If you’re looking to build a website or update your existing one, then you will need to consider implementing a new search engine optimization (SEO) strategy into your digital marketing.
SEO Basics
When you type a query into Google, a list of suggested searches will appear in the drop-down menu. Those are keywords related to your search based on prior similar searches. Keywords can be 1 to 3 words long, which are short-chain keywords. Or they can be 4 or more words, which are referred to as long-chain keywords. Keyword research is the process of finding which words are used when users are trying to find businesses like yours. Search engine optimization is the process of incorporating those words that you found during that research phase into your web content.
Indexing
Approximately two weeks after a website has been published, web crawlers from Google find it and start “reading” it. These are not actual people reading your website’s content. Rather, they are bots that learn the content of a website based on the text. They then index a website, which means that when certain keywords are typed into a search, Google will suggest a relevant website to the user doing the search. That website could be yours or your competitor’s.
Google also tracks which websites get clicked on the most after certain relevant searches are conducted. Niche-specific keywords help you to attract your specific audience because you are using the language that they would use when trying to find a service or brand like yours. If there is slang or jargon that is specific, it may be useful in generating more traffic to your website.
What Makes A Great Website
Google assesses websites on over 200 factors, not just keywords. So it’s important that your website is optimized in every way possible in order to increase your chances of getting the top spot on search engine results pages.
Secure
Without a doubt, you always want your website to be up-to-date with the latest software to prevent spam or a malware attack. Famous security breaches have led to customer distrust. When you choose an Atlanta SEO company to manage your SEO campaign, then you want to go with the one who will ensure that your website is protected.
Fast Speed
A good reason for having a faster website is that it leads to happier customers. When images, graphics, texts or other website features take a very long time to load, customers may become impatient and decide to leave your website to visit a competitor’s website. One study found that people only like to stay on the website for 10 to 20 seconds unless something really captures their attention, so if your website takes 7 to 10 seconds to load then you might not even get the chance to speak to your audience.
What to Check Before Launching
Now that you have a better understanding of how SEO works, here’s what to look for before launching your website so you can be sure that your digital campaign is successful:
Use of Targeted Keywords in Your URL
After you’ve done all of your research on competitive keywords, it’s important to incorporate them not only in the text that users read, but it should also be in the headers, title tag, meta description, and especially in your URL.
Accessibility
Your content must be accessible to all audiences on all types of browsers and devices. After all, websites are built for human beings, not for robots. But you also need to check if your content is accessible to web crawlers so that they can index all of your webpages.
Check For Duplicate Content
If the same content appears on more than one web address, then it can negatively impact your search engine rankings. This is because it is difficult for the search engines to decide which version is more relevant to users conducting a certain search.
Enable Data Tracking
Before you launch your website, you want to have set up Google Analytics so you can start gathering useful information. There are a number of important services that can allow you to customize what data you want to track.
Have you reached out to others in your niche?
A successful SEO strategy is based on building relationships. when you contribute to another’s blog or they contribute to yours, and they are considered a high authority website, then linking to each other can improve your SEO. If you have not already done your research on important people you should be linking to, then you want to begin right away.