Although images and videos may entice a visitor to your website, well-established, on-site SEO – search engine optimization – is more important when determining your website’s Google rankings. In the U.S. alone, Google controls more than 90 percent of search traffic, making SEO one of the most important tactics on a website (Six Revisions, pg. 1). You don’t need to be a super-savvy, internet marketing specialist to incorporate SEO strategies into your website. Start out with the list below to boost your site’s page rank:
1. Integrate Your Blog & Social Sites – According to Six Revision’s website, “Blogs [increase] the size of the website over time and this can provide a major SEO benefit in the form of an increase in website authority and a higher number of pages to leverage with internal links.” Adding a link to your blog, Facebook and Twitter on your website will increase your website’s organic search. (Hint: Make sure there is also a way for your patients to get back to your website from the external site.)
2. Analytics – Website analytics provide detailed feedback on your website’s performance. Google Analytics is a software package, which can help increase your practice’s website, and ultimately, increase your patient base and brand awareness. Check it out – it’s free!
3. Content & Coding – Google’s tracking spiders crawl through your website content to determine your site’s page rank. JavaScript and CSS make it difficult for spiders to search for the actual content of your website. Stick with basic HTML coding, adding important keywords. Research on keywords is important for your website. Google’s Keyword Tool allows you to choose the highest search keywords to help increase your site’s page rank. (Hint: Uploading relevant, updated, and unique content to your website further increases your site’s SEO. Keep in mind that repetitive wording may harm your page rank, rather than boost it!)
4. Meta Description – When you search in Google, have you ever noticed the small description under each page result? That’s meta data; it helps catch searchers’ attention. Put your thinking cap on, and ask yourself “Would I click on this page result after reading its description?” (Hint: Limit your description to 150 characters to ensure the entire summary is shown on Google’s results.)
5. Site Navigation – It’s important to include backlinks to every page within your website. Many website designs use JavaScript or Flash navigation, and don’t include the ability to use anchor text. Use footer links to navigate if your website does not allow backlinking.
Don’t forget that the appearance of your website is also important! Color schemes and text should remain consistent throughout the site, as well as content style. Grammar and sentence structure are a must; your website reflects the professionalism of your practice.
Check out these tips to help improve your website:
- Be Concise – You have approximately 8 seconds to grab someone’s attention online. Make it count!
- Ease – Tabs are a simple and easy way to allow a user to access you site’s pages. (Hint: See #5 above.)
- Branding – Use your logo and business colors consistently throughout the website and your marketing materials. Branding is just as important to a corporation as it is for an optometry practice.
- Visuals – Your site shouldn’t contain only text. Entice your patients with bold colors, stick with one or two fonts, and include personalized pictures of the office, doctors, and staff.
- Contact Info – All contact information should be found easily. Include the practice’s address(es), number(s), and e-mail address(es). Consider online contact forms imbedded into your website for easy access to patient questions and concerns.
Sources Used:
http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/improve-seo-website-design/
http://websitedesigntactics.com/