Nowadays it is essential that every website owner understands the true meaning of SEO and its potential. But what exactly is SEO? In short, Search Engine Optimization is a set of rules that you will need to follow in order to make your site visible to major search engines like Yahoo, Bing and Google and thus improve your website rankings. Here, I’m talking about real organic traffic and 1st page placements and not paid advertisements that you see when you search for any query. So the great thing about SEO is that it is completely free. In addition, it is a great way to increase the quality of your web site by making it more accessible, faster and easier to navigate.
 

The first question you are probably asking yourself is why can’t Search Engines just figure out my site without me having to do all that “explaining”? Well the truth is that search engines are smart but still not that smart. You have to consider that there are many limitations to how Google, for example, understands your content and ultimately how it crawls every page, only to return the most relevant information to its users. Quick stats: Google processes over 40,000 search queries every second which adds up to 3.5 billion a day or a whopping 1.2 trillion per year. Moreover, if I’m to tell you that 75% of all search engine users click on one of the top 5 suggestions on the 1st page, with the first result taking even 1/3 of the total traffic, you probably get the idea as to why you should consider SEO as an essential tactic for putting your site out there and making it visible. Bottom line – do it right and you’ll skyrocket your traffic or do it wrong and get buried amongst a billion websites.
So, how exactly can you do it? Below I have compiled a list of the 5 most important tips that will boost your organic traffic.
 

1. Identify your Target Keywords
 

Conduct a research and determine your most important keywords. Remember not to make a mistake and target keywords that have high search volumes, as those keywords can turn out to be very difficult and costly to move up, or even worse they can send useless traffic to your website. Always have in mind who your target customer is. For example, if you are an Indian Restaurant in Miami avoid using the general keyword “Indian Restaurant” and choose a more specific longer keyword such as “Best Indian Restaurant in Miami”.
 

2. Title
 

The title of your web page is typically the text that appears as a blue link on the search engine results pages. That means if it is catchy a user will click it. However, there are few key points that you need to remember when creating a title. Those are that the title has to contain the focus keyword and it has to be shorter than 65 characters. If it is longer than that Google will simply truncate it.
 

3. Meta Descriptions
 

Meta description is a compact version of your webpage. It helps search engine users understand what your content is all about before they see it and it can greatly influence whether or not users click through to your website. Again, Meta descriptions should contain your focus keyword, must be shorter than 160 characters, accurately describe the content and invite the user with a call to action.
 

4. Attract High Quality Backlinks
 

Links to and from your site should play an important role in your SEO goals and objectives. Remember that using a wrong approach and the wrong links can get your website penalized, so always try to get high quality links that help you reach the top of the organic search results. One way you can do that is by writing guest posts for other websites or alternatively creating infographics that many sites will be more than happy to share. Use your time on high quality links, from websites that are highly relevant to your business. Focus on quality and not on quantity.
 

5. Create High Quality Content
 

You should have a blog on your website because search engines love websites that are constantly updated with fresh content. And while viral stories will get you loads of traffic, your most important goal should be creating an evergreen content that will answer most of your target client’s questions. Remember, although you are optimizing for computers, you are still writing for humans.
Conclusion: The world of SEO is complex, but you can easily understand the basics if you are willing to learn and commit to building a great quality content that is optimized for Search Engine crawling. However, if you don’t have the time, the willpower or you simply feel that your site is too complex for you to keep track of everything, you might want to hire an expert to handle things for you and that’s where TCP Global Solutions can help.
 

If you are interested in learning more contact us and we’ll try our best to answer all questions you might have.