Your website looks sharp- congrats! How do you gently nudge people to take a peek at it or visit your site? How do you get visitors to linger? Well, that’s where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comes in-the assumption is that if you’ve launched a website before, you’re familiar with SEO. No idea? Even a wee bit?
Okay. Please roll up your sleeves! There you go.
It’s time for a bit of work to improve your site’s rank so that your target audience can more easily find you. That’s essentially what SEO is all about- the strategies you adopt to boost your site in a crowded online space. Let’s go over some steps you can take to optimize your website.
- Analyze Your Site’s Data
If you’re keen enough, you can easily notice patterns taking shape by going through your site’s data. Google’s search console provides a great starting point by rendering critical traffic data. It allows you to view the number of unique sessions, bounce rate, and other metrics. You can also review behavior reports to understand how users interact with your site.
For instance, you likely have a problem if you notice that a significant proportion of your audience won’t click on your call to action(CTA) button. That could mean you have to make a few tweaks to rectify the anomaly.
Check for patterns that emerge after analyzing the data. Do some of your pages appear to generate more traffic compared to others? You could have a winner! Try to replicate the page’s success by creating related content.
- Research Your Keywords Thoroughly
Keyword research helps you identify and organize search queries, making it easier to understand relevant phrases your target audience uses when searching for services, products, or general information.
Still, keyword research unearths competitors and may generate new ideas for content or improved services. To streamline or simplify the search process, you can use various online keyword research tools.
While at it, check for keyword gaps using a tool such as SEMrush. Typically, keyword gaps are the search queries that your website doesn’t rank for compared to your competitors. Such research provides content ideas for your soon-to-be-created web pages.
Once you have appropriate keywords to work with, go into detail by creating and publishing rich content on your chosen topics. Rinse-repeat: it might be tedious, but the effort is worth it, as your website will thank you for it.
- Pay Attention to On-page SEO
Typically, on-page SEO entails the various site-related elements you can work on to boost your web pages. These could include your topic headers, subheadings, URLs, meta tags, etc.
For instance, incorporate your main keyword and related long-tail keywords throughout your content. But, avoid overusing your keywords so your site isn’t penalized for keyword stuffing. A light sprinkling will do, just as a bit of salt improves taste. Your images’ alt text could also sport keywords based on relevant context so that search engines can grasp what your content is all about.
- Remember Off-site SEO
Off-page SEO provides an authority signal to search engines that your content lends value to readers. Provided your content is useful (your target audience readily consumes it), you can use external measures to optimize your site- this is the heart and soul of off-page SEO.
These courses of action could include guest blogging, social media campaigns, brand mentions, backlinks from high-authority sites, etc. Off-page SEO can improve your site’s rank, which would, in turn, increase your site’s exposure. As users search for specific content, they can more easily see your site and hopefully come knocking at your site’s door.
- Make Your Site Mobile-Friendly
Estimates indicate that up to two billion people, about half of the internet’s users, access content primarily through smartphones. These numbers represent potential conversions. Who would want to leave them out in the cold?
Unsurprisingly, Google’s mobile-first index prioritizes the ranking of mobile-friendly content. What’s the implication of this? Your content or website might rank better if you provide a mobile-friendly user experience.
Thus, by focusing on creating a responsive website, you could be on your way to improving conversion rates by channeling more traffic to your site. A responsive design would also improve page loading speed and reduce bounce rate- the likelihood that prospects high-tail it from a sluggish website!
That’s how to optimize a website. But it’s not all you need to do. Other technical SEO aspects also come to play and could be within the purview of a savvy digital marketer or web developer. Ideally, it’s prudent to have all your bases covered, and working with an SEO expert would be ideal for raising your site’s ranks and converting targeted leads.
