Having a website is one thing. Getting found online is another. For a website to rank well online, certain tactics must be implemented. While some are a one-time occurrence, others require regular maintenance. Search engine optimization (SEO), can get rather expensive. Rather than doing without good search ranking, consider implementing the following seven tactics. A knowledgeable staff person can easily apply these tactics.
- Remove any duplicate content
Duplicate content is content that either completely matches other content online or is very similar. Sometimes businesses use the information provided to them by vendors on services, products, and procedures offered. SEO best practices include writing unique content instead of pulling content from other sites. - Use Popular Keywords
For a business to rank well on the Internet, specific terms must be incorporated into website copy. To uncover what terms are most popular, use Google’s Keyword Tool or Google Trends. Type in specific keywords relevant to the business and review the results. These sites, especially Google Trends may also inspire blog ideas. - Blog often
Blogs are beneficial in a variety of ways. First, they allow businesses to share information and position themselves as thought leaders. Second, they improve search rankings by creating more content that is searchable online. Be sure to use keywords that are commonly entered in searches to ensure the specific pages you write on that topic appear in search results. - Add alt and title tags as well as meta descriptions
Search engines like Google place a high value on sites that have well-defined tags. For one, alt tags tell the search engines the purpose of the page or picture. It also helps blind or visually impaired people understand what is in the image. For example, your “Schedule an Appointment” button could have alt text that says, “Schedule a dermatology appointment today.” Alt tags should be no more than 70 characters.Meta descriptions go a step further and provide more detailed information on the page. We call this teaser text as it is what appears in search results and should entice people to click to learn more. Meta descriptions are limited to 160 characters. - Speed up your website load time
Slow page load times can be very frustrating for the end user. We expect websites to load quickly and will bounce off of a page if it doesn’t. The biggest burden on site load time is file size. Large images, code (HTML), scripts and stylesheets all play into load time. One tip is to optimize images for the actual size needed. This means scaling down the size of the picture for what is required on the site. Google’s Page Speed is a great resource on how to improve website load time.
- Link to authoritative sites
Support your facts by linking to authoritative websites. By doing so, Google and other search engines will see that your information is credible and builds trust in the eyes of the visitor. - Include header tags on each page
Header tags, also seen as H1, H2, H3 and so on, are helpful because they show search engines what each section of content is about. They use this information to index the structure of websites. They also organize content for web visitors allowing them to find the information they want to know quickly.
Ranking well on search engines for targeted keywords is essential to any business that wants to grow. By taking the steps required to implement these seven tactics, web ranking will notably improve as will the quality of website visitors. This will result in new leads that are truly interested in what you have to offer.