For any type of business, having an online presence is one of the most important factors of modern times. That presence, however, extends way beyond having a flashy webpage. You need to put your company out there, attract visitors to the website, and generate interest. To do so, you need to understand how and why to use Search Engine optimization (SEO) practices.

With 89 percent of Potential Customers beginning the buying process with a search engine like Google, you need SEO to give you a boost. You also need to make sure you’re at the top of the search engine results page (SERP), because only 20 percent of those same customers will scroll down or move on to the next page.

If you own a business website than you need SEO, and should absolutely follow these guidelines for your website to get stellar results:

1. Content, Content, Content

Even with an influx of technological innovations in the world wide web, people still want to read something engaging and fulfilling. If your audience doesn’t connect with your content, or if you have nothing noteworthy at all on your site, they’re not going to stick around long enough to convert. Your customers what useful information that solidifies your presence as a respected authority of whatever your niche or industry is.

So do some research and write thoughtful, insightful articles to keep people coming back.

2. Faster Page Speed

You don’t want to slow people down. Page load speed is one of the most critical factors of user experience and SEO. A study was conducted by eConsultancy that found 40 percent of people will abandon a site that takes longer than 3 seconds to load. Even Google tracks your site’s speed. Therefore, if your pages are slow, you’re not going to get anywhere close to the top of the SERPs.

3. Keywords

Though Keywords are definitely not the shining stars of SEO anymore and cramming keywords into content is a minus, you still need them. Keywords will help organically boost your rankings in search engines and help people locate your content. Remember, keywords should be used to help boost you up, not smother your customers with their presence.

4. Fill Out Text Fields

Your website is more that the pages you construct, because if humans and computers have no idea what the site is comprised of, no one is going to visit. In other words, you can’t afford to forget meta descriptions and alt-text fields, especially if you are selling products online and are using pictures. When you include alt-text, for example, the pictures will show up in image searches, which means reaching more potential customers.

5. Link Building

Linking to other reputable websites that have relevant content is a definite must. Link building will never go out of style, because linking helps with the flow of internet traffic. If you have connections to high authority sites, both for inbound and outbound traffic, it makes your website all the more respectable. Seek out sites in your niche for link exchanges, and don’t forget to anchor to sites that back up any research.

Final Thoughts

SEO doesn’t have to be confusing. Nor does it have to be something that holds you back from succeeding. By using keywords, content, and building links between other reputable sites, you can certainly rise in the rankings and gain more traffic. Remember, when it comes to SEO, it’s all about the user experience.

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