When Google first launched in 1998, fewer than 2.5 million websites existed. As of August 2024, more than one billion websites exist. That means standing out is becoming more of a challenge every day, and webmasters must work harder than ever just to get discovered.
Investing in search engine optimization, or SEO, is one way to make your website more competitive overall. You can begin by getting a better understanding of a few key best practices for SEO.
Check out the SEO principles you’ll need to keep in mind when optimizing your website for search engines below.
Keyword Champs: The Words People Actually Search For
About 8.5 billion Google searches take place each day. How does Google know to direct users to your business’s website?
Google uses a combination of search terms (what the user types in the search bar) and the content on your website. If these two are a good match, then it serves up your website to the user.
The core SEO principles largely revolve around ensuring that search engines understand your site’s content, and in turn, show it to the customers you want to target.
What Are Keywords?
Keywords are the words and/or phrases for which you want to optimize your site. For example, if you have a doctor’s office, you might target keywords like:
- Annual physical
- Flu shots
- Doctor in [your city]
Your goal is to figure out which keywords your website wants to target most. Then, you can incorporate these keywords into your website’s content and encourage search engines to recommend it.
Think Like a Detective
Who is your website’s target audience? If you want your site to stand out, you need to know whose eyes you want on you. Otherwise, your content may never reach the right people.
Furthermore, you should consider what this target audience might look up when using search engines. You can probably put together a lengthy list of search terms that people in this target audience are looking for.
Let’s say, for instance, that you run a site that teaches the basics about cryptocurrency. It’s safe to assume your target audience will consist of people interested in buying and selling crypto and those who want to learn more about crypto in general.
A few good keywords would be:
- “What is cryptocurrency”
- “How to buy cryptocurrency”
- “Cryptocurrency investing”
Creating content around these keywords can give you a leg up on other crypto-related sites. Google and other search engines are more likely to recommend your site to those curious about crypto.
Free Tools to the Rescue
While you can likely come up with a solid list of keywords for your website just by thinking about what those who make up your target audience might search for, don’t stop there! Take advantage of these free keyword research tools, too:
- Google Keyword Planner
- Moz Keyword Explorer
- Semrush Keyword Overview
Google Keyword Planner is a great pick to start with. To use it, log in to your Google webmaster account and click “Discover New Keywords.”
Next, you have two options:
- Enter a website URL and Google will look for important keywords on that site.
- Enter words related to your services or products. Google will show you related terms.
Keyword Sprinkle, Not Overload
It’s never a good idea to use your primary keyword too many times on one page — that’s called keyword stuffing, and Google frowns upon it.
Use primary keywords sparingly; about once every 100 words should get the job done.
For example, take our primary keyword for this page, “SEO principles.” We’ve scattered it throughout the content where it feels appropriate and natural. You should do the same for your content.
Content Is King (and Queen!): Unleash the Power of Awesome Content
Back in 1996, Bill Gates set the tone for the future of search engine optimization when he famously penned an essay for the Microsoft website called “Content Is King.” Although not the first person to crown content, he highlighted the importance of webmasters filling their websites with high-quality content to set themselves apart.
Almost 30 years later, Gates’ words still ring true. Content is king (and queen!), and achieving great content quality on your site is paramount.
Become a Content Creator
Becoming a content creator for your website isn’t as difficult as you might think. You don’t have to be a pro writer to get started — you just need a message that your target audience wants to hear. Follow these tips for guidance:
- Search for your niche
- Find your voice
- Know your audience
- Add value for readers
- Read content elsewhere and learn from it
- Ask for feedback from others
- Practice, practice, practice!
The more content you post on your website, the better you’ll get at providing the kind of content your target audience responds to. Creating a content plan and sticking to it can work wonders.
Fresh Is Best
Commit to putting on your content creator hat early and often. Keep your website stockpiled with timely content that might make its way to Google Trends to keep people coming back over and over again to see what’s new.
The Link Love: Building Bridges to Other Websites
English poet John Donne once wrote that “no man is an island.” You can say the same thing about successful websites.
Adding internal and external links to the content on your site and building up backlinks on other sites through proven link-building practices is another one of the most important SEO principles. Let’s look at how vital these links are.
What Are Links, and How They Can Make an Impact?
Links, short for hyperlinks, are words or phrases within the content on websites that people can click on to visit other pages. Internal links redirect to pages on the same sites people are already on, while external links redirect to pages on different sites. Backlinks, meanwhile, are links on sites other than your own that direct people to your website.
Here is how each of these links can positively impact your website:
- Internal links: Make your website ”sticky” by encouraging people to remain on it
- External links: Provide people with references for the statistics and other facts used in your content
- Backlinks: Suggest your site is a trusted authority on certain topics
Get Social
You can handle adding internal and external links in your website’s content without anyone else’s help. However, you’ll need to create strategies for earning backlinks on other sites.
A simple way to generate backlinks is to set up social media accounts for your website on popular social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, and more. This can provide you with a small SEO boost. People might also share the website posts you publish on social media and possibly even link to them on their own sites.
Collaborate With Neighbors
You aren’t the only website owner aiming to create a large collection of backlinks. Other website owners are trying to do the same, so why not team up to get backlinks for each of your sites?
You can agree to write and post guest blogs on other sites in exchange for backlinks and offer other site owners the opportunity to post guest blogs on your site while posting backlinks for them. It’s a win-win situation for you both.
Become a Source of Knowledge
Whether you run a website that caters to sports buffs, car lovers, or people searching for medical info, work to become an expert in your field and apply that expertise to the content you create. It’ll lead to you writing blog articles that include information people might not find anywhere else, which could result in you obtaining backlinks on other sites organically.
Speed Demons: Make Your Website Fast
Does your website take more than three seconds to load? If so, then about 40% of internet users are leaving your site before it even has a chance to finish loading.
This illustrates the importance of page speed. It’s one of the most underrated SEO principles. Your customers’ time is valuable, and making your website load quickly shows that you appreciate every second they spend in your business.
Declutter Your Website
Clutter is a huge problem for website owners who try cramming too much onto each of the pages on their sites.
If your site loads slowly, work on decluttering it by removing unnecessary content and images. You can also search the back end to declutter the mess you may have made there.
Test Your Website Speed
Testing your website speed every so often is a surefire way to determine whether you need to work to make it quicker. Use free speed test tools like:
The User-Friendly Maze: Make Your Website Easy To Navigate
Almost half of internet users say most websites are too confusing to navigate. If you suspect yours falls into this category, look for ways to make it easier for people to find their way around.
Clear and Concise Menus
The average internet user spends over six seconds staring at the main navigation menus on websites before deciding what to do next. Putting clear menus in place can make the difference between people choosing to explore your site and abandoning it in search of ones that are easier to navigate.
Logical Layout
Creating a logical layout for your website can draw visitors’ attention to its different areas and encourage exploration. It can also help declutter your site and make it easy for people to find the information they’re looking for.
Search Bar Savior
Adding a search bar can help any website flourish, but e-commerce sites, in particular, need search bars. Nearly 70% of consumers admit to heading straight to search bars when visiting e-commerce sites.
The Title Tag Tango: Craft Titles That Grab Attention
You can fill your website with all the quality content your target audience can handle. But if you don’t come up with catchy, SEO-friendly title tags for them, they might get lost in the shuffle.
Here’s how to create winning title tags for your site.
Keyword Magic
Title tags are essentially titles for articles that you create specifically for search engines. For SEO purposes, they should include primary keywords that appear near the beginning of the title tags.
Keep It Short and Sweet
Limit title tags to 60 characters to prevent search engines from cutting them off on search engine results pages. The sweet spot is somewhere between 50 and 60 characters (about 580 pixels on desktops).
Intrigue Factor
While title tags are important SEO principles, they don’t need to be formulaic and boring. You can spice them up by:
- Speaking to your target audience
- Adding a benefit (such as deals or how-to tips)
- Asking a question you know your audience wants the answer to
Meta Description Marvel: Write Descriptions That Seal the Deal
In addition to creating title tags for your website’s articles, you’ll need to write meta descriptions for them. Meta descriptions are short summaries of articles that let search engines know what to anticipate.
Search engines will also display meta descriptions in their search engine results pages so people know what to expect before clicking on the search result for your site’s articles.
Clear and Concise
Limit the length of meta descriptions to 160 characters (around 920 pixels on desktop). Address the most important points of the page and outline the key takeaways for the user.
Keyword Cameo
Add the primary keyword used in an article on your site to make a meta description more impactful. You could also add “halo” keywords that are related to the primary keyword. For example, if your main keyword is “dentist in Buffalo,” a halo keyword would be “Buffalo dentist.”
Call to Action
Every great meta description ends with a call to action, or a CTA. It’ll inspire readers to take action. Effective CTA examples include:
- “Read now”
- “Find out more”
- “Learn more here”
Whether you’re trying to drive purchases, signups, or even just article views, these calls to action tell your reader what action you’re trying to get them to take.
Mobile Mania: Make Sure Your Website Shines on Every Device
Nowadays, more than half of all global website traffic comes from mobile devices. For this reason, making your website mobile friendly is no longer just an option, it’s a necessity. Ignoring this crucial part of the process risks alienating a sizable portion of your potential customer base before they even have a chance to engage with your site.
Responsive Design Is Your Friend
Responsive design, or responsive web design, involves ensuring that a website maintains a cohesive design regardless of which device is used to visit it. Whether people visit your site on computers or smartphones, your site should respond the same and ultimately deliver the same user experience.
Checking Your Speed in Mobile and Other Screen Sizes
When you’re testing your website’s page speed, don’t just test it on a computer. See how it looks on mobile devices and other devices with screens of different sizes. Your site should always load just as quickly on a computer as on a mobile phone and vice versa.
Use These Important SEO Principles To Dramatically Improve Your Website
We here at Connective hope that these winning principles have inspired you to boost your SEO efforts. If you need help optimizing your website, we’ve got you covered!
