Search engine optimization improves the website’s visibility for relevant searches and directly impacts your success. Given that 75% of Internet users don’t look past the first page of search results, investing in SEO is a must for any business.
Here are 6 important SEO tips and tricks you should know to get your site in front of your future customers.
Create Content With Search Intent on Mind
To rank high on Google, you need to create content that people are looking for. To create a successful strategy, you need to understand the purpose of each keyword. Search intent almost always falls within informational, navigational, commercial, or transactional categories. You can look for clues on the SERPs, in the keyword phrase you want to use, or with the help of a keyword intent tool.
Keep in mind that Google tends to offer a personalized experience for each user and their search intent, so local optimization plays a crucial role here. For example, if your business is based in Orange County, you need to focus on local keywords for search intent or consider hiring a local OC SEO agency that is already familiar with what works. Once you determine that the keyword has good search intent, analyze the search results for content type, format, and USP. Finally, take cues from top-ranking pages and curate unique content.
Include Internal and External Links
Using links can enhance crawlability, credibility, and user experience. These links should lead to relevant and valuable information. Internal links direct users to other pages on your website, helping search engine crawlers find your content and stimulating users to stay on your site longer.
External links lead to another website, so be sure to link to websites with authoritative and high-quality content that is relevant to the topic you’re writing about. Conversely, linking to low-quality content can negatively affect your credibility so always vet your external links before adding them.
Optimize for Featured Snippets
Featured snippets are extracts from top-ranking pages that show up at the top of the search results. Winning a featured snippet for a high-volume term can skyrocket your page to the number one position and dramatically increase organic traffic.
To maximize your chances, you should prioritize keywords with respectable monthly search volumes. Then, search for the keywords to analyze what type of content Google currently features. Take cues from the top-performing pages and edit your content to ensure it both asks and answers the target question.
Improve Page Load Speed
Page speed is an essential factor in SEO. Slow pages frustrate users and make them more likely to abandon your page. The first five seconds have the highest influence on conversion rates. Then, with each additional second of load time, conversion rates drop by 4.42%.
To optimize your website, get rid of any element that slows your site down. Consider deactivating plugins that you don’t use, minimizing the number of JavaScript and CSS files, and reducing the number of web fonts. Optimizing CSS code and delivery, using website caching and a CDN, and optimizing databases are also some of the best practices for improving load speed.
Optimize Your Visual Content
Creating visual content such as infographics and videos is an excellent way to get traffic and backlinks. However, to help Google understand this content, you need to make sure it is optimized.
Always use the file type and image size that works best for your readers, and don’t slow down your page. Additionally, be sure to include descriptive ALT text to make your site more accessible for screen readers and an extra opportunity to integrate keywords. Finally, provide context by placing the visuals beside relevant text on your page and creating descriptive names and logical URLs.
Write Unique Meta Descriptions for Every Page
The meta description summarizes the page, and it’s the first section users see when Google serves your page in SERPs. Having a compelling meta description can boost the click-through rate of organic search results. This translates into more traffic and better rankings.
Be careful to never use the same meta description across your site. Instead, write unique and hyper-relevant meta descriptions that highlight the difference in the topic of each page. Include targeted keywords, communicate benefits, create a sense of urgency, highlight the page’s value, apparel to emotion.
Conclusion
Google algorithm is continually changing, causing the digital landscape to evolve. For this reason, you need to upgrade your SEO knowledge often and keep up with the best practices.
These tips can help you get the results you want but remember that mastering SEO requires creativity and ongoing experimentation. If you aren’t sure where to start, audit your website and create a solid plan that will prioritize the main pain points.