Better Search Results with Both On-Site and Off-Site SEO

Getting better search results for your well-designed website is an ongoing task. Search engine optimization (SEO) optimizes websites to increase search ranking results. The best SEO strategy includes both On-site and Off-site SEO. A good website designer will optimize your website for On-site SEO, and you can add the power of Off-site SEO to drive traffic to your website.

Small business owners know that even the best-looking website won’t do much if it doesn’t show up in a Google search. Potential customers need to find you to see how great you are! On-site SEO, also known as On-page SEO, includes the steps taken during the design process that make it easy for search engines to find you. On-site SEO elements include:

  • Identifying and using content keywords: Careful keyword selection and placement let search engines find relevant content for your target audience. The benefit is higher search result rankings, making your website more visible to potential customers. More visibility means more traffic and higher conversion rates.
  • Optimizing images to be SEO friendly: This often-overlooked step creates page context and quality content, enhancing SEO. Images should be optimized for size, format and resolution. They should be labeled to assist search engines in identifying content.
  • Using internal links: Include links from one page of your website to another so visitors can find relevant content quickly. Internal links benefit SEO by letting search engines find and understand all your pages, helping search ranking results. Your website designer will help you choose the right internal links and anchor text to create the best results.
  • Including quality content: Website content should include key terms and concepts of interest to the target audience. SEO will look for things such as the amount of time a reader spends on a page or a site, page scrolls, keywords, and other elements that indicate a website’s relevance.

A quality website designer will build SEO into the design and content. Search engine algorithms change often, and your designer will advise you of any adjustments that will benefit your website.

Once your designer hands over your optimized website, you can enhance SEO by including Off-site SEO elements.  Internet locations other than your website that link back to your website are considered Off-site SEO. You can publish the content yourself or others can link to your content. How can you use Off-site SEO effectively?

Backlinks – When a business likes your website content and links to it from their own, that boosts your Off-site SEO. Say you have a blog post that includes content of interest to another business. If they publish a blog post that includes a link to your blog, that’s a natural backlink. Natural backlinks are great but can be difficult to obtain. Other, self-initiated methods for getting backlinks include:

  • Publish press releases on local news sites with a link to your website, and post videos about your business on your YouTube channel.
  • Create an account on media share sites such as Reddit and take part in providing content to reader questions, including a link back to your website.
  • List your business on professional or community organizations sites to which you belong, including Chambers of Commerce, non-profit organizations, school associations and others.
  • Build relationships to increase link sharing. Look for websites that offer complementary products or services in your area and talk to them about creating content on each other’s website with links to increase customer awareness.
  • Write a testimonial about another business’s products or services and ask for a backlink in exchange.

In today’s world, both On-site and Off-site SEO are important tools. SEO success hinges on having high quality content on your website and in all social media postings. Update content regularly to keep it fresh and attract new readers.  Track your strategy’s success to learn what works well.  Google analytics will tell you where your website traffic is coming from, allowing you to publish content where it will pay off. All the major social media platforms have built-in analytics to help track content performance.

Wheaton Website Services creates optimized business websites that maximize your On-site SEO. Use that power to create an Off-site SEO plan to get the most from your small business website. We design websites that run flawlessly. Contact us to learn about creating one for your business.