Search Engine Optimization or SEO is often seen as something that is overly complicated. When approach from this point of view, SEO can be a bit daunting for many site owners. You can always have a team of SEO experts assisting you every step of the way to make this a lot simpler.
SEO is seen as a complicated thing to do for a number of reasons. In the old days, search engine crawlers and algorithms are more difficult to understand. They use a series of mathematical formulas to determine your site’s value. Today, however, search engines value humane factors more than just technical aspects. Even better, no single SEO expert can fully understand how Google ranks websites. This is because the mechanics behind Google’s search engine – and other search engines on the market – are now completely secret.
As the algorithm behind search engines shifts, the way we do SEO changes as well. SEO requires more generic elements and good user experience than high-density keywords and codes. At the end of the day, you too can do your own SEO campaign and be successful without having to worry about technical stuff. We are going to discuss how you can achieve that in this article.
Good Overall User Experience
To start improving your site, the first thing you need to do is pay attention to the user experience. You need to offer absolutely spotless user experience in order for the site to perform well SEO-wise. A few things that will help you get started are:
- Add a consistent navigation menu
- Make sure users can find the information they are looking for quickly
- Make sure the site appears nice and clean
- Be sure to have the site loads quickly
- Design the site so that it appears correctly when viewed from different devices, particularly mobile devices.
High Quality Content
The king of any website is still its content. Writing high quality, engaging content that will keep users interested is part of the things you need to do to boost your site’s SEO performance. Instead of worrying about keywords and other technical details, focus more on topics your users are interested in.
You should also design your articles to be more viewer-friendly. Instead of writing one long article, divide them into subheadings with each focusing on a specific part of the topic you are discussing. Add lists, pointers and other elements to make the article more readable.
Lastly, be sure to write error-free articles. Proofread your articles and check for grammar mistakes before publisihing them.
Building Authority
The sub-title may seem daunting at first, but building authority for your site and yourself as a source is an important part of the campaign. It is actually very simple. All you have to do is connect with other bloggers and site owners, publish good articles on their websites and get backlinks for your site in return.
Google and other search engines review these backlinks and take them into considerations. Instead of buying thousands of generic backlinks like the old days, focusing on building relationships with other websites is the better way to go.
Get Social
We can’t talk about SEO without talking about social media. Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram and various other social networks are hot these days. Set up pages on these networks and start connecting with your viewers directly.
Social networking sites are great sources of backlinks. They also offer the chance to interact with your visitors directly on a daily basis. As the name suggests, social media is about going social. Instead of just sharing contents, be sure to respond to questions and interact with other users.
Go Local!
If you are a business targeting a local market segment, then this next step is a must. Going local can help you gain better local exposure, which in turn will help you reach the target market you are aiming for more effectively. Local SEO is just as simple – if not simpler – as generic SEO as well.
You can start by setting up Business Pages on popular search engines and directories. Once this step is completed, you can start adding local elements (i.e. the name of the city you are based in) to your pages. Your site will rank higher when a user from the area search for a product or service you are offering.
Based on everything that has been outlined so far, do you now feel more confident when it comes down to doing your own SEO campaign? Like it has been insinuated, if you do not have a budget which is high enough, then handling SEO on your own shouldn’t be that much of an issue in case you know what you are doing. Another tip which you should definitely follow is to make sure that you ask questions whenever you are unsure of something. There are tons of forums about internet marketing strategies, so you will surely find people who are willing to help.
Will you try to do your own SEO campaign in the near future? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
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