There are many things you can do to improve SEO on your site and get more organic search traffic. In this post, we’ll cover 7 easy SEO techniques you can implement right away. No code or complex strategies required!
P.S. Scroll to the bottom of the page for a handy infographic!
1. Add keywords to each page
In case you’re not familiar with keywords, they are essentially the terms that people type into search engines in order to find information about a certain topic. Keywords improve SEO by directing search engine users to relevant content on your website. The more clicks your site gets from a keyword search, the higher your site will rank in the search engine results. When selecting keywords, there are a few important things to keep in mind. First, it’s preferable to use a long-tail keyword (3 or more words), which will have less search ranking competition than a single word keyword. For instance, “branding strategy tips” vs. simply “branding.” Second, you’ll want to select a unique keyword for each page of your site. Finally, make sure the keyword appears both within the content of your page, as well as in the page metadata, which I’ll cover in the next step.
2. Update metadata
Metadata may sound like a scary technical term, but it’s actually pretty simple and important to understand in order to improve SEO. There are three metadata categories that you’ll want to update:
- Title metadata: This refers to the title of the page, and what appears in the browser tab.
- Description metadata: This refers to a short description of the page content, which appears underneath the page title in search engine results.
- Image metadata: Each image you upload your site needs a title and “alt” tag, which describe the contents of the image.
The page title, description, and image metadata should all include your keyword for the page. The title should be as straightforward as possible–think about what users would actually type into search engines. The description should include a short summary of the page content, so that users (and Google bots) can see at first glance what value they’ll get from visiting your page. Similarly, the image title and alt tag should accurately describe the image, ideally as it relates to the keyword and page content.
3. Optimize images
A slow loading website does not rank well in search results because it provides a poor user experience. And one of the primary culprits in slow websites is large images files. Always compress images before uploading them to your site using a tool like TinyPNG. This tool reduces the size of the image without compromising quality. Images that are too small and pixelated aren’t good for SEO either. Alternatively, WordPress users can use a plugin like Smush to optimize the images that are already uploaded to your site, which can be a huge time saver.
4. Fix broken links
One of the easiest ways to improve SEO is to fix broken links on your site. Broken links are harmful for SEO because, again, they create a poor user experience. The easiest way to check for broken links is to use a free tool like Broken Link Check. In just minutes, you’ll get a report of all the broken links on your site. Fixing them shouldn’t take long either, depending on how big your site is.
5. Add social sharing buttons
Adding social sharing buttons is a great and easy way to get more traffic to your site. While adding the buttons won’t in and of itself improve SEO, over time, they’ll generate more traffic as your content gets spread across the web. The more widespread your content, the greater the likelihood that other websites will link back to your content. These backlinks are excellent SEO boosters because they increase the authority of your domain. Adding social sharing buttons on WordPress is free and easy–I personally use the Sassy Social Share plugin.
6. Update older content
Do you have a year or more’s worth of blog content on your site? You may want to revisit those older posts and update the content. Search engines prioritize fresh content. In addition, you may find that some of your info is outdated or no longer relevant. And even if your older posts are still completely relevant, maybe you can add a few more points to flesh out the topic even more, especially for more popular posts.
7. Set up a Google Business profile
While Google Business profiles are especially important for local businesses, it doesn’t hurt to set one up for your online business. In fact, it’s a great and simple way to improve SEO. When I search for “Stephanie Corrigan Branding and Web Design” my Google Business profile is the first result that comes up. Within this profile, I include details such as my appointment booking link, business hours, website URL, plus a brief description of my services. It’s fairly minimal, and yet I have had leads find me through my Google Business profile and book a consultation. It only take a few minutes to set up your profile, so don’t hesitate!
Looking for help with SEO?
Here are a few ways I can support you:
- Click here to sign up for my free SEO masterclass. In this 45-minute training, I break down how SEO works and share actionable steps that you can start implementing on your website right away.
- Book a 1:1 Power Hour with me to get personalized feedback, support, and recommendations on anything you’re feeling stuck on in your business, SEO included.
- Book me for a day to get done-for-you SEO support.
Related post: How to create a homepage that converts
