Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a powerful tool for any website owner looking to bring targeted traffic to their business online. But it’s easy to get intimidated by the technicality of SEO strategy, and some simply don’t even bother when faced with all of the options, tools and techniques out there. But the fact is there are a lot of ways you can optimize your website. No, they aren’t all graded equally but they aren’t all technical either. And if you are looking to give your website ranking a boost, some techniques offer a bigger bang for your buck than the most technical strategies.
So if you’re looking for ways you can improve your ranking without getting certified as an SEO analyst, these four strategies will go a long way toward moving of the search engine index:
- Fix 404 Errors: Site errors are a big problem for SEO success. The fact is a site error essentially amounts to poor customer service. When a visitor gets a 404 page error, it means the page the they expected to see doesn’t exist. That hurts your brand in two distinct ways: (1) your site loses points with Google’s algorithm on its evaluation of your authority; and (2) it hurts your ability to convert the traffic you do get. Many people get frustrated and leave. Delete or fix links on your website to pages that don’t exist and avoid that mess altogether.
- Add multiple call-to-actions: No, as of this blog post, Google has not declared that it’s algorithm looks for call-to-actions and adds point value accordingly, but call-to-actions do promote conversion. They promote engagement and when they are present on your website. That supports website authority, and that improves your website’s ranking. Get one on the home page. Create a “Contact Us” page. Add a call-to-action to your sidebar. Get those contact options out there and promote them with high visibility on your site. You’ll be glad you did.
- Promote Your Brand with Client/Customer Reviews: Nothing says authority like good reviews. Good reviews are the digital “word of mouth.” If one person has taken the leap and tried your business’ products and services and came out on the other side happy, that speaks volumes to those who are hesitant to take the leap themselves. Gently nudge your happiest customers to show some love to your brand by posting reviews on your website, on Google-My-Business, on Facebook and other platforms. It is the easiest, non-technical way to optimized your website without a single class in SEO management.
- Compress Your Site Photos: Yes, this sounds incredibly technical. But the fact is compressing photos is among the easiest things you can do to optimize your website. Website managers often load photos that are much larger than the size they need for their website. If your photo is larger than its actually shown to be on the site, it doesn’t give you any advantage what-so-ever. But that excessively large file drags down the site’s performance. The more excessively large photos you have published on your site, the slower it loads. Slower loading speeds hurt your SEO ranking. So how do you manage this? There are a ton of tools in a variety of website platforms that do the work for you. For WordPress there’s a plugin that compresses photos automatically, so you set it and forget it. For Wix, the media editor allows you to compress or change the size of your photos so they aren’t actually larger than they need to be. Other platforms have similar tools to manage this problem.
If you would like to work with Proctor Digital strategists to help develop a powerful SEO strategy to build targeted website traffic for your site and grow your brand, call us at 773.664.5819. We’d love to help!