We all want to make sure that our new websites will appear on page 1 of organic search results. This doesn’t seem easy, of course.
Your website, after all, is just one of billions out there, so if you don’t know how to do it, getting to the first page would look near-impossible.
The reality, however, is that ranking high on search engines is not rocket science. Maybe the term search engine optimization (SEO) makes it seem complicated, but the process can be simplified, for example, through e-Learning courses.
SEO is a general term used to describe all tricks and techniques used by website owners or webmasters to get to the first page in organic search engine results page (SERP).
This is a systematic process where you will need to understand the basic elements that will boost your website’s ranking.
In this article, I will discuss some of the crucial aspects you need to consider if you want to nail your new website’s SEO.
SEO for beginners: Find the right keywords
These are basically words or phrases that describe what your new website is all about. It is a tedious process but in the long run, all your hard work will pay off. There are three things you need to consider here:
- High search volume — people are frequently searching for such phrases
- Level of competition — such phrases should have low competition.
- Relevance — it should describe your website.
You will find a number of keyword research tools online. A good example is the Google Keyword Planner or Google AdWords.
Craft quality and informative content
With the recent search engine algorithm updates, Google or Bing aims to provide useful content to the internet users. Their bots will crawl your website to find what users are looking for.
Therefore, you need to conduct a thorough research on what you wish to write and ultimately optimize it for specific keywords.
An important reminder: Don’t write specifically for search engines. You should aim to convert visitors to customers. Therefore, quality content should be your first priority.
To optimize content for better SEO ranking, you need to consider the following:
- Content titles — should be eye-catching and should contain the focus keyword.
- Keywords — should be relevant to the content. You should include latent semantic indexing (LSI) keywords, too. That is, phrases or words related to the focus keyword.
- Links — focus on both inbound and outbound links. For outbound links, target reputable websites within your niche. Choose anchor texts that describe your website.
- Content quality — it must be original, high quality, and informative content that cannot easily be found anywhere on the web.
- Update your website regularly.
Optimize all codes
Codes are an integral part of any SEO techniques.
When you use SEO plugins such as Yoast for WordPress, you will realize the plugin has sections where you need to insert some codes.
They will help in search engine optimization. This plugin will also guide you on the basic elements you need to incorporate.
Other factors to consider in SEO
Aside from the above, you also need to pay attention to the following:
- Title tags — optimize the tag of your website by including a keyword that describes the main theme of the website.
- Meta tags — this is not a ranking factor, but it tells people what the content of the page is all about. You need to include a keyword there, too.
- Headlines — your page should have a headline and sub-headlines, i.e., h1, h2, or h3, depending on how you want to subdivide the article. If possible, the headlines should have the post’s focus keyword or LSI.
- Sitemaps — it is basically a roadmap to your website. It tells search engine bots about the structure and content of your website. You can have either XML or HTML Sitemaps. You should generate the sitemap using a site map creator tool, then submit it to Google or Bing Webmaster.
- Domain name — a domain name with a keyword you want to rank will appear high on search engine results.
- URL structure — it should be simple, memorable, and contains the focus keyword. It should not contain extraneous characters.
- ALT tags — all images must have ALT tags. This makes it easier for the search engine to index images.
Generally, when you consider all these, you could nail your new website’s SEO without spending a lot of money.
Again, don’t forget to list your website on various online directories or bookmarking websites. Social media and online marketing play a pivotal role in SEO too.
This may seem like a tedious process, especially if you’re doing it for the first time. With practice, however, you will definitely find this as part of your publishing routine, making your new website rank high on search results faster than others.
Bookmark’s SEO tips
Bookmark offers free e-Learning courses to support your small business success.
Check out the video below for more SEO tips to help you rank your website faster. You’ll learn how to use keywords and link building, among other SEO tips.
No website yet? Create a professional website in 60 seconds or less with Bookmark.
Originally published at www.bookmark.com on September 28, 2017.
