SEO – Search Engine Optimisation can be difficult, and can take time – this is a given.
But there are ways that you can improve your website’s own strength within the search engines. And if you are willing to roll up you sleeves and learn a little, then it is definitely manageable!
So, here are some tips to improve your own website and get some more visitors to your site.
Tips to improve the visibility of your website online using SEO
Of course – we can do these for you (that is what we do, after all) – but if you want to ‘DIY’ then here are some great steps to get you going.
Increase Your Page Load Speed.
Google (as are the other ones) are paying particular attention to this metric as a ranking factor, and for good reason. User experience (UX) is at the forefront of search engines. A slow-loading website puts people off, often clicking to another site – this WILL affect your rankings.
https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/
Set up Google My Business
I have seen so many companies drop the ball with this one. Google My Business – GMB listings – Mappack Listings – Local Pack listings….they are called quite a few things but are the same thing. And to actually get listed is totally free!
Agencies charge to do this for you, because it takes time to do….but if you wish to do it yourself – then you totally can.
Is it worth it? Wow yes. I have personally set up GMB listings that within weeks get calls in from potential customers.
To do this, you need to register your company with Google and confirm that your business is legit, and at the address stated. This is often done with postcard verification. Google will send you out a postcard with a code, you go back to where you registered your website and enter the code – and done!
I really do not know why businesses leave this one on the table. It helps with gaining business, it helps with online visibility, it helps with ranking. Get it done, or get us to do it for you – either way – tick this box off.
Provide accurate information over all of your online presences – NAP.
Search engines are trying to provide users with the best user experience possible – and this is also providing legitimate information about your business – contact details, location. NAP (Name, Address, Phone)
The NAP for your business needs have the correct details, and be consistent across your website and everywhere else you register your business. Search engines value accurate information for it’s users – simple as that really. This can be quite time-consuming, and again you can pay an agency to do this, or do it yourself.
Use the correct keywords
Check that you have done your keyword research right, and the words that you are targeting are actually words that are searched by your potential customers.
For example, if I am targeting SEO services – do people even know what SEO services are? Quite often not, yet business owners know the value of getting their website seen in the search engines. Maybe they will search terms like ‘get my website to the top of google’, or get my business seen on Facebook – rather than the actual services (social media management, for example).
Keywords are specific to your own business area or niche, and getting them right – finding what people search for – is the difference between users coming to your website and gaining potential customers, and not.
Make sure that your keywords are correct, and used on your website.
Use Alt tags
Alt tags are text replacement/words when your website’s images do not display to the user. This could be due to the user using older computers or devices. This could be due to the user accessing a screen reader, due to visual impairment, or could be due to a number of other reasons. Either way, you are missing out on potential customers by not using alt tags.
Alt tags are also read by search engines, to decipher what an image is about. Think, when you search in the search bar – depending on the product, you may go straight to ‘images’ rather than the main search. Lots of users do that. Using alt tags improves the chances that your images are shown in the search results.
