5 Fast & Easy SEO Growth Hacks to Improve Your Website in 2017

Posted by in Digital Marketing, Industrial Marketing, SEO: Search Engine Optimization

By Shel Moore, Co-Owner & Chief Marketing Officer

Here is our team’s short-list of fast and easy SEO growth hacks you can apply to your website right now:

1. Install Google Analytics for your website. GA will help you to understand how you’re doing and where you’d like to go. If your website does not have GA installed, you won’t have a clear picture of what’s attracting readers to your website, what pages they prefer, how they dropping off, etc. This information is critical for growing your business and brand presence online. Don’t be afraid of the data – it will only make your marketing smarter. Kick start your 2017 by installing Google Analytics right now. There is a great walkthrough on the GA site here.

2. Make sure your meta titles and descriptions include power keywords and that each page on your site has an original set. Don’t copy and paste the same titles and descriptions from your home page to everything else. And, don’t simply enter only your company name in this important text. A web page’s meta title and description provide the text that will compel someone searching for relevant information to visit your page to learn more. Tell them what they’ll find upon clicking-through the link. Include good keywords for improved SEO – but the text must flow nicely and not simply be chocked full of keyword phrases. Do you need a brief overview on finding good SEO keywords? Download our free white paper, “Launching a New Website – SEO Marketing Advice to Get It Right the First Time.”

SEO-Meta-Titles-Descriptions
Screenshot depicts the use of your web page’s title and description as displayed in typical search results.

If you’re using WordPress, we recommend the Yoast Plugin for better search engine optimization of your pages. This plugin makes it easy to enter titles/descriptions for each page and provides you with a simple red, yellow, or green light score to indicate the overall optimization of an intended page. Not sure where to start? Check out this complete walkthrough by WPBeginner.com and get started today.

3. Integrate social media links throughout your site and share your social business pages. If you’re using WordPress there are a ton of plugins that make this connection a breeze. Social signals are also considered when evaluating the overall quality of a website. Today, it’s possible for some social media posts to show up in SERPs (search engine result pages). Communicating on social media provides greater reach and encourages more traffic to discover your business website. Integrating social media accounts throughout your website offers a necessary channel between the two and provides important social proof that your business is trustworthy and valued. Read some great tips for social media integration for your website on the Hootsuite blog here. Are you searching for specific WordPress plugins? Check out this awesome updated list by Adam Connell at BloggingWizzard.com.

4. Detect and remove any duplicate content on your website. This includes stuff you might have innocently copied over from a manufacturer or parent company’s website as well as text you may have duplicated throughout your own website’s internal pages. Use Copyscape.com to quickly check every web page for free. Identify any problem areas and make a plan to revise any flagged text for originality. Then make it happen. Duplicate content can be a real drag on the overall quality perception of your website. Curious about the how and why to this? Read more about how duplicate content hurts a website’s performance.

5. Don’t forget to include your location on several key pages of your website & even in some page titles and meta-descriptions. Most businesses need to compete for local search as well – for some this is a primary focus of their online marketing. Make certain you include text that describes the local region your business services on your home page, on the about us page, and any other place you feel is relevant. Just be sure you make the text original every place you use it. (No copying & pasting this info on multiple pages – remember duplicate content hurts.)

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Shel Moore has over 20 years of experience working in marketing communications. Her career has spanned across many industries and audiences - providing a comprehensive background serving tech, industrial manufacturing, consumer, business-to-business, and even government markets. Shel is passionate about the benefits of marketing and wants to help business owners and individuals gain an edge in their competitive marketplace through social media education and providing exceptional professional services.