The Difficult Simplicity of SEO

The more writing you have on your site, the better it will perform with search engines.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the craft of arranging the data on your webpage so that it appeals to search engines, thus raising your ranking with them. The goal is to appear as close to the top of the first page of search results as possible.

The Technical Side of SEO

SEO has a technical side. It requires using keywords in proper numbers, employing proper text such as headings, bold type, quotations, and italics, and includes behind the scenes data entry, known as meta-data. The depths that people will go to optimize their site varies. Some will go quite far. To complicate matters, the means to achieve good SEO frequently changes and is often debated by experts.

Major Search Engines Want to Deliver Quality

Browsers want their results to be valuable to the public. Companies such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, Silk, Safari, and numerous others constantly evaluate sites to determine their value. They rank websites’ importance and display them in accordance with that rank. That means bad SEO will put you at the back of the line and good SEO will put you at the front. The simple economics of the situation is that good SEO grants the potential to earn more money.

SEO and Metadata

A fair portion of SEO should fall in the hands of a website programmer. That person should craft all the metadata that goes behind the scenes on the site. Before all the user-visible information gets added, the programmer should have set up the site to win. Unfortunately, the metadata can’t carry the entire load. What goes on the visible end of the site matters a great deal.

Bounce Rates Determine Value

Search engines used to rely heavily on metadata, but that led to problems. Unscrupulous websites used metadata to trick browsers and gain visitors that had no need for their services. The major browser companies did not take kindly to the deception. That’s why, nowadays, you hear about the importance of bounce rates. A bounce is when a visitor comes to your site then leaves immediately. Giving poor ratings to sites with high bounce rates is intended to curb false or misleading links and metadata.

Metadata Is Only Part of the SEO Picture

Along with evaluating bounce rates, browsers also downgraded the importance of metadata. Browsers want the value of the site to be high to visitors, not bots or algorithms that read the site. While they still use metadata -or so we hope –they now rely more heavily on the visual side of the site to determine its value.

Browsers Read What You Write

Major browsers use the writing on your site to determine its intended goal and its value. The writing should describe your purpose. It should employ words that people use when searching for what you offer. When a person or a bot finishes reading one of your webpages, no doubt should remain as to its purpose. If not, you lose with both the bot and the person.

The More Writing, the Better the SEO

The more writing you have on your site, the better it will perform with search engines. First, the bots have more to read and so can better determine your true purpose. Second, the more writing you have, the more different ways people can find you. With more writing, you cover more subjects and more potential search words. Simply put, you have a chance to show up more. That’s why it’s a good idea to have plenty of writing one a page, have plenty of pages on your site, and to have a blog.

SEO Is Easier Than It Used To Be

SEO is easier than it used to be because it now relies on writing that’s appealing to the visitor. Instead of complex manipulation of metadata, website owners can extend their reach by presenting visitors with good website content and clear descriptions. Simply by sharing knowledge in a blog helps search engines to define the site and determine its value. The more a website shares, the more likely it is to be shared, and that includes the search engines. That means that nowadays, good writing, and lots of it, is good SEO.

Organize to Retain Website Visitors

A web page should have a navigation bar, an introduction of the site’s purpose, and items of targeted interest set in organized patterns.

A well-organized website is key to retaining visitor attention. The numbers of ways to achieve that are many. However, a few important items need to be present. The page should be organized, informative, inviting. The ways to do that are also wide and varied, but here are a few simple principles to guide you.

An Organized Website

Have you ever visited a webpage that made you cock your head back because it had volumes of information scattered across the screen in seeming chaos? You didn’t know where to look. The page had no anchors for your attention to fix upon. That is a situation to avoid.

A web page should have a navigation bar, an introduction of the site’s purpose, and items of targeted interest set in organized patterns.

Navigation Bars

If your website is ultra-simple, you might not need the navigation bar, but if so, you actually might just have landing page. That’s okay. Landing pages are valuable. However, if you have any information that needs categorization, a navigation bar is essential. Those navigation buttons can lead to other pages or they can lead to headings on the same page. Either way, navigation eliminates unwanted confusion.

Statement of Site Purpose

You site should let people know its purpose immediately. Sometimes the name is enough, if you’ve chosen your domain name well. A beach rental company with the name of their city is a good example. The title tells you where you’ve landed –probably before you arrive. However, even with something generally understood like a CPA firm, some clarification is a good idea. What does that CPA firm specialize in? Is it tax preparation or financial reviews? A simple statement in the header or at the top of the page is all you need to satisfy visitors that they have arrived at the right place.

Organized Site Data

The organization of the data on the page is very important. Numerous schools of thought exist on what should come first, where pictures should appear, and so on. However, the key word is organization. The visitor should not have to spend more than a second or two searching for something to land their gaze. “White Space” is essential. Your page should not be a sea of never ending text. It should have headings and clearly defined bites of information. Even without images, a well-defined, clearly spaced text-only page can appeal to the eye. Avoid any appearance of overwhelming amounts of information. As with the page title, the following nuggets of information should clearly describe what they are at the top.

An Informative Website

An informative website rewards visitors. They click on the link in search of answers or a desire. Your website should satisfy those with its content. If someone seeks houses for sale, your realtor site should show some houses that are for sale –or at least provide links to those houses. An IT solutions provider should lead with solutions. What computer upgrade issues do startups ordinarily face during growth spurts? Those visitors will want answers immediately upon arrival.

Provide the answers to visitor needs right away. Use your page statement of purpose, the navigation bar, and the organized segments of data below on the page. With all of those in view “above the fold,” visitors will realize that your website is worth their time. When done well, the visitor might actually gain a few answers or solutions before they have a chance to dig further. It’s okay to resolve visitors’ problems right away. You just established yourself as an expert and increased your chances of securing a new client or follower.

An Inviting Website

Creating an inviting website takes some technical know-how, but beyond that it becomes an art. What colors do you choose, and what font? Employing the above guidelines, you will already have created a site that pulls readers forward, and that, in itself, is an invitation to visitors.

Navigation Bar Placement

Placement of links would be the technical aspect of creating your site. Will your navigation bar go across the top or down the side? The layout of your website might guide your decision. If not, let your website programmer help you out.

Website Backgrounds Matter

What background will you use? Law firms and accountants often use strong authoritative colors. Beach rentals might mimic sand and sea. Whatever you choose, it should make reading easy. Don’t use a chaotic or overly-busy background. No amount of white space will cure that error.

Lead Visitors to Greater Understanding

When you offer an enticing bit of information, create a link that will provide visitors with more information. The following page will satisfy their interest and educate them on what you provide. It might also make them a better-informed customer. That’s a good thing, especially when you’re the one providing the answers. Few things are more inviting than the resolution to ones problems. Is it fair game to create teasing or enticing lines in your links? You bet it is.

Creating Future Customers with a Well-Organized Website

When you provide services or products, having a website just isn’t enough anymore. You have to have an edge. The first advancement is to have a well-organized site that gives visitors the idea they’ve come to the right place. Organization makes people feel safe. Clearly placed blocks of information offer ease-of-use to visitors. When those blocks of information serve to inform and satisfy, you’ve won the interest of the visitor. Once there, invitations to dig deeper, find out more, and become and educated customer might very well be irresistible. Take a moment to compare you site to these guidelines. A few tweaks could create welcome changes to your next visitors.