Whether you've had a website for a long time or you're just beginning your web design now, you've probably heard the magic term 'SEO.' SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and it's considered one of the most impactful tactics to use for Google, Bing, and Yahoo website placement.
The tough part is, Google is updating their algorithm crawlers so often that strong SEO practices must be monitored on a regular basis, and if done well, can improve a website's ranking on SERP's (search engine page results).
Here's three easy website SEO tips to improve your online ranking:
1. Keep website structure clear.
Search engine crawlers view the overall organization of the website architecture when finding and indexing pages. A well-structured website will allow all of the pages to be found easily and indexed accordingly. A 'three click rule' should be followed so all pages on the site can be found in three clicks or less. A messy site is not a Google-friendly site!
2. Use hyphens (-) instead of underscores (_) in website page URLs.
This is an easy fix. When you use underscores in your web URLs, Google reads the URL as one complete name. So, for example, yourwebsite.com/best_website_design would be read by Google as 'bestwebsitedesign.' Not easy to understand, eh?
3. Use static URLs instead of dynamic URLs on your website.
Website addresses are split into two categories: static URLs and dynamic URLs.
A static URL looks like this: www.yourwebsite.com/category/the-best-website-design
A dynamic URL looks like this: www.yourwebsite.com/category/?q=786vGF
As you can see, dynamic URLs are illegible by the user and do not contain keywords for search engines to index. Use static URLs on your website for SEO purposes!
Check back next month to learn more tips about website SEO, website design, and web development, and contact Image Management to serve your business or organization's website needs!
Published on May 6, 2019