SEO Tips-4 SEO Quick wins

So you have a small Website, 30 or fewer pages to be exact, and you have not implemented any SEO measures in the past, but suddenly, you read all about this John Mueller guy and decide it’s time that you want your site to start ranking, but what do you do next?

Photo by Kevin Zollman via Creative Commons

We know you are a busy person, training for the city to surf or simply working 9-5. That doesn’t leave much spare time for you to delve into the formidable subject of search engine optimization. So I have complied 4 quick wins that can be implemented in less time than it takes to watch the movie Australia (3 hours give or take), and that can have an impact on both your rankings and other KPI’s.

• SEO tip #1: competitive/keyword research
• SEO tip #2: unique title tags
• SEO tip #3: internal linking
• SEO #4: google analytics 
• FAQ: How can I quickly improve my website’s SEO to boost rankings?

SEO TIP #1: Competitive/Keyword research

Keyword research is important to your search engine optimization campaign. If your site is targeting the wrong keywords, your customers may have difficulty finding you. Research is where any good SEO campaign starts. The Google AdWords Keyword Tool can give you a wealth of information regarding what kinds of keywords you should use on your page to drive the most traffic. Start by brainstorming all the keywords you think are relevant to your site, then categorize them into some sort of order.

Use those short lists and enter them into the Google Keyword Tool; it will generate a whole list of keywords (synonyms and phrases including your keyword) and give you an estimated monthly traffic volume for those keywords. In this case, the old adage “knowledge is power” is pretty apt, as you can use the keywords that drive the most traffic and place them prominently throughout your website to optimize for these keywords and drive more visitors to your site.

If you want to be a little sneaky, you could also type in the phrase or word you are trying to rank for in the search engines and have a look at the title tags, meta descriptions, and meta keywords of the top-ranking sites. It can be a good idea to use publicly available information to help you brainstorm keywords.

Keyword Research Checklist: 
• Create a list of keywords you want to rank for and add these to your keyword list
• Use the Google AdWords Keyword Tool to explore your competitor’s Websites and add relevant keywords to your keyword list
• Look at the top 5 ranking sites for your targeted words and phrases and study the title tags and Metadata, add any keywords and phrases you think are relevant to your keyword list
• Take out the duplicate keywords (Microsoft Excel has a great function for this)
• Finally, take your list of keywords and submit them using the Google AdWords Keyword Tool to get estimated monthly searches for each term (you can also get different search volumes for different geographic regions)

SEO TIP #2: Unique Title Tags

Title tags are widely regarded as one of the most important on-page SEO factors. Not only do they play a major role in ranking your pages, but they are listed in the search engine results page and, therefore play a big part in turning a searcher into a visitor.

Each page on your site should have a unique title tag that is relevant to the exact content of the specific page i.e., your title tag should contain specific keyword phrases that are prominent on the page the title tag is allocated to. So don’t leave every page on your site with the same title tag; that’s a bad thing to do. Your title tags should be between 6 and 12 words or they run the risk of being cut short when they are displayed on the search engine results page.

A common question is whether to have your company/website name in the title tag. If your name isn’t ridiculously long like this, it is fine to use your company name in the title tag. If you do use your company name in your title tag, use a divider like a pipe bar (|) or a hyphen (-) to separate your targeted keyword phrase and company name, generally, you should use your keyword phrase first and then any supplementary information after the divider. You should write the content for the page and then develop your title tags from this content as opposed to the other way around.

SEO TIP #3: Internal Linking

Internal linking is the process of linking pages within your site to other relevant pages. The official Google Search and SEO Blog states:

“the method of internal linking on your site–is a crucial step in site design if you want your site indexed by search engines. It plays a critical role in search engine spider’s ability to find your site’s pages and ensures that your visitors can navigate and enjoy your site.”

For example, if my sales page mentioned a particular product, I would insert an internal link from my sales page to that product page. A link is like a vote, if one page links to another, it is as if that first page is ‘voting’ for the second page.

The actual text you use for that internal link is also important. Using the keywords and keyword phrases you discovered during your keyword research as the anchor text (text inside the link) of the link can help give a topic to that link/vote. For example, if you have a page about golf shoes that is linked to a page about golf clubs, and the anchor text says ‘great golf clubs,’ then search engines are more likely to see the golf clubs page as being an authority on golf clubs.

Good internal linking will help search engines find all the pages you have on your site as they follow links to discover new pages. Internal linking is not just for search engines, though; user experience can also be optimized as people browsing your site can easily navigate from one relevant page to another.

SEO TIP #4: Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a free web tracking service that is offered by the search engine to help website owners track and analyze visitors to their sites. It is very simple to implement- you only need to add a snippet of code to each page you want to track. In essence, Google Analytics gives online marketers and publishers access to powerful web analytics to help them better understand what their customers or readers want. Analytics is a vital part of your SEO efforts as they provide you with the data of what is working and what is not. Every website is different, so figuring out what works for your unique site is important.

Google Analytics is a truly revolutionary tool and offers the same benefits and features that paid analytics programs do. There are many other analytics programs out there that can do a similar job that Google Analytics accomplishes such as Clicky, Crazy Egg, and W3 Counter; however, due to its impressive functionality and the fact that it’s free, Google Analytics remains one of the most popular analytics programs out there.

You can generate a massive variety of statistics from analytics, such as the number of visitors to your site from the search engines, to the top keywords people used when they found your website. You can also pull in your Google Adwords and/or Google Adsense data to give you a holistic view of your online ventures. This means you can choose better keywords to bid on for Adwords or choose highly paid keywords to include in your content for Adsense. Data can also be exported in many different formats so you can include all the great data in your internal reports or client reports. Avinash Kaushik is a Google Analytics evangelist, and his blog Occam’s Razor should be read by anyone wanting to improve their Google Analytics knowledge.

Some of the most useful statistics you can extract from Google Analytics are:
• Visits
• Bounce Rate (users who see one page and then exit immediately)
• Average Time on Site
• New vs. Returning Visitors
• Traffic origins (did users come from a search engine, direct traffic, or referrals)
• Most visited pages
• Goal tracking (did users complete a goal that had been set i.e., buy something
• User journeys through the site
While some of these activities may have immediate benefits for your website (i.e. Title tags and internal linking) others (i.e. competitive analysis and using information from Google Analytics) will have long-term strategic benefits. All 4 activities can be implemented quickly and with minimum SEO experience, so what are you waiting for?

Ready to elevate your website’s ranking and boost traffic? Contact us.

FAQ: How can I quickly improve my website’s SEO to boost rankings?

Effective SEO strategies are crucial to creating a robust online presence. Here are some expert-recommended techniques for improving your site’s search engine optimization.

1. Optimize for Mobile-First: Ensure your website is mobile-responsive. With Google’s mobile-first indexing, mobile-friendly websites rank higher. User experience on mobile devices should be smooth and efficient.
2. Content is King: Develop high-quality, engaging, and relevant content. Regularly update your website with fresh articles, blog posts, and other content that resonates with your target audience.
3. Keyword Research: Conduct thorough keyword research to identify the terms and phrases your audience is searching for. Use these keywords strategically in your content, but avoid keyword stuffing.
4. Page Speed Matters: Slow-loading pages can harm your rankings. Optimize your website’s speed by compressing images, leveraging browser caching, and using a content delivery network (CDN).
5. Quality Backlinks: Build high-quality backlinks from reputable websites. Guest posting, influencer outreach, and collaborations can help in this regard.
6. Meta Tags and Descriptions: Craft compelling meta tags and descriptions for every page on your website. These are the first things users see on the search engine results page (SERP).
7. Image Optimization: Compress and optimize images to reduce loading times. Use alt text to describe images for search engines and visually impaired users.
8. Schema Markup: Implement schema markup to provide search engines with structured information about your content. This can result in rich snippets on SERPs.

9. Social Signals: Active social media profiles and shares can influence your website’s SEO. Share your content on social platforms to increase its visibility.
10. User Experience (UX): Focus on an intuitive and user-friendly website design. Easy navigation and a pleasant experience keep visitors engaged and encourage them to return.
11. Local SEO: For brick-and-mortar businesses, optimize your website for local search. This includes setting up a Google My Business profile and encouraging customer reviews.
12. Regular Auditing: Perform regular SEO audits to identify and fix issues. Tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics can provide valuable insights.
13. Security: Ensure your website has an SSL certificate (https://) for security. Search engines favor secure websites.
14. Avoid Duplicate Content: Eliminate duplicate content issues, as search engines penalize redundancy. Use canonical tags to indicate the preferred version of a page.
15. Engage with Your Audience: Respond to comments, messages, and emails promptly. Building relationships with your audience can lead to higher trust and better SEO.
16. Content Structuring: Use headings and subheadings (H1, H2, H3) to structure your content. This helps search engines understand your content hierarchy.
17. Video Content: Incorporate video content into your strategy. Videos can boost engagement and keep visitors on your site longer.
18. Voice Search Optimization: Optimize your content for voice search by answering common questions concisely. Voice search is becoming increasingly prevalent.
19. Monitor Competitors: Keep an eye on your competitors and their SEO strategies. Analyze their successes and adapt as necessary.
20. Data Analytics: Make data-driven decisions. Monitor and adjust the performance of your website as necessary.

Follow these steps to enhance the SEO of your website and increase its rankings. SEO is an ongoing process; keeping up-to-date with current algorithms and trends is essential if you want to achieve long-term results and see higher search engine rankings and greater online visibility.

This article was updated on December 1, 2023. 

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