Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of structuring and formatting your website in such a way that search engines like Google and Bing rank your site higher than others in the same industry category or topic.
Most people, however, make mistakes when it comes to their search engine optimization strategy, so they end up lower in the search results than they should be. Avoid these common SEO mistakes with the following 10 tips.
The Top 10 Search Engine Optimization Tips to Boost Your Rankings
Building Backlinks (Inbound Links)
A great way to gain traffic is by linking back to your website on authority sites. Adding links can be tricky at first, but with a little research you’ll learn which places are good for you and where adding links will help your rankings.
To increase traffic from search engines, it’s important to make sure there are enough quality sites willing and able to link back to yours, as well as relevant keywords throughout your page. One way to do that is by making sure there are a lot of internal links within your website so Google knows how important certain content is. Another tip: using keywords in Meta tags makes them easier for Google bots find.
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Image Alt Text and Meta Descriptions
Adding search-friendly images and descriptions to your site increases your chances of ranking well in search engines. But there’s a right way and a wrong way.
Image alt text is used by screen readers for blind users, so it should be descriptive. But not too long or boring (just like with web copy). Likewise, meta descriptions are brief summaries of your content that are pulled out of search results if someone looks at them.
Make sure yours accurately describe what’s on each page and gives people reasons why they might want to read it. They don’t have to be direct sales pitches, either; you can put in quotes from other websites who have talked about you. Accordingly, SEO-optimized meta descriptions, can significantly increases your CTR ( Click-through-rate).
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Redirect 404 error pages
Most web hosts are great about 404 error pages, but some aren’t. If yours isn’t, it could be hurting your rankings with search engines like Google.
As soon as you notice a 404 error page has popped up, notify your web host and ask them to fix it immediately! 404 pages that don’t redirect users away from your site are serious issues for search engine optimization, and ignoring them could result in lost traffic and search-rankings for your business.
Title Tags
Title tags are an extremely important part of search engine optimization (SEO) and shouldn’t be overlooked. In fact, there have been studies that found title tags to have up to 76% impact on your ranking.
Make sure you use your main keyword in your title tag and keep it short and concise. Aim for anywhere between 55-60 characters, but avoid going over 60.
XML And Visual Sitemaps
One of the most important aspects of search engine optimization is Sitemaps. A well-designed Sitemap (in XML or through Visual Sitemaps). Gives search engines a way to crawl your site more effectively and rank it accordingly.
These files can be created with basic word processing software and uploaded manually into your website’s hosting environment. Or they can be created using commercial tools specifically designed for XML sitemaps. Sitemaps are also crucial if you have multiple websites, as they help search engines find all your web pages, specifically, those ones who are technically hard to discover.
Focus On Branding
The first rule of search engine optimization is that you don’t talk about search engine optimization. When we say branding, we mean creating meaningful content on your website. That reflects what you want visitors to associate with your brand. This part of SEO is so important because users are more likely to return to a website they enjoy, one where they feel a sense of personal connection with its content.
This explains why you should focus on long-form posts and articles—people tend to stick around longer when there’s a story behind what they’re seeing on a website. Try writing for 20 minutes or more about topics related directly or indirectly to your business and then see what people have to say in response!
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Use quality content as your foundation
Good content is king when it comes to SEO, but not all content is created equal. It’s also important to keep in mind that search engines are smart enough now. That they can tell when your SEO efforts start negatively impacting your user experience.
This means keyword stuffing, sneaky redirects and other underhanded techniques are a no-go. Be smart, choose quality over quantity and focus on delivering good content above all else.
Internal Linking And Siloing
If you have a larger site, one good way to optimize it is through internal linking. Internal linking involves strategically adding links to related pages within your site for greater indexing and improved user experience.
Ideally, all of your pages should be able to stand on their own, with links pointing back to parent pages where relevant. Siloing or creating internal link structures that lead visitors down different paths can also improve user experience and boost SEO success. Again, give preference to page-to-page links over text links when possible.
Keyword Grouping And Clustring For Better SEO
It’s important to note that while keyword grouping and clustering is an extremely effective tactic for SEO, using too many keywords in one post or on a website may be penalized by search engines.
For example, if you were writing a 400-word post about “how winter gear should be purchased in summer months“, it would be best if you used winter and summer as separate keywords rather than combining them as one term (i.e., winter summer).
This also applies to phrases and words that are separated by commas. According to Moz , both Google and Bing will penalize websites for over-optimizing SEO. Based on grouping or clumping of similar terms together. So make sure your SEO is varied enough but not overly so!
Create Content Calendar For SEO
An editorial calendar is a great tool for getting your content creation and SEO strategies in sync. A solid editorial calendar includes keywords you plan on optimizing your pages for as well as other important data like page titles, meta descriptions, landing page URLs, file names (for images), alt tags, headings and more.
SEO will always change (it’s an algorithm after all). But having an editorial calendar is a really useful way of making sure you’re always using SEO best practices. Even if Google does make changes that require major shifts in strategy.
