Just built an amazing website? Great! Now we just need to make sure that people actually see it. That’s why today I’m sharing a few Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tips that will help to improve your website’s visibility in search engines such as Google and Bing. Let’s get that free organic traffic!
How do Search Engines work?
Search engines, such as Google, use web crawlers to explore the web and discover new websites/pages. One way these robots discover new websites is through links. If another website links to your website, this will create a path to your website, which a web crawler will easily be able to follow.
Free tools you can use for indexing are Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
Once a web crawler has discovered your website, it will analyse all the content and data to determine what each page on your website is about. Each page on your website is then added to a massive database, which is called the index.
When a user types in a search query in a search engine, the search engine will go through the web pages that it has previously indexed and return the most relevant results to the user.
SEO Tips to Boost Website Traffic
SEO is extremely important if you want to get free organic traffic. Here are my top 10 tips to get started.
1. Create a Technically Well-Designed Website
One key part of SEO is creating a technically well-designed website that is easy to crawl. This means that your website:
- Loads quickly on all devices
- Is well secured with SSL
- Has a XML sitemap
- Has a responsive design
- Doesn’t have broken pages and/or links
2. Think About User Experience First
One key part of Google’s algorithm is user experience. Therefore, when creating new content, you should think about user experience before search engines. Only by focusing on the user, you will be able to meet their needs. Ask yourself questions such as: Who are you targeting? What is your target audience looking for? Is your website easy to use? What does your audience want to see?
3. Choose Specific Topics and Create Content That Will Be Considered Relevant
Search engines want to give relevant results to their users and websites that succeed in this, will be prioritised. By focusing on specific topics and creating high-quality content about these topics, you’ll be able to show that you’re an expert in the field.
4. Create Unique Content on a Consistent Basis
It’s important to note that SEO isn’t a “set-up once” thing. While SEO is a lot more work in the beginning, it’s something that has to be maintained. One way to do this is by creating unique & useful content on a consistent basis. By doing this you can continue building relationships with your visitors and other website owners who might provide a backlink to your website.
5. Don’t Use Poor Link Building Tactics
Websites gain search-engine authority when other websites link to them. This is especially true if the website linking to your website is known to be trustworthy. However, poor link-building tactics should be avoided at all times. Don’t try to get a lot of directory links, links from unrelated websites, and never, ever buy links. Instead, focus on creating real connections and hope that the backlinks will come your way.
6. Choose The Right Keywords and More
Keywords are the main words that will lead people to your website. Therefore, it’s important you choose the relevant keywords that match people’s searches. If your website sells surfing equipment, “buy surfboard” and “buy Zog’s Sex Wax” could be considered relevant. Alongside choosing the right keywords, you should make sure to use them in the right way i.e. use them in a natural, balanced way. Some great tools to figure out which keywords are relevant are Google Trends, Moz Keyword Explorer, and Alexa’s Keyword Research Tool.
7. Optimise Your Title Tags, Headers and Meta Descriptions
Make sure your title tags, headers, and meta descriptions describe what’s on your page. In your meta description specifically, explain each page’s purpose in an in-depth fashion.
8. Optimise Your Images
Images are a huge part of your website and probably the first thing website visitors will look at. Alongside, search engines also take your images into account. Therefore, it’s a great idea to make sure your images are of high quality, load quickly, have proper alt attributes, and have brief but descriptive filenames.
9. Have a Good Look at Your URLs
Search engines do not only look at the keywords on the pages. They also look at the keywords in your URL. In fact, they need a unique URL to be able to crawl it. Therefore, it’s good to create descriptive and unique URLs that can be shown in search appropriately.
10. Update Old Pages
You can improve your search engine ranking by updating old posts and pages. The reason for this is that updating your pages will make search engines crawl your updated pages again. This will give you a new chance of showing up higher on the search results.
These are just a few things you can do to improve your website’s ranking. Did I forget to mention one of your favourite SEO tips? Share them down below in the comments!
