Feb 13, 2020
If you had a Picasso painting, would you keep it in your closet? Well, unless you happen to have more than a few famous paintings hanging around the house, your answer was probably “no way!” When you have a beautiful website without proper SEO, it’s essentially hidden from the world. A site that you can’t see is one that can’t grow and produce results for your business.
In a nutshell, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) helps your website rank for specific terms on Google. By ranking for particular keywords and phrases, you can increase the traffic to your website and capture more online leads. It sounds simple in theory, but there are 1.94 billion websites on the internet, and I would wager at least a few of those want the first spot for search terms that you have in mind.
So, what can you do to make sure your site is competing on search engines and growing your bottom line? Well, to start, you need to know if your site is correctly using a few basic SEO items. Below, I’ll go over some elements that your website needs to have in place for online growth.
Four SEO Items That Will Help Your Site Grow Online
If your site uses WordPress, I highly recommend using the Yoast plugin to add the items listed in the section below. Yoast gives you the framework for these SEO items and others.
What’s your page about? If you don’t know, neither does Google. A focus keyword is a term that is relevant to your webpage and your target clients.
To help you come up with an excellent focus keyword, start by thinking about the words and terms that your customers will use in a search to find the information on your webpage. For example, let’s say you own an online store that sells Star Wars t-shirts, and each of your shirts has a page. If your clients are looking for a Baby Yoda shirt, your focus keyword should be “Baby Yoda” or “Baby Yoda T-Shirt.”
So, your website is ranking on Google, that’s great, but do you know what people see when your site pops up in their search result pages? If you haven’t set a Title and Meta Description for the pages on your website, you might be in for a surprise. When you don’t set these, Google does, and what it chooses usually isn’t right.
To come up with a webpage title, I find it helpful to think of it as a headline for an ad or article. A great title should quickly describe what’s on your page and be compelling enough to grab a person’s attention. The meta description further explains what’s on your page and adds complementary details to sell someone on visiting your webpage.
What’s in your image? We’ve all heard the old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. Online this saying carries a bit more weight. Most images you’ll find online use an Alt Text to tell search engines and those with visual impairments what a picture is showing.
When search engines like Google scan your website, they can read the text on your web pages, but not the images. Search engines rely on your Alt Texts, and other variables, to help them know what your page is all about. That means it’s crucial to use images relevant to the page they sit on.
According to the World Health Organization(WHO), “it is estimated that at least 2.2 billion people have a vision impairment or blindness,” and this number is expected to rise. That means your site’s images need to be easy for screen reader tools to read, and the way to do that is to use Alt Texts.
Did you notice the URLs embedded within this article? Yes, I did include them to provide you with more resources, but that’s not the only reason. The URLs included on a webpage create connections with other websites on the internet. By building links, you make it easier for search engines to find your site and other people’s websites.
Think of incoming links as roadways that lead to your site. The number of lanes on each road depends on the link authority of the website sending the traffic.
When your site links to another website, your sharing your site’s link authority, so make sure you only share URLs to reliable and reputable websites. Also, make your content is strong enough that other people want to share it.
Going From Basic SEO to Advanced
Checking and adding the SEO items listed above to the pages on your site is a great first step towards achieving measurable growth online. However, to set your website apart from the competition and to establish your brand online, you will need a holistic digital marketing strategy.
With a focused approach, you can see the whole picture and understand how the connectivity between online channels can help drive results for your business. Read our search marketing guide for an in-depth look at SEO and other tactics that can improve your website’s visibility and traffic.
Fable Heart Media is Here For You.
Whether you own a small company or lead a marketing team, Fable Heart Media can help you achieve your business goals. Our process focuses on driving measurable growth and obtaining results. Of course, we love creating beautiful websites and writing awesome blogs, but for us, nothing tops the feeling of seeing our customers grow online due to our partnership.
We Help You Achieve Measurable Growth
We are Fable Heart Media, a digital marketing agency in Jacksonville, FL, that focuses on driving measurable growth and obtaining results for our clients. Whether you own a small company or lead a marketing team, our team can help you achieve your business goals. We love creating stunning websites and writing awesome blogs, but for us, nothing tops the feeling of watching our clients grow online due to our marketing partnership.