A good portion of SEO is no longer a mystery to businesses. While being able to effectively rank on search engines to maximize traffic should be handled by an SEO professional, there are some basic methods you can use to help optimize your website now. Use the following four methods to help make your website more search engine and user friendly:
1. Responsive Layout and Development
Every website should be designed and developed to be responsive on all devices, including smartphones and tablets. Most CMS systems, like WordPress and Joomla, automatically make websites responsive. If your website isn't mobile responsive, search engines won't rank you as high as your competitors.
2. Write Strong Content
Humans and search engines alike can tell the difference between fluff and good, solid content. For every page you develop, make sure you write at least 400 words per page. Each page should feature engaging content that your customer will want to read and that they can identify with. Becoming an authority on a certain topic will help lead to a large influx of traffic from all online sources, including search engines and social media sites.
3. Reduce Image Size
Image size is extremely important when building a website. Not only do large images slow down the load time of webpages, but they can also deter potential customers from making a purchase or filling out a form. If the image is too large, crop it or reduce it using a standard image editor on your computer.
4. User-Friendly Navigation and URL Structure
Navigation and URL structure are two of the most important factors that can help optimize your website for SEO. Always use top down navigation that is easy to understand. Your customers should be able to go from one page to another anywhere on your website with relative ease. When creating a URL plan, never use hard to understand phrases or random numbers. The URL of the page should always be set to the focus keyword of that page. Compusmart Solutions says 60 percent of all web traffic comes from mobile devices, therefore it is crucial that your site is mobile user friendly.
After your website is finished, double check for basic SEO optimization before you go live. Thoroughly check all URLs, written content and links to ensure customers won't have any issues with navigating through your pages. Maintaining a blog page is also essential for SEO and is an easy way to help keep your content fresh at all times.