instead, just simply remove anything that makes your website bogged down. This may be a video or a plug-in. Slow sites sit in the user’s mind as being an untrustworthy site and this will also hurt your SEO rankings.
- Keep up With Meta Descriptions
When Google turns up a search results page, you will often see the title of the page and then a meta description. Editing this meta description is often an overlooked aspect of SEO, but it can affect your rankings. Google, generally, does not like when meta descriptions repeat themselves across multiple pages. So, tweaking these pages to have different meta descriptions could help your SEO.
- Make URLs Readable
Nobody wants to look at a URL that they do not understand. This could also affect how search engines read your URL. Long and confusing URLs can make it difficult for these algorithms to process your website. Instead, keep URLs short, sweet, and easy to remember. This can also make it easier for users to navigate back to your page more than once.
- Publish Unique Content
Copying content will get you nowhere in the world of SEO. Your rankings will tank and you will lose credibility with your audience. Instead, present your audience with unique content that you create and provide them with genuinely helpful information. This will prove to get you much further than copying all your topics and content.
Improving your SEO strategy can feel challenging, but utilizing these few tips can help get you started in the right direction. Remember to put your audience first and generate a positive user experience across your website. Continuously add to your marketing plan and continue to build a foundation with your audience.
