8 practical SEO tips
Once website is up and running, you may notice that visitor numbers remain low. This is because your website is simply 'invisible' on Google search results pages. What work needs to be done and what steps need to be taken to ensure that your website is noticed by Google and other search engines, and is then found by users themselves?
Given the huge number of similar products and web pages, Google has to rank results according to how closely a particular page matches the query made by the user in a Google search.
To comply with Google's algorithms, you will need to use SEO strategy and optimisation work In this case, SEO optimisation is a key tool to achieve higher positions in search results. Although the term "SEO optimisation" may sound complicated, there are certain things you can do yourself. In this article, we'll give you some practical tips to make your website more user-friendly and Google-friendly by implementing them yourself.
1. Optimize your Google Business Profile
Google Business Profile allows you to increase your business' visibility in search engines, especially at a local level. You've probably come across a Google Business Profile when you've searched for a brand, a place to have dinner, or when trying to find your way to a certain location.
By optimising your Google Business Profile, you'll be providing important business information to both search engines and users themselves. Don't forget to add the most important information to your profile::
- Name, address, mobile phone no.
- Opening hours
- Page or e-shop link (URL)
- Add categories relevant to your business (e.g. restaurant)
- Add a detailed description of the company's activities
- Add photos of your office, products to make your website more attractive and visible to search engines.
To get the best results from your Google Business Profile, be proactive and regularly update or add relevant information and respond to user feedback.
2. Optimize Meta titles and descriptions
The first thing a user notices when he or she is in the search engine results is your page title and description, in other words the meta data.
Meta data helps the user to better understand what the page is about. It also shows how it relates to search. Google highlights keywords if they match the search phrase.
Although the meta title and description are not a direct ranking criterion, good text helps to attract visitors. Informative text increases the number of clicks. More clicks can help you rank higher.
Some tips for writing a meta title and description:
- Include the page's main keyword/phrase in the meta title;
- Write the meta title in a way that users immediately understand the topic of your page;
- Add your company/brand name, usually at the end and separated by a "-" or "|" to make your website more recognisable to search engines.
- Meta titles can be up to 60 characters long.
- Include the primary and secondary keyword of the page in the meta description;
- In the meta description, describe more about what your page is about, and you can add a call to action (CTA)
- Meta descriptions are recommended to be up to 160 characters long.
Unless you specifically add a meta description, Google search will display the first part of the text from your page. This is not optimal, as the first part of the content of a page rarely accurately reflects the content of the website and the general information about the page.
3. Optimize pictures and photos
The images and pictures on the website directly affect the page loading speed. First impressions are very important, so it is important that the page loads quickly and provides a pleasant browsing experience for the user. Here are some tips on how to optimise your images and make them Google and user friendly.
Photos format
The optimal image format is WebP. Webp has a smaller file size than JPEG and PNG, which increases the page loading speed.
As a result, photos and images take up less space. They load faster. This has a good effect on user experience and ranking results.
The WebP format also has quality retention and does not degrade the resolution of photos. Therefore, I would suggest that all photos and images on the website be converted to WebP format. You can do this with a free tool convertio.co.
Photos size
Image and photo file sizes should not exceed 100kb. Large files also slow down page loading speeds, so it is important to keep photo files to an optimal size. You can reduce photo and image files for free on tiny.png and other websites.
Add Alt text
To appear in Google Images results, you need to create unique and detailed alternative descriptions (alternative descriptions) for your images and photos. Google's crawlers navigating your website only understand what is shown in the image from the alt text you provide.
- The alternative text should be 1-2 sentences long,
- ALT text is written in the same language as the content itself.
- Describe the photo/image, let Google robots understand what is shown in the photo.
4. Create intresting and useful SEO content
Content is one of the most important factors in achieving high Google rankings. Without content, search engines won't have enough information to index and rank pages in Google results, and the site won't provide any value to users.
The key is to write content for users, not for search engines. Your content should answer users' questions and provide information that is useful to them.
- Write text for category and service pages.
- Create an internal "About Us" page, this page creates credibility for Google, which is a crucial aspect for ranking high in Google.
- Texts could be up to 500 words long. If there is a lot of competition for a particular keyword it is recommended to write longer texts.
- It is particularly important for SEO that the content of the website is updated regularly. This can be done by creating blog posts. Regularly upload articles related to the topic of the page. The recommended length of these texts is between 800 and 1500 words.
- In addition to creating new content, don't forget to update the old pages of the website with relevant website information.
It is also important to choose the right keyword strategy when creating content, but not to overuse keywords. Google has a negative view of 'keyword stuffing'. There are many keyword analysis tools available, but some of the most popular are Ahrefs and Semrush.
5. Make interlinking
Google appreciates it when you provide additional information to the content that helps us better understand the topic. It is important that navigation is developed on all pages of the website.
Add links to other internal pages:
- On the main (home) page
- Footer (bottom of page)
- Product/service pages
- Article/news posts
6. Optimize headings (H1, H2 ir t.t.)
Headings and their layout are another way that search engines understand the subject matter of your website. Ensure that your homepage has only one main heading (h1), at least a few second-level headings (h2) and so on.
- It is important to ensure that the very first heading on the page is h1, followed by a hierarchy (h1, h2, h3, etc.)
- Include relevant keywords in the headlines - include the primary keyword in the main headline.
7. Connect website with Google Search Console
The Google Search Console is an essential tool for SEO work. It is a free Google platform that provides useful SEO insights. The GSC also helps you to monitor your website's activity, which pages are indexed (displayed) by Google and which are not, and for what reasons.
Plus, the tool offers effective ways to improve SEO results. Here's what you can monitor in the Google Search Console:
- The number of clicks on your website pages and the most popular queries;
- The reasons why pages are not indexed;
- Whether the pages are mobile-friendly;
- The position of the website in Google results;
- Different performance indicators; Website performance;
- And more.
Regularly analyse the information in the Google Search console and you're sure to find valuable SEO insights and opportunities for improvement.
8. Expand the number of backlinks
Backlinks are another important SEO activity that increases domain authority and website credibility. Growing quality links is one of the main jobs of external SEO. The more quality links you have to your website from other websites, the more trust you will show Google and other search engines. To get valuable links, create quality, original content that is useful and interesting for your audience. It is also worth collaborating with other website owners, writing guest posts and participating in forums where you can leave a link to your website.
It is also useful to monitor competitors' backlinks and try to get referrals from the same sources. You can use various SEO tools, such as Ahrefs and Semrush mentioned above, to find out which sites your competitors are getting links from. Of course, it is important that the links are of high quality and come from trustworthy, not 'spammy' sites. Poor quality or 'artificial' links can have a negative impact on your site's rankings on Google.
In conclusion
These SEO tips will help you increase your website's visibility in search engines and attract more visitors. Finally, I would like to stress that SEO optimisation is an ongoing process that requires consistency, care and creativity. Constantly updating your content, monitoring performance indicators and responding to changing market needs will allow your SEO strategy to remain competitive and grow your business in the digital space.
It is also important to understand that a successful SEO strategy is not only based on technical tools, but also on the creation of quality content. Write content that answers users' questions and provides real value to readers.