Get Higher Search Engine Rankings: Tips for Self-Optimizing Your Website

Potential customers need to find your company.  That means you need to be visible on the web. And in order to maintain a web presence that ranks high on search engines, you need some serious search engine optimization services (SEO).

Seems pretty simple.

The problem, of course, is the price. At $1,000-$5,000 a month, hiring a top web design firm to handle your SEO services may be outside your company’s budget. Here at Farin Innovations, we’d love to take charge of your SEO and rocket your company to the top spot on the first page of Google – but we understand that you may want to start with a less pricey alternative.

While there’s no substitute for professional, organic search engine optimization, you can still increase your rankings by following some of these helpful tips. Until you’re ready to go for the gold and contact a professional SEO company, you can lay the groundwork for a successful web presence by doing some savvy self-optimizing.

Here are some basic self-optimization tips and tricks that can kick-start your SEO strategy.

Design a comprehensive content plan.
 

You have to have distinctive, original, relevant content. That’s all there is to it. Search engines love websites with significant amounts of quality content (and we’re not talking about “fluff” pages stuffed with keywords, either). When visitors search for a term or keyword, Google wants to direct them to the website that displays the most thought leadership in the area – so presenting yourself as a quality information resource is vital.

Here are a few ways you can maximize your content impact:

Lengthen key site pages.

Your home page, product descriptions, news sections and “about” pages should be more than a paragraph or two – instead of 400 words, you should expand these segments to around 1500 words each. If you have to hire a copywriter to create additional site copy, do it. The additional traffic you generate – and ultimately, your increased ROI – will be more than worth it.

Start a blog.

Your blog should be one of your “though leadership” cornerstones – post regularly, and cross-promote your content on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Remember, a blog doesn’t have to be dull – you can post entertaining insights, fascinating facts, pictures or video clips. The more interest you generate, the more links you’ll get.

Build a content management system.

Including a CMS in your website gives you instant access to all website content, and complete control over any new content you decide to include. Without waiting for a web designer, you can use your CMS to modify any content currently on your website, as well as adding any new information you need.

Remember to use meta tags.

Meta (“about”) tags are descriptions that Google uses to classify and rank your site. Don’t forget to include a unique title, keyword and description for each of your pages.

Stay on top of social media.

Google loves frequent, relevant social media activity, with plenty of “likes” and “shares” from enthusiastic fans. When you post quality content on your business’s social feeds – and get lots of responses – you’ll generate lots of backlinks that improve your page rankings.

SEO can be a bewildering new territory, but don’t give up in despair. Some companies use the self-optimizing techniques above to stay on the first page of Google – many others kick-start their SEO strategy with self-optimization, then move on to a professional SEO/SEM agency for more lasting results. Farin Innovations offers quality, affordable social media, web design and optimization services – check out the rest of our site and see how we can help you take the next step!