Not so long ago I was asked to provide some basic SEO tips for non-techies, so I narrowed it down to ten quick and easy ones. These won’t take up all of your time and frustrate you trying to be a techie when your time is better-spent marketing.
I hope this is of assistance, without being overly complicated or detailed.
1. Film
Search engines adore video; they devour it and index it en masse. It’s simple to create short, high-quality content videos on specific niches, how-to’s, reviews, and so on. The more videos you have, the better and you DON’T HAVE TO BE ON SCREEN; it’s entirely up to you. You don’t need studio lighting or the perfection of a movie star, just be yourself and talk about what you know.
2. Consider yourself a VISITOR to your website or a Prospective Customer.
What is the most logical way for people to find what you have to offer?
What are the words? What word combination? What variations are there?
Google does not need exact match keywords; they can understand relationships/concepts based on blog/site/page content.
What words did you use to locate your competitor’s website?
Use your brain, and if you really want to get into it, there are a plethora of free tools available to help you identify the best keywords for your business.
3. Establish your brand, your niche and your area of expertise
Trust is important to your buyers, but it is also important to Google, Bing and other search engines that use AUTHORITY deemed sites as a gauge of trust. Search engines use authority to determine whether one website is more valuable than another in terms of rich content. Put in the time and effort to create good keyword-rich, specific content for a variety of platforms.
4. The importance of social media
Get social media accounts if you don’t already have them!
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn are all examples of social media platforms. Begin there.
Consider creating personal accounts as well as separate company accounts. Remember that everything you post is your footprint, a trail that leads back to you from all of your postings, keywords, content, pages and blog entries.
5. Sites that are mobile-friendly are preferred
Google will switch to mobile-first indexing for all sites starting in September 2020. They offer a Mobile-Friendly Test Tool, which allows you to see how Google’s mobile search agent sees your site.
SSL Certificates are important. SSL (domain name validation) is important for your buyers and search engines to check and validate it. Make sure you have an SSL Certificate for your domain name so that you can use BOTH http and https.
When visitors use your site, they will see a padlock in their browser, indicating that their data is secure.
A purchased SSL Certificate is recommended over free services because free services are ad-laden, their interest is their own, not yours and they tend to vanish into thin air.
7. Site Redirections
If you use too many redirects, your SEO may suffer. Allow your site to be your site. If you use ad trackers or redirects, keep them to a minimum or create separate sites/pages for each purpose.
8. Include Alt Image Attributes
Before you post your graphics, make sure to include Alt Image Attributes
Images are indexed by Google and other search engines and they are also useful to visually impaired customers.
9. Site-to-site linking
When linking internally on your site, you are not required to link with your keyword terms. For keywords/concept indexing, the content surrounding the link is usually sufficient.
10. Content has been – and will continue to be – KING
That is one constant in the ever-changing rules of SEO. When it comes to content, keywords should be used sparingly. You can learn more about this here. It is preferable to have detailed quality content that is informative and reader-friendly, rather than sparse low-value content, peppered with keyword repetition.
FAQ pages are an excellent way to generate high-quality content for SEO while also providing a valuable service to your customers.
One last piece of advice:
If you don’t already have a Google Analytics account, create one, it’s free and includes metatag information, as well as other useful information straight from the source. While you’re at it, download BING Webmaster Tools to gain access to new audiences, as well as other useful reports and SEO tips. Do not put all of your marketing eggs in one basket.
In conclusion
Do the basics to improve your SEO ranking, but don’t lose sight of your customers. Maintain a user-friendly tone and write primarily for your customers – they are your audience and buyer, not Google. Post high-quality content on a variety of platforms on a regular basis, with little repetition and you’ll be fine. Below you will find some common mistakes to avoid.
Common SEO Mistakes-Tips to Avoid Making These Mistakes
SEO (short for search engine optimization) refers to a set of techniques used to raise a website’s ranking in search engine results. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misunderstanding about what works and what doesn’t. Here are a few of the most common SEO blunders and how to avoid them.
1. Using the incorrect keywords.
This is a very common blunder. One of the biggest issues is that people tend to go after the most popular search terms, which isn’t always the best way to go. The most popular keywords almost always have the most competition, which can put you at a disadvantage when you first start out. It’s acceptable to use keywords with fewer searches if they fit into your overall SEO strategy.
2. Tag ambiguity.
You could get away with stuffing your meta tags with all of your keywords a few years ago, and that would be enough to move you up in the search engines. Many of the larger search engines now completely disregard your meta tags when determining where you will appear in the results. However, this does not mean that other tags are unimportant. You can still use meta tags, but instead of stuffing them with keywords, use them to write a good description of your site and fill in other useful metadata. Heading tags, alt tags, and emphasis tags can give your keywords and images added weight, so use them wisely.
3. Having a site that only uses Flash.
When used properly, Flash is a fantastic tool, but search engine spiders cannot read it. Not everyone prefers a Flash-only website, but if you have good reasons to use Flash, make sure to include an HTML version of your website so search engines can rank your site.
4. Java Script .
Java Script, like Flash, cannot be read by search engines. It’s simple to incorporate Java Script applications into your website, but be cautious about where and how you do so. Using Java for website menus is one of the most common SEO mistakes. That is one of the worst ways to use Java Script because you will lose all of the SEO benefits that come with linking your pages internally. To put it another way, if you must use JavaScript, don’t use it for menus.
5. Making use of black hat SEO techniques.
Yes, black hat SEO can and does work, but only for a limited time; eventually, the major search engines figure out the black hat methods and change their algorithms to render them ineffective. When this occurs, your page may immediately drop in the search results. In the long run, black hat SEO requires more work, so try your hardest to follow the rules.
By avoiding these common SEO blunders, you will be able to rank higher in search engine results.