What is SEO you ask?
SEO is all the mumbo jumbo that Google & other search engines read in order to place your site in search results.
Really though, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Our team has blogged about this on many occasions, but we cannot seem to get enough of it because the best practices are always changing. The war of developing website content so that it ranks highly on a search engine results page is unending, but it is a must to constantly improve & add to your content. Statistics show that at least 75% of searchers never scroll past the first page of search results.
When we hand you the keys to your brand new website, we want to also make sure you can improve your site by following these practices too!
-
Site Structure
This is a very important factor. Having a clear & concise structure (using keywords as your page names) is vital. Having a visible site map on your website is also key in knowing if your structure is logical. Don’t forget to always include Back buttons so your visitors don’t get stuck!
-
Easy Navigation
Short & sweet is best! Having a clear site structure leads to easily being able to navigate your website. Do not overwhelm your visitors (or the search engine bots) with too many complicated pages. Being able to access a page with as few clicks as possible is important. Our web team recommends having no more than 8 parent pages for your site.
-
Meta Description
We like to refer to your meta description as your elevator speech. If you get stuck in an elevator with a complete stranger, conversation starts, and they ask what you do – how would you describe your business?
This element describes your website to search engines. Using keywords greatly helps your site show up more frequently too. Remember to keep it brief, a short statement of what your business is or does, as search engines only read the first 160 characters.
-
Content
The content is the meat & potatoes of your website. Having good, relevant, keyword loaded, and up-to-date content is very important. Websites are no longer a set it & forget it kind of thing. It is very important to add new content, write regular blog posts, and to post new photos to your galleries. Do not let your website become static & stale!
-
Optimized Images
Speaking of adding new photos- did you know that photos are content too? Not only does Google need to see your photo, but it reads the name of your photo too!
Be sure to rename all your photos & add keywords to them as well!
EXAMPLE:
Do Not Do This! Do This!
DCIM_34195.jpg Clarksville-Web-Design-1.jpg
We cannot forget to tell you about Alt Tags! This is another way to optimize your images by including Alt Tags. When uploading a new photo to your site, you will see a field that lets you give photos a description, separate from what you named your file. These tags will show up in a browser if your photo is having trouble loading. It may also appear when you hover over the image.
-
Optimized URLs
Just as you can optimize the name of each photo you add to your site, you can optimize, customize and add words to each page URL of your website. Let us tell you how!-
Optimize your URLs with hyphenated keywords.
EXAMPLE:
www.thrivewebsupport.com/thinkthrive/graphic-design-web-creative-marketing-services-clarksville-tn
Remember to use your target keywords. If you are posting a new blog, use keywords from your blog title in the URL for the blog itself. Warning! Avoid joining all the words together and underscores ( _ ). Instead, separate the words with hyphens (-).
– – – –
Feeling overwhelmed or just do not have time to manage this yourself? Our dedicated team in Clarksville, TN can provide these services to you! Give us a call at 931-221-4991 or drop us an email at .
Posted In: Marketing Tips