Following on from our previous Beginner’s Guide to SEO, we wanted to give you some simple to implement improvements you can make today.
It’s easy to underestimate the importance of organic traffic to your site and many sites neglect to include SEO as part of their overall website maintenance. Sure, it can seem overwhelming, but start with the basics and you should see a marked improvement over time.
If you’re finding it all a bit much, you can contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
Use Google Analytics
This should be a no-brainer. This tool will allow you to see your top performing pages, your lowest performing pages, and a whole host of other things that will enable you to improve your site one step at a time.
Lose anything that slows your site down
You want people to stay on your site but they won’t if your site is slow to load. What’s more is that they’ll remember and be unlikely to even try to visit again. SEO follows users, so make sure your site speed isn’t losing your valuable visitors.
Fix errors and broken links
If you’re maintaining your website in-house, this is something that should be done regularly. Not only will it keep your website up to scratch, but fixing errors will register with search engines as an ‘update’ meaning your SEO will improve as it’s seen as adding new content.
Create shareable content
Infographics are just one example of highly shareable content. You can use tags/metadata (see below) to ensure they’re being picked up by search engines, but also it’s a great way of encouraging backlinks to your site from bloggers or other sites.
Adding keywords
It can seem like a daunting task, reviewing your site and making all the necessary and relevant changes but if you approach it methodically, it’ll be less overwhelming.
Start off by identifying the relevant keywords in your industry or niche. There are plenty of keyword tools out there, so start by doing a bit of research. Create a spreadsheet or document with the keywords and phrases you need to use.
Adding tags and metadata
Remember, this stuff is picked up and read by search engines, so go through your images and text and start to add your relevant keywords.
You can read more on tags and metadata in our previous Jargon Buster post here.
Adding page descriptions
Each individual page of your site should have its own unique description using your keyword(s). It should be succinct and sum up the content of the page whilst enticing visitors to click the link.
Start with your homepage and work your way through your menu, adding a unique description to each page.
Altering URL structure
Your URL structure should remain consistent, simple, and organised as well as contain a keyword.
Again, start with your homepage and work your way through your menu, making sure the structure remains consistent.
Use header tags
Not only do header tags make it easier for your visitors to read your content, they also give search engines a better overview of the content and information contained on that individual page.
Revamp your blog
A well written blog will boost organic traffic to your site.
Everything mentioned above should be applied to your blog. Hop into each post and see where you could be adding keywords, backlinks, and anchor text – all of which will help improve SEO.
You can read more about those here.
But remember, it’s more important to have a well written and engaging blog than it is to simply chuck in a load of keywords. Always write with people in mind, rather than search engines, keep the content fresh and regularly updated for best results.
Get in touch today to see how we can help with your SEO.