Search engine optimization, commonly known as SEO, is a digital marketing technique which helps websites appear higher on search results for specific search terms. For example, a global brand such as Nike can use SEO to help its Women’s Running Shoes page appear higher in search results which use keywords such as “women runners” or “women running shoes”.
Start-ups can also leverage SEO to attract qualified website traffic and prospects. For example, a customer-relationship management (CRM) software dedicated to dental clinics can use SEO best practices to improve its website search ranking for search queries related to customer management tools for dentists.
To help your start-up get started on your SEO, here are six SEO best practices you can use!
1. Use Google Ads Keywords Planner to identify trendy and relevant keywords
The first step to achieving exceptional SEO results is identifying relevant keywords related to your product or service. For example, if you’re selling CRM software to dental clinics, your website should optimize for keywords related to your niche. Ensure that your keywords are differentiated from keywords relating to CRM for law firms or other industries.
To find relevant keywords, you can use Google Ads Keywords Planner. This keyword research tool lets you find the right keywords for your business. You can even narrow down search volumes – the number of people using a particular keyword – based on geography. For example, you can find search volumes for a particular keyword and compare how the keyword is doing in Burnaby versus Vancouver.
To generate a list of relevant keywords, simply enter a keyword or a website URL into the Google Ads Keywords Planner tool and it will produce the relevant keywords.
2. Include Relevant Keywords in the Title Tag and Website Content
Once you’ve identified keywords related to your website, company, or product or service, you are ready to optimize its use in your website content. Google reads the text in your website title and body content in order to understand what your website or product or service is about. So you’ll want to take this opportunity to make your keywords very clear. While there’s no specific frequency for the number of times a keyword phrase such as ‘CRM for dentists’ should be included on a webpage, I would recommend adding the phrase five to ten times on the homepage and as frequently and naturally as possible on the remaining webpages.
3. Create a landing page for each product or service
Create a landing page for every product or service so your website ranks in search queries related to the product or service. For example, if your CRM system is applicable to dental clinics, psychotherapist clinics, and optometrist clinics, you can create a landing page for each target audience. For example, you can create the following landing pages:
- CRM for dental clinics
- CRM for psychotherapist clinics
- CRM for optometrist clinics
Each landing page would include text such as “CRM for dental clinics” in the title as well as the body content to help the webpage rank in searches related to that specific keyword.
4. Include relevant text in the page URL
In addition to using text in the title and website content, Google also takes the URL under consideration when ranking a webpage on search results, so you’ll want to make sure your keywords are also in your URL. For example, if a “CRM for dental clinics” landing page has the text “crm-dental-clinics” in the URL, the page will have a greater chance of appearing on search results for “CRM for dental clinics”-related queries.
5. Include alternative text for each image
Alternative text is an HTML attribute that gives textual information to an image. For example, if you have a picture of dentist on your website, you can write “dentists” as the image’s alternative text.
Google uses alternative text to gain textual understanding of an image and the page the image is on. For example, if an image has “dentists” as its alternative text, Google will understand that the image and the webpage that the image is on is related to dentists. Google will then be more likely to display that webpage in search queries related to dentists.
Engaging in SEO best practices is an effective digital marketing method to improve your search ranking for related queries and attract relevant website traffic. By performing thorough keyword research and including targeted keywords in your page title, body content, URLs, and alternative text, you will increase your website’s chance of ranking higher for pertinent keywords on search results. And a win in the search results is a win for your business.
