Search engine optimization refers to improving the placement of a company’s webpage in the list of results returned by search engines. Since most people don’t look past the first page or two of hits when conducting a search engine search, getting a premium spot is essential for attracting new customers. Here are some tips to help you perfect the fine art of SEO for your web pages.
Provide an XML Sitemap
XML sitemaps are bits of embedded code that are meant to be accessed by the robots that search engines use to crawl websites. The simplest sitemaps contain only information about which sites you want the search engine to be able to access and display. However, more advanced sitemaps can contain all sorts of useful data like how often you update your site and stats about your traffic.
Optimize Your Search Engine Results Pages
The search engine results pages are the links and associated data that a search engine shows on its results page. The vast majority of modern webpages show far more than just a link to the page in question. They also include a page title, and a brief meta description that people reading search engine results can see. You can optimize your results by adding hidden tags in the HTML code for your website. These lines of code cannot be seen by human visitors, but search engine crawlers can read them.
Create Canonical URLs
Many web sites have multiple URLs that all link back to the same page. For example, www.example.com, www.example.com/index, and www.example.com/home might all direct visitors to the same gateway page on your website. By defining a canonical URL, you make sure that search engines know that all three of these links lead to the same sight. Without this step, links that lead to your website are essentially competing with one another for traffic, lowering your overall placement in search results.
Sort and Tag Blog Entries
Sorting and tagging your entries makes it easier for search engines to index them by topic so users can find exactly what they are looking for. Having a way to further divide web pages is great for sites that have a lot of content that may be difficult for users to sift through.
Get Help from a Pro
SEO is a tricky business for the uninitiated; however, it is all but essential for building a successful online presence. There are plenty of online marketing companies out there that can help you navigate the ins and outs of optimizing your webpage to pick up search engine traffic, so don’t hesitate to contact one.
For help with these and other SEO practices, contact Webstract Marketing for a consultation with an expert online marketer.