Search engine optimization: 4 tips on how to use it to your benefit
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a technique used on websites to try and get them ranked higher in search results. This article will provide some tips on how you can use SEO to your benefit.
Write quality content
One of the most important factors in whether search engines rank your website is the quality of your content. As competent SEO specialists will tell you, you need to make sure that the majority of the content on your site is original, relevant, and current. If all of your pages and posts consist of low-quality content, search engines will not rank you very highly. Here are tips for writing quality content:
- Headline. The headline is one of the most important parts of a web page. You should make sure that your headline and post-write-up is engaging and interesting. If you don’t, it will be very difficult to get people to read or share your content.
- Language. Write in a conversational tone rather than an overt promotional tone. Try not to use any words that are too big or flashy for the average person to understand.
- Images/Videos/Charts/Graphs/Tables. Images, charts, videos etc., can help engage site visitors more effectively than just text alone. They also show search engines that your site is being updated with current information, which helps improve search rankings over time.
- Spelling errors. Make sure you check your writing for spelling errors before you post it. If your article contains a lot of spelling mistakes, you will not get very high rankings, no matter how good the content is.
Link to relevant external sites
One of the easiest ways to show search engines that your site has great content is to link out to external sites that are relevant and credible on some of your posts or pages. But linking out on every page may annoy some people and seem like spam. So, be selective about where and when you choose to link out on each page so as not to lose the trust of potential readers or customers. Here are some tips on when and where to link out:
- When you post a new page or article. If your site is very small, it may be helpful for you to place links at the end of each post rather than wait until multiple posts have been published. This also helps search engines see your site as more active and up-to-date. Many webmasters choose not to use this technique because they believe that readers will find the linked sites useful, which is true but keeping users on your own website is still important too! It’s all about finding an equilibrium between getting people to stay on your site vs., linking out.
- Use relevant links in articles or blog posts that contain lots of text. Some people make the mistake of only linking out to external sites on their home page or lists, but this is not a good idea for SEO purposes.
- Fill in the link’s description field. Make sure you fill out the description fields when linking to external sites so that there is relevant information in the description and give some context to what your readers will find when they click on it.
Use subdomains wisely
Subdomains refer to secondary domain names within a website’s main domain name which may be useful for search engine ranking purposes when used correctly.
So make separate sections for different topics. If you have a blog with multiple categories, it may help to create separate subdomains for each topic area with focused content related to the category. This is especially true if your site focuses primarily on one field of interest and contains many unique articles and posts about that specific topic. For example, exampleblog.com/sports could be a good option.
Also, create specific landing pages for products and services you sell online. If your eCommerce website has just started selling more than one product or service, it may be helpful to break up the main domain name into specific subdomain names for each. This will make it easier for users to get directly to the page they need, rather than getting lost on your site and having less of a chance of buying what they were looking for.
Get ratings and reviews for your site
You should make sure that the first thing any visitor sees is a good review of your business or website. This can be done by adding ratings and reviews from external websites on every page of your site.
You can also do this by making it easy for readers to submit comments using social media icons.
Search engine optimization can be a very useful tool to increase your website’s visibility and traffic. By following these 4 tips on search engine optimization, you can get a good start on using this tool.