The Best SEO Practices
Search engine optimization (SEO) is an essential consideration for any website owner keen to draw in visitors. Search engine optimization has been around for almost as long as search engines themselves. Legend has it that SEO was first pursued by the disgruntled manager of the band Jefferson Starship in 1997. Annoyed that ‘Starship were not featured on the first page of results for searches of their name, he set about optimizing their website so that it would rank higher. His practices were rudimentary – early search engines were primarily directory driven. These days, SEO is far more complex and pluralistic – reflecting the complexity of revised search engine algorithms. Here are some of the most effective Search Engine Optimization practices being employed by clever developers and site owners today.
Keep it Compatible
Mobile compatibility is an extremely important ranking factor with Google. This makes a great deal of sense – over half of all browsing is done on mobile devices, and Google has a vested interest in leading users to sites they can actually comprehend. In order to be mobile compatible, a site needs to be fully scalable, feature simple navigation, and have minimal use of long tracts of text.
Keywords
Keywords are (cough cough) key to thesearch engine performance of a website. A keyword is what a search engine user actually types into Google or a similar website in order to find something specific. Including the right keywords in your content is largely a case of doing your research thoroughly. If you have done your market research correctly, then you should be able to logically work out what your target audience might be searching for. It is important to include keywords in your content in a natural way. Modern search engine algorithms are able to detect keyword farms and pages overstuffed with the ‘right’ words.
Keep it Quick
Loading speed is another ranking factor that will determine just how well your page is positioned when the keywords you have included on your site are searched for. Your website needs to be able to load quickly, which is why one of the best website design agencies – ALT Agency – prioritizes loading speed when putting together client sites. Search engines prioritize loading speed for the same reason they prioritize mobile compatibility: they want to give their users the best experience on the internet they can so that they remain popular. If a website is slow to load, users might turn away from the search engine that pointed them in its direction.
Good Quality Leads to Good Ranking
Search engine algorithms are becoming more and more intelligent in order to lead users to the most relevant sites possible. Google, for instance, utilizes machine learning to assess the context of content on sites. This means that you need to put a great deal of effort into the quality of your content if you want your site to be ranked well. Make your content informative, relevant, and, most importantly, human. An active blog covering your field of industry is a great way of producing search engine-friendly content on a website.