SEO, also known as search engine optimization, is extremely important when you have a website. It allows your page to be more easily spotted during an online search and can bring more hits to your website and increase revenue as well, especially if you sell products or services through it.
Some believe may believe that the practice of SEO is cheating, but that is a misconception. In fact, Google and other search engines rely on a slew of factors to help people find the most relevant websites when they perform online searches.
As a result, using an SEO company in Chicago is not in the least a way of cheating, it is an aid for search engines that improves a user’s search. Keeping all of that in mind, it’s important to know just how to use SEO so that you can successfully direct more users to your site. Here are the top five SEO tips for beginners.
Use Keywords Relevant to Your Page
In general, when someone performs a search on Google or any other search engine, they tend to use phrases. Not only that, but these phrases are used frequently when a search for the same topic is performed.
Using Google Keyword Planner can help you to find popular search terms. It works by taking searches and giving a specific value to each. To use the tool, you have to log into your Google account and then choose “Search for new keywords using a phrase, website or category.”
Type in a phrase and you will be presented with similar phrases that Google uses when searching for that topic.
Don’t Overuse Use H1 Title Tags
H1 tags are for main headers, which are prominently featured on webpages. These headers are among the first items picked up by search engines, making it one of the most important components of any search. At the same time, you will want to limit your usage of them because too many H1 tags can confuse a search engine. Any subheadings should use the H2 tag. Of course, you will want to use relevant keywords in your H1 tags.
Add Backlinks Without Spam
Backlinks are sometimes overused by marketers. However, they simply link back to one page on another. Avoid using those that include links to spam material because it can have the opposite effect of what you want from a web search. Rely on organic linking and avoid linking to spam.
Create a Sitemap and Allow Google to Learn About It
Sitemaps allow search engines to find pages for users who perform web searches. They are usually composed in XML, which allows web crawlers to understand and transmit a search to search engines.
There are third-party tools that help you to create a sitemap, so you don’t need to know XML to write code. If you have a WordPress site, you can use the Google XML Sitemaps plugin.
Write Content for Humans
You want to create content that will grab the attention of search engines. However, at the same time, you want to ensure that your content is written for humans, not robots. After all, the point of SEO is to create content that people will find useful.
Think long and hard about the type of content you want people to find on your page and make sure that humans are your main audience. This will generate more hits from living, breathing people to your website.