You’ve probably heard the idea of “search engine optimization” casually passed around time and time again, and on the surface, it seems simple: it’s what you need to do to make sure your website ranks high on the main internet search engines, so that consumers can find your business and have an opportunity to learn about your products and services.
Phrase “Search Engine Optimization” – or SEO
However, the phrase “search engine optimization” – or SEO – is a lot more complex than it sounds. Ultimately, good SEO is a shifting, constantly-evolving strategy to keep your website and your content relevant and high-ranking. This strategy has to follow current search engine trends and adapt to changes in public interest and evolution of the algorithms that run popular search engines. It’s a surprisingly complex job… and it’s not just about links! So, you might be asking, how does SEO work? If you are new to the concept, and are trying to wrap your mind around it, here are a few ideas to start with.
Content is King
Google’s algorithms prioritize well-written and relevant content. This is content that doesn’t just spray a bunch of keywords and phrases across a page, but that the algorithm assesses as useful to an actual human reader. Therefore, your content needs to have context. There should be other related, secondary words and phrases that align with the searcher’s intent. Clear titles and meta descriptions count as well, as do the links you embed into your content that connect elsewhere.
Yes, Links Matter – But They Aren’t Everything.
People with a basic understanding of SEO often assume it’s about links: how many other sites link back to yours affects how useful or credible a search engine thinks your content is. And this isn’t wrong, however it’s not the only, or even the most important, factor that a search engine algorithm is using to evaluate and rank your website. Links are a relatively easy way to improve your website’s ranking and visibility, but they will only go so far if you aren’t considering other factors.
Mind Your Metadata
You might be asking, what is my “metadata”? The metadata is the first titles and lines of text that show up on a search engine. Metadata tells the searcher what they can expect to find if they click on your link. It’s not hard to optimize your metadata: include a variety of relevant keywords and phrases, make it clear and concise, and try to keep it around 160 characters (this is where Google will cut you off, so those first 160 characters really count!).
Pay Attention to UX (User Experience)
How easy and enjoyable is your site for the user? Most importantly: how much time do users spend on your page, and what is the click-through rate (CTR) to other content and links? Does the page load quickly (under 2 seconds is ideal) and is it easy to navigate? The experience of interacting with your website is more important than you think in how your site is ranked.
SEO strategies are constantly changing as search engines evolve and user tastes change. If you want to keep your website highly ranked and well-trafficked, it’s worth your time to be constantly adjusting your SEO strategies: this is an active and ongoing campaign, and it is worth considering hiring a professional SEO service to maintain and update your strategies in real time. It can be a lot of work to do it well yourself, so make sure you are making the best use of your resources.
