Search Engine Optimization or SEO refers to the process of making your site better for search engines. Following the best SEO practices is the key to increasing website traffic.
The top SEO practices are a set of guidelines that can help improve a site’s rankings. These rankings influence where your website will be placed by the search engine. A higher ranking simply means people are most likely to see the content first. This will lead to greater website traffic. These are some of the top practices;
1. Leverage Target Keywords
A Target or primary keyword is a keyword that best represents the content of a page. If you want to improve the content ranking, you need to make sure that every page on your site targets at least one primary keyword. This makes it easy for the algorithm to find content on your site. It is advised that the target keyword be added to elements such as the title tag, headers, introductions, and page URL.
2. Align Your Content with Search Intent
Search intent is the intent of the user behind every search query. Google has its priority as understanding and satisfying search intent. The algorithm doesn’t simply churn out info related to the keywords; it understands what the user is asking for and looks for content the most related to that to promote on its front page. For example, a search query for how to repair keyboards would bring out links to content on how to repair keyboards on the first page before bringing out a link on how to dust a keyboard. So if you were intent on making content on how to repair keyboards but titled it how to dust keyboards, the algorithm will put that content on a lower ranking in that search query.
It is good SEO practice to make your content align with search intent. Search intent can be informational, navigational, or commercial.
3. Optimize Your Images
This SEO practice simply involves choosing the best file format and applying image compression to improve user experience. In order words, the images on your websites should be in formats that are compatible across several systems and are low in size without compromising on quality. The images should not take long to load, and they must include Alt Text that provides context for the search engine crawlers.
4. Use Compelling Title Tags
The title of your page and the meta description are two of the most important tags of your page. Your title tags are the headlines that appear on the search engine result pages. They allow the Google algorithm to know what your page is about. A good Title tag should be appealing to your target audience and include your target keyword and search intent. They should be descriptive and concise as this allows the search engine to increase the priority when matching with the search query.
5. Improve User Experience
User experience is a big factor that Google uses to determine its site rankings. It is good SEO practice to improve user experience. To do this, you must make the content visually appealing, mobile friendly and avoid using intrusive pop-ups. Using headings and subheadings helps make your content more concise, readable, and professional.
6. Create Useful Content
Creating content can be difficult, but this does not mean that you can just release useless clickbait junk. Doing this will reduce the faith of users in your site. This will reduce traffic and Google relegate your site to lower rankings. It is good SEO practice to make content about useful things people will be interested in. It is also good practice to make sure that your content has links to other interesting content.
Build Your SEO Strategy with Adaptive Media
There are many more SEO practices, but these are simply some of the easiest to follow. Even so, business owners have a lot on their plate already and trying to beat out their competitors in the world of SEO can be an additional challenge. Rather than go it alone, contact Adaptive Media today and get started developing your tailor-made SEO strategy!
