5 Simple Steps To Optimize Your Site’s Exposure
I was in a meeting a few weeks ago and was surprised to find out how many entrepreneurs have SEO on their to-do list. Even more surprising was how many of them didn’t really know what it meant, but they knew there was something they were missing regarding their visibility and site traffic.
In simple terms, SEO, which means Search Engine Optimization, is a way to tag and distribute content so that they likelihood of it being indexed and found relevant to those searching for it is greater. Even simpler, it means you write and name things in a way intuitive to those who are looking for the information or items you have, and as a result, the search engines like Google, Bing, etc. rank your site as one of the first solutions for the person looking for that information.
As simple as that sounds though, I know writing content is a big barrier for many people. It stops them from ever getting a website up, blogging consistently or updating frequently. Today I want to address 5 key areas you need to pay attention to so that your rank can improve.
- Structure and layout matter.
Like computers, websites become obsolete in about 3 years time. Due to the changes in technology and the updates to how the internet works if you site is older than 3 years chances are you need to make some internal changes. I cringe in even thinking I have to write it, but if you’re still using flash, or flash components, or third party widgets and animations, build anew. Speed is one of the things that can tank a ranking. - New content is queen. One of the reasons everyone tells you to blog frequently is because adding new content to your site upgrades the rank. If your site is just an electronic brochure, it’s not allowing you to take full advantage of your marketing opportunities. What’s most crucial here is that you write the exact words your reader will use when they search for your content. Don’t make it academic (unless that’s your niche) and stay away from jargon.
- Keep your headlines and titles short
Long titles sometimes work well for products and classes, but they don’t work well for titles and headlines because as vast as the internet it, it has limits. Keep your titles below 75 characters (including spaces) to get the best results. Instead of counting them letter by letter use an online character count tool like www.lettercount.com. - Connect to social media
Whether you’re on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest or one of the other hundred social media sites, it’s important to share your links there whenever you add new content. The search engines like to see that others are sharing your content, and that goes for blog posts and the pages themselves (especially the home page). - Build Credible Link Activity
There are two types of links to know about for your site. Inbound links, and back links. Inbound links are the ones you control. The links in your blog posts and pages that link to other parts of your site for relevancy and expansion. Back links are the ones that mention you from other websites.You can comment on someone’s blog or have them mention you, which builds links to your site and improve it’s ranking. This is the reason so many people try to spam your blog. Those links and sites eventually get blocked, but for you, don’t be shy to add your input and collaborate with others in your industry to build your back links.
As you can now understand, SEO doesn’t have to be the beast that you may make it out to be in your head. With a bit of knowledge and a plan to implement it, you can improve your ranking significantly yourself. How does your site stack up to the 5 keys above? What are the first steps you’ll take to raise your rank?