The biggest fear any business has when launching a new website is that no one will see it.

The whole point of a good website is to help your business stand out.

This is why effective search engine optimization (SEO) is absolutely vital to the success of your new website.

Whether the search is a traditional type-into-Google one or the increasingly popular voice search,  it’s imperative to be thinking proactively when designing your site.

Strategically using keywords, lengthy (but not too lengthy) text on your pages, and meta-descriptions are among the key factors in maximizing SEO.

The challenge in this, though, is to keep the SEO process as simple as possible while still paying attention to all the important details involved.

I’m here to help you with a head start — consider it a roadmap — to SEO success. So let’s get started!

It can be really easy to get overwhelmed by all the “how to” tips for SEO that you can find online. So let’s hit some basics to keep this manageable.

The most important thing to remember with SEO optimization is that keywords are named that for a reason — they are the key to everything.

So, they need to be present on each page of your site in some way, shape, or form.

In fact, you should structure your entire website –all of it– around your targeted keywords.

Note, though, that having too many mentions of your targeted keywords can get you a slap on the wrist from Google in the form of getting bumped down the search results list (which defeats the purpose of SEO in the first place).

The answer is simple and straightforward–as you build your site, make sure your targeted keywords appear in the following ways:

• Make sure your targeted keyword appears in each page URL. This may seem obvious, but you’d be amazed at how many pages don’t do this, mainly because they don’t use keywords as a focus for their pages. Doing this puts your URL right into the crosshairs of the search bots, and they like keywords found in URLs!

• Put the keyword in the first 100 words of the text on each page and strategically use the keyword regularly throughout the text.  You certainly don’t want to force the issue, so just put in the terms where they seem to make sense in your copy. If your page design is focused on the keyword, there should be a natural “flow” to your copy that will show you quality spots for keyword placement.

• Use the keyword in the Title Tags you design. These are the big, bold-faced words that pop up in search results. Product / service specificity in these is key, again another reason why each of your pages should have a particular keyword as its focus. This may be around a specific product line or service or something similar. To narrow this down, try doing searches around combinations of the keywords you want to use and see what phrasings come up in the results. Then…
• …if one of your keywords has massive competition in search results, specify it more to help it stand out. This involves targeting exactly the best ways to describe your offerings, products, etc. Remember that the more straightforward the better.

With these keyword focus points in mind, the next step is to make sure each page of your website has enough written content — but also not too much — to ping the little Google bots that scan for you and your competitors during a word search.

This, too, has a simple path to follow:

• Be sure to average about 2000 words per page on your site. Before you frown at that number for too long, remember that this is central to your success online. So give yourself the time and space to put your best into each page. By basing your copy on the keyword that is the focus of the page, you can give all the details–and keyword mentions–that are attractive to Google and will give site visitors the info they need to find you and purchase your services / products. A number of studies have proven the 2000 word threshold, so be part of that wave–this isn’t an area to “go rogue.”
• Include internal and external links in your page copy. This is an often overlooked element of website design, at least as far as SEO goes. Connecting to your own internal content like your blog or contact pages can boost your search profile, as can external links to partners and review / social media sites that have said nice things about you. The wider you cast this net, the more conversations about you that run through the search filters when they scan over you.

Lastly, make sure that the search results page, the all-important “bridge” between the searcher and your website, works to your advantage.

The two above points are already vital to making sure you appear high up on the page list, but there are a couple of added points to make sure you hit:

• Give your title tags quality meta-descriptions that give enough specific information to draw the searcher to your site. Make these clear and crisp statements that aren’t too wordy–truncated descriptions on a search page won’t get as many clicks as descriptions that can be seen in their entirety. Clarity and directness are attractive to the searcher and show that you know what you are doing. Here’s an example:

• Utilize the LSI (Latent Semantic Index) at the bottom of the search results page to ensure you are using the best keyword options. This is also an often-overlooked technique to keep your keywords relevant and successful. Scroll down to the bottom of the Google results page to those two columns labeled “searches related to…” and note the keywords and phrasings used. Adjust yours accordingly, if necessary, both in your keywords and your site copy if necessary.

There’s your starter kit!

If you follow the guidelines above, you will be well on your way to a successful website launch that will get you attention from the get-go.

While there are a number of technical details involved in some of these steps that might frazzle your brain, those can be overcome with a little patience and –most importantly– with proven expertise from professionals in website design and marketing.

I’m ready and available to help you navigate SEO and any other website challenges you may be facing, so don’t hesitate to hit me up to set an appointment.

May your business always appear at the top of everyone’s search!