SEO best practices for your website
Definitions
Search Engine Optimization (SEO): The practice of improving your website’s visibility on search engines like Google to increase the quantity and quality of traffic through organic search results.
Keywords: Words or phrases that people use in search engines to find information, which you can include in your content to improve your site’s search engine ranking.
Long-tail keywords: Specific and longer phrases that attract targeted traffic by matching more detailed search queries.
Metadata: Information about your website pages and posts, such as titles and descriptions, that helps search engines understand its content.
Permalinks: The permanent URLs for your website pages and posts that make it easy for users and search engines to find and link to your content.
Backlinks: Links from other websites that point to your website, helping to improve its search engine ranking.
‘White-hat’ SEO techniques: White-hat SEO techniques are ethical methods that follow search engine guidelines to improve rankings through quality content and user experience.
Before you start
✅ SEO is an ongoing process, not a one-time setup. It requires constant monitoring, updating, and adapting to new search engine algorithms and trends.
⚠️ It is important to be patient when it comes to SEO, it is a long-term strategy that can take months or multiple years to render effective results.
🚨 When it comes to advanced SEO practices for your website, hiring an SEO professional to guide you can be key to your success.
SEO best practice tips
Here are some basic tips on SEO best practices to help you get started. This isn’t a complete list, but it will give you a good starting point for your website.
Keyword research
1. Identify primary keywords relevant to your content using tools like Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush
2. Incorporate long-tail keywords to target specific queries and niches
3. Analyze your competitors to understand which keywords are driving traffic to their websites
4. Use keywords strategically in titles, headings, and throughout your content without ‘keyword stuffing’
High-quality content
1. Create original content that adds value to your audience
2. Ensure your content is informative, well-researched, and addresses user questions
3. Update content regularly to keep it fresh and relevant
4. Use multimedia elements like images and videos to enhance user engagement
Metadata and meta descriptions
1. Craft unique and concise meta titles and descriptions for each page, including target keywords
2. Write clear and concise meta descriptions to help search engines understand what your page is about
3. Avoid duplicating meta descriptions across multiple pages
Permalinks
1. Use SEO-friendly URL structures that include target keywords
2. Keep URLs short and readable
3. Avoid using special characters, spaces, or irrelevant words in URLs
Backlinks
1. Build high-quality backlinks from reputable and relevant websites
2. Engage in guest blogging on authoritative sites
3. Avoid buying links or participating in link schemes
Google verification and sitemaps
1. Complete this guide: Verify your website on Google Search Console
2. Complete this guide: Generate a website sitemap and submit it to Google Search Console
3. Periodically, it may be a good idea to re-submit your sitemap to Google, as you add new content or apply major updates to your website
SEO audits
1. Conduct regular SEO audits to identify and fix issues like broken links, crawl errors, or old content
2. Use tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track performance and user behavior
3. Adjust SEO strategies based on audit findings and analytics data
Hire an SEO specialist
1. Consider hiring an SEO specialist if you want advanced expertise and help
2. Look for specialists with proven results and good references
3. Make sure they adhere to ‘white-hat’ SEO techniques and understand your industry and target audience