If you’re new to the SEO world, everything can be confusing and overwhelming. However, this shouldn’t stop you from making your website SEO-perfect and making the most out of your business’s online aspect. That’s why this new website owner’s guide to SEO has only one goal – to explain all the elements of the website optimization step by step, focusing on the primary, most essential parts of it. It will guide you through the process of optimization and make it easier to understand and manage your website like a pro.
What is SEO?
In simple words, search engine optimization is a marketing technique that helps with the visibility and search ranking of a website. The critical aspect is that this is an organic way to improve the rankings, which consists of several steps. Both technical and creative elements are necessary to give positive results and make sure search engines see your website and show it to the users. They are required to make sure a website appears in the search results without paid advertisements, known as pay-per-click advertising.
Benefits of SEO
You should focus on this new website owner’s guide to SEO to understand the importance of website optimization. SEO is vital for several different reasons:
• keeping the search result game fair;
• users trust your business more if it appears in the top results;
• it improves the traffic – as your website goes up the search results, more people can see and visit it;
• cost-efficiency – with the proper SEO techniques, you don’t need to spend money on ads, as the results will come organically;
• your website can be ahead of the competition.
As you can see, proper optimization brings several benefits to your business. For that reason, those who are new at managing their websites should pay attention to the main aspects of SEO we will discuss in the following text.
Determine your keywords
As the internet search is an enormous universe of websites, you need to make sure you’re aiming your content to the right audience. This means you should determine the most relevant keywords you should use in your SEO. Do the keyword research for your industry and check what phrases people search for the most. This will help you understand your potential audience’s needs and preferences and optimize your content so they can find it valuable.
Use short URLs
The address of every page tells search engines and users what it is about. The structure of your URLs should be as short and straightforward as possible but also informative. Avoid using numbers or illogical phrases but simple descriptions of the page title.
Optimize the titles
Before they even enter your website, users see the blue link title in their search results. This is the critical point in attracting them to enter the website. The titles should include relevant keywords, show the topic of the page clearly, and be attention-grabbing. Be creative and make sure the title corresponds to the content on the page and that it is not misleading.
Write meta description
Another thing people see in the search results is the meta description. It is an often underrated part of the optimization process, but it is pretty important. The meta description should also include the relevant keyword and briefly describe what the page is about. You need to write it in a concise, informative way but still make it interesting for the readers. A good meta description can grab the reader’s attention and make them click on your website rather than the competitor’s.
Don’t forget the structure of your content
After successfully bringing a user to the website, you need to do your best tomake them stay longer. It is possible by writing informative, engaging content that answers the users’ questions or gives solutions to their problems. However, apart from the actual information in the text, the structure is also a key element. This new website owner’s guide to SEO advises you to have a clear form of the text. It needs to be easy to read, and you should make it simple to scroll for specific information. You can achieve this by adding clear headings and sub-headings to your text. Use keyword phrases and its variation to make sure the headings tell what the text is about. Also, avoid repeated, generated language, but stay natural when writing these titles.
Images are a key part of the new website owner’s guide to SEO
When optimizing your content, make it as valuable as possible. Another essential element is adding images to your text. However, this should be random. Add the suitable number of images according to the length of the text, and make them relevant to the topic. Furthermore, keep an eye on their size. Even though you should go for high-quality images, don’t use files that are too big. They will reduce the load speed of the text and spoil the user experience. Finally, use the pictures to the full potential by adding descriptions and alt tags that contain the keywords. This will make it easier for users and search engines to understand what the text is about and rank it accordingly.
Go for backlinks
Backlinks are essentially recommendations and mentions of your website on other online locations. They are a vital part of every SEO strategy because they directly affect how Google sees and ranks your pages. Furthermore, backlinks help increase domain authority, which helps with building the trust of your audience. There are several ways to earn backlinks from other websites, so be sure to invest some time in creating high-quality content that will attract other websites to mention your name.
Go for long-term results
Even though it seems complicated, SEO is quite simple if you practice it well. It requires time and effort to show results, but it pays off in the best way possible. For that reason, the conclusion of our new website owner’s guide to SEO is always to go for the long-term results, focus on the steady growth of your website and avoid shortcuts.
Author’s Bio: Tatiana is a blogger who writes articles on different topics related to SEO, backlinks, etc. She shares her tips on various websites, including linkdepartment.com. Her hobbies are photography and illustrating.
