Search engine optimization (SEO) is a significant part of digital marketing in today’s internet age. As Bristol based SEO agency Superb Digital state, “however slick and professional your website looks, however competitive your prices or glowing your reviews; it’s all for nothing if you can’t be found online”. If you are like most people, the idea of SEO seems pretty simple, but it quickly becomes a lot of information to understand and know how to work with. This is something that many people struggle with as they build or look to improve a website.
The good news is that help is available. Whether you are new to SEO or are looking to brush up on your skills, our beginner’s guide to SEO can help you get started.
What is SEO?
SEO is a process, or series of processes, that affect the visibility of your website. Additionally, SEO affects how your website is positioned in search results. An SEO marketing strategy involves processes that help you drive traffic, convert users to customers, improve your ranking, and overall – be more successful!
SEO is like a wheel with many cogs coming together to hold the entire thing together. Some of the most important cogs in the wheel of SEO are:
- Content
- Keywords
- Branding
- Links
- Website functionality
Why SEO is Important
SEO is important because millions of people use search engines every day. Getting your website in front of those millions of people is a powerful way to drive traffic to your site and get you more business. However, these millions of people aren’t just searching for anything – they have specific intent with their searches. SEO helps you align your website with what it is that users are looking for.
Elements of a Successful SEO Strategy
As we’ve discussed, there are many parts to SEO, such as best free press release sites. That’s why it is important to know how each part, or cog, fits into the wheel of SEO. Our advice for building an SEO strategy is to do the following:
- Research keywords: Determine what keywords you want your site to rank for and focus on those. Do some research for similar short- and long-tail keywords that are relevant and incorporate those into your content.
- Optimize your pages: Now that you have your target keywords in mind, you can incorporate them into your website. Optimize each page for a single keyword that you want to rank for. You should have one primary keyword and a “basket” of related keywords.
- Title tags: Make sure that each page has a unique and relevant title tag. This is what shows up at the top of your browser and also in search results. Make your title tag true to your page and the user intent you are trying to satisfy.
- Meta descriptions: The meta description is the snippet of content that is displayed below your title in search engine results. This description should describe what is on the page, but should be short and sweet.
- Tailor your content: The content on each page is very important. You should make sure that each page is tailored to the keyword. Check out your competitors and see what sort of content they are using on their site – thick content, data, videos, etc.
- Use Alt tags: Alt tags are used to tell search engines what the topic of an image is. So, if your page is optimized for the keyword “shortbread”, the image of your grandma’s famous recipe should have an alt tag like “grandma’s shortbread”.
- Link building: Google prefers websites that are high quality and are authoritative. That means that other sites around the internet are linking back to your site. The more links back to your site, the more authoritative your site will be, and the more likely it will start to rank higher in Google.
Conclusion
Now that you have an idea of what SEO is and why it is useful, your next step is incorporating these elements into your own website. If you still have questions about SEO, metrics, tracking, or how to create an SEO strategy, consider contacting an SEO company. SEO companies can offer advice on the tools you need to make your website competitive and more attractive to Google.
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