There has never been more need for SEO than today.
Since the birth of the World Wide Web on August 6, 1991, the world changed. The Web enabled people and businesses to communicate easily and effectively all across the world. The ability to share information drastically increased and globalization expanded. People began to utilize the power of the web to make their voice heard or show their products to millions of potential customers. However, with so many other people realizing this opportunity the web began to get congested making it difficult for your specific content to be found.
This is when SEO began to come into play.
What is SEO?
SEO or search engine optimization is a general term revolving around strategies you take in order to make your website more visible on the web. There are certain criteria that your website can meet so that when someone is searching for a certain type of service/product, your product or service will be one of the first websites on display.
Effective SEO strategies help increase your ranking on search engine result pages (SERPs). With strong SEO strategies, you don’t have to feel like a failure because your website doesn’t rank for important keywords.
Your visibility in turn increases which brings more users to your site. For those of us that are still lost, SEO is how we become the first link on the page when we conduct a Google search. You want that number one spot to be yours. Think about it, how often do you go to the second or third page on Google to find what you are looking for?
Now that you have a better idea of what SEO actually is, let’s start looking at how you can optimize your website to give you that number one spot. This is making your website more visible to search engines such as Yahoo, Google, Bing, etc.
Best ways to make your website visible to search engines.
Content Quality
In the past, it was often thought that creating content, highly concentrated with keywords was the way to get a strong SERP. Basically, if your product were Wonder Bread, you would use the terms Wonder and Bread as often as you could in your literature so that people using these words as search items would be directed to your page. Newer research has shown that Google now prefers more user-friendly content. They prioritize websites that are easy for the user to read and not congested with specific keywords. Make sure whoever you are using for your SEO optimization is creating user-friendly content.
Also having them create content on a consistent basis shows Google that your site is very active. It shows you are creating new content which increases your SERP ranking as well.
Fast Loading Website
Make sure to verify with your SEO expert that they are using methods to ensure you have a quick loading website. You can verify this yourself by seeing if large videos or pictures are placed throughout your site. This can often slow down the time it takes for people to download or reach your page.
Search engines have a preference to sites that have a quick download speed. They realize that people do not enjoy huge lag times when trying to access information.
Device Compatibility
This is one of the easiest website features to personally check yourself. See how your website looks on your smartphone. Check on at least the two main smartphone platforms, iOS and Android.
See how your site looks on different browsers such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Also take the time to see the difference on a MacBook as opposed to Windows operating system as well as different tablets.
Make sure that on all these different device mediums your site is still working effectively. If this is not the case you are losing serious points on the SERP spectrum. Simply make a point with your SEO optimizer that he is creating content that is compatibility amongst various browsers and devices. They will be sure to understand and have probably already taken these thoughts into account when building your site.
User Friendly
A common mistake made by many when building websites is creating too many gadgets and gizmos. Often people try and create some type of wow factor to their website. The thought is that if my website has flashing lights and pictures flying around this will bring attention to viewers.
The truth is although these effects may definitely catch someone’s eye, they may not even have the chance to see it if your site is cluttered with content. Search engines prefer sites that are user-friendly. It goes back to a very common phrase, keep it simple. The best websites are easy to use. Think Google or Amazon.
Make sure your SEO company is getting your information across in a simple yet professional fashion. Sites that are easy to use are more valued by search engines; also they are more valued by users.
Internal Linking
Make sure that you SEO expert is doing some internal linking on your pages. You will be able to see this if materials are sometimes referenced elsewhere. For example, you have an article on your site that talks about health benefits to drinking water and it links your page to various hydration benefit websites.
These links throughout your page help Google view your content as being more credible. Outside of this it also may make your content more interesting to users. They will be able to find additional interesting information. It builds trust with search engines as well as viewers because both are realizing that your site is valuable.
At the end of the day, people are looking for something that helps them and the value of your content is extremely important.
Also keep in mind that internal linking can be quite complicated and there is an art form that comes with it. SEO optimizers are accustomed to this work and something that may take you four hours to grasp on a basic level is something they can develop professionally for you in ten minutes.
All in all SEO optimization is crucial when it comes to making your site more visible in today’s vast World Wide Web. It enables the customers that you want to be able to contact you and can help skyrocket your business ventures. SEO optimization has become an industry on its own and people have perfected the art. You will have ample resources to find someone that will explain and execute an SEO strategy that is optimal for you.
photo credit: wocin_techchat.com Women In Tech – 34 via photopin (license)
