It's time to get up to speed on all the best practices for search engine optimization in 2023. Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind: 1. Develop an Intuitive Site Architecture - Make sure your site architecture is intuitive and easy for both bots and human users to navigate. 2. Speak the Algorithm's Language - Make sure your content speaks to the algorithm in terms it can understand, by including keywords that accurately describe what you offer. 3. Optimize Images & Videos - Don't forget to include ALT tags, captions, descriptions, and filenames for all the images and videos you include on your website. 4. Prioritize Mobile Optimization - The importance of having a mobile-friendly website can't be overstated. Make sure your site is optimized for both desktop and mobile browsing experiences. 5. Leverage Internal Linking - Make it easier for Google to crawl your site and understand the structure of it by using internal links. This will help boost your SEO ranki...
One simple tactic to save small business owners money on SEO
When building a new business website, it's easy to forget about long-term SEO. You're distracted by which colors to use, which images fit the design the best, and you're probably too excited to actually notice which words you're using on the page. It's more common than not.
I've seen too many businesses do this. Then, once they've reached a few hundred to a few thousand pages, they call an SEO agency and start paying them to fix their gigantic list of issues. As an SEO professional, this isn't bad news for people like me. Obviously it means a consistent paycheck and more opportunities to gain experience. It's a win-win.
But I feel the need to help new business owners, especially those with a new website, get ahead on SEO so that if they end up needing help, they're already in an amazing spot and won't need to spend tons of money on agencies.
So, allow me to give you a single tip that'll help your SEO from the start. Specifically, ranking for keywords.
What does this mean? If you search for anything on Google, or any other browser, you'll find results including the keyword or phrase that you used in searching. (After the ad results, of course.)
So, for example, if I search for "Garden shovel" I'll see a search results page of businesses that sell garden shovels with that phrase in the title. This works with basically anything and is fundamental in ranking higher and higher on the results page. Keep in mind that Google ads will always rank higher since they're paid for.
Many people skip this step when creating their business website. They don't optimize their pages so that Google's, or again, any other browser's, crawlers can scan their site and find these keywords. Instead, they title their pages something generic and don't include the keywords on the web pages themselves.
Now, if your business is named: Best Garden Shovels For Under $20 Here, then your SEO is likely fantastic. If you're a normal person with normal business naming habits, it's probably named something more unique. So what should you do?
Well, you should start naming your web pages based on (relevant) keywords, then adding those same keywords to the web pages. So, for instance, let's say you run a business selling gardening tools.
On your page dedicated to gardening shovels, you want "gardening shovels" to be in the title. Sounds simple right? But many business owners, (not in the gardening tools department), have this habit of leaving keywords out of their web page titles. The following is what I mean:
What the title should say: Brand New Gardening Shovels.
What the title actually says: Digging Equipment.
Does your "digging equipment" include a trencher, an excavator, or an auger? Or are you just selling gardening shovels? You need to be specific with what you're selling.
Plus, this also helps Google determine if your site is better/more relevant than everyone else's in your niche. Meaning, a potentially higher spot on the results page. And that's why you're doing SEO in the first place, right? You want actual people to find your site?
Once you've filled in the headline, add the keyword in natural places to your webpage a few times. This enhances its relevance, and again, shows Google you're being useful for potential customers. At the end of the day, that's (part of) what Google cares about.
So, in short, use keywords in your page titles and on the pages themselves. Make sure they're relevant to what you're selling and be specific.
This may all sound super basic, and it is, but I've seen it so many times where business owners don't do this and then complain that they're not ranking for anything or that no one can see their business in the search results. You don't magically start appearing just because you know what your business is. If you're not optimizing your site to showcase what your business is, then no one will ever know about it.
Lastly, keep in mind that you still need to do everything else in SEO to fully maximize your organic search potential. That includes: proper headers (heading 1,2,3 etc.), meta descriptions for both SEO score and sales copy potential, and everything that makes your web pages load as fast as possible.
If you're up for the task of completing SEO on your own, then that's great! It'll definitely take some work but if you're willing, you can save some money by doing it yourself. If you're not at the point where you need to hire an agency, maybe you just started, for instance, then do the above, at the very least.
And, if you're in dire need of professional SEO help, then feel free to reach out to Bedford 360. We know how SEO works and can either do your SEO for you, or give you a quick consultation that sheds light on what needs work. Either way, we're here to help!
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