Think SEO isn’t a big deal? Think again! Websites that appear as the top search result in Google, receive 33 percent of search traffic, compared to 18 percent for the website in second position. The drop in traffic is even more significant between pages of search results. The first page of Google search results generates 91.5 percent of all traffic, while the second page only receives 4.8 percent of traffic.
How many times have you clicked through multiple pages of search results? Usually if I can’t find what I’m looking for on the first or second page, I direct my search elsewhere. If the content of your website or blog doesn’t rank highly in search engines, you’re missing out on a lot of business, but all is not lost! SEO guru Ian Cleary has developed several lists of ways companies can get their pages noticed and ranked higher in Google:
- Add a sitemap to help Google index relevant pages.
-
Link to other posts in your content, and share your post with industry experts, so they can link back to your content. Cleary says these links will help Google understand what your content is about, but I think the biggest advantage of links is helping you to appear more like a reliable, industry expert.
- Optimize your content with industry-related keywords and be sure to use keywords in images, video tags and hyperlinks. Use keywords at the beginning of your titles as well. Ex: In my title I used “SEO” first because it’s the most important word associated with my post.
-
Resolve an HTML or server errors.
- Share your content on Google Plus or SlideShare. Google search favors content posted and produced on both social networks.
If you’ve done all of these things to increase your SEO, the best thing that you can do is focus on producing great content. Search engines have evolved over the past several years, and a greater emphasis is placed on content quality.
Once you’ve gotten in the routine of writing quality, optimized content, measure the success of your blog or website using Google Analytics. Google Analytics can tell you the number of returning users to your page and the amount of time users are spending on your page. Google Analytics can also tell you what search terms people are using to find your content. Having this knowledge can help you optimize your content even further.
Questions to consider:
What techniques do you use to optimize your content in search engines? What have you found to be the most successful method?
How have you used analytics to help increase your SEO?
The Social Lauren 
Hey Lauren.
Search Engine Optimization an Hour a Day by Jennifer Grappone and Gradiva Couzin offers great tips for effective SEO and SEM strategies. Several factors that affect the efficiency of your SEO strategy include producing quality content, localizing your keywords for SEO, and usage of video. These strategies will improve your chances at getting on the first page of Google for an organic search.
Thanks Jason! I’ll definitely have to check that book out. Everything relating to social media success seems to lead back to producing quality content. If you produce great work that targets your audience, and add keywords so your target audience can find your work, you should see the effects in your SEO.
Hello Lauren,
What techniques do you use to optimize your content in search engines? What have you found to be the most successful method?
Keywords and Content are two techniques I use for SEO. I try to make sure I keep it consistent, so if, and hopefully when, one of my sites is at the top of a prominent search on Google, it will be for the right thing. I have also seen images with tags and captions be quite beneficial. Definitely going to start incorporating them more into my strategy. I’ve used analytics to see basically what is working and what isn’t and then adjust.
Nice blog post.
Thanks! Consistent content is definitely a key for getting to and staying at the top of search engines.