So you’re not entirely up to date on SEO? It’s hard to keep up, with Google constantly updating their algorithm. Many SEO tactic’s that helped in the past, may not work anymore – or could even hurt your site’s rankings.Here are 7 proven ways to improve your rankings – that will be here to stay for a while.
Keyword Research
One of the main components of SEO is choosing the proper keywords that will enable you to rise in the rankings. Do a little research on relevant keywords for your brand or service and start with low competition words.
On-site Optimization
The keywords you chose need to be dispersed throughout your pages. For starters, make sure they are used in your title tag and H1 and 3 times in the body copy. However, don’t go overkill. It’ll be obvious (and annoying to your readers).
Further, Google will pick this up and potentially label you as a spammer. Finally, make sure your meta description is unique to each page and describes specifically what the page is about.
WordPress
WordPress is a leading CMS which uses clean code, and has a tidy and efficient All-In-One-SEO-Pack that makes achieving sound SEO as simple as filling in forms. Most platforms don’t make it that easy for you.
Back Linking
Back linking is great to boost your rankings with Google, and one of the main focuses of their algorithm. You can start by writing compelling blog articles and sharing them through social media and social bookmarking sites. If people find your content valuable, they will share it and link to it – giving you valuable back links to your site.
Google Places
Google Places is a seldom-discussed yet excellent tool for you to list your business. Give all the pertinent details about your location, hours of operation, description, photos and your Google ranking will benefit.
High-Quality Directories
Although low quality directories and link farms will detract from your search engine rankings, our studies have found that high-quality directories are still beneficial. Try these 3 for starters: dmoz.org, business.com and the Yahoo directory.
Update Your Website as Frequently as Possible
Google knows how often you update your website, and if your content gets stale, Google sees your website as less relevant and it stops crawling and your rankings plummet. They refer to it as "freshness". So be sure to post high quality and relevant content as often as possible.