SEO and Websites: It’s Not Rocket Science
Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of those things that sounds intimidating. Like when you hear someone say, “The carbon FTL engine is offline. We need to realign the nanowave charge driver.” Your first instinct is to tuck-and-roll your way out of the escape hatch, and float into cyberspace.
I’m here to tell you that if you use a team approach to SEO, you will be able to “detect the quantum surge in the FTL brackets” and “synchronize the cadmium containment barrier” in order to launch a successfully optimized website that not only your customers will love, but also the great and powerful Google.
This approach involves having the entire team – from client stakeholders, information architects, copywriters, designers, and developers – on deck from the proposal phase to launch. Each group needs to understand the site’s objective and how content, design, and experience go hand-in-hand to create informative and actionable site engagement. Creating in silos can often result in different approaches. So why not develop these equally important building blocks together to produce a site where everything is working toward the same goal?
Content + Design + Experience = Project Phases Set to Stunning
Here are some key SEO tips that we use when developing a website for our clients:
Mobile first
Design a responsive site for the mobile environment, but that also looks great across all device platforms. Remember most people are scrolling on their phones and tablets but also on desktops and laptops during the workdays.
Need for speed
Keep things speedy with image optimization, content and page build structure. Google loves pages that load quickly for improved user experience!
Proper method of displaying content
Don’t use images for vital information but do use descriptive ALT text on all your images. Alt text is the written copy that appears in place of an image on a webpage if the image fails to load on a user’s screen. This text helps screen-reading tools describe images to visually impaired readers and allows search engines to better crawl and rank your website.
Calls to action (CTA)
Each page should have at least one clear CTA like how to contact you via phone or email or one click to make an appointment
Keywords
Develop your content with keywords in mind and integrate them naturally into copy. This includes phrases and terms for how people might search for your services on Google, answers to their search questions and location-based keywords so people know where to find you.
Intent
Develop a page’s content knowing its objective. What do you want people to know and do?
Mixed media
Develop pages that include text, images and videos.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by website maintenance and site optimization. But at minimum, following the steps above, having a plan, involving your team and dedicating time to site improvement will ensure people can find you online when they need you the most. Let Chartwell be your SEO guide and help rocket your site to the top.
