Building a website can feel like trying to sell a new car to a random stranger. It looks good in the showroom, but you need to showcase tons of bells and whistles to draw interest from the other party. They need to see how it serves their needs before they will be convinced to invest time and money.
SEO can fill that role of drawing positive attention for a website. Using the right keywords can put a site higher in search engine rankings and get more eyeballs to see your content. Still, SEO is only an effective tool when it is wrapped up in the right package. A flawless website also needs to be part of the equation.
Hiring the right freelance website content writer is a good start. What other strategies can you use to turn your website into an excellent SEO tool?
Avoid Orphaned Content
Orphaned webpages serve no useful purpose on your website. They do not link to any other page and cannot be found by a search bot. Make every page on your site serve a purpose. It should include, at a minimum, links to other vital pages like your homepage or a site directory. This will keep valuable content from turning invisible in search engines.
Get Creative with Keywords
Basic SEO rule no. 1 is you need a keyword rich title to draw attention from search engines. Never make the mistake, however, of sacrificing creativity while fitting the right keyword into your title. Equate content titles with newspaper headlines. What sort of headline draws your interest when you scan a newspaper? It is a headline that teases a unique story. Choose keywords in your title that will highlight what is unique about your content.
Build Descriptive Links
An effective way to spark a typical person’s curiosity when link building is to make the link jump off the page. When you use descriptive words or phrases to house links, it can compel a reader to click on that link. A good example is asking a question in the link where the answer is revealed on the link page or using a term in the link that connects with topic of content on another page. Descriptive links make content feel more alive than just linking to a basic keyword.
Think User-Friendly
You can write the best content in the world, but it makes little difference if no one can find it. Tailor your website to make it easier get to content. Set up visible search boxes. Place a navigation bar on the home page filled with tabs linking to pertinent pages. Incorporate audio and visual elements to enhance your written content. A user friendly website always equals a better website.
John C is a professional writer and editor who has written articles and blog posts on dozens of websites and publications for more than a decade. His current goal this summer is to branch out into the exciting world of fiction writing.
