SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO is Preparing your site to rank highly in search engines. When you do SEO on your site it increases the chance that your site will be ranked higher on the page in a search for a particular thing. For example, an Apple Farm would optimize their site to rank more highly for their most popular apple, HoneyCrisp, by finding ways to add the word HoneyCrisp to their site. Then when someone searches for HoneyCrisp, they come upon the Apple Farm website.
How search engines work:
- Search engines process the content of your pages to determine what they are about.
- Search engines measure how many inbound links there are to your pages to determine how valuable it is.
Basic SEO techniques for website content
- First, you'll want to know what terms people are currently finding your site. Do they search for something that you wouldn't expect? Are they searching for your name specifically? Or maybe they are searching for a specific product that you sell.
- Once you have your list of words you would like to be highly ranked for, then you'll want to start noticing areas on your site where content could be specified with these words.
Reference to the SEO techniques we use in our code to help the content even matter
- When we build your site, we use code that is clean and well-structured, so when search engines process each page, they can easily tell what it is about. We also set up tools like Google Search Console so we and you have visibility over how the site is doing for various search engine terms. We make your site fast, secure, and optimized for mobile browsers. There is very little else that can be done in the code to affect SEO – the factors that will cause the largest effect are the content you write, and the amount of inbound links you earn from other sites, especially highly reputable ones.
- How clients can improve their SEO with off-site links as described above
- SEO Company Moz has a great descriptor for off-site links : https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo/on-page-seo
- In many ways adding links to your website on other sites is key for obtaining the credibility and will result in your website having 'authority' on specific subjects within search engines.
- Other tips and tricks for website SEO
- Make your website faster, Many search engines factor this in when producing search results. Do this by compressing images, reduce plugins, and enable browser caching.
- Ensure your site is HTTPS. This is a more secure version of the web protocol and works well with SSL certificates to keep your site safe.
- Optimize the mobile version of your site. Most people are using mobile these days so it's good to ensure this version of your site is ready for traffic.
- Focus on the user experience of your site. Clear and easy navigation of your site, as well as easy to read content will help your users understand how to use your site. If they can't get around your SEO will not be great.
- Strengthen your social media presence. Social media will appear in searches as well so its important to be active and direct people to your site through social channels.
- Create more optimized video content. Many users like to get answers to their questions with video. Youtube is the second most used search engine so get some videos posted with your key words. And make sure they are helpful and concise for users.
"Inbound links, also known as backlinks or external links, are HTML hyperlinks that point from one website to another. They're the currency of the Internet, as they act a lot like real-life reputation. If you went on vacation and asked three people (all completely unrelated to one another) what the best coffee shop in town was, and they all said, "Cuppa Joe on Main Street," you would feel confident that Cuppa Joe is indeed the best coffee place in town. Links do that for search engines."
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