I opened up my IG page last week for questions and I got a great one from @vanessamay.co. She asked:

“I have no idea how to get SEO on my website. It’s supposed to attract clients when they google keywords, right?”

What Exactly Is SEO

First, let’s talk about what SEO is. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization – so think Google, Bing, Yahoo – any site you would go to for searching information. These engines crawl through all of the websites on the internet and rank them in order to deliver the searcher the best, most accurate results for their query. Search engine optimization means the organic or natural return of a website based on a query – i.e. without advertising or other paid for processes.

The easier it is for a search engine to understand and then determine what your site is about, the more favorable rank it will give. The more favorable rank means your site will be offered as an answer to a query higher than other sites. There are over 200 Google Ranking factors so the more you hit, the better your results.

How Do I Do That?!

Ok, that said, what are the best ways to get good SEO? Here’s what I told Vanessa:

• Make sure your site is secure. Not having a security certificate is a big no no for search engines. You know if you have this if your URL has an “s” in the “https”. If you don’t have that, you can typically purchase one through your hosting site.
• Update your content at least once a month. Making sure your site is fresh is great for SEO. This is why a blog page is ideal. It’s an easy way to update large portions of content on your site.
• Make sure all your images have Alt Text and all other descriptive information filled out. While your site visitors will likely never see this information unless they are differently-abled, web crawlers do and that information makes it easier to determine what your site is about.
• Include links. Link to your previous content, link to other websites, link link link! There’s a fine line between too many and too few…but the general rule is at least one external and one internal link per blog post. If you have a lot of content on your site, be sure to link to it frequently, but make sure that it’s relevant to the topic so you’re not annoying your readers.

What Else?

If this just left you with more questions, message me! I’d love to talk about your business and where you have marketing questions.