- Get the basics right, make sure all of your websites pages have titles and meta descriptions that include at least one keyword. Don’t write the content for a search engine, aim to entice and intrigue an actual reader; a really good meta description can make people click on position #2 instead of position #1 if it’s good enough.
- Don’t have lots of pages with small amounts of content. At the absolute minimum pages should have 400 words of unique content, if you are looking for results then having some pages with more than 1500 words of quality content can see traffic increase dramatically.
- Ensure your images are optimised. Search engines don’t know what your images look like, so describe it to them through the use of Image Alt Tags. Make sure not to be ‘spammy’ with keywords though! Again, a natural description of what the image is with a relevant keyword will see the image perform well.
- Build internal links. This is an easy one but depending on the size of your site it can be time consuming. If you mention something like ‘contact us’ make this text a clickable link to the contact page. It serves as both providing a better user experience and can be a real boost on search engine rankings – just don’t overdo it!
- Make sure your business is setup with Google Business/Google+. With the updates earlier this year the top 3 Google Business accounts show up ABOVE organic traffic for some searches. I have clients receiving literally thousands of views from their optimised Google Business account so it is definitely worth spending some time to make sure your page is all that it can be.
- Build links – confused? Most people are. Just use a common sense approach and whatever you do don’t buy backlinks. The most important thing is to ensure you only have your website associated (backlinked) with reputable, relevant sites. Having backlinks from random, poor quality websites can actually have a negative effect, for example if you run a successful law firm you wouldn’t want a backlink from a brand new, low quality t shirt brand aimed at teenagers.
- How fast is your website? You may think its lightning quick as it has been cached on your computer, but using Google Developers Site Speed Insight Tool might tell you otherwise. If your site speed isn’t in the green then you’re going to suffer, Google likes to give priority to sites that give a good user experience, waiting a long time for your site to load isn’t a good experience.
- Make use of video, not only can in increase engagement significantly but you will receive a powerful backlink from YouTube, the second largest search engine in the world. If you’re not too keen on getting in front of the camera then there are some great options including whiteboard animation videos.
- Build landing pages for keywords/phrases/services you would like to rank highly for. If you are struggling to get your website recognised for a particular phrase then building a landing page totally focused on that keyword can yield powerful results. Remember though, SPAM will have negative effects, if you want to rank make sure you spend the time necessary to build interesting, relevant content with images and ideally videos.
- Make use of Google Webmaster Tools, at first this might be daunting but like anything becomes straight forward when you get used to it. This lets you see how Google views your website and lets you keep on top of any bad practice, negative backlinks, 404 errors and much more.
- Help A Reporter Out – A simple way to have backlink opportunities come to you. Sign up and twice a day you will receive emails with dozens of requests from reporters around the world asking for input on a wide range of areas. Keep an eye out for your sector, send a reply when you’re able to and it can be published and give you a backlink.
- If your website isn’t mobile friendly it will suffer in the search engine rankings, as well as suffering a high bounce rate due to the large proportion of people now visiting websites form smart phones. If it isn’t mobile responsive it is highly advisable to have it updated as a matter of urgency.
- Whatever business sector you’re in you will know your stuff. By writing interesting, useful blogs (hopefully like this one!) you will be able to show off your expertise to potential customers and simultaneously make your website perform better on search engine rankings due to the higher level of quality, keyword rich content.
