Are you looking for ways to improve your website SEO and search engine ranking? We love discussing different ways m you can improve your website for better search engine visibility. So much so, we have complied our top 7 ways to improve your website SEO and listed them below. While we have only selected these seven elements for you to get started on your own SEO journey, there are plenty more ways to improve your website SEO and search engine visibility. As a starting point, follow these tips to get started and watch your website starting working harder for you and your business.
Here are our top 7 ways to improve your website SEO
1. Add Google Analytics
Google analytics is a free Google product that provides data on who is visiting your site, what pages they are viewing and where they are finding your website. It is an invaluable product that is an absolute must for all websites. You will be able to gain a much better understanding of your visitors. Google analytics helps you understand acquisitions, behaviour and conversions.
acquisitions: how many visitors, how do you acquire them and where from
behaviour: what your visitors do on your website (what pages they view, how long they view each page etc) ;
conversions: how many visitors complete a certain action on your site (this may be purchasing, signing up to mailing list, etc )
If you need help setting up your Google Analytics you will find a plethora of information online. Alternatively, we would be happy to guide you through this step. Get in touch with us to discuss how we can help improve your website SEO with Google Analytics.
2. Ensure you have an SSL
Another factor to join our 7 ways to improve your website SEO is having an SSL certificate. Now, having an SSL is not the be-all-end-all in SEO but it is a ranking factor. Plus, Google recommends it. Not only that it is a ‘human ranking’ factor. It lets your visitors knows their information is safe and conveys trust.
Additionally, most good hosting companies offer basic SSL certificates as part of their hosting package so it doesn’t cost you anything extra. If you do not have an SSL, contact your website hosting company and ask if they include it in your hosting package. If they are charging for a basic SSL certificate I would consider finding a new web hosting company. We have created a blog about finding the best website hosting companies and what to look for in a good company. If you need guidance check out our blog – 5 important things to consider when comparing web hosting packages.
What is an SSL Certificate? An SSL is industry standard technology that encrypts the link between your web server and browser. Essentially it ensures all data that is transferred remains private. It is the little green security tick in the address bar (or the closed padlock icon depending on your browser) . Nowadays it is imperative to have an SSL certificate on your website. It keeps user data secure and conveys trust to your visitors.
3. Add meta data descriptions
A website’s meta description is a snippet of text that is shown in organic search engine results. You would have seen these any time you have googled something. If you use WordPress you most likely have a plug-in called Yoast or RankMath. If you don’t, you need to get one! Both plugin’s are extremely popular SEO plugins within the WordPress community. They make it is easy to add and edit SEO details on each page and post, in particular the meta description. It is recommended to use 160 characters or less for your description. With this amount of characters all of the description will be viewed in search results.
A good description has the power to boost your click through rate. So be sure to take the time to write a strong convincing one.
It is widely reported that Google rewrites a huge percentage of meta descriptions. Some would say too big, (Ahrefs recently completed a study to show Google changes the data more than 60% of the time!). So should you still bother writing meta descriptions? Short answer, Yes. While the average of non-changed meta data is low, it is still an important element to complete during your SEO work. This means it is still in our list of top 7 ways to improve your website SEO.
4. Ensure each of your pages has the < h 1 >tag
The h 1 tag is html code for your most important header. The h1 header is usually the most visible text on each page.
When planning your H1 header content be sure to use your target keywords. By doing so you are telling search engine crawl bots what your page is about and h1 is the most important. Using your keywords and matching them with your title and meta data is another way to help with your website SEO.
As a rule of thumb, you should only use one H1 title on each page. If you need more headings to break up your content, use H2 and H3.
5. Check for broken links
Broken links lead to poor user experience which is not good for SEO or your potential site visitors. Think about when you visit a website and get that pesky 404 error page that says you haven’t made it to the page you wanted. Talk about annoying!
According to Google having 404 errors is not a ranking factor, but poor usability is and we think this comes under that banner. The Search Engine Journal has written a great piece about whether 404 errors are a ranking factor.
How to check your website for broken links?
There are a number of websites that offer a free broken link check for your website. Ahrefs is a good option for checking broken links.
6. Check out Neil Patel’s free audit
Neil Patel is an expert in the digital marketing world. He offers a free and premium site audit. The free version gives you some basic search engine optimisation elements to work on.
Additionally, you can sign up for the premium audit. In saying that, we believe the free audit should suffice, to begin with at least. Check out the audit.
7. Create a Google My Business
Creating a Google My Business page is a quick and easy way to boost your online presence. Not only that, it is FREE! A GMB allows you to add all of your contact details and services in one convenient spot in Google which also transfers into Google Maps. Not only that, you can request client reviews and add images and posts like other social platforms. Check out our post we dedicated to why you need a Google my Business page.
Additional ways to improve your website SEO
- Keyword research is imperative to your SEO process.
- Understanding your ideal customer and tap into their online behaviour and language.
- Keep your content up to date and informative
- Don’t overload your content with keywords by stuffing them into unnecessary places on your page.
- Get referrals or links from other websites to show your website is valuable
Summary
In summary, there are a number of ways you can improve your website SEO and rank in search engines. Above, we have outlined a few of these options for you to get started on your own SEO journey. If you wish to discuss further or would like us to take care of your search engine optimisation, we would love to hear from you. Contact us to discuss your business goals and how we can help, within your budget.
