Even if you have the greatest website or online business, it doesn’t mean all that much if no one can ever find your site. Ranking high on search engines like Google is critical to the success for any site. But with countless sites and more appearing each day, how do you separate from the competition? It’s all about SEO and working with a team of digital SEO experts.

SEO, or search engine optimization, works to improve your site so that it will rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs). Here, we’re taking a closer look into the world of SEO and exploring why it’s so crucial for the success of any website or ecommerce business. We then provide 5 practical tips to help you carve out a path to SEO success and more visibility for your site than ever before.

What is SEO?

SEO refers to the set of tools and strategies used by site owners and SEO experts to improve a website (both on-page and off-page) to boost its ranking on SERPs. Why is this ranking so important, and in fact, has developed an entire digital marketing industry around it? It’s all about visibility in the massive online world.

We go online these days when searching for products, services, and information. Why? In part, because the sheer amount of resources that are available at the click of a button. But while this is an advantage for web users, it’s also a challenge for website owners. With so many options, how will users ever find my relevant content or services? Well, that’s where search engines come into play. Search engines work to sort and rank websites based on a user’s search query. It’s the mission of these search engines, like Google, to connect users with the most relevant, trustworthy, and quality information out there.

To climb the search engine ladder and hopefully get your site on page one of the SERPs (where the vast majority of user clicks occur) you need to align your site with Google’s ranking algorithms and values. The secret is in discovering what Google and other search engines are valuing in a website, such as high-quality content, fast page loading speeds, security, and more. But what makes this even more difficult is the fact that Google constantly updates their algorithms to respond to the changing online world. Thus, SEO is not a one-time fix. Rather, ensuring your site has good SEO is an ongoing process that requires the time and dedication of digital marketing experts.

5 Tips for SEO Success

Now that we have a better understanding of SEO and why it’s so important, let’s get down to the real meat of this article. How can I improve my website for SEO success? Well, you may be surprised that some SEO tips are much more accessible than others and you don’t need a background in coding to improve your site in the eyes of search engines.

Here are some tips to improve your site’s SEO:

1. Keyword research:

using a keyword rank tracker the right keywords in your site’s copy can help to signal to Google and other search engines what your site is all about. When these keywords match with those inputted by users in a search query, this can help to drive relevant visitors to your site. Perform keyword research to learn what type of language your potential visitors are using so you can mirror this in your own writing.

2. Building backlinks:

backlinks essentially work as a “badge of approval” between sites. By linking to another site, this shows you trust and value their content. Linking with high authority sites can boost your SEO. But be careful. Linking out to poor sites with questionable reputations can actually hurt your SEO.

3. Focus on user experience (UX):

bounce rate is an important ranking factor and helps search engines assess how long users actually stay on certain pages of your site. A quick bounce rate looks bad as users clearly went elsewhere for their needs. That’s why you need to make user experience, including site functionality, overall visual design, and the quality of content, a focus for your site.

4. Speed up your site:

page speed (the time it takes to load the components of your pages) is an important ranking factor for SEO. This might require more back end work and cleaning up your code, but try to remove any elements that are significantly slowing down your site. Slow site usually leads to a high bounce rate and less user engagement.

5. Content is king:

while ranking algorithms change, one rule seems to stay the same: content is king. Focus on publishing high-quality, relevant, and trustworthy content on a regular basis.

Conclusion – 5 Tips for SEO Success

No matter your ecommerce industry or the niche of your website, SEO needs to be a core part of your digital marketing strategy. After all, what good are all your amazing backlinks, photos and videos, and stellar content without anyone being able to find you online? And how do we find the content, information, and services we need online? It’s all about search engines and good SEO tactics can ensure you rank well so you garner more organic traffic. Compared to paid advertising, SEO strategy is often viewed as a more cost-effective method to keep visitors coming to your site again and again.

While you may agree that SEO definitely sounds important, it isn’t always that simple to understand how to boost your site’s SEO. After all, Google and other search engines keep their ranking algorithms under wraps. This means you’ll have to dig in and do your research to find out what Google is looking for in a quality site. To boost your SEO success, we recommend that you focus on using the right keywords in your content, building authoritative backlinks with other sites, and improving technical aspects of your site, such as site security and page speed. Of course, you can also work with a team of local SEO experts who can provide the tools and experience to help you reach that first page of Google.