If your website doesn’t rank on the first page of a search engine’s results, then it is not likely that any new, potential customers will find your site. Most people searching for something will never go past the first page, so you need to ensure that your website gets ranked there. There is a range of things that you can do to increase the chance of your site ranking higher, one of them being search engine optimisation.
Search engine optimisation, or SEO, is a process that implements strategic practices to websites to increase their ranking on search engine results. This will then increase the amount of organic traffic that businesses get to their webpage, with quality leads later resulting in conversions. It is an important marketing strategy that many companies are utilising. To get long-term results, SEO has to be implemented strategically and correctly, which is why it is often a good idea to go to an SEO agency, as they will be able to implement SEO effectively to get a positive result. When the groundwork is set for great SEO, it can be made more advanced and adjusted accordingly when new SEO trends come about.
As time goes by, different SEO practices develop and become the best way for prospective customers and clients to find you. You need to stay on top of these trends and keep your SEO up to date. Here are the Top 5 SEO practices of 2021 that you should follow:
High-quality content
High-quality content is always essential in SEO, and that hasn’t changed in 2021. The material on your website needs to be the best content for that topic. Search engine users want to find content that is helpful and relevant so that their query will be answered; if it is anything less than this, it will not be rewarded in search engine rankings.
Content that is rewarded in rankings needs to be educational and well researched. It also needs to be set out in a logical structure that is easy for users to read and navigate. Easy to digest, educational content can come in many forms, including infographics, blog posts, podcasts, and videos. To ensure the content is written well, you need to hire writers who know how to write. This is where a digital marketing agency can help, as they will have expert writers on hand who will be able to create the content that you need for your website. Content that is written well and is relevant will also increase the authority of your website.
To ensure that your content is relevant to questions that potential clients will ask, you need to know who your audience is and understand what questions they will be asking. Once you have worked this out, you will be able to offer them the solutions on your webpage for every stage of their searching journey.
Keywords in your URL
A URL with a great structure will let both search engines and users know what kind of content is on the page. By using keywords in the URL, it will stick out as a relevant webpage that may give them an answer to their question. It is also better to keep URLs as short and simple as possible to ensure that they are logical and readable.
A URL may not be a large part of the content, but it isn’t something that you should overlook.
Authoritative backlinks
A backlink is when one website links to another site. They are essential in SEO because they are an indication to search engines like Google and Bing, that a website’s content is good and worth linking too. If there are multiple backlinks to a website, then it can positively affect the sites ranking in search engine results.
Although link building is important, not all backlinks will hold the same weight. A website could have a lot of backlinks, but if they are all from spammy and low-authority sites, then they won’t hold much value. It is better to aim for quality backlinks from high-authority, trustworthy, and popular websites that will help to improve your website’s ratings.
Content length
Just like the quality of the content, as we have already discussed, the length of the content also matters. Research has shown that articles that are above 2000 words will get more readers than those with less words. The reason for this could be that users don’t want to have to look in multiple places for information; they would rather find one website that can address their queries in full. Having content that can answer users questions comprehensively will also mean that they will be spending more time on your webpage, which will be awarded by search engines.
When you are creating high-quality content for your website, you should focus more on well researched, long-form articles rather than shorter snippets. In these articles, you will still need keywords to help with SEO, but there will need to be a good balance between keyword difficulty and volume so that you will reach the audience that you want to be reaching.
Title tags and meta descriptions
Both the title tag and meta description for a website are the things that will be seen in the search engine results. The title tag is the clickable headline link that gives searchers a quick summary and insight into the information on the page so they can see why it is relevant. It is usually around 60 characters, so it needs to be short and snappy, while also including the necessary keywords.
The meta description is the text that comes under the title tag. Although meta descriptions don’t influence the search ranking of a website directly, they can affect the click-through rate. Meta descriptions need to be unique for each page of a website because they should provide an accurate summary of what is on the page. They should be written in less than 160 characters, be actions oriented, and include your keywords.
Conclusion-
SEO practices are one of the best ways to get a higher search ranking and increase organic traffic to your website. Learning how to do SEO correctly or getting advice from an SEO London agency will ensure that you will get the long-term results that you need to see a positive effect on your business. If your looking to drive web traffic, grow your business and boost sales contact Finsbury Media for your Digital Marketing!
