Search engine optimization has never been a one-and-done gig, but too many businesses overlook the importance of continually refining their strategy. In order to stay current and improve your rank, you have to always be aware of what your customers are looking for, your audience’s behavior and trends that could help skyrocket your content to the top of search engine results pages (SERPs). You probably don’t have the time to rebuild your website’s SEO from the ground up, and the good news is that you don’t have to. These five tips can be done in a day and immediately improve your on-site SEO.
Update Hyperlinks
Run through your top-performing (or underperforming) pages, check their hyperlinks and update them with newer, more authoritative sites. While there are some sites that stand as good sources for years, most will become outdated within 12 months and should be updated with a higher-ranking source. You should also check the credibility of your links; when you want to affirm a source of information, is it coming from an authority on the topic, or is it just a good piece of content on an otherwise obscure site? You should also make sure all the links throughout your own website are fully functional, have fast response times and do not link to any error pages, which can earn you an SEO penalty.
Get Rid of Bulky Images and Videos
Large visual files slow down your website’s response time, which negatively impacts your search engine ranking. Make sure that any embedded images or videos have been compressed and are able to load quickly. If they’re strictly decorative or meant to entice the eyes alone, consider scaling them down or removing them entirely. Content is the best way to make your site stand out, and good SEO doesn’t come from simply having a nice aesthetic. You need to have your website’s pages grounded in optimized text that’s accentuated rather than carried by visual flare.
Add Links to Other Sites
When you’re learning how to improve SEO, you may be surprised that you’re told to direct traffic away from your site. No one wants to send business elsewhere, and you shouldn’t link to direct competitors. But linking to other sources helps build a network back to your own site. By focusing on providing content that matches your viewers’ intent, you’ll be able to gain greater conversions, multiply your revenue and drive more traffic.
Read Your Latest SEO Report
Web analytics help you know exactly what’s working on your site and what you need to pay greater attention to. Many elements would go otherwise unnoticed if it weren’t for the metrics designed specifically to track them; get your Google Analytics or preferred SEO analysis tool up and running ASAP. Run through the report and cover anything that can be addressed in a day. You may even find that there are strikes against your site that need to be remedied immediately. Aim for a thorough review of your entire SEO strategy and web performance at least once a month.
Update Your URLs
Even your site’s pages can have keyword-rich URLs, and they should. Avoid anything that has a generic extension like yoursitehere.com/blog/post/1234569. This does no favors for your ranking, and leaving it as-is deprives your content the opportunity to be seen. SEO is all about matching search queries with the best solutions. You can boost your chances of being seen by ensuring your website is structured using only keyword-optimized URLs.
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