When people “Google” our information, we want it to be the first on the long list of results. Now, search engine optimization (SEO) is tailoring your website’s content to what they use to index it and help visitors find your site. Here’s a primer on how you can do it:
- Use a great, concise headline, eight words or less, if possible. Only 20 percent of website visitors read past the headline. Make it compelling.
- Keywords help people find you. Once they’re at your site, it lets them know what you’re about and what you’re selling. Google analytics offers tips on how and where to use keywords—and how not to abuse them. Sites can be taken off their index for using too many, i.e. “packing keywords.” Remember that you’re also trying to convince visitors to become customers, so don’t list random keywords as a list. Work them so they’ll get you indexed but also flows naturally.
- Images are attention-getters and important, but don’t forget to write relevant descriptions and add captions if applicable. “Alt tags” for all images help with searches (descriptions that are in the code but aren’t visible to the viewer). Work keywords into the text. Think of what words you would use if searching for your product or service and use them.
- Add video. This ranks higher in Google searches than any other type of content. Visitors will also respond favorably to it.
Try out these steps and then use the analytics to see how it’s working for you. Now that Google is a verb, use their information to get optimal results. Who best to help than the one that’s at the top of its game?
Let us know what you think.