Beginners will probably scratch their heads and wonder- what in the world is SEO? How does it fit with my newly-built website? More importantly, why do I need SEO?
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization is a lot of things. But here’s what you should know about SEO- it has the power to bring you millions of online visitors if you do it right. No matter the type of website you have, whether for e-commerce, blogging, niche products or affiliate marketing, you’ll need SEO in order to succeed.
What can a web owner do to implement SEO strategies on their website in a proper manner? We’re glad you asked. Here are 5 tips to get you started:
1. Make It Fast And Mobile-Friendly
The need for speed is alive and well when it comes to creating a website. The faster you can show your website to interested visitors, the better.
Did you know that user experience is all the rage nowadays? It’s all about providing an excellent UX- you’ll need a well-designed website that loads fast and is very responsive. Do the exact opposite and your visitors will close out your website and go to your competition, which is what you don’t want. Start optimizing your load speed by keeping an eye on your videos and pictures. Include only the most important plugins and discard the ones that are weighing your site down. Test your site regularly and see if it holds up to massive traffic.
Don’t forget to make your website look good on smaller screens. Most of the internet users nowadays look online via their smart phones and tablets. Check and see if your website is optimized for different viewing platforms.
This GoDaddy website builder review is an excellent place to start when you want to create a speedy, mobile-friendly website.
2. Make A Sitemap
Google utilizes search engine crawlers to find websites and pages that go well with particular search words. If you have a sitemap, then Google can easily locate your website and rank you up accordingly to the keywords you’re aiming for.
Simply put, you’ll need to be visible on major search engines such as Google to be SEO-capable. You’ll need a sitemap, which is a form of language only search crawlers will understand. The good thing about today’s technology is that you don’t have to learn programming to create a site map- there are free tools available online that can generate one for you. If you’re on WordPress, then you can install the Google XML Sitemaps Plugin and jump right in.
3. Create Quality Links
Yes, link building is one of the most challenging parts of SEO, but you don’t have to rush. Backlinks should be considered as precious, and it should be nurtured with great care and love.
How does one begin building quality links? You must learn to collaborate with websites and blogs that offer the same thing as you are. Avoid going with spammy websites and link directories- these get huge penalties from Google when found. You should target the highest-ranking websites that share the same keywords and offer an outreach. Write a guest post or leave a helpful comment.
4. Use The Right Keywords
Keywords are the bread and butter of SEO. In order to understand keywords, you’d have to think- what are people typing on Google right now? What topics are they looking for? More importantly, you should know the keywords for your particular niche.
Get a headstart by doing some research on the best and the most relevant keywords for your niche. Try out the Google Keyword Planner and type in a particular keyword you’d think is valuable. Google Keyword Planner will then show you how that keyword ranks, as well as any other keywords that people usually type in along with it. Once you find the right one, make sure to include it in your content.
5. Content Is King
Why would anyone visit your website? Simple. It’s because they are looking for information that could help them. Content is important because it will determine whether visitors will be back again or not. Coincidentally, Google also has come up with algorithms that determine a content’s usefulness for the keywords given.
In short, you should create compelling, engaging and informative content that gives immense value to the reader. Your visitor should learn something out of it at the end. It should answer the question they have when they went to Google. Most of all, the content should be high-quality. That means no spelling or obvious grammatical errors. The writing should be understandable and made for humans to read.
