The Guide to SEO for Your Awesome Website
When I had to learn SEO, I was overwhelmed with the amount of information and courses. Through the many hours glued to my screen, jotting notes and taking action. I want this article to help shine some light on what you need to know about SEO.
It should be apparent that a website should be your powerful marketing tool, and it needs to be optimized for search engines if you want to reach your target audience. Most people use the internet to find products and services these days, rather than through more traditional sources like newspapers or magazines. If your site isn’t showing up on page one of Bing, Duck Duck Go, Firefox, or Google’s search results, then you’re missing out on a lot of potential customers, most likely in the thousands!
In this blog post, I will discuss SEO-related topics, including what it is and why you need it for your website, how to get started with SEO on your new site, the benefits of having an optimized site, and what On-site and Off-site SEO are and what to focus on first.
- Why a website needs SEO
- How to get started with SEO on your new website
- Pick a name that is easy to remember and say.
- Plan out how Your Site will be structured.
- Create Content Before Launch.
- Local SEO Means Increased Engagement, Traffic & Conversion
- Local SEO Means Increased Engagement, Traffic & Conversion
- What is On-Site and Off-Site SEO
- Investment In SEO
- How to stay up-to-date on the latest in SEO trends and techniques
Why a website needs SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) optimizes a site so that it ranks higher in search results. A website’s ranking on Google or other search engines such as Bing, Yahoo!, and DuckDuckGo relies heavily on factors that can be improved through SEO techniques.
Although some believe Search Engine Optimization does not work for all sites, many users have had their rankings boosted significantly after implementing these guidelines to better optimize their content.
Some people are wary about investing time into researching keywords and coming up with an optimized title/meta description because they think this might only lead to temporary success. The truth is, if you’re doing SEO correctly, your efforts should pay off long-term by way of increased traffic from relevant searches your audience is typing.
Organic search is the primary source of website traffic for most businesses.
If you’re a business owner, you know that time is of the essence. Your site needs to be at the top of page one so your potential customer can find it quickly and easily.
That’s where SEO comes in! It gives your website an edge over other sites by increasing visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs).
How to get started with SEO on your new website
Pick a name that is easy to remember and say.
The domain name is the first opportunity to show visitors you’re a credible business. Search engines take this information into account, so your domain name must match what people are typing in when they want to find your site.
For example, if someone searches for “comfortable affordable shoes,” don’t use “shoes online” as the URL. Another thing to keep in mind is that you do not have to choose a domain that contains the name of your business.
For example, let’s say your business is called Healthy Eaters on Central is your business name. Having the domain “HealthyEatsoncentral.com” is a little too much to type in. However, simply shortening it to “HealthyEats.com” is better because it memorable for your audience to search.
Plan out how Your Site will be structured.
Keep your website organized and search engine-friendly with a site map. A site map is a list of pages on your website that helps you plan or create a practical and pleasing layout.
Creating a mockup, like a homepage, about page, or blog section, before constructing your website can make life easier for both the bot crawling through and organizing the website. You will know roughly how the website will look and how the pages will function with one another with a mockup.
Check out this blog I have written about creating a website.
Create Content Before Launch.
Before creating a mockup or after, It’s a great idea to create content for the pages that are not likely to change or be updated regularly. So knowing what keywords you want to target will come in handy with what you will write on your web pages.
This is because keywords in the content you create are the first step in attracting more traffic to your site, making it easier for people who want information on what you offer. They’ll quickly find that information or answers to the questions they need to be answered.
The content has an enormous responsibility for how easily someone can search through it and contain relevant words or phrases. Creating quality content starts with determining anything specific about topics related to this topic: sports terms or industry jargon — before generating any text at all!
Local SEO Means Increased Engagement, Traffic & Conversion
Local SEO means your digital properties are optimized for the specific area you serve so people can find them easily and quickly, one step closer to making a purchase.
The reason is that your potential customer sees what you have to offer in their own neighborhood or city.
If they live nearby, then there’s no need for them to take the time and energy out of their lives to travel somewhere else just so that they can enjoy what you provide when it could be right around the corner from where they spend most, if not all of their days anyway!
The goal should always be to get as close as possible to being “the only game in town” regarding a particular service or commodity that somebody might want at any given point on time. And doing this by employing local marketing strategies such as SEO will help tremendously along those lines.
What is On-Site and Off-Site SEO
Off-page SEO is a process that begins on the internet and can have an impactful presence in SERPs. This includes making it more likely for others to link or promote your website, which will ultimately improve your perception of quality.
The process of off-page SEO begins with site promotion and link building. This can be accomplished through press releases, guest blogging, article marketing, social media posts, or other relevant methods to the success of your website topic. As more people find out about your website, they will grow in confidence and potentially include you in their own work.
If you are just launching your website, It’s a good idea to focus your attention on On-site SEO before taking on Off-site SEO.
A great strategy is creating content that others will want to link to.
Investment in SEO
SEO takes time, but the benefits can be exponentially more than what is initially invested.
Most people don’t immediately see a difference when they start SEO marketing because it’s a slow and gradual process that builds up over time as we build relationships with our customers and SERP’s authority organically through content creation on your website.
SEO is a long-term strategy in a never-ending game of chess. Organic growth takes time, and SEO experts know that it’s not something you do overnight.
It can take months for the natural organic process to work, but when done right, your website will be on top, with an increase in traffic and conversions from all angles.
How to stay up-to-date on the latest in SEO trends and techniques
There are many tools out there that offer to keep you up-to-date on the latest SEO trends and techniques.
Some of these include:
- Google Webmaster Tools or Search Console (specifically for Google)
- Many publications write about SEO that you can take advantage of, such as Search Engine Journal and Neil Patel.
- Moz’s Link Explorer, an excellent resource for comparing your site with competitors as well as seeing what keywords they’re ranking highly in search engine results pages (SERPs)
- Hootsuite — beneficial if you manage multiple social media accounts on behalf of your business because it allows you to schedule updates across all platforms at once!
- Let’s not forget about Twitter chats (#SEOchat is one), which happen to live where experts in the area provide their insights into questions asked by followers.
You do not have to become an SEO expert, but knowing and pairing the knowledge with your niche market will make you an unstoppable force.
Conclusion
This blog post has offered you a glimpse into the world of SEO, what it is, and why you need it for your website. I have also shared some tips on how to get started with an optimized site. There are so many benefits to having a well-optimized website that I can’t list them all here! But in short, if you want more people visiting your site or buying from you online, then investing time and money in SEO might be just what the doctor ordered. If this sounds like something up your alley (or even down it), subscribe below to stay updated on new posts about digital marketing trends and website strategies!
Originally published at https://jjramirez.io on May 20, 2021.
