Search Engine Optimization (SEO) plays a critical role for anyone launching or maintaining a website. In this post, we’ll cover what SEO is, why you need it, and 3 key components to optimizing your website for search engines like a pro.
SEO: What It Is and Why You Need It
When a page on your website is published, search engines deploy bots that probe through your content to determine when it should appear in a search result. They detect topic, relevancy, authority, and more in order to arrange your page in the lineup of results.
Search Engine Optimization simply means optimizing each page on your site so that search engines will easily find and use them.
And yes– each page on your site needs optimizing! That’s because search engines scan individual pages, not entire sites. Set yourself up for success by configuring the SEO on each page you publish.
Components of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Okay, so you know what it is and why you need it. But how do you actually optimize your web pages for search engines? Here are 3 key components.
1. Keywords: Do’s and Don’ts
In a nutshell…
DO discover what word or phrase your page revolves around, and include that word or phrase throughout your page; ie, in the beginning, naturally included throughout, and in the conclusion.
DON’T stuff your page out the kazoo with keywords. Let’s stay classy, folks! Plus– search engines will see through excessive keyword stuffing and may even penalize you for it.
2. Hyperlinks: Reference Yourself
News sites are a great example of referencing one’s own work whenever possible. Yes, it might feel a bit over the top and narcissistic at first, but whenever possible you should hyperlink to an existing page on your website.
Why? Firstly, it offers your readers more content they may find helpful. But also because doing so helps search engine bots better catalog and reference your website.
3. Create Clear Permalinks
Let’s say you visited https://websiteadvice.com/articles/launching-a-website-read-this-first
Just from looking at that permalink, you know where you’re going– and so do the search engines! That’s the point– creating clear permalinks helps your viewers and helps you get more views.
...See how I followed step 2 here? ;)
The Best Content Management System for Top-Notch SEO
Structure CMS™, created by Market Rithm, is the best-of-breed platform for SEO and several other key components to having a terrific online presence.
- In Structure, optimized permalinks are automatically generated with every new page.
- Each link displays what is essentially the root, branch, and leaf in Sturcture’s in-house Site Tree web design model– just like the above example!
- Structure makes it very easy to self-reference in pages, and to share those pages across social media or other marketing mediums like email.
And the best part? Structure covers page-level optimization as well as broad site SEO to help you create a site that search engines will love. Learn more about Structure CMS™ here.
