If you run a business of any kind in Charlottesville, you’ll already know that your website is the greatest marketing resource at your disposal. Likewise, you should appreciate the significance of a strong presence on Google and other search engines. In order to achieve this, you will need a strong SEO strategy. More importantly, you need one that is up to date with the latest trends.
The Google algorithm for ranking pages has evolved over the years. Here’s how to ensure that your SEO strategies are built for success in the modern age.
SEO Practices You Should Follow
Google lists pages in the SERPs based on over 200 different factors. While it’s almost impossible to satisfy every issue, putting the right strategies in place will allow you to focus on the most influential elements to fire your way up the rankings.
Here are seven practices that will enable you to do it in style:
1| Be Mobile Friendly
Over half of all online browsing sessions now take place on mobile devices, and Google now shows a different set of results for users on those screens. Optimizing your website for mobile is vital. Failure to do it can cut your audience in half.
2| Master Voice Searches
Voice searches are growing at a rapid rate and will be the next big thing. The search terms used by voice commands are vastly different to what users would type. Use your blog and webpages to create conversational, yet professional and optimized, content.
3| Increase Site Speed
Of the 200+ metrics used to rank pages, site speed is one of the most influential. Compressing images, combining files, and choosing asynchronous loading can all help. When your site takes over 3 seconds to load, the SEO ranking will suffer – as will the UX.
4| Optimize Titles & Subheadings
Keywords and on-page SEO tricks are important, but the title tags carry the greatest weight. Make sure that all webpages, blog posts, and web content are built with this in mind. The headings have a huge impact too, especially the H1 – hence why this page has one.
5| Consider The Navigation Links
When a page and keyword appears on the navigation menu, it appears on every page of your site. This gives it greater importance as far as the SERPs are concerned. So, if you can include pages that could boost your SEO, do it.
6| Use Google My Business
The GMB listing is a free resource, so you’d be a fool not to use it. It ensures that your Charlottesville company shows on the maps feature, which can aid local traffic (40% of all searches are local searches) while also linking back to your website.
7| Focus On Opportunity Keywords
Keywords are still the heartbeat of SEO, but you need to target the right ones. Use SEO tools to analyze the click-through-rates (CTRs) of organic words and pick one that will actively generate large levels of traffic. After all, featuring on the first page is pointless without leads.
Do all of the above, and your search engine visibility will soar.
SEO Practices That No Longer Require Major Attention
While following the right practices is essential, it’s equally crucial to avoid the wrong ones. Poor practices include those that will consume a lot of your time as well as those that can actively harm your SEO presence.
Here are some of the most common issues to consider.
1| Duplicate Content
When you are wanting to rank highly on a specific term, it can be tempting to create duplicate web pages and landing pages that merely change the location. Sadly, this is something that the Google algorithm will soon realize and penalize you for. All content should be unique.
2| Spam Comments
Getting backlinks to your site from authoritative sites is a priority for all. In theory, posting comments that include backlinks achieves this. In reality, though, they don’t make any impact and are a waste of time. If anything, they’ll simply harm your reputation.
3| Cloaking
Cloaking is essentially the idea of giving search engine HTML text that does not link up with what human visitors see. So, you could use deliver text to Google while users never see that text on the page due to the fact it isn’t visible. Once Google realizes this, penalties will occur.
4| Keyword Stuffing
Once upon a time, keyword stuffing was very useful and could seriously boost your SEO. Nowadays, advanced algorithms mean you should avoid this. Overusing words when there is no logical reason to use them will result in penalties.
Continue to persist with these ideas, and the good work completed elsewhere will be made redundant.
The Final Word
SEO is still the most important aspect of your Charlottesville business’ digital marketing strategy, and it’s vital that your time and energy is spent on the right ideas. Gain success here to see traffic and conversions soar like never before.