Are you getting the most out of your website? It’s often the first face your company presents to the world, and first impressions are important. When people search for products or services similar to what you’re offering, you want to maximize the chances that Google will place your business front and center in the search results, making it all the more surprising why many companies don’t optimize their web pages for SEO.
On-page SEO refers to optimizing your base web page to increase your search engine ranking and drive traffic to your site. This can be very simple, and it can deliver promising results in terms of increased traffic and click-throughs. Here are five ways to take a less-than-ideal website and optimize it to become a powerhouse.
Create a Clear and Compelling Headline
It’s sad but true that you might have only seconds to grab a visitor’s attention and get them to click through and make a purchase or sign up for a newsletter. That’s why it’s all the more important that the first thing they see makes them want to see more. Most top online marketers subscribe to a simple principle called the 80/20 rule.
The 80/20 rule refers to the fact that only two will read all the text out of the eight in ten people who will read the headline. That makes your headline the most critical part of your text.
To craft a compelling headline, it helps to use numbers and strong, action-based verbs. Make the reader feel like you’re talking to them, ask them a question, and give them a reason to search for more and take action.
Write High-Quality Content
Having a regular supply of content is key to having your page continue to rank, meaning you may want to commit to a blog and a regular updating schedule. But it’s not enough to publish content – you need to publish content Google will approve of. The search engine keeps a critical eye on what it indexes and uses the E-A-T metric to rank them.
E-A-T stands for Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness. Each of these factors plays into your search ranking. Expertise refers to how experienced and knowledgeable the piece’s author is of the subject. Authoritativeness refers to the site’s reputation among others in the field. Trustworthiness is primarily judged by how transparent the site is in its sources and the identity of the people running it.
Design Your Page With Users in Mind
It’s amazing how many times a company’s biggest stumbling block is its own website. You can have a great social media presence that kicks you up the search rankings, but it’ll only take you so far if your website frustrates people and leads them to click away without making a purchase. This can happen for a number of reasons, but the top culprit is usually confusion.
If your site has too many places to click and no clear way to search or order, you might frustrate people quickly. Many older websites were designed effectively for desktops but don’t have a mobile infrastructure. And with more users exclusively making their purchases on a tablet or smartphone, a modern, mobile-friendly design is more essential than ever. Know your users!
Choose the Right Keywords
No factor will be more important to your success in the search engine world than your keywords. This will determine your rank more than any other element. It’s important to find keywords that will be popular enough to drive traffic but not so popular that you’ll be going up against the heaviest hitters in the sector and competing for their scraps.
But there’s more to picking the right keywords than just popularity. You need to know your demographic and what they’re most likely to search for. That’s why tools like Ahrefs Keyword Explorer is becoming increasingly essential for digital-forward companies to stay competitive, as it can give vital insight into your customer base and how to reach them. Get started on using the platform through the following resource guide, Ahrefs Tool Guide: Keyword Explorer for e-Commerce.
Add Internal and External Links
Many people click away within seconds of coming into a site. You can’t control that, although you can influence where they wind up. Both internal and external links are key to maintaining traffic and search engine ranking. Providing convenient internal links can help point people exactly where they need to be to make those critical conversions.
But why do external links matter? Why do you want people to go to other sites? This can help you a lot if you find the right partner. Creating backlinks to other sites in partnerships with sites in the same field but not directly competitive can help you build a long-term network of awareness.
Optimize for Success
Now that you’ve optimized your site, what comes next? If your site is designed well, it should do much work for you. Your customers will know where to go, Google will point people in the right direction, and you’ll gain new fans consistently and organically.
