Search Engine Optimization (SEO) sounds like a very geeky, technical term but it is actually a very cool and incredibly important aspect of your ranking on the likes of Google, and a crucial element for websites that utilize e-commerce. Let's discuss...
So, you have a website and maybe you built it yourself, or had someone, like me, build it for you. Congratulations! However, that is just the beginning of your online world. The whole point of a website is to connect your business with your potential customers and ultimately increase sales; which is the goal of every business, right!? While websites are a proven effective marketing tool, along with social media, there is more to be done than the initial build, which any good web designer should discuss.
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization, by Oxford English Dictionary definition, is "the process of maximizing the number of visitors to a particular website by ensuring that the site appears high on the list of results returned by a search engine." THIS IS WHY YOU HAVE A WEBSITE!
So...How does one do this?
Meta-data! I know, another super geeky term, but stay with me on this. Meta-data is essentially keywords embedded in your site, or images, that act as little beacons when a term is searched for on a search engine. It says "Hey, I am what you are looking for!" Without it, your website pages are just pages amongst 1.88 billion other websites (real statistic!).
The Meat and Potatoes / Granola and Yogurt:
Wordpress users - Install a SEO plugin, such as AIOSEO or Yoast SEO Free. The free versions are sufficient to get started and very user friendly. Each walk the user through the setup and act as an SEO dashboard, once installed. For the two mentioned here, the companies offer online support, if you get hung up or just need extra help. In addition to a plugin, make sure to edit pages or posts to include keywords and use the plugins to analyze your content for readability, key phrases, and basic SEO. Not difficult, I promise!
Wix users - On your home page, click the three dots that open your SEO Basics. Make sure you have your meta data updated with the most relevant keywords that will guide search engines to your site. Additionally, Wix recommends adding different and specific meta data to each section and page to differentiate the items from previous pages.
While this is just one tiny piece to the SEO puzzle, it will get you closer to prospective customers online, if implemented properly. Do not drive yourself crazy attempting to get all the categories checked off with the plugin or SEO tool. Every page and post will not be perfectly searchable, so have fun with it, and keep practicing!
I hope I was able to share with you something new or perhaps shed some light on an otherwise technical topic. Please leave comments, share, like, and follow along with me on my online journey.
Julie Harvick
Note - this is the Reader's Digest version of SEO and a simple little tip that hopefully you can implement yourself to give your site a searchable boost. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions or if I can be of service for your website. There are indeed professional SEO consultants available for those who require more than the basics.
References
Wordpress - https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/how-to-add-keywords-and-meta-descriptions-in-wordpress/