Top SEO Best Practices to Improve Website Ranking

Every profession has best practices: a breakdown of dos and don’ts written by the greats and inventors before us. Getting your website to the top of a Google search results page has those same basic principles.

So how do I improve the SEO ranking of my website?

 Luckily, the A-B-Cs of search engine optimization aren’t rocket science and they won’t cost you the entirety of your digital marketing budget. The beauty of boosting your rank is that the steps are simple. Nevertheless, a website crafted without taking time to nail the below will set you up for a disastrous search engine flop. Don’t fall victim, keep reading to learn how to avoid this!

Think Fast

It seems straightforward, but many website developers forget to double-check and optimize their site’s load speed. Per Google themselves, site load time is a huge factor in their SEO algorithm, especially load time on mobile devices. And it makes sense why. Google prioritizes the experience of Google users. When was the last time you stuck around waiting for a website to load for more than 3 seconds before closing out in frustration and searching elsewhere? And how often do you search on a desktop versus your smart phone?

So how can you ensure your website loads quickly? A few simple steps. First, you’ll need to see where you’re at. Tools like GTmetrix is a great place to see how your site’s doing on load time plus get strong specific recommendations on where your site can improve. One of the biggest site culprits is large image files. Compress your images using tools like Smush (WordPress plugin). It’s also worth using “lightweight” themes. Typically, most recommended themes in WordPress are lightweight themes. Having said that, it’s always best to contact a website developer for additional support to ensure you have optimized your site to its’ fullest!

Use Keywords Early (and Often)

 Keywords are an easy way to solidify a strong standing on a search results page. If you’re unfamiliar, keywords are words relevant to your business that mirror what most users search for when looking for a product or service in your niche. Sites like SEMrush are great for discovering keywords you may be missing.

Using keywords when possible is a great way to attract Google Bot and Bing Bot, but it’s also important to spread your keywords evenly throughout your page rather than waiting until the last paragraph. We recommend squeezing keywords within the first 25 words of your page’s content.

Don’t Repeat

 Content that pops up twice on your site is a signal to Google that some of your content isn’t providing users with value. If they’ve already read it, a second read won’t do them any good. However, it’s OK to have similar content throughout your page. Aside from the obvious – copy on different pages of your website – apply this rule to your site’s title tags, meta descriptions, and even the image alt text.

Images Matter

 Speaking of, it’s not just the words on your blog posts and home page that count when it comes to ranking well with SEO. Before uploading images to your site, save the image file using words that describe what the image is so Google can understand its content. For example, if you are an electrician, and want to “spruce-up” your generator services page, then consider including an image of a generator with the file name:  “residential generator contractors.”

Also use alt text on an image to describe the image in further detail. File names and alt text act as Google’s eyes for both Image Search and Google Search. In other words, without clear descriptors, your images are unlikely to land a top spot on Google Images, and your site’s less likely to do the same in a standardized search. And don’t forget to properly “re-size” your images. If you are taking a picture with your smart phone, those images are Huge!

In Summary…

 Before you can reach the advanced placement exam of SEO, you must have a solid foundation in search engine optimization 101. From the technical to the editorial, if you can A+ the basics, you’ll set yourself up for landing on that coveted first page of results.

A little bit about us – Web Fox Marketing is a local website agency and digital advertising specialists in Livonia. Our Michigan SEO team services our surrounding community nearby Livonia, Novi, Southfield, Farmington Hills, Canton and beyond. In addition to offering digital marketing solutions, we’re also proficient in e-commerce websites , search-engine advantages , Google Ads advertising (pay-per-click), SEO, social media marketing, and much more!

A website is a great step, as on-line success throughout our connected world is dependent on Google/Bing ranking, and increased visibility to many digital channels. Our Michigan lead generation agency is happy to assist you with any kind of challenges you have. Drop us a line today and let’s kick-start creating your responsive site!

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