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Seven Steps To Power Your On-page Seo, Part One
Are you thinking about building a site of your own, or redesigning a current site? Well, the difference between just any web design and an SEO web design can be significant. Functionality for the end user is important, but it is not the only focus. If Google cannot get people to find you, then the importance of user-friendliness goes right out the window. My goal in this two-part series is to show you how to give your site SEO effectiveness upon completion of a web design project without diminishing your visitor’s experience.
Below are four of the seven most important steps to take into account when starting a project.
1. Correct URL Construction
You want to construct your URL so that it establishes a clear indication of the content’s topic. This means the URL should be unique and descriptive, while also containing keywords that are relevant to both Google and visitors. Doing so allows everyone to understand the message your page conveys.
Site owners often struggle with establishing proper URL structure with multiple words. The best practice here is to avoid using numbers, characters or other extraneous terms. Instead, use something sweet and to the point. An example of this would be www.google.com/proper-website-seo.
2. Mobile Responsive Web Design
In today’s world, it is estimated that about 50 percent of visitor traffic comes in through mobile devices. That means you can be sure that at least some percentage of your visitors are viewing your site on their smartphones or tablets. To make sure your mobile visitors have a good experience, a mobile-responsive website is a must. As of April 21st, Google has made it essential for site owners to mold their sites into a responsive design, changing like a chameleon based on visitors’ devices — all with the idea of becoming as user-friendly as possible. Establishing an easy call to action via pressing a “Call” button has become a must. Make it easy for visitors to contact you, and Google will reward you not only with first-page mobile keywords, but with profit.
3. Optimized Images
Images are often overlooked in web development by the human eye. They are appealing for a user, but not too friendly to the search engine spiders if placed without some thought to what these little bots can read. Start with the alt text; use it to add specific keywords into all images that will be in the site design. Another key to success with your graphics is to start with the minimal size needed to provide a quality user experience. The best practice is to resize the images to the size you want; do not shrink them in the source code. This will significantly reduce page load times for your site, giving you an advantage over your competition.
4. Optimized Page Load Times
A lengthy load time for your pages will be detrimental to your website. The time to beat now is approximately 3 seconds for your desktop and 5 seconds for mobile devices. Google has their own tool to help you see how well your site performs. Called PageSpeed Insights, it allows you to analyze your pages. Even more helpfully, it gives you suggestions for steps to take to increase performance and grades your speed with user experience.
This is a lot of information to take in when you are building an SEO website. Take the time to go over these four steps mentioned above, and keep in touch with our blog to get the other three steps soon. If you implement these seven steps, you will be on your way to a successful SEO campaign sooner rather than later.
— Joshua Feuerbacher, Social Media Marketing Manager
