With the rules of SEO constantly shifting, it can be a complicated thing to get your head around. When crafting a successful SEO plan, however, it may help to think of your SEO as an onion with multiple layers that all have a part to play in helping your website rank better in searches.

On the surface, when most people think about SEO, they only think about the keywords on a webpage. It makes sense: good keywords = higher ranking. Keywords do play a big role in search engine optimization (though arguably less of a role than they used to), but it’s not just the keywords within the text of a website that matter; it’s the layered use of keywords within your site and social media channels that really help boost search rankings in the long run.

The Keyword Layers

Keywords are important in helping Google understand what your page is about and rank it in a search accordingly, but stuffing a page with too many keywords to the point that the content is unintelligible is a big SEO no-no. Once you know what keywords you need to target (check out our blog post on finding the right keywords for your business here) there are multiple areas in which you should use these words and phrases for optimal optimization.

• Page content. Having your keywords in the text of your website is the first step. In particular, try to include keywords in page headings and subheadings as search engines tend to view these areas as the true indicators of the page’s content. Again though, don’t overstuff your pages. The priority should be on compelling and well-written content.
• ALT tags. Whenever you add an image to a page, make sure to include some keywords in the ALT (or Alternative Text) tag. Most content management systems (CMSs) like WordPress make this step simple. In the image below, you can see that when adding an image to WordPress, a box appears, allowing you to input text into the ALT tag area without having to delve into the HTML code.
  

• Title tags, meta descriptions and meta keywords. When title tags are inserted in the coding for a page, your title tag information appears at the top of your browser window and/or browser tab. Your meta description is also in your page’s coding. While these descriptions are not visible on your page, they do show up in Google searches, offering a description of the page, so it is important that they are well-written in addition to being keyword-optimized. In the image below, you can see how the title tag and meta description show up in a Google search.
  

Staying Social

Google loves to see websites that are social, meaning your company is active on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, et al. and you have links to your social media pages on your website. Using the keyword strategy that you have developed, craft posts for social media that utilize your target keywords to help give your SEO an added boost. Post on a daily basis if possible for best results. Remember, having a Facebook page doesn’t help much if you don’t use it.

Blogging

Having a regularly updated blog as a part of your website is still one of the best ways to post new, compelling SEO content and improve search engine rankings. Take a look back through our blog to learn more about the importance of blogging and social media in SEO.

As you can see, SEO is an important yet somewhat complicated process that truly pays off if you’re willing to work at it. Don’t have time to work at it? The SEO experts at corecubed can help create a plan and optimize your site to help your business rank higher. Contact us today to get started!