SEO Basics

“When it comes to SEO,
some things are better
left to the pros.”

Let’s Get Started

If you are taking the steps to improve your business, then a great website is essential. There are plenty of factors to consider when creating your website. Does the website give users a pleasant visit experience? Is the content styled to fit the brand voice? Does the design integrate the logo well? These are important considerations to make, but they are all irrelevant if customers cannot find your website organically. At SEO Long Island, we have 15 years of experience in the search engine optimization world. Read on to learn about how SEO can help more customers to find your business, and increase profits.

What is SEO?

93% of all online experiences begin with a search engine. SEO, or search engine optimization, helps more customers to find your website and your business.

After your website is completed and your business is well represented, the work is far from over. In order to attract customers, they need to be able to reach the website via Google, and other search engines. With the right strategy and diligent efforts, you may experience a massive increase in exposure. Your goal should always be to reach the first page of Google, and maximize your credibility.

There are a few different aspects of SEO. Each of them is important. Together, they will help you to generate more sales.

Keyword Use Through Content

Content will be the bulk of your SEO efforts, and for a good reason: content is king. The age-old adage is still true, even in the modern search engine world.

In order to rank well on a Google search, your website must utilize particular keywords strategically. You should select these keywords based on the pages that you are trying to rank for. For example, if your website sells outdoor rain jackets, then you might want to rank for keywords like “rain jacket mens”, or a variant like “mens rain jacket”.

Writing content is the primary way to achieve these rankings. By writing specific blog posts that impart usable information while using these keywords, your website will begin to rank for these searches. Thanks to Google’s complex and intuitive algorithm, you may rank for related searches as well.

Technical SEO

Because Google prioritizes websites that offer a great user experience, technical SEO is a must. Slow load times mean that your website will have a higher bounce rate, and consequently, less visitors.

Google is constantly using bots to “crawl” your websites to investigate these load times, among other factors. These factors include:

  • Alt Tags: Alt tags describe images to both search engines and users who cannot see.
  • Title Tags: Title tags name webpages for search engines, so that the purpose is clear and concise.
  • Meta Descriptions: Meta descriptions inform Google about the subject of the content. They also appear as a brief summary on the Google results page.
  • Code: A disorderly code structure will slow the flow of a searcher’s visit, and so it is bad for SEO. This applies to both HTML and CSS.

These factors, amongst others, help search engines like Google to determine the technical value of a website.

Site Structure

An organized, thoughtful site structure will yield many benefits to your website. But, there are specific benefits regarding SEO.

As you create your product or services pages and blog content, it’s important to link to various pages. Google can determine which page is the most important by examining which page receives the most links. The more links that a particular page has received, the more important the creator has deemed it to be.

So, linking is important. But being deliberate in selecting which pages to link to is important as well. When one page receives more links, Google will deem it more important, and be more likely to have it appear in search results. This process is also important for users.

Tracking/Analytics

The best decisions are informed decisions. SEO tracking software allows people to monitor the progress of their website.

One key feature of SEO analytics is tracking the progress of SEO for particular keywords. By monitoring the progress of these keywords, you can make decisions about what to prioritize, and how the website can be further improved. Tracking programs also alert website owners of backlinks, and help them to choose whether the link should be positively or negatively acknowledged.

Can I do SEO By Myself?

While it may seem easy to write blog posts about your own industry or add new images, SEO is much more than that. For the best results, it’s important to have an overarching SEO strategy.

To improve the searcher experience, Google is constantly changing its search algorithm. These algorithm changes are important to pay attention to, as they could significantly affect rankings. For example, in January of 2018, Google announced that mobile site speed would impact rankings. The Maccabees Update, which took place in December of 2017, also affected websites that were not optimized for mobile. Specifically, it affected websites with pages that did not have Schema markup, or instructions for Google about how to display the page on search engine results pages. So, paying attention to these factors is imperative in developing a positive internet presence.

Moving in the opposite direction may be just as harmful as the positive direction is helpful. Poorly written blog posts, linking to the same page, and other SEO blunders will cause Google to penalize your website. This means that, before earning positive rankings, you will have to recover from these mistakes.

How Can SEO Long Island Help?

At SEO Long Island, we can help you to develop a new SEO strategy to improve your web presence. With a simple monthly plan, you can earn more customers while also building a library of informational marketing materials. We can help you to optimize your website on your own terms, with your budget. Contact us to learn more about how we can create an all-encompassing plan improve your website.