SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
SEO/SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
Sachs Marketing Group is a full-service SEO or Search Engine Optimization company, offering both local SEO services and enterprise SEO services. No matter your business's size, nature, or location, we've got the tools and expertise to help you get more customers through increased search engine visibility.
What is Search Engine Optimization?
Search Engine Optimization or "SEO" is the process of making your website more appealing to Google and other search engines. It involves many factors, from the keywords used in the title and text of your webpages, to the time users spend on your website, and even the number of links to and from your website. SEO professionals use a variety of tactics to improve rankings.
SEO is far more complex than this – as it's speculated there are over 200 ranking factors the search engines use to determine ranking for any keyword. While the algorithms that determine ranking are held under lock and key, experienced marketers have conducted tests and analyzed data to learn what works and what doesn't.
Ultimately, search engines are just like you – aiming to please their customers. If users aren't happy with the results they get for their searches, then they'll go elsewhere to find what they're looking for. SEO algorithms have changed dramatically over the years, all in an effort to improve the quality of content on the web, and make the user experience better.
In the early days, it was easy to rank for anything, whether it was related to your site or not – all you had to do was stuff keywords, a practice known as keyword stuffing, in your webpage, and you were good to go. Now? Ranking requires more effort, and relies on creating a valuable resource for your target audience, focusing on the users first, and the search engines second.
The SEO process can be broken down into two key components, each with their own series of best practices.
ON-PAGE SEO
This is the part of SEO that's done on your website. It involves numerous elements, and when optimized correctly, goes a long way to getting you ranked for your desired keywords. During on-page SEO, we look at:
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A good website structure translates to a good user experience. Everything should be built using a logical hierarchy, so that users can easily find what they're looking for. Plus, the better your website structure is, the easier it is for the search engine bots to crawl and index. Bots will not automatically discover everything on your website, so it's up to you to make it easy for them.
Part of your structure should include an SEO-friendly URL. Use keywords in your URL. For instance: http://buydogcollars.com/sparkly-collars, http://buydogcollars.com/personalized-collars, http://buydogcollars.com/leather-collars, and so on.
Since mobile traffic has surpassed desktop traffic, it's important to create a seamless user experience regardless of what device a user is coming to you on. Responsive design automatically adjusts your website to look appropriate for a computer, a tablet, or a smartphone, so that users continue to have an excellent experience across the board. Mobile-friendliness was added as a ranking factor in April 2015.
This file tells the search engine crawlers which files to read and which ones to ignore.
This file tells the search engines how many pages should be indexed on the website. As webmasters add additional pages, they can resubmit the sitemap to have the new pages included.
This is where things start getting intense, because your page content is where the bulk of your keywords and LSI phrases will be. Use heading tags throughout to logically break up your text for easier reading. Each page should also have ALT text on all images and videos that use descriptive keywords to ensure those that are using assistive devices can still understand what's on the page.
These are links to other pages on your website. As with outbound links, they should be related to the content on the page. For instance, if you've written a blog post about how to choose the right dog breed for your lifestyle, you can link it to other posts you've written about various breeds.
Everything on your page - the code, images, videos, and other elements - is data. All of that data affects how fast your page loads. If it takes too long, users will click off of it in favor of another source. In fact, 47% of people expect a website to load in two seconds or less, and 40% will abandon a website that takes three seconds or longer to load.
Though social signals don't play a direct role in your ranking, making it easy for your audience to share your content with their own will help get more eyeballs on your content. The more people who see your content, the higher the chance someone will link to it.
OFF-PAGE SEO
As the name suggests, this is the part of SEO or search engine optimization that takes place elsewhere online. The main focus is to build links to your website from other sources, so you become recognized as a valuable resource. We help address this in a number of ways, and craft a strategy that aligns with your brand.
COMMON LINK BUILDING METHODS INCLUDE:
- Submitting guest posts to other websites and blogs.
- Commenting on popular blogs in your niche.
- Using Help a Reporter Out to volunteer as a source for things reporters are writing about.
- Creating a valuable resource other websites can link to in order to educate their audience.
- Creating YouTube videos.
- Writing a press release announcing your new website or any company news.
- Linking to your website in your email and forum signatures.
- Creating and distribute infographics.
Beyond building backlinks, the idea is that you want people to become aware of your website and your brand. This means using a variety of techniques to spread the word.
OPTIONS INCLUDE:
- Actively participating in social media groups or creating your own social media group.
- Running ads on Google Ads or social media platforms to jumpstart the traffic flow.
- Listing your website in appropriate online directories.
- Sharing business documents like presentations and brochures on external websites like SlideShare.
- Actively participating in question and answer websites like Quora, Yahoo Answers, and Answer Bag.
Once you get the on-page SEO handled, you may need to make adjustments based on what you find out about your traffic. That's where Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools can come in handy. Always install analytics, so you can track which pages are the most popular on your website, and learn more about your audience – how long they're staying on your site, which pages they come in on, which pages they leave on, where they're coming from, what browser they're using and more. Google Webmaster Tools can help you make sure your sitemap is properly submitted, whether or not you have any broken links or crawl issues and more.
Off-page SEO is an ongoing effort. New websites and competition pop up all the time. Continuous efforts to keep your rankings high are necessary, because the rankings are never static.
Let us help you navigate SEO for your business. Call us today.
