Think back around 30 years ago. What were the two essential things you needed to “get the word out” about your business?
- a visually appealing sign for your storefront
- your business listed in the big yellow phonebook
Customers would find you either by searching through the phone book or noticing your sign as they walk by.
Today, the essential tool to have for any business is a website. But, a website can’t be successful without three magical letters, SEO, better known as Search Engine Optimization.
So, what is SEO?
It helps to position your website properly in search engine ranks. SEO works to share your intentions to search engines through key elements like content, performance, authority and user experience. When all elements are combined effectively, the more relevant your website becomes in search rankings.
Are you still a little “iffy” about search engine optimization? Take a look at these benefits below:
- The number 1 way people discover your digital presence is through search engines.
- 43 percent of internet searches contain a local keyword.
- 52 percent of consumers say good online reviews make them more likely to try a local business.
- 7 out of 10 people consult online reviews before making a purchase.
- 42 percent of users click the top-ranking link in an online search. Only 8 percent click the second link on the list.
SEO requires a lot of research and expertise. It’s not something you can learn overnight. Search engine optimization requires ongoing training to keep up with Google and other search engines’ evolving shifts in technical algorithms when ranking search results.
Here are a few tips for getting started in SEO and keys to leveraging it for your business:
1. Keywords, keywords, keywords!
You should be conscious of placing appropriate keywords throughout every aspect of your site: your titles, content, URLs, and image names. Think about your keywords as search terms — how would someone looking for information on this topic search for it? The title tag and page header are the two most important spots to put keywords, PC World notes.
2. Create a sitemap
Adding a site map, or a page that lists and links to all the other major pages on your site, makes it easier for search engine software to read your site and catalog the content. After the search engine is aware of the text and image contents of your pages, it can return those page as results for relevant searches. The search engines use the information on links to determine how important different pages are (more links to a page=more important) and to discover new pages that were not previously known. “The fewer clicks necessary to get to a page on your website, the better,” advises MarketingVox.
3. Image descriptions
Spiders can only search text, not text in your images, so you should make the words associated with your images as descriptive as possible. Start with your image names: adding an “ALT” tag allows you to include a keyword-rich description for every image on your site.
4. Content
Your content needs to be fresh — updating regularly and often is crucial for increasing traffic. “The best sites for users, and consequently for search engines, are full of oft-updated, useful information about a given service, product, topic or discipline,” MarketingVox explains.
The team of experts at Sinclair Digital Solutions work to ensure your business can be discovered by customers on various platforms: desktop, mobile, maps, directories and review sites. Learn more about our SEO services here.