If you have an online business, it’s helpful to understand how SEO works. In this article, I’m covering what you need to know about SEO, explained in simple terms. Mastering a few simple steps to improve SEO can boost your online visibility and help you connect with your target audience.
With millions of online websites today, it can be frustrating when you do a Google search as your customers would, but your website doesn’t appear in the search results. For your site to show up in Google, you need to know what Google is looking for and how to add those things to your pages and blog posts.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the acronym for making websites more search-engine friendly. In this article, I’ll explain how search engines work, what SEO means, and why business owners with an online presence should care about SEO. Plus, I’ll give you some actionable tips on how to improve your website’s SEO.
What’s SEO?
Search Engines are the websites that browse the internet when you use keywords – Google, Yahoo, Bing, and Microsoft Explorer.
To Optimize means “make the best or most effective use of.” So when we refer to search engine optimization, it means setting up your website to get the best possible results from search engines.
SEO is a way to make your website more visible and easier to find on search engines like Google. It’s like putting up signs to help people find your store in a crowded mall.
How Search Engines Work
Before we learn how to optimize something for search engines, it’s a good idea to understand how search engines work.
Think of search engines as powerful guides that help us find information online. They send little programs called ‘crawlers’ to explore websites and collect data about them. These ‘crawlers’ look at the words and pictures on each page and make an extensive list, like a library catalog called an index.
When we search on the internet, the search engine looks through its index and finds the most relevant websites. It uses algorithms (rules) to decide which websites to show first. Then, it shows us a list of websites on a page called the search results.
Search Engines Optimization Basics Video Below:
Why is SEO Important?
If you’re an entrepreneur or small business owner, your website’s SEO significantly impacts your online visibility and success. When someone searches on Google, you want your website to rank on the first few pages. People typically click on the top results, so it’s harder for potential customers to find you if your website isn’t there.
However, with good SEO, your website can climb higher in the search results, making it more likely for people to discover your business. We call this organic traffic. Improving your website’s SEO increases your chances of showing up higher in search results, driving more website traffic and potential customers.
SEO is also a cost-effective way to attract customers compared to other paid forms of advertising (like Facebooks ads, Google Ads, etc.).
Two Components of SEO
There are two primary components of SEO: onsite and offsite. Onsite SEO refers to the actions you can take directly on your website to improve its search engine optimization. On the other hand, Offsite SEO involves actions taken by others on their websites to enhance your website’s SEO. This article primarily focuses on onsite SEO since it gives you greater control over the optimization process.
Ways to Improve Your Website’s SEO
By using specific keywords and organizing your website in a way that makes sense, you can help search engines understand your website and show it to people looking for something related. Here are my top tips for improving your website’s SEO.
1) Organize Your Website Clearly
Organizing your website for SEO is essential to improve its visibility and attract more customers. Arrange your website in a way that makes sense, like having different sections for different topics.
Imagine you have a bakery business and want to optimize your website. Start by dividing your website into different sections, such as “Cakes,” “Pastries,” “Breads,” and “Special Occasions.” Each section should have its own dedicated page with relevant content and keywords. For example, on the “Cakes” page, you can showcase different cake flavors and designs.
2) Focus on User Experience
A positive user experience is vital for SEO. People don’t want to think too hard when visiting a website. Menus, navigation, pages, and posts should be easy to find and read. Use clear menus and buttons to help visitors quickly find what they want.
Ensure your website loads quickly and is easy to navigate on devices like phones and computers. To make your website load faster, optimize your images by compressing them. A well-structured and user-friendly website helps search engines index your pages more effectively.
3) Use Keywords
Think about the words people might use to find your website and use them on your site. Include those words in headings (like titles or section names) and paragraphs. For example, if you have a website about baking, make sure to mention words like “recipes,” “baking tips,” or “delicious treats” in your content.
4) Use Section Headings
Use headings like H1 (main title) and H2 (subtitles) to indicate the purpose of each section and its content. For instance, on the “Cakes” page, you can showcase different cake flavors, designs, and customization options. Use headings like H1 (main title) and H2 (subtitles) to indicate the purpose of each section and its content. For example, the H1 heading for the “Cakes” page could be “Delicious Custom Cakes for Every Celebration,” while H2 headings could be “Birthday Cakes,” “Wedding Cakes,” and “Cupcakes.”
5) Describe Your Images With Alt-Text
I’ve written several blog posts about images and their importance on your website. If you have images in your content, add Alt-Text to describe them using short phrases. For example, if you have a picture of a dog, the Alt-Text could be “A happy dog playing in the park.” This helps search engines understand what the image is about.
6) Get Others Talking About You
Ask other websites or blogs to mention your website and link to it. This is called a backlink. You can contact them and share your website’s link, asking if they could include it in their content. For example, if you have a website about gardening, you can ask gardening bloggers if they would be interested in mentioning your website and linking to it in one of their articles. This is an example of the off-site component of SEO.
7) Install the Yoast SEO or Rank Math Plugin
WordPress alone is a very SEO-friendly platform. However, Yoast SEO and Rank Math are popular WordPress plugins for SEO. This plugin will suggest improvements in content structure, readability, and meta tags. Yoast also helps you choose relevant keywords and optimize titles and headings. It generates XML sitemaps for easier indexing by search engines. Making changes based on Yoast’s recommendations will improve your site’s visibility and reach in search engine results.
Small Steps to Improve SEO
While hiring an SEO expert is always an option, it’s not typically cost-effective for a small business. However, you can do a few simple things to improve your website’s SEO and help potential customers find you.
When your website is organized in a user-friendly, people will enjoy visiting, and search engines will rank it higher. Search engines can better understand your content by using keywords, heading tags, and alt-tags, making it more likely for potential customers to find your site when searching for specific products or services.
Investing a little time and effort into improving your website’s SEO can help ensure that more people see your website. You’ll get more organic traffic and boost sales.
Keep Learning!
Just as you don’t need an expensive web designer to create your website, you don’t need to hire an expensive SEO expert. You can do a little at a time to improve you’re site’s SEO.
If you have a WordPress website and need more help with SEO, Email Marketing, Social Media, and other ways to take your business to the next level, join my intermediate course, the Website Marketing Workshop.
Also, be sure to review our full glossary of website-building terms. It’s a great place to start if you encounter WordPress terms you don’t understand.
