Search Engine Optimization, or “SEO, “refers to the process of enhancing a website’s performance in the search engines. This is accomplished through increased numbers of qualified organic visitors via an increased search audience. Ideally, one needs to build the site with the user and SEO in mind; you have to write for both the user and the search engines. Well written content will also inspire other quality websites to naturally link to your pages.
Search spiders love new content, especially when it’s useful. On-page content and metadata optimization should always be one of the first steps when optimizing a website. The keywords should be relevant. Specifically, the keywords that you wish to utilize need to be the same, or similar, to the actual search terms your intended audience is looking for. Additionally, the number of results and competitiveness has to be taken into account.
If the keyword is too difficult to rank for within an industry, it may be a waste of time to attempt to optimize for it. Keyword research should also be performed using a credible source. The Google Keyword Planner and Google Trends are two obvious, but reliable sources. The Google Keyword Planner (primarily used for paid search) allows you to find useful keywords and their associated search volumes and general competitiveness. Google Trends allows you to analyze searches over a period of time, compared to other search terms. It’s useful because it can determine, for instance, if less traffic on a site is due to a keyword’s overall popularity. It also only analyzes popular search terms and excludes the duplicates.
Google Webmaster Tools is also really useful for identifying high trafficked search terms if you have access to historical data. Additionally, the Google and Bing search results pages are beneficial because they will provide the most insight if you’re unfamiliar with a website’s industry or brand. SEO is constantly evolving and you have to keep up with the constant change, which makes it challenging. The ultimate goal with SEO is to increase search audience by creating, as well as improving, on-page and off-page content.
Content is king with the search engines, but it also needs to be written for the user. Off-Site content (social channels) are more important than ever; it establishes credibility and inspires people to visit a site. It’s important to ensure that the website is using social channels that relevant for their industry and that they are updated and maintained vigorously.
Content is important, but if your pages aren’t optimally coded or load too slowly, search performance will suffer. A website should be crawlable; pages (that are targets for search) should be accessible to the users and the search spiders, no onsite redirects, crawlable links, sound navigation, and architecture. Navigation should be text-based with no JavaScript or Flash elements that the search spiders can’t see. One also has to consider optimizing a website across multiple devices. Global mobile traffic is up for all internet activity. In March 2014, Matt Cutts, the head of Google’s “webspam” team, said that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if mobile search exceeded desktop queries this year. It is always important to keep in mind that patience is the key to good SEO; always utilize Google and Bing best practices and don’t employ any shortcuts that will hinder a site’s performance.
In conclusion, one should always consider the target audience (not just the search engines); content should be relevant and compelling. The theme, as well as the keywords being targeted, should to be similar to the actual search terms that the intended audience is looking for. Attempt to emulate the habits of the user and ask yourself what they would type into a search engine to find the most useful content. Also make use of the number of tools available, such as Google Webmaster Tools, when performing the research. Lastly, ensure that all technical aspects of the website are optimal. If the website doesn’t work, all of that great content writing would have been in vain.
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White Hat website architectural audit and analysis
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Granular keyword analysis
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Local Maps optimization to dominate Google Maps listings
Google My Business optimization
Boost social signals
Constant campaign fine-tuning
Conversion rate optimization to increase your leads
Keyword optimization
Off-page SEO
Optimization of on-page elements, including meta data
Complete on-page and off-page technical website audits