SEO, stands for Search Engine Optimization and it's a fascinating, ever-changing and unknown world to most business owners. But here's the deal, it's absolutely pointless to have a beautiful website if search engines and potential clients cannot search for it!!
So here are 5 SEO Tips for Beginners that might help you get on the right path:
1. Meta Title & Meta Descriptions make it easier for users and search engines alike to understand what your site is about. These little pieces of information are extremely important in getting internet users to click on your site. Here's what it looks like:
All of your site's pages should have unique titles and descriptions and it's best if these contain a keyword (search term) you want to rank for.
In the example above, because the title, description and URL include the words: weddings, chable maroma; anyone searching for Chable Maroma Weddings will find Ael Becker's blog post on the first page of Google.
2. Long Tail Keywords. And while we are talking about Keywords, it's easier to rank for longer, niche specific search terms (known as Long Tail Keywords). Think: Riviera Maya Beachfront Resorts vs Riviera Maya Resorts.
3. Descriptive URL's. Write short and descriptive URL's to attract more traffic to your website and make sure these include one or two keywords. For example, if you are a wedding photographer, you might want to use the following structure:
Avoid creating automatic url's with numbers and names that simply will not help you rank: www.yourdomain/gallery-detail/weddings/234/2018-07-11/amelie-mike
4. Alt Text. or Alternative Text is the written copy that appears in place of an image on a webpage, if the image fails to load on a user's screen. It should be as descriptive as possible as it provides search engines, like Google, with valuable info about your content, so it can be presented to the right searchers.
5. Security. In an effort to provide the best experience for users, Google is clearly favoring HTTPS (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure) sites since 2018.
But what does this mean? A secure site means all exchanges of information between the browser and the site are encrypted and therefore "safe".
It's important to make this change because a non-secure site leads users to believe it has been hacked or compromised affecting the perceived credibility of your website. Yikes!
The fix? Ask your host for an SSL Certificate. Some offer it for an extra cost, others give it away for free.
If you found this helpful, please share and comment below. If you feel you need some SEO help, shoot me an e-mail!