Try saying that three times fast!
When it comes to owning a website, its value can often start and end with how easily people can find it once it is online. There are many popular strategies for building website traffic, but one of the most popular is SEO, or Search Engine Optimization.
For many businesses, they know they need SEO for their website, but early on, it may not be in the budget. So where does that leave you in the meantime? Is there anything you can do yourself to improve your website’s exposure?
Luckily, although SEO companies sometimes make it sound like rocket science, much of it can be simplified and started by anyone with an interest in learning. If you have full access to your website and can make updates and changes yourself, here are some simple steps you can start working on right now.
1. Choose the Right Domain Name
I don’t like to assign anything as an official “cheat code” for web design, but when it comes to choosing the right domain name, it can have value.
Although an exact-match domain isn’t always recommended, choosing a domain that includes a relevant industry keyword can provide useful context and potentially give you some long-term value based on that decision alone.
Just remember that your domain name is a long-term decision. Changing it later is possible, but it can create unnecessary complications with branding, links, email and SEO.
Choose wisely from the beginning.
2. Optimize Your Images and Content for Speed
If you don’t know how to optimize your images, it simply means reducing their file size so they load faster on your website.
In the past, reducing file size could sometimes mean sacrificing noticeable image quality. Today, there are many excellent optimization tools that can dramatically reduce an image’s file size while keeping it looking virtually identical to the original.
Website speed matters. Slow-loading pages can create a frustrating experience for visitors and can also affect how search engines evaluate the overall user experience.
There are plenty of free tools available to help compress images, so this is one area where you don’t necessarily need to hire someone to get started.
3. Use a Proper Hosting Company
If there’s one thing you don’t want to cut corners on, it’s your website hosting.
Even if a better hosting plan costs a few extra dollars per month, the investment can be worthwhile. Hosting can affect website speed, security, reliability, and how often your website experiences glitches or downtime.
A poor hosting environment can make an otherwise well-built website perform poorly.
Just like choosing a domain name, hosting is a decision you want to get right from the beginning. The good news is that, unlike changing a domain, switching hosts later is relatively straightforward.
4. Write Website Content That Actually Matters
People often think it’s all about the design, but the reality is that your design is essentially the fancy container or packaging used to present your content.
What you say — and how well you say it — matters.
The quality, usefulness and completeness of your content can make a big difference, both to your visitors and to search engines.
Here’s a simple test: if you removed all of the design from your website and looked at the text alone, what grade would you give it?
Your website content is essentially your online resume. If it doesn’t clearly explain who you are, what you do, who you help and why someone should choose you, you may be losing potential customers before they ever pick up the phone.
5. Focus on Readability Over Design
This may sound similar to point number four, but it’s not quite the same.
In an effort to make a website flashy or visually appealing, it’s easy to go too far and accidentally interfere with readability.
If your text is difficult to read, doesn’t flow naturally, or doesn’t speak to your audience in a natural tone, you can quickly lose their interest.
Make your website as easy to understand and navigate as possible. Search engines are becoming increasingly sophisticated at understanding how people interact with websites, so don’t design solely for search engines.
Design for the people who are actually going to visit your website.
6. Make Sure Your Title Tags Are Done Properly
You’d be amazed how many businesses don’t take this easy layup when it’s right in front of them — often simply because they don’t know it’s there.
Your title tag is the title that generally appears in the browser tab and can also be used by search engines as part of the title displayed in search results.
Where appropriate, include relevant keywords that accurately describe the page and your business.
For example, instead of simply calling a page “Services,” you might use something more descriptive such as “Airdrie Web Design Services | Advance Web Solutions.”
The same principle applies to your images. Give image files descriptive names rather than uploading files with names like IMG_4837.jpg.
And don’t forget about your image alt text. It should accurately describe the image and, where appropriate, naturally include relevant terminology — but don’t stuff keywords into it.
7. Make Sure Your Website URLs Are Done Properly
The way you structure your website URLs can also help search engines understand what each page is about.
Think of every page on your website as another opportunity to target a specific topic or search phrase related to your business.
For example:
yourwebsite.com/services
isn’t nearly as descriptive as:
yourwebsite.com/airdrie-web-design/
You don’t need to turn every URL into a string of keywords, but descriptive, simple and logical URLs are generally better than generic or confusing ones.
8. Include Keywords Naturally Within Your Text
Once beginners catch on to the idea of using keywords, there’s often a temptation to overdo it.
Don’t.
Search engines have been dealing with keyword stuffing for a very long time. Repeating the same phrase over and over doesn’t make your website more relevant. In fact, it can make your content awkward and frustrating for visitors to read.
Use your important keywords naturally and logically throughout your content.
If you find yourself thinking, “I need to put this keyword in here again,” there’s a good chance you’ve already used it enough.
Write for people first and search engines second.
9. Sign Up for a Google Business Profile
This is something almost any local business can do, but sadly, many businesses still don’t take advantage of it.
A Google Business Profile is free and can be extremely important for local businesses that want to appear in Google Search and Google Maps.
Getting verified can sometimes be more complicated than it used to be because Google has increased its efforts to prevent fraudulent listings. That doesn’t mean it is impossible, though, and there are plenty of resources available to help if you run into problems.
For a local business, this is one SEO-related step you definitely shouldn’t overlook.
10. Keep Your Website Fresh
Regularly updating your website with useful, relevant content can be beneficial.
That doesn’t mean you need to completely redesign your website every few months. It simply means you shouldn’t build it once and then forget about it for five years.
Add useful information. Update outdated pages. Publish articles. Improve existing content. Add new services or projects when appropriate.
Freshness can matter when the information itself needs to be current, but don’t assume that simply changing a date or adding a few words will automatically improve your rankings.
A website that hasn’t been touched in years can give visitors the impression that the business isn’t paying attention.
Don’t let your website collect cobwebs and become a graveyard.
Be Patient With SEO
If you’re learning the ins and outs of SEO, patience is key.
Expecting to reach the top of Google immediately isn’t realistic. SEO is generally something that is earned over time by building a useful, trustworthy website and consistently giving search engines the information they need to understand your business.
There is no magic button that suddenly puts you at number one.
The good news is that you don’t necessarily have to spend thousands of dollars to start improving your website. There are many things you can do yourself, especially if you’re willing to learn.
When Should You Hire an SEO Specialist?
Once you’ve done the basics, you may eventually reach the point where you want to take things further.
That’s where an experienced SEO professional can help.
If you’d like to accelerate the process or simply want to make sure your SEO is being done properly without having to learn everything through trial and error, Advance Web Solutions can help.
We have helped businesses improve their visibility in Google through ethical, long-term SEO strategies designed to build sustainable results rather than relying on shortcuts.
It should also be noted that there is a right way and a wrong way to approach SEO.
Some strategies follow search-engine guidelines and focus on creating genuine value. Others attempt to manipulate rankings through shortcuts or practices that can violate search-engine guidelines and potentially hurt your website.
Whether this happens because of a lack of knowledge or an attempt to save money with a quick shortcut, it’s one of the reasons SEO can sometimes be better left to a professional.
But you don’t have to hire an SEO specialist just to get started.
Start with the basics, make your website better, keep learning and give it time.
You may be surprised by how much you can accomplish yourself.