We’ve written about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) before, and we’re back with some more SEO tips. There’s a lot you can do to help optimize your website for search engine traffic and this article is not an extensive list by any means. It will, however, give you some more ideas for how you can better drive traffic to your site from Google, Bing, Yahoo, and other search engines. Without further delay, here are 3 SEO tips you can start using today:
Tip #1 – Add Meta Descriptions
What is a meta description? A meta description (sometimes called meta description tag) is a brief summary of the contents of each web page or post on a website. How you add the description will depend on how your website is built. If your site was coded from scratch, you can add meta descriptions to the HTML for each page. If you are using a site builder, like the ones from WordPress or GoDaddy, there should be a section where you can add a meta description when you are setting up the page.
Meta descriptions are often displayed on result pages in search engines. These summaries help users determine which result best answers their query. While the descriptions themselves are not used to determine ranks, they can still help your website. By having a well-written meta description, you can attract more users to your site and increase the number of clicks you receive. Search engines will take notice and increase your site’s rank as a result.
Tip #2 – Write Good Long-form Content
While it’s true that some aspects of web writing tend to favor short-form content (think TikTok or other social media), SEO tends to favor long-form. If a user is searching for more information on something, chances are it’s because they’re interested in the topic. There are, of course, options for users to get quick answers (often found directly on search engine results pages), but taking the time to craft well-written long-form content will still help you in the long run.
There aren’t really any hard and fast rules about how long long-form content needs to be, but a good general rule of thumb is to aim for at least 300 words. Word count will only get you so far, though. If your content is long but poorly written or not particularly helpful, your site is still unlikely to rank well. You may get a lot of clicks early on, but if users are quick to click away again, that will hurt your ranking. Search engines pay attention to more than just how many people click on a search result—they also pay attention to how much time a user spends looking at the result after they click it. Give them something to look at by writing content worth reading.
Tip #3 – Optimize Page Titles
The titles of your website’s posts and pages are important. They often serve as a first impression for users. They are also one of many elements that search engines analyze to organize your content and present it for relevant search queries. When writing a title, be sure to add keywords (more on keywords here). Keep in mind that Google and other search engines have character limits when they display titles on results pages. Google’s limit is around 50-60 characters. Your title can exceed this length, but if it does, try to keep the most relevant portion within the first 60 characters.
In Conclusion
Optimizing your website is a good way to drive more traffic to your site and increase awareness of your small business or organization. If you’d like help with setting up an optimized website, contact Bold River Marketing. We can secure a domain, provide web hosting, and create and maintain an optimized website for you. Call us today for more information!