Search engines are huge online databases with information about the content of the sites that make up the web. For example, the most popular search engine currently, Google, has information on more than 3 billion websites. The search engines are an important part of the internet, since they give the user the websites that most closely match their search terms.
There are several techniques to efficiently appear in these search engines. The first step is to “index” your website in this database, through specific web pages that searchers have for it. Once the indexing process is done, the search engine uses a system to “browse” your entire website and collect each “keyword” that defines it and its content.
Why is SEO so important?
Search engine optimization is essential for the visibility of a page. Search traffic is the source of more than 80% of all page views in all website communities, that is, if a search engine does not see your community, then it will not be seen by users in search of content. When I say “view,” what I mean is that search engines need help to understand the content of their page. SEO is also important because of its intrinsic link with the user experience: a site with strong SEO will always have a very good user experience. This position will give you guidance on what to focus on as you create content to make it more accessible to search engines.
To take it a step further, there are companies who make a good living by providing these much needed services to small businesses. A dedicated agency is often needed when the competition levels for your industry are high, and for highly sought after services such as doctors and lawyers. You can search your local area for specialists and you might get a list like this one of SEO agencies in Tulsa, OK.
There are three main factors within the control of an editor that our internal research has shown to have the greatest impact on SEO: content, links, and images.
Content is still king
The articles should be written with clear and concise phrases and should contain, at least and whenever possible, some paragraphs of content. As the author, you have to think “Who am I writing this to? What kind of question does a user who ends up on this page want to answer? Does my content answer that question?” If you can answer these three questions, then your content is probably decent. It also needs to be said that the content must always be unique, because the crawlers can recognize when the content is copied from another site and will punish the websites for infractions of this type.
Authors should also be careful with too much content on one page. Excessive content on a page can have an equally negative effect on the user experience, as well as search engine crawlers, because too much content can dilute the value. At that time, you, as the author, should take into account the division of a page into multiple mini-pages that focus on the different aspects of the page.
As far as images go, Google and other search engines can read some of the data within the image file so it’s crucial that the data accessible to the public is accurate. There is still some use in “meta-tagging” images and videos as well. If you’re not familiar with this process it’s best to work with an experienced professional or dedicate some time to researching how to do this correctly. Videos can be treated in the same manner but even better. At times it will seem as if search engines treat high quality, original content more favorably when more videos are used.
The links are critical
The external links that point to your page from other high-quality sites are the equivalent of gold SEO. Links to your page mean, for search engines, that your community is a credible source of information. Outbound links to other sites on your page can improve the user experience, but also many links to other sites have the reverse effect, and users can get away and damage your SEO. The reason is that search engines and trackers classify their content as less authoritative, and there is a risk that the community will be seen as spam.
The internal links, which is to add links from one page to direct to another of the same page, have immense value and should be used freely to connect users with the rest of their page. Not only can you improve the user experience, you can easily find more articles about content that catches your attention; It also plays an important role in the SEO of a page, because it provides search crawlers with access to other articles in their page and gives each article more weight. After all, search engine crawlers can not use the search function to find content!
In closing we can point out numerous ways rank higher in search engines but the business, company or website owner should understand that the best results are achieved by being consistent in SEO strategies.