When running a business, a store, or even just a website on the internet and you want to generate traffic, there are a number of things you can do such as online marketing and SEO. Online marketing is an important aspect of online interactions and can be used to reach millions of people but once you reach these people, they need to be able to find you. This is where SEO or Search Engine Optimization comes into play.
Basically what SEO or search engine optimization does for you is to make it easier for people to find your website through search engines. Search engines use an algorithm that organizes websites by relevancy to the keywords you used in the search box. However, that is just the tip of the iceberg.
How do Search Engines Organize Websites?
When you make a search using your favorite search engine, it seems pretty straightforward. You put in what you want to find in the search box and the search engine will provide it to you in a matter of seconds. However, during these few seconds is where the magic happens. Search engines organize websites through a number of different means that includes relevancy, how well designed the website is, how optimized it is, user experience, mobile friendly, secure site connection, and if the website is genuine. It then ranks the websites. The websites that rank the best have a higher chance of being found when using the search engine.
Through search engine optimization, you can improve your chances of having a website that is ranked highly. This means when someone puts in keywords that relate to your website, your website will have a higher chance of showing up for the person that is doing the search. This is why SEO is so important when it comes to custom web design.
So How Can You Use Search Engine Optimization?
There are a number of ways you can use search engine optimization to improve your website, such as:
-
High-Quality Content:
One of the most effective SEO methods is producing high-quality content. Even if you use keywords and other methods for SEO, if the content is not up to par, it will still rank poorly. Make sure you provide informative and well-written content for your users and clients as this can not only improve the user experience but improve your ranking on the mainstream search engines as well.
-
Updating Old Blogs:
If your website has old blogs from several years ago, it does pay to update them. So go through the old blogs and update them with modern and more relevant information that can be used by people today. While you are updating your blogs, make sure you optimize them for long-tail keywords as well.
-
Longer Blog Posts:
In 2018, it is expected that longer blog posts will play a larger role in SEO. So rather than using short blogs that may contain a few tips, you may want to consider having full-fledged articles instead.
-
Video Content:
Having a high-quality and relevant video content is a great SEO practice that you can do in 2018. Not only can your video content generate more traffic and potential users to your website but it will improve your ranking as well.
-
Linkless Mentions:
An important aspect to keep in mind with regard to search engine optimization is linkless mentions. This is basically word of mouth marketing. A good example of a linkless mention is mentioning your business in a video or in a blog comment. People can see this and search the name of your business. However, spamming or constantly mentioning your business or website can hurt you, so do not spam. This is critical because search engines are no longer using links as a way to rank websites.
-
Search Engine Results Page:
A
nother good SEO practice is optimizing your website for search engine results page or SERP. This is critical due to the artificial intelligence that is being used in search engines nowadays. Basically, the AI will look at several things such as the length of time people use the content for and how people interact with the content. This information is important because if a website has good SEO and ranks highly but has terrible content, the AI is able to see this in how fast people stop using the content or move away, thus ranking it lower.
-
Topic Clusters:
A great SEO practice in 2018 is topic clusters. If you want people to find your website, then you need to have relevant content. This is where topic clusters can help. Basically, this is creating a website theme or being a big source of relevant topics. By doing this, your website will appear to have a strong relevance in the eyes of the search engine.
By following these SEO practices in 2018, you can go a long way in generating more traffic to your website. You can also find some great professional web designers or a reliable custom website design company that can walk you through the process, to ensure you can create an exceptional website that will rank highly on major search engines.
ALERT: