Understanding Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Basics

Search engine optimization or (SEO) has been a phrase that has been a while for a while.

What used to be a way to easily up your rankings on search engines by keyword stuffing (adding many keywords to a website to rank) and black-hat link building (creating a lot of low quality linking websites or spammy links) has now become a bit more organized.

Unfortunately, that means you can no longer trick search engines with the above and need a solid SEO strategy to begin to organically rank on the SERP's to the coveted first page search results.

Having a good content strategy is key with SEO and content means everything from your website copy, meta descriptions, blogs, and alt text, along with all other organic efforts. SEO calls for a lot of unison between all copy you have out there.

Website Copy

This can be your hero section paragraph, services page, or about me. You want your website copy to be thorough, easily scanned by readers, and offer keywords you wish to rank for in a conversational way. This copy can also help with meta data pulled from your web pages into search engine results.

Blogs

Your blogs are a great way to practice SEO by creating informative copy to your audience to present yourself as a thought-leader and drive action to your website. Ensure blogs are optimized to be easily read on different devices, involve key phrases in spots such as the title, headers, and within the paragraphs (used conversationally). Updating your blog with new content or updating older blogs is also good for SEO boosts.

Alt-text

An often missed website SEO opportunity is alt-text for images. Search engines can read alt-text provided for images for when they cannot load. Providing key words and location based phrasing can help search engines know your picture is a "couple standing outside of City Hall in Philadelphia after sunset."

​The list of ways to optimize your website and search results for SEO is endless but this is a starting point to help understand what SEO is and why it is important for slower but sustainable growth for your website's ranking on search engines.

There is a more more one can learn about search engine optimization best practices and considerations for both on-page SEO and off-page SEO.

Still overwhelmed and need a digital marketing specialist to help you with your business digital marketing? Get in contact with me at https://www.sardegeorge.com/contact-sarah.html and let's chat about your business marketing goals.