SEO is a confusing subject for many business owners, myself included. Having your website on the first page of search engine results can make a big difference to your business success, but how do you get there?
Fortunately you don’t need a degree in computer science to make a few simple changes and here are three simple things you can do which can help boost your search engine optimisation, and hopefully increase your sales.
Get your page titles and meta descriptions right
If you want to increase your search engine visibility, make sure your page titles have the right keywords and your meta descriptions are suitably enticing to encourage readers to click through to your site. The page title is the phrase that appears in search engine results, and the meta description is the brief description underneath.
These two things are not only key when it comes to improving your search engine optimisation; they are what will encourage readers to visit your site. You might need to do a bit of fine-tuning on both before you find the best combination of keywords, but it is well worth taking the time to get this right.
Link Building
Links are an important part of search engine optimisation. In the eyes of the search engines, links are generally construed as ‘votes’ endorsing your site. The more links you have to reputable websites, the more likely you are to be considered reputable yourself, and therefore to receive a higher ranking.
Don’t be tempted to engage in deceptive link practices, as you can be highly penalised by the search engines. Instead, it is worth thinking about your network, and who you might be able to obtain links from.
Gain authority as an author
Google has recently created the concept of authorship as a way of discerning quality content. If you are considered by Google to be a popular author, your content will be ranked higher than less well-known authors. The way you gain authority as an author is through social media sharing, and website engagement.
To start building your reputation as an author, you will need a Google + account and you should also ensure that all the other authors on your site also have one. As an added bonus, once you have authorship Google will display a picture next to your listing on the search engine results. This can help you stand out and encourage readers to click on your site.
Search engine optimisation doesn’t have to be difficult or overly technical, in fact I believe it is more of a marketing then technical process. With a few simple strategies, you can start seeing results and help increase your website traffic.
