Every day, potential customers in your community are searching online for businesses like yours. Are they finding your website? These searchers are more likely to click on the first few businesses that appear on a search engine results page. So it makes sense that one of your search engine optimization (SEO) goals should be to show up in the top results when people search for information related to your business’s products or services. By implementing SEO best practices, your website can rank higher on those search results. Here are 6 SEO tips to pay attention to on your website.
What your website needs to rank online
1. Page title
The title of each page is the most important SEO element on your website. The title tells search engines what visitors will find on the page. It’s the blue clickable text found on the search engine results page. You can boost your chances of getting found by search engines by:
- Including keywords as close to the beginning of the title as possible
- Limiting the title to 50-60 characters
2. Meta-description
The meta-description does not show on your website, but appears as the text underneath the blue clickable text in a search result. Beyond being relevant to that page’s content, the meta-description should be engaging and make people want to click. Give searchers a tease of the information they can discover by visiting your site, but don’t be too vague: You still want potential customers to know what they’ll learn or how they’ll benefit from trusting you with their time.
3. ALT text (logo + images)
Images are eye-catching and, if done correctly, will catch the eye of search engines as well. They can help tell your story and communicate important things about your business. Important considerations to boost SEO include:
- Image names: When placing important images on your webpages, include keywords in the file names as appropriate.
- Image alt tags: Most website platforms allow you to append alternate (alt) text to images. This is the information that describes the image. Include keywords as appropriate, as these alt tags are picked up by search engines as well.
4. Contact information
About us
Behind every business is a team of people making it happen. Showcasing the incredible talent you have working for the company, and for your customers, is a great way to create a personal connection with your visitors. Consider adding these items to your website:
- Consumers want to understand the people behind the website. Include the story about how and why you started your business on an “About Us” page. Keep it short: You want to capture interest, not give every detail about your company over the past 10 years.
- Establish a connection by including biographies of employees. Let the company and workers’ personalities show through.
Contact us
- Make it easy for customers to reach out. Make the “Contact us” page visible by placing it in the main navigation.
- Include your business name, address and phone number in the header and footer of your website.
5. Primary headline tags
The primary headline is the second most important SEO element, so it’s a great place to include keywords. Even better is an attention-grabbing headline with keywords. It’s got a big job to do: Explain the benefits of your product or service, and keep visitors on your website long enough to explore these benefits. To make a strong primary headline, make sure it follows these guidelines:
- Be clear
- Get to the point
- Entice readers to engage
- Stand out from the rest of the content on the page
6. Body content
Be sure that the words on your website provide the information your visitors are looking for in a scannable format. Make sure to include keywords where appropriate, and update it frequently to keep it fresh and relevant. Writing quality content with the right keywords is a powerful measure for search engines and will keep people engaged with your site.
When deciding what content to include, ask yourself:
- Is it relevant?
- Is it useful?
- Does it sound like something a human would say?
If you remember one thing about this website, let it be this: Design for your customers. By keeping them in mind, you’re ensuring your page will have the proper direction and focus it needs to rank online.
Need help applying these 6 SEO tips to your website? Your Safeguard consultant can help. Call 800.616.9492 for details or visit GoSafeguard.com.