Search Engine Optimization

SEO

Search Engine Optimization

(SEO) is the process of establishing higher rankings in organic search results. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is not the same as Search Engine Marketing (SEM). SEM is paid advertising where you pay for each click. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a long term strategy designed to get exposure to your website. Any real Web Design Agency should offer SEO.

A search engine optimized website will include content and coding that is relevant to your keywords. SEO websites are designed to tell Google where you want to appear on search results. Search Engine Optimization takes some time to get results but is essential for an internet marketing campaign.

Search Engine Optimization

Factors For Search Engine Optimization?

Accessible & Secure

There are several important factors to consider for SEO. Your website should be accessible and secure. Your website needs to be online 99.9% of the time. This allows Google access to your website to rank pages and keywords. A secure website contains a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificate. A SSL certificate is only required if you are obtaining sensitive information on your website. Sensitive customer information can be social security numbers, credit card information, date of birth, and other personal data.

Although it may not be required you still should have an SSL certificate. Having an SSL certificate can help your search engine ranking. Google does not tell the public details about their algorithm that determines search results. In addition, Google is constantly changing factors in their algorithm. Here are some factors we know are important today.

Page Speed

One SEO factor is how fast your website loads. Customers can get frustrated if you webpages takes too long to load. Many customers may close your website if it doesn’t load fast enough. Load times can vary depending on server size. Load times increase with the number of websites on a server at a time. Load times vary with the number of plugins or widgets your website has.

If the server is being used for email marketing it can cause slower load times. Websites that have not been updated will also load slower. Certain types of images can slow down your page speed. Synergy understands the ins and outs of page speed and how to optimize your site correctly.

Mobile Website

Mobile website plugins are an important factor for search engine optimization. Many people will find your website using a mobile phone. Cell phones have smaller screens compared to desktop computers. Although a website can look perfect on a desktop computer it may be too small to read on a cell phone.

Websites should have a mobile plugin. Mobile plugins allow users to read the content on your website. Here is how it works. If someone finds your website on a desktop computer they will see your regular website. If someone finds your website on cell phone they will see your mobile website.

Domain Age & URL

When did you get your domain name? The age of your domain name is an element of search engine optimization. Older websites are viewed as stable, established, and reputable. Newly registered domain names are unknown and untrusted. Most websites on the first page of Google have been registered for at least 3 years.

Many people think that a domain name that contains the keyword will have a better chance of ranking higher. This is not the case. In fact some domains can be penalized if they contain the exact keyword in the domain name.

Content = King

When building a website you should consider your goals. Search engine optimized websites develop your content in an organized way. Each page on your website should talk about a specific product, service, or idea. Each page should have unique content. Content can not be stolen from another website. Google will reward the websites that have original content that is well organized. This is important for Google’s end user. The client that searches on Google every single day is the end user.

Links & Backlinks

Links are critical to search engine optimization. Each website has a page rank. Page Ranks can be between zero and ten. Sites like Google (9), Yahoo (9), or Yelp (7) have very high page ranks. When your website has a link coming from a highly ranked website it will increase the page rank for your website. Inbound links from these authoritative websites (higher ranked websites) can do wonders for your ranking and authority online.

There are three types of links: inbound links, outbound links, and internal links. Inbound links drive people to your website. Outbound links drive people away from your website. Internal links take people from one page of your website to another page of your website.

Social Media

Each post on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram is actually creating a link. This is an inbound link from a high ranking website. This can dramatically increase your page rank and your SEO. Many marketing experts use these social networks to create inbound links every day.