Christmas is round the corner, and yes, it is indeed time for joy. We are here to discuss 7 easy fixes for your website SEO that will bring in more traffic and a lot of added gifts this festive season. So rejoice, people!
2016 is almost over, and with the New Year, it is time to embrace some changes that will make your website more optimized and SEO friendly. You don’t need to have a degree in digital marketing or SEO strategies; you just need to press the right buttons to make the search engines show you some extra loving.
So without much ado, let’s check out the 7 fixes that can change the facade of your website and help you break a few digital marketing records:
1) This festive season, don’t forget to share
This is a critical step to make your name known among the pilgrims. Include blocks of social sharing buttons at the bottom or side of your articles/pages. These social sharing buttons allow your visitors to share your website content, product and special offers/services on different social media platforms with one click of the mouse. Most pre-made, user-optimized themes already allow your users to share posts from your website using such social media widgets. So in case you already have one, just update them with the latest most popular social media links like Google+, Pinterest, and Instagram.
2) Say ‘Hello’ to Alt Image texts
If your website is image-centric, double check the tags of all images. Include Alt Image Texts to all your pictures and include apt descriptions to all your images. Alt Text and/or your description should contain your focus keyword or its variation. For example, if you are a dentist, who is writing on a particular procedure like a root canal and “dental” is your focus keyword; you can include orthodontic, dental surgeon, endodontist, and exodontist in your descriptions to befriend search engine crawlers.
3) Break down long-copy content into sensible parts
Just like people, search engine spiders get “distracted” while reading endless black and white content. If you think your long-copy content is too dense, break it up into a few sections. Use heads, subheads and bullet points correctly to express your views. Use the header tags (H1, H2, H3 and so on) wisely during these breakdowns.
For example, if you are speaking about ‘the contribution of technology to dental procedures’, you may want to break your content into several sections like:
- advantages of using technology friendly methods for dental treatments
- The most common dental procedures to get shiny, white and healthy teeth
- The cost comparison between old and new dental techniques
4) Always have a style guide for your blog
Well, we always have an idea about the next topic of our blogs, the trending keywords and desired traffic. What we mostly lack is an idea about the bigger picture. A blog is never isolated keywords, header tags, spider-optimization or featured images. It is the perfect balance of everything mentioned above that makes a blog attractive and compelling. While chalking out your style-guide for the blog, take into account:
- The focus keyword and the keyword variants that you would like to include in your post
- The formatting of headings and subheadings to use the Header Tags (H1, H2…so on)
- The readability of the blog. Always remember that ultimately human beings are going to read and share your blog content. Making posts crawler-friendly is not the foolproof way of making your website SEO friendly
5) Meta descriptions are crucial. Do not skip them
In the small space offered on the SERPs, the user initially judges all websites by their title and Meta descriptions. About 60 characters of the Meta description show up on the SERP, and it is vital to use it to make an impression wisely. Meta descriptions may not hold power to alter ranks, but they do ensure that potential customers and readers visit your website after reading a snippet of info. It makes a huge difference in CTR, and a high-quality Meta description can make your day by increasing your CTR by as much as 112 percent in a single day.
6) Use your Link Title smartly
Now consider, if we write “click here” and “click here for some eggnog” which one do you think will be clicked more? Leaving aside the “spiritual” factor of things, it is simply going to be the second link because it gives the link a purpose and the users an idea where they are headed. Your text that contains the hyperlink is called the anchor link or the link title, and you need to ensure that your text is as explanatory as possible.
7) Optimize your page speed
People hate a non-white Christmas, but what people hate more is a website that refuses to load. Come on; you do not want your readers to be as happy as Santa’s elves? This is especially required if you are working on a festive season theme, offer, and services. Your dental themed website may add a few festive elements like special Christmas discounts and promotional offers for your patients who reach out via the site. More people will be attracted to your Xmas themed store, and you will be left at sea if your site isn’t tuned enough to handle the traffic. Well, thank Saint Nick for there are tools like:
Final Words
You can quickly consider these 7 fixes as your Christmas Week challenge to fix your site SEO and score high on the SRLs. These fixes never take more than a day to be implemented. So, by the time New Year comes, your website SEO will be as good as new.
This article is written by Jason Wills. He is one of the most known names in digital marketing and SEO. Here, he talks about how to perfect your SEO game within 7 days. From websites that offer special spa treatments to the ones that provide festive dental solutions that work, Jason is the Santa for everyone.
Web developer and SEO specialist with 20+ years of experience in open-source web development, digital marketing, and search engine optimization. He is also the moderator of this blog "RS Web Solutions (RSWEBSOLS)".
