It’s 2020… Ready to Up Your SEO Game?
In my last post (part of my “how to improve your marketing in 2020 series“), we dove into the details of conducting a website audit.
But there’s one element of that I purposefully left out. And many digital marketing pros consider this to be a and KEY spect of every functional business website.
What am a blabbing about and why did I leave it out?
Then what is: Seach Engine Optimization — AKA SEO.
In short, SEO is the nuts and bolts behind how your website gets found on Google (and other search engines). More specifically, it’s the practice of making sure your website is more readily found by your ideal prospects.
Now, the why: Well, that’s a bit more complicated…
SEO as a Practice is CONSTANTLY Evolving
Search Engines are forever tinkering with their algorithms. And the results of their tinkering are sometimes subtle and other times sweeping.
But regardless, every tweak makes an impact. To the degree that you could wake up tomorrow and discover your website’s organic traffic has careened off a steep, steep cliff.
Which means, the best “practices of today” could be the punishable offenses of tomorrow.
SEO is MAD Expensive + Ripoff Artists ABOUND!
SEO practitioners are typically among the priciest of all digital consultants. Many businesses that hire search firms pay anywhere from hundreds of dollars to tens of thousands of dollars up to even six-figure fees per month.
And worst of all, there is no shortage of shady operators out there more than willing to take your money and deliver little (if any) real search ranking improvement in return.
Never-the-less, getting found on Google (and other search engines) is hugely important…or most businesses (likely yours included). Largely because it’s one of your main conduits to sourcing new business. And as such, you shouldn’t ignore SEO.
But There’s Also Some Good News on the SEO Front…
After more than 20 years in the game, Google (with its rivals following suit) has solidified certain aspects of SEO.
That’s not to say these pillars won’t change in the future. It’s important to realize the human behavior changes over time, and Google is constantly chasing the “human factor.” So, their search algorithm will change to meet those behaviors.
But for the foreseeable future, there are core elements you can reasonably depend upon.
In fact, there are 9 simple tweaks you can make that will establish a solid baseline for your website’s SEO.
**Full Disclosure**
[ These 8 tweaks come courtesy of Matt Opinski, via his appearance on Ed Gandia’s High Income Writing podcast. Matt’s not an SEO professional. Rather, he’s a web designer who has managed to achieve top ranking in Google (and other search engines) for his targeted-ideal client base, thanks to his 9 step SEO audit. So, I’m sharing his wisdom with you! ]
9 Simple Tweaks to Improve Your Website’s Search Engine Ranking
1. Website Title
This is the title you see in your browser tab address window. And what shows up in Google results if users search for your business name or service type.
If you’re using WordPress, this easy to insert. In the general settings option (found on the left-hand menu in WordPress), there’s literally a blank for “website title.”
If you’re not using WordPress, most WYSIWYG (do it yourself) web design platforms have similar options. And if your working with a designer on a custom-coded site, make sure they include a website title tag in their coding.
What your website should be titled? Ideally, something related to both your business name and the service you provide.
For example, my website is titled: “Ryan Anys || Freelance Copywriter”
2. Page Headings
This is the H1 heading that’s visible on the web page.
Is “H1 Heading” is Greek to you? Well, you’re not alone! The term refers to the title of each subpage on your website. For example, your About page, Services page, Contact page, etc…
It’s important to include page titles because Google (and other search engines) look for page structure and provide a more detailed index of well-structured pages (see the diagram below), and rank well-structured pages higher.
It’s also important to include titles relevant to your business. For example, if you provide a service, a Services page should be among your site’s subpages because your ideal prospects will be searching for those services.
Again, if you’re using WordPress (and most other WYSIWYG web design platforms), there’s literally a blank for each page title. And if you’re working with a web designer, be sure they include relevant page titles for each of your website’s subpages (see the diagram below).
3. Page Descriptions
This refers to each of your website’s subpage’s meta description. And this should be unique for each page.
Does “meta description” sound like more words spoken in a foreign tongue? Again, you’re not the only one who thinks so!
The term refers to the brief description that appears below a web page’s entry on Google and other search engines (see the diagram below).
The meta description should include a brief, direct description of the page, and ideally includes a keyword (which is a search term a prospect is likely to use when searching for your business service type).
Including a meta description is a little more complicated. If you’re using WordPress, you can install or Meta Tag plugin, or use a plugin like Yoast SEO (which includes blanks for meta tags on each page).
If you’re working with a web designer, be sure they include a relevant meta tag for each or the website’s subpages.
4. URL or Slugs
When you create a new blog post, a web address is created that incorporates the entire title post title, with loads of dashes (see the screenshot below).
As you can imagine, this makes for a pretty confusing title. Google’s likely to have a hard time deciphering it. And your prospects are far less likely to search for such a tangled phrase.
Instead, do your best to shorten the slug and retain only the most important words.
If you’re using WordPress, you can click the “edit” button next to the permalink box and edit the slug. And other blogging platforms have similar options to edit pages or blog post slugs.
5. Page Links
This is a bit more complicated and requires more thought. In short, Google has long looked for relevant links. This includes links to your own pages and other relevant pages, outside your website.
Relevant internal links would include, links from one blog post to another connecting relevant topic. For example, I linked this post to my Improve Your Marketing in 2020 and Website Audit posts.
An example of a relevant external link would be me linking to Copyblogger, one of the web’s preeminent content marketing resources.
6. Fresh Content Google
Google (and other search engines) are HUNGRY for fresh content (think new blog posts and updated internal pages). And publishing new content on the regular will prompt search engines to recrawl your website. Which in turn, helps keeps your site well-ranked.
7. Proper HTML Code
Valid, properly-structured HTML (the coding language used to build your website) ensures Google (and other search engines) can crawl and index your site with ease.
Now, without seasoned coding experience, this is a nearly impossible task to undertake under your own steam. But if you’re using WordPress or another self-contained content management platform, and you’re keeping the underlaying software up-to-date, your code structure is usually just fine.
And if you have any concerns about your site’s SEO, you can always hire a web coder to review your site and address any structural issues they turn up.
In addition, if you have a custom-coded, built by a reputable web designer, you can be reasonably confident your site is structurally sound. And here again, if you have a concern, you can hire another web coder to review the code and make any necessary corrections.
8. Domain Age
The older your domain, the better your ranking. I have a client who launched their website in the early aughts (2001 or 2002), and their site ranks #3 in organic search results for a very competitive field. As a small, independent firm, their out-ranking several much larger, more seasoned competitors.
The chief lesson here being, if you don’t already have a website up-and-running, you should do so ASAP!
9. Setup Google Analytics
Google offers a huge suite of SEO monitoring tools — known as Google Analytics — entirely for free! And Google Analytics not only monitors your site’s traffic (in surprising detail), it identifies problem areas and technical issues that could be negatively impacting your site’s search ranking.
It can, however, be a bit confusing to set up Google Analytics for your website. I’ve certainly struggled with the process!
But here’s a link to instructions published by Google Support that can help.
Need Help Creating Fresh Content?
Item #6 on this list presages another upcoming post I’m currently crafting: The Importances + Value of Blogging to Your
Marketing Efforts (or at least that’s the working title, so don’t hold me to it ;—)
Consistently blogging on your website is what item #6 is mostly referring to. And consistent blogging is a practice that has value beyond just improving your SEO (which I’ll get into in greater detail in my upcoming post).
Blogging, however, can be a time-consuming task that’s difficult to stay on top of. Fortunately, I’m here to help!
If you’d like to partner up and hire me to write content for your blog, get in touch ASAP: 310.466.7893 or ryan@ryananys.com.
I look forward to hearing from you very soon!
