SEO Tips: How To Improve Your Website’s Search Engine Ranking

SEO Tips: How To Improve Your Website’s Search Engine Ranking

Yesterday we talked about the different types of website optimization. Today, we’re going to take a closer look at Search Engine Optimization or SEO.

In yesterday’s post, we compared SEO to the elusive Sasquatch. It turns out the Boston Yeti was spotted roaming the streets during the Blizzard of 2015 or Snowmaggedon, as we prefer to call it. So if a sighting of the elusive Boston Yeti is possible, maybe we can improve search engine ranking after all? Let’s discuss some tips to do just that.

First, please know that there are multiple variables involved with SEO and everyone wants to be on the first page so if any company guarantees they can make your website the top hit, be very skeptical.

Now that we have that disclaimer out of the way, here are some concrete things you can do to improve your SEO ranking organically.

1. Define Your Keywords

The first step is to define your keywords. Brainstorm the various searches potential customers might enter into Google in order to find your company. Using CRS Web Designs as an example, potential customers might Google “Web Design Boston,” or “Boston Website Designers,” or “Affordable Website Boston.” These phrases are our keyword phrases. Next, you’ll want to create relevant, useful content using different variations of these keywords. Which brings us to our next tip:

2. Create a Blog

Having a blog on your website boosts SEO in two ways: it allows for fresh content on a regular basis and it allows for more opportunities to use your keyword phrases.

Google and other search engines place a higher value on websites that are updated often (daily or weekly). Updated content is more relevant. Think about it, Google wants to give its users the best possible results for their search. A site that hasn’t been updated since 2012 isn’t going cut it.

A blog is also a natural way for you to use your keywords. We have a post scheduled for tomorrow that discusses Content Optimization. Keep an eye out for that post if you want some more in-depth tips for creating a success blog on your website.

3. Use Images

People are visual and Google (and other search engines) knows this. So using images on your site and in your blog posts is important for increasing your SEO ranking. You’ll want to make sure that each image has an ALT Tag. An ALT Tag is an invisible line of text that appears in place of the image when the image can’t be rendered. Visitors to your site will see the image (and not the ALT Tag), but Google doesn’t know what the image is unless it has an ALT Tag. So Google uses the ALT tag to determine what the image is. For this reason, you’ll want to make sure your ALT Tag uses your keywords to describe the image if possible.

4. Social Media

Our final tip is to utilize social media – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn. If you post to your blog, link to it in your LinkedIn newsfeed or on Facebook. External links increase SEO. But also, and perhaps more importantly, social medial sites lead to content discovery. How often have your learned about something just from lurking your friends’ Facebook feeds the best internet marketing companies in LA. A friend will post a link to an interesting article and you’ll click on it, then you and five other friends might share that link and the article will quickly go viral and the information will spread. More shares on social media, can increase your SEO.

The above four tips or only some of the numerous things you can do to increase your SEO ranking, but they’re a good place to start. If you need help implementing these tips or if you want to discuss SEO for your site specifically, give us a call: 617-304-3893.