Seo 2017 Tips
SEO becomes ever more intricate each year as Google updates its algorithm, rendering some strategies from days gone by obsolete – or worse still causing harm!
Staying ahead of the competition is essential, which is why we have put together this essential list of SEO 2017 tips to optimize your website and increase search ranking this year. These strategies should also increase organic traffic to your website from search engines.
1. Optimize your content
Content creation for your website is one of the most essential steps. Your goal should be to produce high-quality, searchable pages that align with the interests of your audience and help drive website visits.
Content should also be SEO-friendly, meaning it ranks well in search engines and draws more traffic to your website. If it fails to meet this standard, valuable business is being missed out.
One of the best ways to ensure your content stands out is to conduct keyword research beforehand, which will enable you to pinpoint what keywords your target audience is searching for.
Step two is to integrate these keywords organically into your content to help increase website ranking in Google and Bing search.
Be sure to include relevant keywords in your titles, descriptions, and subheadings for maximum effectiveness. It is vital to include not only your primary keyword in your title but also other variants uncovered through keyword research.
Add your primary keyword as the file name and alt text for every image on your site to ensure they are optimized for search engines and can boost SEO.
Your content requires supporting visuals that add value and improve its behavioral metrics such as time on site and bounce rate, helping it to rank well in Google Image Search while keeping visitors on your site for extended periods. By creating these supporting visuals you may improve its ranking in image searches as well as retain visitors on your site longer.
2. Optimize your images
Image optimization is an indispensable element of SEO for all websites, and can significantly boost rankings while speeding up page load times and offering users a compelling user experience.
There are various strategies you can employ to optimize images for SEO, from adding alt text and selecting suitable file types and compression levels, all the way through to selecting appropriate alt texts for Google Image search results and driving more visitors to your website. These proven techniques will help your photos rank better in Google and generate additional web traffic.
Start off right by naming your files with descriptive keywords that include your target keyword, while avoiding underscores as these will not be recognized by search engines and will result in being penalized as spammy sites.
Compress your images as much as possible to reduce web server storage space requirements and enhance page load times, with most image editing programs such as WordPress offering easy solutions. This tip should help your web pages load quicker!
Make sure that the images displayed on your site are appropriate in terms of size for each device they will be seen on. A website showing only 320px-wide viewports would waste space and may hurt SEO rankings as a result.
Use of a CDN (Content Delivery Network) can also help shorten visitor journey times by selecting cached images from servers located close to where your visitors reside and displaying these instead of the originals.
Hopefuly this guide has provided all the knowledge necessary for optimizing images for SEO and using them effectively in your marketing. Should any further assistance be required please do not hesitate to contact us and we would be more than glad to assist.
3. Optimize your URLs
URLs are among the first things search engine crawlers notice, providing Google with insight into what content exists on a webpage. Therefore, it’s essential that your URLs are SEO friendly while remaining user friendly.
Optimizing URLs may seem like an unnecessary step, but optimizing them for search engines like Google is an invaluable way to increase rankings. Here are some helpful strategies for SEO 2017.
Best practice should dictate that URLs be short and straightforward, making them easy for visitors to read and remember. Long URLs may become challenging to recall quickly; therefore, try keeping them as brief as possible.
Another key tip is to use hyphens instead of underscores as these have been proven to be easier on the eyes and less likely to confuse search engine spiders. Furthermore, using hyphens will improve the quality of your URLs by making them more descriptive and relevant to searchers.
Avoid repeating keywords multiple times in your URL string as this will both hinder SEO efforts and frustrate users! This tactic could end up hurting both parties involved!
Thirdly, make sure your URLs are structured logically so search engines can crawl your site more easily while providing users with an improved user experience.
If your website uses faceted navigation, URL parameters should be avoided as they can create duplicate content and compete with other pages for placement on search engine results pages (SERPs). Canonicalizing similar or duplicate pages to their main version can help consolidate ranking signals for these pages.
4. Optimize your site for mobile
Mobile SEO has emerged as an indispensable element of search engine optimization in 2017. A well-designed mobile website will give users an exceptional user experience and increase the chance of their returning.
To optimize your site for mobile devices, it is crucial that you focus on three areas: content, images and URLs. Each will have an enormous effect on how well your ranking appears on mobile.
Content is at the heart of mobile optimization strategies for websites, as it determines user perception. Without proper optimization for mobile, users will struggle to locate and navigate to relevant information quickly and efficiently.
Optimize your title tags and meta descriptions for mobile, so they give users an overview of what your page covers, so they can decide whether or not they wish to click on your listing.
Image optimization is another essential element of mobile-optimization strategies, as it can dramatically decrease page loading time and boost search engine rankings. Utilizing various formats like AVIF, JPEG 2000, JPEG XR and WebP can significantly decrease file sizes by 25-35% while speeding up your site speed.
Loading time is an integral component of mobile SEO, as delays in loading time can cause increased bounce rates and decreased Google ranking. Be sure to optimize your page speed using tools such as PageSpeed Insights for maximum success.
As mobile users continue to consume your content more on mobile, making your site easy for mobile readers is also crucial in increasing rankings on this channel. If your site is difficult for mobile readers to comprehend and will lead them away from your content.
5. Optimize your social media
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a central element of any successful online marketing campaign, increasing visibility and Google rankings while drawing in more quality visitors to your website.
Increased exposure makes it easier for potential customers to locate you when searching for services or products you provide, while strengthening brand recognition by giving prospective buyers an opportunity to familiarize themselves with you before deciding to buy from you.
There are a few social media optimization tips that can help your SEO efforts, with one being to focus on your target audience.
Use hashtags when posting content to social media – this will allow people to easily discover it and increase engagement.
Add relevant keywords to your captions (depending on the social platform). By including relevant keyword terms in these captions, you’ll increase search result rankings and have better chance of being discovered by new viewers.
An effective social media strategy will not only boost SEO but also result in greater brand recognition and sales. But remember to only utilize platforms where your target audience hangs out.
Spreading yourself too thin across too many social platforms can damage SEO and result in reduced engagements.
Short and simple, optimizing social media profiles as extensions of your website is absolutely crucial to ensure brand consistency across channels, and let potential customers know you are an honest business.
