Now that we have a lot of businesses on the internet, appearing on organic search results like Google search has never been more essential. To ensure that your website is well ranked and appears on the first page of a search engine, you need to understand basic search engine optimization (SEO). Regardless of how much you have invested in building and designing a website, your website can still be invisible to users without basic SEO knowledge. In today’s world of digital marketing and SEO, failure to optimize your website for the search engines will lead to failure to get new customers, traffic and leads to your site.
What is SEO?
The acronym SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. This is the process of making your website easier to find on search Engines for your customers. If you need further assistance in this matter you can click here and it will give you some ideas about SEO. Truthfully, the SEO process is complex and might require hiring a professional to handle your SEO needs. However, there are some basic things you can do on your own to make your website rank higher and visible to your target market audience.
Here are some SEO basics that you must incorporate on your website to help it rank higher and appear on the front pages of search engine result pages.
1. Consistent URL Structure
Your URLs must be consistent throughout your website and it must reflect the path users thread to land on that page. For instance, if an internet user gets to a subpage through your ‘About’ page, the URL must be www.domainname.com/about/page-title. It is also important that your URLs include your business name and primary keywords. Hyphens are also required to break up URL content.
2. Consistent Page Titles
Make sure that your page titles are consistent. Page titles should be structured just like the pages on the website and it must show the page title in the URL. Primary subject and keyword must also be included in the page within the title. For effective optimization, keep your page titles below 70 characters long.
3. Keywords
Keywords are the frequent words or phrases that internet users search for to get information or conduct research before placing orders. Keywords are the most vital SEO element in search engine optimization. Search engines like Google, use keywords to decide what kind of results they should refer internet visitors to when a request is made. We have short-tail and long-tail keywords. The Short-tail keyword is very broad and has an extremely high volume of search. A typical example is “smartphone.” Long-tailed keywords are more particular and offer users you better results because they focus on the interest of users.
It is also essential to monitor your keyword rankings since they never remain the same for long. There is no assurance that just because your website is highly ranked last month for a specific keyword, it will remain the same this month.
4. Meta Descriptions
This SEO element helps to entice an internet user to click-through your site and content. Meta descriptions are small paragraphs that you see under the Page Title and URL link when you search. The paragraph called Meta description tells internet users what they will find on your website before they visit it. Meta Description should not be more than 158 characters, and must be unique to each page of the site and must incorporate primary keywords. This is highly important in search engine optimization as it does a lot in convincing the internet user to click on your website. This will only work if done appropriately.
All the elements are important components to optimizing your website for SEO. If you perform the entire task correctly, your website will rank on the result pages of search engines. If you are not familiar with SEO and the internet, it may appear daunting to look after all these basics to make sure that your business appears on the front page of search engines. In reality, it is not as challenging as people think it is. It only requires consistency, patience and strict adherence to all the basics explained above.
It’s as simple as A, B, C, just the keyword of your business, identify your target audience, utilize religiously the basic step explained above. If you consistently keep to the basics, you’ll see the beneficial results of your website ranking higher, thereby giving you improved visibility, sales and more profit over time.