SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization” and is the practice of gaining trust or ranking in Google search. It is extremely common for someone to put up a website for a business he has, only to have Google bury it on page 9, or not show it at all. This is because, from Google’s perspective, they have no reason to show the website above any others.
Is there something very unique about your business or website? Is there a reason that Google should trust you so much right out of the gate that your site should leap over other sites that have been up for months or years?
SEO will gain you that trust if you go about it right. Often trust, or ranking, will come naturally but there are several ways to help it along.
SEO Tips & Tricks:
Backlinks:
Backlinks are links to your own website that are located on other websites. This is a form of popularity for Google and is one of the most important things in ranking.
Create backlinks in business profiles on different directories, the more directories the better SEO you’ll get.
Be careful and create links on trusted and reputable websites as Google takes that into account. Try to get links on websites related to your content.
It’s important to create links that will generate traffic, not just be viewed by Google.
Don’t purchase links. Trading links with fellow businesses is good practice, just be careful with excessive link trading, particularly with unaffiliated persons or companies.
Publish a blog:
This content and link-building strategy is very popular and valuable. Blogs have the unique ability to provide fresh material consistently, create conversations across the web, and earn listings and links from other blogs.
Avoid low-quality posting just for the sake of link building. Google always takes into account visitors on sites, and if the blog is bad, it won’t help much as visitors aren’t as likely to spend any more time on that site.
Site speed:
According to a survey, 40% of consumers leave if the site loads for longer than 3 seconds.
Mobile compatibility:
Google penalizes websites that are not easily displayed on a smartphone.
There are two camps that practice SEO very differently.
White hat SEOs take the approach of earning trust by producing value for internet users. Google takes notice when people seem to find what they are looking for on your website, or alternately if they have to visit other websites to find what they are looking for. The combination of fulfilling search intent and earning links from other websites demonstrates to the search engine that you should be trusted and it should return your website for the results when people search for topics related to your web pages.
Black hat SEOs force trust by getting links to their websites using a variety of methods. The reason they use these techniques is that they usually require less effort and work more quickly than white-hat SEO methods. The disadvantage is that Google engineers are going to figure out what you’re doing eventually and penalize or even ban your website.
Be careful when working with SEO so you don’t spam or use other sneaky ways of getting up the ranks. The most important and long-standing way to rank is to earn the trust of Google.
Tip from Greg:
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