When you set out to create a website, you are likely not thinking of how it will rank in the search engines. What you don’t realize is that the structure of your site can have a huge effect on your web site rankings. Below we have put together an SEO checklist that you can use to improve your rankings online.
1. Choose a Domain With SEO in Mind
Your domain name is one of the most important decisions that you have to make when launching your SEO friendly website. You may not think of this as important, but Google favors websites that have a domain name with exact match keywords.
This means that if your website is www.cheapcarsorlando.com and you are targeting the keyword phrase, “Cheap Cars Orlando”, you will have a much better chance or ranking higher in Google than if your website is www.tomscrazycars.com. Always try to pick a domain name that combines keyword terms which relate to your business.
Note: In 2012, Google released a filter (aka EMD Update) to prevent website that they considered of poor quality, from ranking well as a result of them using them an “Exact Match Domain”. Despite Google’s move, I still support using an EMD. Remember, this will only impact your website if it is of poor quality, the purpose of this checklist is to ensure that you don’t do that.
2. Use a CMS Platform
A CMS platform or Content Management System makes the SEO process much easier. CMS platforms such as WordPress or Joomla allow you to quickly create a Search friendly website. These platforms also offer free plugins which allow you to easily control all aspects of your search engine friendly website.
3. Keep Your Site Structure in Mind
The structure of your Search friendly website is very important when driving traffic to your website. Your directory structure should be decided with SEO in mind. Most CMS platforms allow for the automatic creation of what are called Permalinks. Permalinks allow you to automatically create page names that correspond to the title of your pages. This way if you are offering SEO Services, your URL would be www.yourdomain.com/SEO Services/. This allows you to have more exposure when potential customers are searching for these terms.
4. Use Optimized Content
The content on your website is also vitally important to your search engine rankings. With the help of a professional SEO company you should be able to come up with a list of keyword phrases that you would like to target. By creating content which features these keywords you can make your website much more search engine friendly.
It is important to not over do it with keywords as Google will penalize sites that it thinks are overusing certain keyword phrases. A good rule of thumb is to use a keyword about once per 100 words. This will help you in your quest to create a SEO friendly website.
5. Integrate a Blog With Your Site
When many people think of blogs they think of their friend who posts cute pictures of their kids and nothing else. While these types of blogs exist, there are many other types of blogs which offer great information centered around various business topics.
If you create a blog related to your business niche and continuously post new content, Google will begin to look at you as an authority in your niche. This means that as you post more content, the search engines will value your content higher than others in your niche. An active blog can have a great effect on creating an SEO friendly website.
Before launching your next website, keep this SEO checklist in mind to help you create a search engine friendly website. With the proper SEO strategy, you can create a website that will become quite popular in your niche which usually leads to increased business for your company.
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