Search engine optimization, frequently referred to as SEO, is the process of getting pages of a website to rank in search engines such as Google. In Google and other search engines, the top few results will often feature paid ads after these are the top organic search results. SEO is what allows your website to organically rank higher. In this blog, we’ll discuss ten areas to focus on for a successful SEO strategy.
How Can I Get My Website To Show Up On Google?
Title Tags
The title tag is displayed on the search engine results pages (SERPs) in the form of clickable headings. They play a critical role in SEO, usability as well as social sharing. Google usually displays the first 50 to 60 characters of a title tag. Keep the title under 60 characters to ensure they display properly. Your title should be catchy, natural, and read well. Use your main keyword first but avoid keyword stuffing.
Heading Tags
Header tags provide structure and break up the text making your copy readable and engaging. However, that’s not the only purpose they serve. By including keywords in the heading tags, you provide search engines with a reason to look up your content to understand the context and relevance of your page.
Meta Descriptions
The meta description is a summary of a webpage. It tells the search engines what your page is about. Google usually displays up to 160 characters in the SERPs. Focus on crafting a catchy, compelling description using your target keywords to improve the click-through rate.
Content
Search engines aim to provide users with the best experience. Naturally, they are looking for quality content to display in the SERPs. So focusing on consistently creating original, unique, and engaging content should be at the top of your mind. Content for most businesses should be a combination of entertaining and educational.
URL Structure
A webpage’s URL is the first thing search engines and visitors see. So make a solid first impression by taking the time to create well-structured URLs for your web pages.
Fix Crawl Errors
Crawl errors happen when search engines try to reach a page on your site but in vain. Crawling is an important process the search engines use to visit each page on your site. You want to ensure the search engine bots reach all the pages on your site. A failure in this process will result in a crawl error. It’s important to ensure that each link on your site takes the user to an actual page. You can use Google Search Console to identify and resolve any crawl errors.
Canonical Tags
The canonical tag is a very handy piece of code to resolve duplicate content and indexing issues. What happens when you have multiple versions of the same page? Without canonical tags, Google chooses the URL that best represents your site but with the tag you control which version is shown.
Mobile Friendliness
Smartphones are fast replacing desktop computers to become the medium of choice for online surfing. So it’s important to ensure your website is mobile responsive. A mobile responsive website adapts to the device it’s accessed on to provide a consistent experience.
Internal Links
Internal linking helps improve your SEO. The great news is that this is completely in your control. Every new page and post you publish must include at least one link to another page/post on your website.
Schema Markup
Schema markup is a code you use on your site to help search engines find more informative results for your users. More than a third of search results rely on Schema markup but only 17% of marketers use it. If your website is built on WordPress, you can use SEOPress to easily add schema markup easily to your pages.
