Search engine optimization is part art and part science; there are gifted SEO technicians who devote their professional lives to understanding the inner workings of Google—which, by the way, change almost daily—and still don’t quite have it all figured out. And if they don’t have SEO mastered, what hope do you have, as a non-SEO guru?

We hear this question a lot from small business owners who want to optimize their websites to maximize their search engine visibility, but frankly despair of even beginning. Here’s the good news, though: While you may never master SEO, you can certainly wrap your head around some basics, and in many cases those basics can provide you with no small amount of success.

Two Principles for SEO Novices

Before coming to some SEO specifics, though, let’s hit on a couple of broader points that may aid your understanding. The first of those points is that SEO isn’t really about gaming or juking the system, and if your primary focus is on tricking Google then you’re going to be in trouble. Remember that Google wants to provide a meaningful product—i.e., solid search engine experiences—to its users, and as such it wants you to focus on such niceties as good, relevant content and solid Web design. Get those basics down and you’re well on your way.

A second note: In SEO, there’s no magic bullet or miracle fix. It requires you to balance several factors, including great content, design, social sharing, internal linking, and more. You can’t hone in on just one facet of the Web experience and expect it to yield instant SEO results. Your focus has to be on developing an all-around high-quality site.

The Basics of SEO

With those principles out of the way, here are a few specifics you can focus on as you seek to optimize your company website:

• Make sure each page of your site is attractive, which means not only a clean and uncluttered design but also some high-quality images or graphics.
• Add internal links throughout your site, making it easy for a user to click from one page to another page of relevant content.
• Throw in a few external links, if you can—maybe to a pertinent Wikipedia page, or to an industry publication.
• Work in some keywords, but do it naturally. It’s less important to get caught up in keyword counts and more important to implement keywords naturally—especially including one in the title of your page and one in the meta description.
• Don’t neglect long-tail keywords. For example, plumbing is a short keyword while plumbing companies in Hendersonville, North Carolina is a long-tail one. You’ll likely have better luck with long-tail terms, which tend to be less competitive.
• Make sure your Web content is easy to read and to navigate. Include short paragraphs, plenty of white space, and bulleted lists as appropriate.
• Include your company contact information—including the phone number—on every page of the site, not just the Contact page.
• Make sure your meta descriptions and page titles are actually accurate; Google will penalize you for misleading readers.

These points are all simple enough, but can go a long way toward making your site more searchable. Of course, with any further questions or concerns, you’re always welcome to call us at enCOMPASS!

Summary:

Small business owners want to know how to optimize their website for search engine success—without getting bogged down in technicalities.