In today’s fast-moving business world, it’s impossible to get far without a presence on the Web. Your website connects you to your customers and may even allow them to purchase your products and services. However, running a successful website isn’t as simple as just creating one and leaving it there. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process by which you can improve your site’s visibility, so potential customers will be able to find it with ease. Here are 5 tips to improve your site’s SEO ranking.
1.) High-Quality Content
Providing high-quality content helps increase the amount of time visitors spend on your site. The more useful the content is to them, the more likely they are to take their time going through it. Research suggests that written content containing over 2,000 words tends to rank higher in search results. However, that’s provided the content contains significant value. If it’s largely composed of “fluff,” readers will lose patience attempting to separate useful nuggets of information from the rest. Keep in mind that the primary advantage of longer posts is that they allow for the incorporation of more keywords and outbound links, which translates as added value to a search engine.
2.) SEO Keywords
In the early years of the Internet, keywords were the primary factor determining the ranking of a particular website. While search engines have largely changed their algorithms in an attempt to reward creators of quality content, keywords are still very important. If anything has changed, it’s that it is now more important than ever to ensure they’re used properly. The days of “stuffing” a page with awkwardly placed keywords to get on page 1 are over, as such content will likely be considered spam. Keywords must appear naturally within the surrounding text and should be present in both the title and body. They must also be relevant to the subject matter in the post.
3.) Multimedia
For SEO purposes, a variety of different forms of content works best. Incorporating images, audio, video and slideshows provides a richer experience for visitors by allowing you to deliver information in different ways. Keep in mind that people respond differently to various types of stimuli. For example, a person who is more responsive to visual stimuli might find more value in charts, graphs and videos, as opposed to lengthy passages of text. The best way to increase the chances of your visitors spending more time on your site is to provide content that can appeal to a wider audience.
4.) Outbound Links
A strategy that is often overlooked is providing links to other websites within your content. The purpose of these is to give your visitors a place to go for more information about certain topics. An example might be incorporating a link within this article to a San Francisco SEO agency. The more authoritative and well-respected the sites are that you link to, the more favorably your content will be viewed by search engines, adding to your site’s legitimacy. Just remember that it’s also not good to get too carried away with these outbound links. Too many of them can be distracting to the viewer, interrupting the content’s flow.
5.) Mobile-Friendly Design
Due to the growing number of mobile device users throughout the world, it’s crucial to ensure that the mobile version of your website is as easy to navigate as the PC version. Searches on mobile devices have increased dramatically over the past few years and search engine algorithms have responded by ranking mobile-friendly websites higher on their results pages. Font sizes should be scalable to enable mobile viewers to more easily zoom in on content they have a particular interest in. Menus should be configured in such a way that they are easily navigated when viewed on mobile phone screens.
Remember that while it can be difficult to improve your SEO ranking, it’s far from impossible and these tips offer a great way to get started. What’s required is simply to spend some time and effort ensuring a quality experience for each user. After all, that experience is the basis behind ranking websites in the first place.