The world of SEO (both onsite SEO and offsite SEO) can be a confusing one for those who are uninitiated. It is terminology heavy and can be difficult to comprehend even from a conceptual standpoint.
In this post, we will explore one of the two aspects of Search Engine Optimization, which is Onsite SEO.
First of all… what is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization is the act of making a website as appealing as possible to search engines so that they can gain a high ranking. For example, if you are a Realtor in Toronto, and someone types into Google, “best Toronto Realtor” we want to ensure that your website has all of the necessary measures taken to be one of the higher ranked sites. This is done through onsite and offsite SEO.
Gotcha. So what is Onsite SEO?
Onsite SEO entails all measures taken to make a site appealing to search engines that actually occurs on the website itself.
There is a long list of site elements that the search engines look for. Here are some of the highlights.
Title/Description
All pages on a website should have a title and a description that incorporates the necessary keywords that apply to that page. For example, for the keyword term “internet marketing toronto” we at Bush Marketing show this:
Headings
In your written content on your website pages, it is important to incorporate your keyword terms into the headings (ideally heading 1 and heading 2, which are displayed in the formatting section as H1 & H2). I’ll use this article as an example. The keywords for this post are “onsite SEO” which you can see displayed in the second heading!
Alt Text for Images
Every image on a website as a variety of attributes that can be filled in. One of those is the Alt Text attribute. As the search engines are unable to actually view an image, they rely on this attribute to tell them what they are seeing. Incorporating keyword terms into the image alt tags can help a great deal with onsite SEO.
Page Load Speed
Does your website load quickly? Google and the other search engines consider that to be an essential part of a good user experience. If your website suffers from a slow load time (5 seconds or more) then your rankings with be affected negatively. Aspire for at least a three-second load time and you should be good to go. The Bush Marketing website, last checked, has a 3.70 second load time – that’s what you want! You can test your website’s load time here.
Internal Linking
Linking to other pages within your site to help your visitors find information is essential for onsite SEO. Once again, we are talking about a good user experience, which Google loves and rewards. For example, after having read this SEO article you may want to look into Bush Marketing’s SEO services, or perhaps read another SEO article on the Bush Marketing blog.
You get the picture. Inbound linking makes things convenient for users, and Google likes that.
Dynamic Content
Dynamic content is any content on a site that is new and fresh, as opposed to the static content that exists on a site. What’s the difference? Static content usually entails your websites pages that are written and stay the same. Examples can be your Services pages, Contact page, Home page, etc. Those are designed with a specific marketing strategy in mind, and once written, don’t change very often.
Dynamic content is content that is fresh, new and added to a website consistently. The best example of dynamic content on a website is a blog. This is an opportunity for business owners to offer new written content to their visitors which will help them with fresh information about something they are interested in (which is why they are on your website in the first place).
Dynamic content is vital to successful onsite SEO and will help significantly with rankings. And remember, each of these posts can be optimized!
Conclusion
Now you have an understanding of onsite SEO. If you are looking to take your rankings and your business to the next level, I invite you to have a discussion. Call Bush Marketing today and we will get you on the path to SEO success!
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