4 ways to improve your website's Search Engine Optimization, or SEO

There are multiple components that go into creating a website that will rank well in search results on Google, Bing and Yahoo. This is known as Search Engine Optimization, or SEO.

1. Website domain name is important for SEO

The domain name of a website (example: www.durhamcomputerservices.com) helps search engines to categorize a website and contributes to a site's 'search ranking'. Google refers to this a 'PageRank' So, if you want to increase the likelihood that your site will appear higher in results when someone searches for your name, choose a meaningful domain name to help the search engines. If you want them to find you by your profession for example, include the profession in the domain name. If popular names are taken then look for similar variations or other extensions such as .net or .biz.

2. Website content is more important than platform

There are many platforms available for building a website quickly, such as Squarespace, Virb and Wordpress. One particular platform is not necessarily better for SEO than another. For SEO purposes, the content on the website is more important than the platform used to build the site. Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines look for keywords in the content of a website to identify the type of information that the site is offering. Try to use keywords that accurately describe your content, regardless of whether it is a business or a personal website. Be sensible about your use of keywords so that the site remains easy to read by people visiting your site. Overuse of the same keywords repeatedly will probably result in a website that is difficult to enjoy reading, and search engines might demote a site that is too saturated with keywords.

3. Links, multimedia and up-to-date content

Search engines prioritize websites that include links going out to, and coming in from, other websites. So if you are able to link your site to your company's Facebook page, your LinkedIn profile and other sites, this will help your site's ranking. Consider professional association websites also. If a high quality website links to your site then that is more valuable than an incoming link form a lower quality site. Relevant photos and videos also help, as do blog entries on the site if they are relevant to the main content on the website. Additionally, regular blog entries help the search engines to notice that your site has up to date information, which is an important criteria in search ranking.

4. Leverage social media - Facebook, LinkedIn and others

Beyond the content on the website itself, using social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn are great ways to reach people, increase your SEO through linking and drive additional traffic to your website. Create a Facebook business page focused solely on the company, and use it to keep people up to date with company news and general topics of interest in your field. Provide inks to your website's blog posts and other content from the Facebook or LinkedIn pages, which helps with your search engine optimization. This is a great way to reach people who might not go directly to your website regularly.  

It takes time for a website to rank highly on search engines (months as opposed to days), but using these techniques as a starting point will help to get results! Let me know about your experiences!

Neil Berman, Helper-in-Chief, TheONbutton