7 Basic Search Engine Optimization Tips
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) can be divided into SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and PPC (Pay per click). While PPC costs money, SEO is a free and easy method to achieve a high search engine ranking. You want your website to be visible so people can find your website on search engines, such as Google or Bing. Moreover, the goal is to be ranked on the first page of Google’s result page because many people don’t even click on the second or third page. If you use SEO correctly, your website will score a high ranking. Here are 7 SEO techniques to achieve a high search engine ranking.
1. Content is key.
The most important aspect of Search Engine Optimization is your website’s content. Users will not visit or stay on your website if you have the same text and images like everybody else. This is why you have to make sure that the content is compelling and unique.
2. A person who knows the content should do Search Engine Optimization.
Of course, you can instruct someone to improve your website by using Search Engine Optimization techniques. However, the person who is optimizing the website has to know the content of the page. SEO is only useful when it is done right. This means that alt tags, title tags and keywords need to be used correctly. Therefore, a person who is familiar with the content should do the website’s SEO. Otherwise your effort will be useless and your website will not achieve a high search engine ranking.
3. Use alt and title tags.
In order to score a high search engine ranking, you should use alt and title tags for the images on your website. Choose good images that relate to the content of the page. When you use alt and title tags, make sure that both tags are not the same. The alt tag describes the image and shows what is on the image. Therefore, screen readers can tell what is on the image and visually impaired people know what the image is showing. The title tag is the name of your image which are useful for SEO as well as social sharing.
4. The correct use of links.
One major aspect of internal and external links is the quality of the link. Do not link other websites with your page only because you want to have a link. The links need to relate to the content of the page and they also need to be valid, otherwise the links will be useless and won’t boost your search engine ranking.
5. Keywords are extremely important.
When it comes to Search Engine Optimization, you should choose the right keywords for your website. You can either use the Fat Head Approach or the Long Tail Approach. When using the Fat Head Approach, you choose general and broad search terms which usually have a large search volume. While the keywords for the Long Tail Approach consist of more than two words and are less popular. However, long tail keywords have less competition than fat head keywords which can lead to great success. You need to choose the right keywords so that users can find your website.
6. The power of a good meta description.
A meta description is a short summary of the content of your page that has up to 320 characters. Search engines like Google show the meta description on the result page. The goal of the meta description is to get people from Google to your website. Make sure that the description includes the focus keyword and that the meta description is distinctive and unique. If your meta description is good, you will be able to make visitors aware of your website.
7. Anchor texts are an important ranking factor.
Anchor texts are very important and can have a huge impact on your search engine ranking. An anchor text is a text that links to another website or document. It appears as a hyperlink, so if a user clicks on the link, another website or document will open. Use a good anchor text to maximize your website’s SEO results. For example, make sure that the anchor text is relevant to the content. However, do not over-optimize your anchor texts to avoid penalties.