Search engine optimization (SEO) continues to evolve. To stay ahead of the game, here’s what you need to know about website optimization for 2021 and beyond.
Keyword(s): website optimization
Did you know that 90.63% of web pages don’t get any organic traffic?
Fortunately, your website doesn’t need to be part of this number. If you can thoroughly optimize your website, you’re guaranteed to start seeing increased organic traffic numbers.
Website optimization can sometimes get complicated, but there are a lot of things you can do as a site owner to get started.
Are you curious to know how to carry out website optimization in 2021 and beyond? Keep reading to find out why website optimization is so important, and how to go about it.
Why Website Optimization Is so Important
Before we dive into how to optimize a website, let’s quickly go over why this is so important.
According to statistics, SEO drives over 1000% more traffic than strategies like organic social media. Additionally, 60% of marketers report that SEO is their most powerful source of leads.
Although you can choose to use paid ads to promote your business, this is a linear strategy and only works while you are paying for it.
Website optimization, on the other hand, gets you ranked for free on Google each and every month. Therefore, it is one of the best types of residual income you can get from marketing.
Website optimization is something that builds on its self, and, over time, can trigger powerhouse traffic numbers.
Implementing up-to-Date Website Optimization
Website optimization has evolved along with the search engines it caters to. As algorithms change, so do SEO best practices.
Here are some of the most important steps to implement for website optimization in 2021 and beyond.
Do Thorough Keyword Research
If you’re wondering what the best way to optimize your website is—the first thing to do is keyword research.
There are many keyword research tools you can use for this, both free and paid. Once you have settled on a tool, use its features to isolate what keywords you can potentially rank for.
The aim of the game is to target keywords that have the highest search volume to competition ratio.
Speed up Your Site
Once you have uncovered the keywords you want to rank for, it’s time to get to work on your site. Site speed is a crucial part of SEO.
According to Google, bounce rates increase by 32% when page load speed goes from 1 second to 3 seconds. Try to keep your page load speed as low as possible. You can do this by optimizing images, using plugins, etc.
If you aren’t sure what your page load time is, the first step is to check this and see if you can make improvements. To get started, check out our SEO grader page where we provide links to tools that measure site speed and performance.
Optimize for Mobile
Over 50% of web traffic comes from mobile devices. If mobile users don’t have a smooth experience on your site, you’re likely to miss out on a lot of traffic.
Prevent this by carrying out thorough mobile website optimization.
Optimize for Voice
Another search type to cater to when you optimize your website is voice. Thanks to virtual assistance technology such as Alexa, Siri, and other home hub AIs, voice searches have increased dramatically over the last few years.
Google has now revealed that 20% of searches in the Google App are now done via voice.
To optimize your website for voice search, focus on conversational keywords. Also, focus on Q&A style content, and implement schema markup.
Create a Google My Business Listing
Creating a Google My Business Listing is one of the best ways to optimize your website for search engines. Having a Google My Business listing will win you a powerful backlink.
It can also gain you a spot in the top 3 map pack. This, in turn, can cause inbound leads to flow in each and every month through local searches.
Incorporate Your Targeted Keywords
Another important part of website optimization is the correct use of keywords. Once you have a list of target keywords, you should incorporate these into your website’s:
Page names
META description tags
META keywords tags
Title tags
Headers
Sub-headers
Page content
Link text
ALT and TITLE attributes
Embedded file names
Breadcrumbs
However, also keep in mind that you must avoid keyword stuffing. Make sure you use keywords naturally and in context. If you don’t Google might penalize you.
Check Your Site's Navigation
Another important component in how to optimize a website is checking its navigation. Go through your site and make sure that all the navigation features work and are as intuitive as possible.
Check to ensure that drop-down menus aren’t being cut off and that visitors can easily and quickly get to where they need to go.
Create Long-Form, Valuable Content
Another vital step in website optimization is creating valuable, long-form content. Google favors long-form content, and site visitors will stay longer if your content is valuable to them.
One of the ways Google ranks content by its E-A-T principle. E-A-T stands for expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. If you can create content that ticks these boxes, it stands a far higher chance of rising in search results than content that is short, badly written, or without value.
Build Backlinks
According to a study published by Backlinko, the number of domains linking to a page is the factor that has the highest correlation to Google rankings.
Building backlinks is a slow game. Always opt for quality over quantity and aim to get inbound links from sites with a higher page rank and domain authority than your own.
Don’t fall for blackhat link-building techniques as this can get your site penalized. Instead, build good quality backlinks through things like guest posting, influencer marketing, and directory listings.
Are You in Need of Professional Website Optimization Services?
Thorough website optimization is essential if you want your website to reel in leads.
However, learning how to optimize a website from scratch can be time-consuming if you are unfamiliar with SEO.
Fortunately, you don’t have to do everything yourself.
Are you feeling overwhelmed trying to carry out website optimization? If so, we are here to help. We offer website optimization services, website design, monthly local SEO services, SEO consulting, and more.
Contact us today to get your site fully optimized.