A lot of people don’t realize that establishing your branding in cyberspace is not just about creating a website and publishing content. Regardless of how attractive, convenient, accessible, and professional your website may be, it won’t matter if your website is not searchable to users.

That’s right – publishing a website doesn’t mean that it will automatically pop up in search results. Every time individuals search for something related to your business, you compete with all other businesses to gain the top spot in search engine results. Before you gain website traffic, you have to optimize your website to increase your SEO ranking. A higher SEO ranking results in higher searchability, leading more people to your brand. By being on top of the search results, you have a higher chance of gaining a click. This opens up your business to potential customers.

You might be wondering, “What exactly is SEO?”

For those who are not familiar with how search engines operate, the concept of SEO might be new. For starters, SEO refers to search engine optimization. Whenever we search for something on the internet, there are millions of possible answers to our search query. Did you ever wonder how search engines present all this information in an orderly manner? This is through SEO. Every search engine has its own algorithm for determining which website is relevant to a particular search query.

How do search engines rank websites?

There is no one formula that search engines follow in determining which website should be in the top spot. Even with their own peculiarities, almost every search engine uses the following fundamental categories in determining a top website.

Content Quality

The contents on your website serve as the search engine’s main way of identifying what your business is all about. As such, it is important to be mindful of the content you publish.

There are many categories that a search engine looks out for. This includes the quality, quantity, frequency, and reliability of your published content. You must be mindful of the quality of the content you put out on your webpage because quality content is what gets the clicks. If there are a lot of people constantly visiting your website, this gives search engines the idea that your website is relevant to a particular search query.

Update Frequency

Not only should you constantly publish new content, but you must also make sure that you update previously posted content. A study from Safari SEO Sydney found that websites that updated old and existing content received 111.3% more organic clicks than those that did not. By constantly updating what is written on your website, the search engine begins to understand that the information on your website is never outdated. As such, it is still relevant even for newer search queries.

Proximity to Search Query

You must be mindful of how broad or specific your content is. How you phrase your articles determines who the audience of your content will be. If you make your website content too broad, you join a lot of other companies with a similar nature of business in the competition. If you make it too specific, you might exclude your website from general search queries. It’s all about finding the right balance. For example, by using the keyword “homecare” as your main website branding, you have to compete against all other companies that also provide homecare services. However, by narrowing your content down to “home care in Orange County, California” you limit your possible competitors.

Back Linking

In finding ways to boost your website SEO rankings you must first understand that the entire webspace is, in fact, a web. Websites build each other’s credibility through linking. A page link is like a recommendation done by one website to another. Having several websites linking back to yours gives a signal to the search engine that your website is reliable. Whenever another website publishes an article that links you to a particular word (“cellphone,” for example) the search engine will recognize your website as something relevant to any “cellphone” queries. As such, in boosting your website SEO, you must invest in building your network and relationship with other businesses. How you plan on doing so depends on your own SEO strategy.

Improve SEO on a WordPress Website

1) Choose a good web host

Whenever someone decides to click on your website on the search results, you undergo a split-second critical moment. Within that split second, your potential customer will decide to stay or leave your website. If your website does not seem appealing to the customer, they will immediately press back and look for other websites to visit. However, if your website doesn’t load at all within that time span, you greatly harm your SEO ranking. As such, choose a good web host to ensure quick loading time.

2) Make your website attention-grabbing

Every time a person decides to immediately press back after clicking on your website, you automatically stain your website ranking. The search engine will interpret this action as an indicator that the website visitor did not find your website relevant to their search query. This means that the search engine will rank you lower for that particular keyword, decreasing your chance of gaining website views. By having an attention-grabbing website, you can convince potential customers to stay long enough, leading to a positive effect on your SEO ranking.

3) Alter the default permalink structures

You have to use all the resources you can in forwarding your SEO strategy (link to: https://backlinko.com/seo-strategy). Permalinks create lost opportunities for adding another keyword to your website. This affects a particular page’s searchability. In terms of SEO, you need to use all the strategies you can. Even if this may seem like a small thing, its impact will definitely pay off.

4) Use a caching plugin

Whenever a person first opens a website, it is notable how slow this first visit may be. Given that the website is going to be accessed for the first time, the device does not have any data about the website that is about to be accessed. However, by allowing caching, you can give a device the option of saving some of the website data. This way, it no longer has to load as long as the first time around.

5) Integrate internal linking into your SEO strategy

You have to think of your entire website as one big brand. By linking each of your content to one another, you can help the search engine better understand the content of your website. Not only that, this virtual map helps both users and bots to navigate through your website in a more convenient way. By linking related posts to one another, a user may decide to read other related blogs you’ve posted.

6) Optimize the images you use in your website

Images are one of the heavier files that may make your website a lot slower to load. In the present-day, fast-paced environment where people are looking to get what they need at an instant, slow loading times just won’t do. As a way to prevent this, it is best to compress, resize, and optimize your images. This can significantly improve the performance of your website.

7) Play around with your post titles

Whenever you integrate keywords into your post title, the better chance of your content showing up in different search queries. The keyword you choose to use also matters a lot. If you end up choosing a high-competition keyword, you will have to compete with all other companies that used that particular phrase. Choose a keyword that has a low competition to increase your chance of ranking on top. Not only that, make sure to make your title as informative as possible. The primary reason why people search for things is to fill a knowledge gap. By showing potential customers that you are posting informative content, the higher are the chances that they choose to click.

8) Open your blogs for social media sharing

You need all the help that you can get. By making your blogs available for social media sharing, you give readers the chance to share your content. When it’s easy for readers to share, the higher the chance that they do so. As such, always make this option available. Whenever your readers attract new clicks, you also improve your website SEO rankings.

9) Make sure you have a responsive website design

With the many different options individuals have for accessing the internet, you must make sure that your website is adaptive to the different devices. If a potential customer takes interest in your website in the search results but sees that your website is not optimized for their mobile device, the lower the chances of them staying. If you’re on your mobile phone, you won’t take the time to do both horizontal and vertical scrolling, especially if you can find similar contents on a different website. You will always choose a mobile-friendly website to find the information you are looking for.

10) Reliable SEO services

You can’t beat the work of a professional. But you can always choose to hire SEO experts from a reliable company. SEO specialists are capable of monitoring your website’s progress, updating your content, and optimizing your website to gain the best possible results.

In a highly competitive digital market, businesses need to do what they can to be on top of the game. As a business owner, you must realize the direction where the world is heading. At present, businesses are moving out of physical stores and moving into the digital world. While it’s still early, make sure you place your business ahead. 

Author Bio:

Louise Savoie is a Digital Marketer at proweaver.com, a web development company specializing in Custom Web Design which helps small companies increase their sales and grow their business. You can connect with them on Facebook: @webdesignproweaver and on Twitter and Instagram: @proweaver