When a potential client discusses ideas for a web design, high search engine rankings normally are included. Even current web site owners who are frustrated with their search engine rankings ask if I can improve them. People want to believe that there is some sort of magical incantation that can raise the search engine rank of their sites. Ranking high in the free (organic) search engine results takes some research, planning, and time. Optimizing web pages for search engines does not improve organic search results overnight or in a week or even a month. Those who tell you otherwise, are flat out lying.

To quickly improve rankings, one can enroll in Google Adwords or Bing Ads and pay a fee for each time a user clicks on the link. An effective PPC (pay per click) marketing strategy is highly recommended. This can be quite costly especially in highly competitive business categories.

A skillful web designer is usually acquainted with the techniques used to optimize web pages for search engines. Make-your-own web site services do this to some degree, but much of it is left up to the web site owner. Web designers who charge a minimal fee usually bypass the time consuming task of search engine optimization. In my mind, SEO, is part of a web design project.

Mobile searches for "can I/to buy" and "near me" have grown over 6X in the last 2 years.
Think with Google

Juan González, country manager from Sistrix, an SEO toolset data collection company, analyzed 300 website domains, all of which lost Google search results visibility after March 13, 2017.

nearly all losers were very advertisement heavy, especially banner ads, many of which were AdSense campaigns … Another thing that we often noticed was that those sites offered little or poor quality content, which had no value for the reader.
Juan Gonzalez

Juan González

Sistrix
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Some Helpful SEO Tips

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1<TITLE> Tags

TITLE tags tell a browser what text to display in the browser’s title bar and tabs. They are the most important HTML signal that search engines use to understand what a page is about. Each web page should have a unique TITLE tag containing useful keywords. Place it near the beginning of the <head> tag. Instead of using "Home Page" as the title of your web site landing page, try "Business Name | Services Provided or Product Categories Available | City, State."

Here is the beginning of my <head> section of my home page. I highly recommend having the 2 <meta> tags listed as the first 2 lines in the <HEAD> tag.
 <head>
 <meta charset="utf-8">
 <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
 <title>Jeff Heiser - Custom Web Design | Reading, PA</title>

 

Place DESCRIPTION tag immediately below the <TITLE> tag and create a unique keyworded summary of up to 160 characters (including spaces) describing the contents of the web page.

Note: The TITLE and DESCRIPTION tags appear on the search results page, so both of these tags should contain text designed to encourage people to visit your web site. Here's my home page 136 character DESCRIPTION tag:
 <meta name="Description" content="Sleek Modern Websites - Mobile-Friendly - User-Friendly Navigation - Search Engine Optimized - Fast Loading Pages - Competitive Pricing.">

Many searchbots, including Google, overlook KEYWORD tags. In the past, this tag was used to stuff a variety of keywords and keyword phrases. Now, searchbots scan the web page’s readable text content to figure out what the keywords are. 

Each web site should have a well-structured navigation system including bottom-of-page text links, internal links in the body content, and a sitemap page. Don’t forget to use keywords and keyword phrases in the links. 

Each web page should have unique, well-written, readable text content applicable to that web page. Search engines cannot read embedded text in images. Some folks believe that there are tricks experts use to improve search engine rankings. When a client asks about this, I reply, Using tricks is engaging in a ‘cold war’ against Google. They don’t react well to it. Sooner or later, Google will plug the exploit. When they do so, they will usually force sites that used the trick to the bottom of search results as a punishment. Do you want that?  

Use keywords and keyword phrases:

  • in the URL, folder names, and filenames including image filenames. Separate words using dashes-or-hyhens.
  • TITLE tag and DESCRIPTION tag as mentioned above.
  • in the first paragraph.
  • in heading tags, especially <H1>, <H2>, <H3>.
  • in bulleted lists, bold text, and italic text.
  • in text links and button text.
  • in ALT text for images. (ALT text describes the image for search engines and the visually impaired.)
  • multiple times throughout the page, but don’t use a keyword or keyword phrase too often. You can avoid over-repetition by using synonyms and semantically related words. Correct spelling, grammar, and vocabulary mistakes. Make your content unique and high quality.

Search engines like simple well-structured pages with minimal advertisements and external CSS and SCRIPT files. Visitors like well-designed, uncluttered, easy-to-navigate pages so they can quickly find what they want. If the page is too cluttered or it takes too long to load, the searchbot may just abandon it. 

Because of the popularity of mobile devices, search engines like responsive web sites. (those that display well on all devices.) In fact, Google and Bing downgrade the search ranking of a web site that is not mobile friendly when the search is done from a mobile device. A majority of searches are currently done from mobile devices. According to Google, "People are 5 times more likely to leave a site if it isn't mobile-friendly." 

SEO Periodic Chart
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Have you ever waited a long time for a web site to load? Many people abandon a web site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. Search engines take note of this as well and downgrade slow loading web sites. They want to recommend web sites that result in a positive user experience. Web sites today include a variety of images and plugins to make the user experience more enjoyable. This means more data to download to view a web site. Techniques I use to overcome this issue include optimizing images, minifying files, delay loading of non-critical CSS and scripts, and leverage browser caching. 

Cross-linking the web pages ensures that PageRank is shared among the information on the web site. Interlink the pages with contextual links whose anchor text is relevant to the target page. In addition to spreading PageRank over your website, this technique will also tell Google what the web pages are about.

Google is now encouraging web sites to be HTTPS (encrypted communication between web browser and web server). Many users share personal information via signup forms, contact forms, and purchases. Google will favor an HTTPS web site over one that is not. This is in the initial stage. I do recommend this to clients who receive personal information from customers via the web site.  

Add a FREE business listing to Google My Business, Bing Places, and Yellow Pages. This will help with local searches. List your address on every page as well as mention your geographical area in your body text and even your TITLE and DESCRIPTION tags. Many searches done from mobile devices will yield local area results.  

Frames are obsolete and searchbots ignore those pages. Flash is slow to load and cannot be read by the search engines. Any information embedded in a Flash file will not be indexed. In addition, Flash is annoying and may drive visitors away.  

Ads pay for many of the resources we take for granted on the web. No one begrudges a few ads, but some web sites take ads beyond a reasonable level. Google’s search algorithm attempts to improve user experience by downgrading sites with too many ads.  

More than half of all consumers said they would not revisit or share a page that had a pop-up ad.
Think with Google
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Conclusion

Search Engine Optimization is a complex venture. Improving your rankings isn’t as simple as it used to be. Search ranking algorithms have grown smarter and more sophisticated. Many techniques that used to be acceptable are now considered inappropriate practices — and in some cases, can even earn you a traffic-throttling Google penalty.

There is no magical quick fix to improve organic search results. What is required is a sound strategy which results in a well-structured web page of quality content that provides value to your visitors. Applying the techniques mentioned above puts you soundly on the right track to appeal to search engines.

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✽ - Beginner’s SEO guide: Search engine optimization for small business websites