You can pay to reach an audience through advertising, or you can create content so good that it draws its own audience. The latter approach is the philosophy behind organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Optimizing your website for organic reach means that people who find your content are likelier to convert because they are genuinely interested in your content, not just lured in by some flashy ad.
How do you optimize a website to draw organic audiences? Integrate search terms that are related to your products and services into your website.
1: Keyword density
What is keyword density? It’s a percentage of the amount of times your keyword appears per page or post. It used to be that loading up pages with keywords in every sentence could help sites rank higher on Google — but no more. Google smelled a rat and now tends to penalize sites with keyword density of over 2.5%.
Mention your keywords too few times — and you might not rank. Mention your keywords too many times — and you might be penalized. Stick with 2.5% keyword density for the best results.
2: Alt Text
What is alt text and how does it help? First, alt text is the invisible description of images that search engines read. Code alt text in HTML like the example below.
Second, alt text helps Google read images. It tells the algorithm what your image’s theme is. Inserting keywords into alt text improves your post or page’s relevance.
3: Consistency and Variation
Keywords should relate to your products and services. For instance, a bakery should not integrate ballet-related keywords into its website. Choose, integrate, and maintain keywords consistent with your values, mission, and business goals.
However, if you set too many of the same keywords for pages on your site, your pages might compete with each other. If you set “baseball bats” as your keyword for three pages on your site, Google has to choose which page will rank for a user’s “baseball bats” query and it might damage your rankings. You already have enough competition on search engines without being self-defeating.
Strategize and implement a comprehensive keyword strategy and use these 3 best practices to implement a stellar on-site SEO strategy.
By Esther Grace Ehrenman, Digital Editor and Strategist