What is SEO?
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of impacting the visibility of a website in a search engine’s unpaid and organic search results.
This applies to all major search engines: Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Each of these search engines have their own method of determining how a site should rank, but in this post, we are going to focus more on Google.
How does it work?
Google deploys bots that journey across the internet to visit websites and collect information, or index.
Google’s constantly changing algorithm then assesses the information, and based on the algorithm at the time, determines how the sites should rank within the search results. This is done to ensure that users are provided with the best possible experience when searching the web.
How to get Google to rank your site?
Content – Search engines love fresh, interesting content. So if you don’t have a blog, or a lot of content on your site, start writing!
Website Usability – Is your site mobile-friendly and easy to navigate? If it’s not responsive, and has broken links and images, it’s not going to rank well.
Link Building – If other sites link to your site, this tells Google that you are a site worth visiting. Reach out to other site owners and work out an agreement where you can exchange content and link to each other’s sites.
Onsite Optimization – Titles, keywords, meta descriptions, and alt tags that are relevant, unique, and helpful will strengthen your onsite SEO.
Local SEO – Turn on private browsing in your browser, (in order to not influence the rankings with your search history) and search for your product or service with your location. For example, if I wanted to see how Border7 was ranking in our area, I would search something like, “web design simi valley.” If you don’t rank on the first couple of pages, see what other businesses are doing. Make sure you have also setup a Google My Business account and provide your customers with a way to submit reviews that can be featured on your site in the future.
