Top SEO Tips

By Paul Mycroft | June 14, 2024 |

Being found in the search engines is crucial to any business. Being found on the first page (or in the top 10 of Google's endless scrolling results) is a bonus.

Here are 10 tips to make sure your website is as good as it can be.

Keyword research
Website page structure
Title tags
Meta Description tags
Alt tags
Inbound links (backlinks)
Content and headings
Google and Bing Webmaster Tools
Domain name renewal
Stop using the Meta keywords tag!

1. Keyword Research

You need to know what people are using to find your type of service TODAY before you do anything. Once you know your top phrases most likely to help you rank well, you can start to build your website structure.

Don't do this task after you have built your website!

You can use Google Ads' Keyword Planner tool (you will need an Ads account) and an Excel spreadsheet to keep everything organized.

If you already have a website, Google's Search Console provides great keyword performance, which can be exported. Re-sort for phrases you get clicks for and those you do not.

2. Website Page Structure

Site map

Use your keywords to help you lay your Site Map out. For example, your keyword phrases may be:

professional web design
email newsletters
local seo
wordpress care plans

In this case, your naming structure would be:

And if you are using Yoast's WordPress for SEO plugin, there are some great opportunities to put this into practice and help your site rank well.

3. 'Title' Tags

This is one of the most important places in a web page to place your keywords into. It's a hidden tag, located in the <head> of a web page.

We recommend using 1 or 2 of your main keyword phrases for the page separated by a | pipe character. For example, Keyword Phrase 1 | Keyword Phrase 2
Use your top-researched phrase first.
Try to limit the length to 60 characters (including spaces) or less as sometimes, a search engine will cut off your tag and replace it with a “…” if there are more.
If you have to incorporate your company name for branding purposes, “Professional Web Design & Development | Market 2 All” is better than just, “Professional Web Design & Development”, right?
Avoid “stop” words such as is, and, the, of, it.
Don’t repeat keywords.
Include your top keyword phrases logically, in a way that reads well, and describes what is on the page. Don’t just list them for the sake of listing them. Remember that you want people to click on your link.

4. 'Meta Description' Tags

Google ignores this tag for ranking but may display it if the keyword used is not present in your body copy. Also, Facebook imports it (along with the title tag) when you include a link in a post.

We recommend 150 characters or less (and 140 for a blog post) and definitely mention your company name.

5. 'Alt' Tags

An Alt tag – or Alternate tag – is text behind an image on your page. It describes what the image is to a browser and search engine, and is also read by screen readers.

If you add a link to an image to a page, the receiving page benefits from the words used in the Alt tag.

6. Inbound backlinks

These are your "bread and butter" in Google's eyes, providing huge importance in your ranking. They are links from other web pages.

The best inbound links are ones that come from authoritative, trusted domain names (e.g. business.com, usatoday.com).

You can check your current links using the free Link Explorer and also see what your competitors are using. But where to get inbound links? These are the "low hanging fruit" links:

Internal website links from internal page to internal page
Blog & forum participation
Friend- and family-run web sites
Clients and suppliers - testimonials
Local organizations, Associations, Chambers of Commerce profiles
Social media profiles
Google Places listings

7. Content and Headings

The meat of the website, what the search engines love to scan for keywords and relevant content. You should ALWAYS write your copy for your customers and visitors, not the search engines.

A Home page with 2 or 3 well-written paragraphs on what you provide and for whom. Then have a section on each important service and include a section on the local area you serve.
A page for each service, not just one big "Services" page.
Contact page with a form (not an email link), map, friendly blurb, and what to expect.
Page on each location (if applicable).
Page on each professional staff member (if applicable).
An interesting "About Us" page with a real story and some images. Give people context.
21 other pages

8. Google and Bing Webmaster Tools

Register your domain name and Site Map file (you should have one, WordPress will generate one) with both Google and Bing then use their tools to set your dominant domain, register your Site Map, check keyword phrases, errors, and more.

When you make a new post, your Site Map file gets updated and "pings" the search engines watching that file.

9. Domain Name Renewal

Keep your domain name renewed for more than a year. Check out this video on age of a domain from Google's Matt Cutts:

10. Stop using the 'Meta Keywords' Tag!

It's dead. Stop using it.

Please let us know if you have any questions or leave a comment below. We'd love to hear from you about your best SEO technique.

Posted in SEO Tips