When it comes to building a website for your business, there are plenty of factors that come into play: layout, design, and content all play a part. But in order to draw people into your website to look at your products and services, you need to make sure that your SEO is optimized.
Through this article, we will dive into why SEO matters, and then touch on some of the sub-sections of SEO optimization like local, on page, and SEO content optimization. We’ll discuss what these different categories are, and how you can optimize your SEO through all of these mediums to bring yourself to the very top of the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page).
Why Does SEO Matter?
To begin, let’s talk briefly about the answer to the question, “What is SEO?” SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and is an essential part of creating an online presence for your business. SEO is used to bring more traffic to your website through search engines like Google or Bing. When you optimize your SEO, you are going to appear higher in the SERPs, therefore gaining more clicks and increasing traffic to your website.
SEO is important because it helps increase brand awareness and business. SEO offers you the chance to introduce your website, products, and services to a completely new audience. This can help you expand your client or customer base and increase your revenue.
The majority of internet searchers do not scroll past the first page of search engine results. This is why it is so essential to have local, content, and on page SEO optimization. When your SEO is optimized, you are more likely to appear on the first page of the search results, which will then lead to more clicks and traffic.
Local SEO Optimization
Local SEO is how search engines like Google and others give the most relevant search results to consumers by optimizing for local searches. Think about when you search for services on Google: if you are looking for a new plumber, for example, you are likely to enter the name of your city or “near me” into the search bar. Then, your SERPs offer you a list of relevant websites for businesses that are located in or near your location. In its simplest form, this is local SEO.
If your company has a physical building or storefront, local SEO is especially important for your business. It can not only help you bring more interested parties to your website but can also increase traffic to your physical location. Here are a couple of ways to increase your SEO Optimization locally:
Localization
One of the best ways to optimize your local SEO is through localization. Localization is the act of including your location in various places throughout your website. If you have a brick-and-mortar building, make sure to add the city you are based in. If you offer services through a larger spread of cities, be sure to include the state, individual cities, and the wider name for the area (“the greater Chicagoland area”, for example). Organically place these key terms throughout your website. That way, when potential customers are searching for services in your area, your website will be higher on the SERPs. Localization helps narrow down the search to a more specific demographic.
Stay Online
Unlike other forms of optimization, like on-page SEO or SEO content optimization, local SEO requires more time spent on Google itself. Google is the place where most of your potential customers will find you, especially locally. Be sure to claim your Google Business listing as soon as possible to ensure you stay towards the top of the SERPs.
Additionally, make sure you are responding to and keeping track of any reviews or ratings you receive both on your website and Google. Make sure your services are high quality and reliable so that your customers’ reviews are not only honest but can help bring in other customers.
On Page SEO Optimization
Just like local SEO optimization, optimization for on page SEO is fairly straightforward in its naming convention. On page SEO is focused on the content and material that appears directly on your website pages. Essentially, this form of SEO optimization is all about the work that you put into developing and editing your web pages.
There are many factors wrapped up in on page SEO, such as loading speed, content, URLs, code cleanliness, and more. They are entirely in your control, so you and your team have complete agency over changing and developing your on page SEO. Here are a couple of ways to optimize your on page SEO:
Performance Optimization
Any visitors to your website will expect it to run smoothly and be easy to navigate. A poorly performing website will cause potential customers to leave before they get a chance to properly explore. You can encourage visitors to stick around by optimizing your website’s performance. This means increasing the loading speed of each of your pages and of individual items on each page. Keep your file and photo sizes small, and try not to have too many large assets like embedded videos.
Keyword Research
One of the most important parts of SEO is keyword research. Keywords are the words and phrases that people type into Google in order to find the appropriate websites or resources. If you include specific keywords throughout your website, you are more likely to be high on the SERPs when web users type those phrases into Google.
Here are three steps to effective keyword research and implementation:
- Define your web pages. What pages on your website will customers be interested in? This may include a Product page, an FAQ page, and more. Make sure you label them clearly.
- Find relevant searches. Get down to the bare bones of your product. If you are selling organic cleaning products, for example, do not type your brand name into Google. Instead, search for something like “natural cleaning supplies”.
- Use data to select keywords. Through research and data collection, you can narrow down what the top searches are for products like yours. Choose one or two specific keywords and implement them into your website.
SEO Content Optimization
Thirdly, you will want to focus on content optimization. Content optimization can actually be considered a part of on page SEO optimization, but it has so many smaller details that it is best to make it a topic of its own. Content optimization is focused on the physical text and images on your website. What are people reading? What are they looking at? Your content writing and images are essential to your SEO optimization. Here are a few ways to optimize your SEO content:
Text Content:
When it comes to the basics of SEO, make sure your text content is interesting. If people find your writing compelling, informative, and useful, you are more likely to be high on the SERPS. Make sure you prioritize your audience and try to stay on their level in everything that you write.
In your writing, make sure you are taking advantage of backlinks. Backlinks are links to other reputable and well-known sources that can help support the information you are offering to your audience. These links make your website look more reliable to both your audience and to Google’s algorithms, which will also boost you up on the SERPS.
Images:
Typing a search term into Google is not the only way to gain website traffic. A lot of people also conduct image searches. If you are using the right images on your website, you could bring a lot of new traffic to your business. This is why image optimization is just as important as text optimization.
Write out Alt tags, Image tags, and file names to ensure that your image SEO is optimized. Alt tags are the text that appears to describe an image when there is an issue with loading the photo itself. Image tags work as the text that appears when the user hovers over an image; they also give additional context to the picture. Your file name should include the primary keyword that you are optimizing your site for.
Work With SEO Professionals
SEO optimization is an essential part of bringing your company more customers and revenue through your website. When you focus on bringing your on page, content, and local SEO optimization to the highest quality that it can be, you are bound to see incredible results. But it is also important to remember that you don’t have to optimize your SEO on your own. Instead, consider working with a company like SEO Design Chicago to optimize your website, free of stress.
At SEO Design Chicago, we offer professional website optimization services. Our team of experts is committed to helping you perform at the highest level. We can help increase your search rankings, offer higher click-through rates, and provide an analysis of your website as it stands now.
Join us at SEO Design Chicago today.
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