How To Make Your Website SEO Friendly

Did you know: Google and other search engines use incredibly complex algorithms to order their search results and deliver what they believe to the most relevant content for that person?

This means, for any business with an online presence (such as a website) rating high on search result pages is important. In fact, if your website does not show on the first results page of Google, it will be missed by a staggering 96% of Google users!

To help rate higher on a search result you should know a thing or two about SEO.

What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. In short, it is how you can optimise your website and content so a search engine can find you easier (and so rate you higher on its search results page).

Below are six key SEO tips to get you started:

1. Use headlines and sub-headers

Keep your pages organised and properly tagged with headers. This will help Google index your site more efficiently. If your webpage is about spades then the page header should include the keyword spades.

2. Use links internally and externally

Link internally to other pages on your website as well as externally to other reputable websites. Make the links part of your body content matching keywords.

• Google wants to make it easy for people to find you with Google My Business.
• Ensure that all local directory links point back and have the correct details

3. Long form is working well on Google

Long form content is currently trending and so Google with give weight to websites that have longer content. However, too long will mean that readers lose interest so be mindful about how much copy you have on your web pages. A recommended article length is between 650 – 800 words.

4. Keywords should be planned

There’s no point just using any words as a page title or header. You should be careful about selecting the right ones and plan them well. Consider what words people are likely to type when searching for your business on a search engine – these will form the basis of your keywords.

5. Visual content is king

Understanding how you can best optimise pictures is a proven way to boost SEO. Many people are more attracted to sites that contain top quality images. These should be named properly (using important keywords) and given ALT tags on your website’s HTML.

6. Write high-quality content

The premise is simple: Quality and well written content will mean that website visitors will remain more engaged and explore more of your site. Keep the content relevant to the site and make sure it is legible and formatted for top readability.

Out of all the above tips, this one will prove the most important so deserves the greatest investment! Follow these six rules and you are sure to have a more SEO friendly website, giving you more chance of being seen in search engine results.