For your online business, at least 1/3rd of your traffic is going to come to your website organically. This means that a huge portion of your potential customers will find your website through search engines, by searching for solutions that your business solves. Getting your web page to appear higher on search engines is called ‘search engine optimization’, or SEO. A strong SEO strategy is essential to every digital marketing campaign. Here are 5 SEO basics that you should know.
- Set Up Backlinks.
Backlinks, hyperlinks, do-follow links, they are all different facets of the same concept. Whenever you read an article or post, and it has a link to another web page for reference or sourcing, that is called a ‘backlink’. Backlinks are one of the most important ways that Google weighs the value of your web page. Each time a user clicks on a backlink, it casts a ‘vote’ of confidence for that link, and forces Google to see that web page destination as more important–thus raising search engine ranking. Find ways to get bloggers, websites, and posts to backlink to your products or services organically.
- Create Attractive Meta Descriptions.
‘Click-through rate’ is an important ranking factor for search engines. This is the rate at which users click on your link verses people who see your link. You never want to have a high rate of views but no clicks. This means that you need to focus on making the meta data displayed in the link as enticing as possible. Some refer to this as ‘click-bait’, but it doesn’t have to be done distastefully. Make sure that you are including proper keywords in your headline, and are producing a headline that entices clicks.
- Focus On User Experience.
The actual experience users have on your web page is important to search engines, and how they rank your link. This means that you should focus on how your users interact with your web page very carefully. Ensure that your web page is optimized well, loads quickly, is easy to navigate, and attractive to look at. If your website isn’t a pleasant experience, users will leave quickly. This will not bode well for your rankings. Make things fast, simple, easy, and pleasant.
- Never Neglect Mobile Optimization.
Most people search for things on their mobile devices. Currently, Google only considers and weights user experience and optimization of your desktop website. However, very soon Google and other search engines will begin to weigh how well your mobile website performs as well–maybe even higher than your desktop version. Always take care to optimize your web page for mobile viewers, in order to keep ahead of the curve that search engine rankings are headed towards.
- Continuously Make Content.
You cannot fall into the trap of neglecting to keep your web page or blog up-to-date. Google rewards web pages that are active, and produce fresh content regularly. If you are not continuously updating or ‘refreshing’ your web page or blog, it will plummet rapidly in the search engine rankings. Create content often, update your page regularly, and make the content as appealing and attractive as possible.
- Final Thoughts.
It is absolutely crucial to the success of your online business that you pay close attention to your SEO strategy, and search engine rankings. By understanding the things that search engines reward, and capitalizing on them, you can make your web page or blog appear higher in the listings whenever users Google subjects relating to your niche. It’s fair to say that SEO is perhaps the single most important aspect of a successful digital marketing campaign.
