Because of consumers’ fixed dependence on the Internet, on-page search engine optimization (SEO) is now mandatory for all business marketing campaigns to work. Unfortunately, most marketing professionals mistake for SEO a complex and difficult undertaking because it involves coding, tagging and other apparently intimidating IT tasks. But, it’s actually easy once you start. Here are 5 easy-to-understand SEO habits to help you ease your way towards effectively marketing your business online:
#1 Always write for human beings.
Let me tell you a little about how SEO works. SEO banks on the premise that people will most likely visit a web page if it belongs to the top ten sites in search engine result pages (SERPs). To be on the first page of SERP, your web page content must be recognized by computer spiders or crawlers as one of the most popular or authoritative for the search term the searcher used. SEO writers either use high-ranking keywords in their website’s content or post one-of-a-kind, extremely insightful, fact-based articles on their sites to achieve this. The best writers do both.
The problem with some SEO writers is that they don’t craft informative articles and just fill the pages with keywords for the spiders to detect. There are also some who just rehash old articles just to increase the number of keyword mentions and website links. You have to remember that computer users are actual human beings who are looking for information that they can use. While it’s true that Google ranks videos and media higher than other types of assets for specific keywords, unique, smart and well-formatted web content still rule the roost.
#2 Write market-specific, descriptive titles.
Users don’t have time to click all the links that will appear in SERP. To help them decide, make sure your titles summarize the content found on your website, but pattern these titles after the needs of your market. What does this mean? Put yourself in the shoes of a typical searcher belonging to your target market, and think of how he or she might phrase his or her searches. Base your title on that. Putting the appropriate high-ranking keyword on the title might help you, but it’s not necessary. Always remember that good writing will always reign supreme.
#3 Make a short but powerful meta description.
Meta descriptions are HTML attributes that give a concise profile of a web page’s content. They are usually used as info snippets in search engine result pages (SERPs). While not vital for boosting search engine rankings, meta descriptions are critically significant in amassing user clicks in SERPs. These one-paragraph descriptions are opportunities to tell your users if your page had what they’re looking for and sell the content of your page in the process.
An effective meta description tag should include a high-ranking keyword and must clearly explain what the page’s content is about. It must be at least 100-150 characters long and must target human readers, not spiders. Make it as catchy as possible.
#4 Go mobile.
There are still a myriad of websites that are not compatible with mobile devices. Don’t be one of them. A huge chunk of the population uses mobile devices when surfing so you have to make your pages responsive, such that when they are viewed in tablets and cloud phones, no important content may be lost.
#5 Take advantage of Google’s AuthorRank metric.
Make sure that the authors of your web content have a credible Google+ profile that is properly linked to your website and other pertinent blogs. AuthorRank is critically influential in SEO, so you better make yours authoritative. It will help you get to the first page of SERP, as well as increase your website’s click rate.
