S – Search – E – Engine – O – Optimization

You know you need it but what does it really mean?  According to Wikipedia here is the full definition.  “Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of growing the quality and quantity of website traffic by increasing the visibility of a website or a web page to users of a web search engine.  SEO refers to the improvement of unpaid results (known as “natural” or “organic” results) and excludes direct traffic and the purchase of paid placement.”

Tips to improve your visibility on Google

Some important things that can be done to improve your search results in no particular order.

• Clear navigation and UX – user experience factors
• Updating the website frequently – this is one of the most important things that can be done
• Responsive design – mobile-friendly
• Use search engine friendly URLs
• Setup Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools
• SSL – Secure Socket Layer purchased through the host
• Infusing relevant keywords in text copy
• Good word count – Google wants there to be enough content to make your site worthy of ranking.  Suggested
  Home page content – 200 to 300 words of static content
  Inner pages – 300 to 500 words – this needs to be updated regularly
  Blog posts – Minimum of 500 words if possible. The more content, the better
• Identify and remove duplicate content
• Remove anything that slows down your site. Large files!
• Include Backlinks – Link to other websites with relevant content
• Encourage other trustworthy sites to link to you
• Write content for humans first, search engines second
• Write unique and relevant meta descriptions for every page
• Utilize Social Media and link to your site
• If you still have your blog or mobile site on a different URL, you need to have them all live on your website
• If you still aren’t blogging, you need to be! Ask us about our blogging services

Design Elements

Design elements are an essential part of helping Google find your site. Good SEO that is built into your website helps search engines understand what a person would see and what value they would get if they visited your website. This way, search engines can reliably provide what search results a person would consider high-quality content when they enter a search request.

There are many things that can affect SEO and it is a process that must be maintained frequently within your website to receive the greatest results. Good website design will include specific elements that Google wants the designer to integrate. To obtain better ranking among your competitors, writing content that uses relevant keywords, tagging all images properly, and making monthly changes will all show Google that your website is ‘alive and breathing’.

Other essential considerations

If you want to be on the first page of Google results, the only one guarantee is buying into Google Ads (formally Google AdWords) https://ads.google.com/. Grateful Web Services can help you with the Google Ads process but additional fees will need to be paid directly to Google for this.

Additional important steps you should take to improve your ranking are to create a Google My Business page showing client reviews and being active on social media sites. Grateful Web Services can help with this too!

Important

The following statement is important! Because Google search ranking is organic and can change throughout the day, NO company can promise you a certain placement. If anyone promises you a certain ranking on Google, run! SEO is a many-pronged process and must be consistently maintained. Grateful Web Services can help navigate all of your SEO needs. We do our best to help facilitate the process, design accordingly, and making sure your content remains fresh and updated often. SEO is not a destination but a journey.