How often have you heard the phrase, “You need SEO.”

I will take a shot in the dark and guess you’ve heard it more than once.

Don’t get me wrong, a website must have SEO implemented, but it can be confusing when you don’t know the definition. 

So first, let’s define SEO.

SEO stands for search engine optimization, which is a set of practices designed to improve the appearance and positioning of web pages in organic search results.

Let’s think of it another way, SEO is the cookie crumbs you leave for your target audience to find their way to your website. 

Now I want chocolate chip cookies. 

Here are eight ways to help boost your website SEO and get your cookie crumbles out there. 

Put all the necessary information in one easy-to-find spot.

Put all the necessary information in one easy-to-find spot. If you want your users to find specific information, make sure it’s easy to navigate and locate.

Make the main menu prominent on each page. Try not to bury it under a pile of other content so that users can’t find it.

Make your site easy to search. When there are too many pages, having a search function is vital for people who want to look for something specific or don’t have time to look through every page of your website.

Ensure that your website is mobile-friendly and loads quickly. Most people are searching on their phones, so if they come across a non-mobile-friendly site, they will likely leave immediately and never come back again!

Make your image sizes smaller.

Image and video size are directly related to your website’s loading speed. Therefore, when your search engine recognizes a slow load speed, this negatively impacts your website’s SEO and will cause users to land on your page and immediately leave.

You can make your images smaller without reducing the quality by using tinypng.com (that’s what I use).

Internal links

Internal links are links on your website that link to other pages. They’re essential because when Google’s web crawlers (the programs that search for and organize web content) encounter a page with lots of internal links, they assume it’s a high-quality page and rank it higher in their search results. Another benefit of internal linking is that it helps the reader navigate the site, keeping them engaged and preventing them from leaving too soon.

Here’s an example: If you’re ready to launch your website and have no idea what any of this means–don’t worry! I’ve got your back. You can check out my services page here, and I can help you out.

Put ALT text in images.

There are several reasons to add ALT text to images. ALT text, which is “alternative text,” is used by visually impaired users when the image cannot be displayed. It’s also used by search engines for indexing images.

There might be a lot of images on your web page, but you want to make sure all of them have ALT text. When adding ALT text to an image, think about what the image is about, who it’s aimed at, and how you want it described. Again, keep in mind that search engines will display this information on their results pages.

Try to be as descriptive as possible without being too long or too short in your description (Google recommends 125 characters). You don’t necessarily need to describe every image detail; just focus on relevant elements like its subject matter and context.

Use keywords in your URLs, page titles, and content.

When someone is searching for a term, and they see it in the title of your page, they’ll be more likely to click and visit (therefor boosting your website SEO).

The same goes for your URLs—if you can work in the keywords people are searching for, they’re more likely to click when they see those words in the address bar at the top of their browser.

And finally, don’t neglect the content itself! You’ll have even better luck with Google if you incorporate these keywords into your actual text. Just be careful not to overdo it—Google does not like keyword stuffing and will penalize websites whose content is primarily gibberish with a bunch of keywords stuffed into it.

Include links to other sites that support your claims.

Links are an excellent way to boost your credibility with Google and help your readers find more information on the topic. It’s good to incorporate links from other sites that support your claims, but there are some ground rules.

Make sure the links you include are relevant to the topic. For example, if you’re talking about brand design, don’t link a website to a cupcake bakery.

The linked site needs to be credible and trustworthy. If a site looks like it was put together by middle school students as part of their art class project, it’s probably not going to help you rank better in search results.

Don’t link directly to your competitors’ sites—that could hurt how many people visit yours!

Make sure your site is user-friendly and mobile-friendly.

If your site is responsive, it will work well on all devices: computers, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones and it helps your website SEO immensely.

This means that users can navigate their way around your site easily. They don’t have to zoom in or pinch the screen to see small images or buttons. (This is also known as user experience.)

The text should be easy to read on any device. Use a simple font that is large enough (at least 16px) for people to read without having to zoom in when they are browsing on their phones. Use simple words and sentences so that users can easily understand the content of your pages without having to reread them several times over (this will also improve the quality of your content).

Menus, search boxes, and other forms should be clearly labeled with conventional names such as ‘Search’ or ‘Cart’ rather than more obscure names like ‘Go!’ or ‘Buy Now!’ You also might want a search bar so that users can find the information faster. 

If you get overwhelmed, just eat a chocolate chip cookie and remember that SEO creates a cookie crumble trail for a search engine to find you.

If you need help, I’m always here to help! So send me a DM or fill out my inquiry form to start working together today!

Xoxo Claire