Search engines such as Google generate large amounts of traffic to websites. How can you improve the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of your website, so that your site becomes more popular on Google?
Here are some basic steps you can take:
1. Update your website regularly.
Fresh content keeps Google coming back. Do you have news you want your audience to know about? Or useful information to share? Keep your website up-to-date with new posts!
2. Test Focus Keywords.
Readers should be able to easily figure out what your web page is about. Include one or two focus keywords in your content – in the title, headings, first paragraph and summary. Ideally, your keywords should be similar to terms that the public would search on Google. In this way, you increase the chances of your website appearing on Google. In the Carleton CMS, test focus keywords using the “WordPress SEO by Yoast” section.
3. Test your meta description.
The meta description is a short excerpt about your content. In Google search results, the meta description shows beneath your website title. Limit your meta description to 156 characters and be sure to accurately summarize what your content is about. Your goal is to match the meta description with what people are looking for when they search a topic on Google so they click through to your website. In Carleton CMS, test the meta description using the “WordPress SEO by Yoast” section.
Here is an example of a good meta description:
4. Make each post a minimum of 300 words.
“Wordpress SEO by Yoast” recommends a minimum of 300 words for each piece of content. If your content is less, consider adding some relevant content.
There is no suggestion for a maximum number of words within one post, but too much is overwhelming and you may lose your readers. Consider breaking up content into multiple posts if it gets too long.
5. Include internal and external links within your content.
Linking makes your page/post relevant to other sources, and vice versa. This increases the popularity of your website. Make sure that you only link to trusted content.
6. Insert multimedia.
This includes images and videos. Pictures you put on your website will appear in Google Images. People may click into your site from there. Make sure these images meet the web accessibility standards.
If you insert Youtube videos, your SEO results may increase, since Youtube videos always get displayed on top of Google.
7. Share your content on social media.
Your content will become popular on Google if more people read and share it. Social media such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn increase your website visability as more people share the content.