4 Tips For Better SEO

"Content is King" is a phrase we are no strangers to, but "SEO is Queen" may be a new one. SEO, or search engine optimization, is crucial for all online ventures. The reining king of the internet, Google, can control which websites have higher rankings during searches. Google tries to avoid things that look like spam, or that are too general, from appearing at the top of the list of results. Having your website or blog appear at the head of a Google search is a great way to increase pageviews and overall traffic to your site.

If you've found that your Google ranking is lower than what you would like, try implementing some of these tips:

• Make your keywords count. Google uses keywords and phrases to determine sources that would be relevant to a search. Being able to work a key or phrase throughout a post or the content in a page is a great way to improve your SEO rank. Make your keyword phrases detailed and precise. Instead of listing your keyword as "handbags," or "winter style," write them as people would enter them in a Google search. "How to wear a handbag during the winter" is a much better keyword phrase 
• Use strong keywords in your URLs. Not only is it important to use your keywords and phrases throughout your content, they need to be wisely utilized in your site's URLs. Websites and blogs that run on Wordpress use permalinks without the name of the content in the URL by default. You should always update this in your settings so that the post title can be included in the URL. Instead of having a page's link read "yourwebsite.com/x?1234" set them to read "yourwebsite.com/name-of-the-post," and be sure that there are keywords in place of "name-of-the-post."
• Optimize your images. We often forget that images are really HTML text embedded into our post via codes. This means that images can be picked up by search engines. Always include "alt text," which are basically short descriptions of your image. Most content management systems, like Wordpress and Blogger, make it easy to add alt text without needing to know any HTML. Include keywords in your alt text and photo descriptions to really boost your SEO. 
• Link with Love. Including links, to other websites and your own, are great ways to boost your SEO rank. Having external links is incredibly important, because Google counts them as a sort of "third party vote" making your content credible. Be sure that the content you are linking to is credible and reliable, and you will see improvement in your SEO rank in no time.

Do you take SEO into consideration on your blog or website? Why or why not?