Search engine optimisation (SEO) should be an integral part of your website’s growth strategy.
It can be used effectively to drive more organic search traffic to your website but it has to be done properly.
Small changes and slight edits within your content and also within your code can be the difference between an increase in traffic and simply staying put. SEO is all about search and how your website can match up to the search requirements of your target customer. If you’re smart and put in the work, your SEO results will soon deliver valuable website traffic. Below are five SEO tips which will help boost traffic.
1. Optimise Titles and Permalinks
It is sometimes tempting to opt for a post title which is fun and quirky but instead, stick to the keywords. If you can manage to create a clever, keyword-specific and concise title then you have the perfect formula.
However, this isn’t always possible and so you have to work with what you’ve got. Most search engines only pick up the first 60 characters so keep your title to that length. If you create a keyword rich Post Title, then you should also have a matching permalink.
2. Use Descriptive Image Names
Always rename images before uploading them to your blog posts and pages. The name should be something which is descriptive and fitting with the site. It should describe the image and where possible incorporate the keywords relevant to your site. Search engines crawl images and look for relevant text and this can then ensure your image comes up in image searches and leads back to your site again.
3. Don’t Forget Image ALT Tags
The Image ALT tags are one of the main places search engines look for information about the image. It is a chance to get even more descriptive than the file name for your image and it can be rich in keywords relevant to the post. ALT tags should include around 5-6 individual key phrases which are relevant as a maximum and it can match your post title if that makes the most sense for your business and content.
4. Be Careful with Categories and Tags
Creating categories and tags within your website’s blog results in more URLs (known as ‘slugs’) being created. Every new category or tag has its own slug and this can begin to get disorganised if you have too many. Every time you post under a certain category or tag search engines will recognise that the slug URL has more content and this will be viewed positively. However, it is possible to go too far. You should be constantly creating content for all your slugs so you don’t want to have more than is relevant to your business or more than you can regularly update. Each category or tag should have around 10 relevant posts to it.
5. Fill in your Meta Tags
A Meta Tag supports your Page or Post Title when it appears in search engine results. It is therefore a chance to further attract potential customers and satisfy search engines. In terms of volume your Meta Title should be 60 characters or less and your meta description should be 160 characters or less. It should incorporate keywords which are relevant to your post and are useful for the reader. Phrases should be included rather than full sentences as this can waste the characters and each one is precious.
The Web Surgery offer FREE SEO Health Checks to anyone wanting to know how successful their current strategies are. You can get in touch today to arrange yours.
