Does this sound familiar - "You need to optimize your website"? Raise of hands…how many of you have absolutely no idea where to start? Or perhaps even “Sounds great...what does that even mean exactly?!”

Don't worry! That's what this post is all about. We're going to share 5 basic elements that should be optimized on every website to improve performance. 

But first…why do we need to optimize websites?

Website optimization is a must-do for any business that wants to rank in search engine results pages (SERPs) like Google search results. Search engine results are how most consumers research and make purchases these days. Your business has to show up in them if you want to remain competitive even if you don't actually sell anything through your website. If consumers can't purchase directly online, they will at least do their research online, then head to retail locations to make purchases. So, website optimization helps businesses of all kinds whether they are selling online or not. 

Simply put - optimizing your website is simply a way for search engines to find your website among the millions and millions of websites out there these days. Search engines use computer algorithms to "crawl" through websites and pull out the ones that most closely match the terms a user enters into the search box. 

Think of the internet as a highway. The algorithm is a car looking for the appropriate exit. Your website optimization is a billboard sign that says, "Stop here! We have what you need!"

If all goes according to plan, the search engine adds your website to the SERP and you see an increase in traffic to your site. (Now the car analogy makes sense, right?)

5 Basic Elements to Optimize on a Website

Search algorithms focus on A LOT of different elements. Think hundreds. But some of them carry more weight than others and some of these elements require you to live and breathe SEO to understand. For those reasons, we want to focus on 5 basic elements that will improve your search ranking and that you should be able to optimize yourself. 

So, what are the 5 best "road signs" to focus on if you want to optimize your website? 

 

1.     URL Structure

2.     Keywords

3.     Images

4.     Page Titles

5.     Meta Descriptions

URL Structure

Your URL structure is your website address and it is the most basic thing you can do to improve your site optimization. All of the URLs on your website should be consistent, straightforward, and boring. This is not the place to get creative and use unique terms since that will confuse the algorithms and they'll pass right on by your site.

At their most basic level, a URL should look something like this: domain name/name of page/. Check out HeiPro's SEO Services page: https://heiprodigital.com/seo-optimization-services. Bor-ing, but there's no question what you'll find on that page and that is what we're aiming for.

Keywords

Keywords have always been and still are the most important optimization element. These are the most common words or phrases a customer uses when searching for information on your products or services. But selecting your keywords takes more work these days because you're competing against so many websites. 

Rather than one- or two-word keywords, we now recommend a mix of short-tail and long-tail keywords as well as geographic keywords to help boost your search ranking. What are “short-tail keywords”? Short-tail keywords are the most common, broadly searched keywords. Everyone uses them. That's helpful, but it's also hard to get your website to rank on short-tail keywords alone precisely because everyone is using them. There's too much competition so the chances of your site standing out, especially if it's a new site, are very low. 

That's why we add in long-tail keywords. These keywords are more targeted and specific and they will give you better results because of that. In other words, they narrow the focus. If you're a photographer you may use "photography" or "photographer" as a short-tail keyword. Then add in your specialty as the long-tail keyword, "wedding photographer", "portrait photography", "high school graduation photography", etc. 

To rein in the search results even further, a geographic identifier can help. This will narrow down the results to the geographic area in which you do business. Add "Green Bay" or "Wisconsin" to the photography keywords above and you've weeded out thousands of other websites that are not relevant to Green Bay consumers who need a local photographer. 

The best approach for keywords is to think like a customer. What are they typing into their search bars to find your business?

Images

Did you know that the images on your website can be optimized? Yes! They're not there just to look pretty. Images play an important role in website optimization since search engines also look at them for relevancy to the search. Take advantage of the images on your site to improve your SEO by:

·      renaming image files to include keywords

·      ensuring image filenames accurately reflect the image content

·      resizing image files to reduce page loading speed

Read our recent blog post on optimizing images on Squarespace websites to learn more about this important optimization element.

Page Titles

Pages titles, or title tags, are the small words that appear in the page tab when you open a web page. Like URLs, page titles need to be consistent. Ideally, they should all have the same structure and reflect the title displayed on the page's URL. Using the HeiPro example again, the URL is https://heiprodigital.com/seo-optimization-services. The page title is Search Engine Optimization Services | Marketing | HeiPro Digital. Nothing fancy and it makes it clear what the page is about. One thing to know about page titles is that they have a character count limit. Try to keep them between 50 and 70 characters, including spaces, or the title will be cut off.

Caption: Example of a page title in the browser tab

Meta Descriptions

Meta descriptions are the small paragraphs that appear on a SERP (search engine results pages), right under the page title and URL link. They are supposed to entice a user to click through to your site. Use them to provide short, succinct information about each page. Make sure each page has a unique meta description and utilizes keywords relevant to that page. You'll be limited to 158 characters. Keep it short and sweet so you don't lose important information to this character limit.

Let HeiPro Digital Help with Your Website Optimization

Website optimization isn't difficult and it absolutely will make a difference to your search rankings. Don't get overwhelmed or frustrated by it! Start by thinking like your customer and keep things straightforward and easy-to-understand. Remember, algorithms are crawling millions of websites to deliver the best match results to the search terms entered. Make it easy for them to identify the content of your site through clear and direct optimization of the 5 elements listed above.

 Not sure if your website is performing as it should? And/or have no idea what keywords to include? Schedule a website consultation with Alex or Elizabeth at HeiPro Digital! We'll look at your website's performance and make recommendations that can help improve your search rankings right away.