Six Simple Steps to Increase Your Website’s Visibility

Every business owner wants a website that is highly visible to the major search engines but they struggle with how to make that happen. In many cases, these business owners become overwhelmed and throw up their hands in defeat.

If you are one of those business owners, don’t despair! While achieving a high SEO ranking is critical to your business, making it happen is not as difficult as you might think. What follows are some ways to make sure your website gets noticed by the major search engines while generating more sales leads for your business.

• Avoid overly-general headlines. Whenever possible, mention the name of your business in the headline of any content you are posting to your website. This allows the search engines to recognize what your business is all about.
• Don’t skimp on headlines. A good rule of thumb is that for every 150 words or approximately three paragraphs, use a headline or a subhead. In other words, break up large blocks of copy. This helps with SEO because it reiterates what your content is all about.
• Caption images. You have heard that images are important but if you don’t include a description of those images search engines will pay no attention. The more descriptive your captions, and the more they relate to the content, the better.
• Avoid telling visitors to “click here.” If you are linking to a different page on your website make sure you specify what is on the page visitors are being directed to. For example, if you sell mufflers and you want people to visit a page on your website that lists the different types of mufflers you stock, instead of “click here” write “muffler product page.” This is just another chance for the search engines to know what your website is all about.
• Keep it fresh. This is an oldie but a goody. The more fresh content on your website, the higher its SEO ranking. Search engines want the latest content so it’s your job to give it to them! If you can’t keep your website updated with fresh content, consider hiring a company that will do it for you. It’s that important!
• Get social. Social media increases the visibility of your website by driving traffic to and from your website. Make sure your website includes social sharing buttons so that people can go back and forth between your website and your social media sites. The search engines love this type of activity.

If you are like most business owners, you are probably already doing many of these things. All it takes is a few tweaks and additions and you are on your way to a higher SEO ranking.