8 Ways to Optimize Your Website for Search Engines

Alberto Cantor | Product Strategist | acantor@redbricksmedia.com

A keyword map is a document that helps you determine which keywords to associate with which pages and sections.

1. Map Your Keywords

Steps to create a Keyword Map:● Come up with a list of keywords and do some research.

○ Use several keyword tools: Google Keyword Planner○ Think about the different intents: information, buying, research, etc.○ Think about the different level in the purchasing funnel

● Find a logical keyword structure● Think about your brand ● Build (or repurpose) pages according to your keywords

2. Find Your Top Keyword Referrers

If you already have a live site, check your analytics and find which keywords are already driving traffic.

● It is easier to work with these keywords than to target new ones because search engines are already associating your content with them

If you do not have a live site, work off your keyword map and frequently check your analytics to learn which keywords are

performing well Since there is no keyword data available, make sure to check the individual page performance and keyword rankings.

3. Use Title Tags Properly

Title tags—technically called title elements—define the title of a document

Title tags show up in both the top of a browser's chrome and in tabs

Best Practices:1. Have unique title tags for each page on your website2. Be mindful of length - no more than 70 characters are recommended3. Place important keywords close to the front of the title tag4. Leverage brand elements5. Consider readability and emotional impact

4. Use Meta Tags Properly

Meta descriptions are HTML attributes that provide concise explanations of the contents of web pages.

Meta descriptions are commonly used on search engine result pages (SERPs) to display preview snippets for a given page.

Best Practices:1. Write compelling ad copy2. Be mindful of length -keep it no longer than 150 characters3. Avoid duplicate meta description tags4. Use performing keywords

5. Knowing Your PageRank

PageRank is an algorithm used by the Google web search engine to rank websites in their search engine results

Knowing your highest “pageranked” pages will help you focus efforts in terms of SEO. Remember that link juice and authority is somehow passed from page to page.

How can you find the PageRank?● PageRank Tool (Google)● Check Page Rank● PageRank Checker

6. Determine Your Domain Authority

“Domain Authority represents Moz’s best prediction for how a website will perform in search engine rankings”

Knowing your Domain Authority will serve as a benchmark and an opportunity metric to build your site as an authoritative source of information

Great resources:1. Search Engine Watch2. Moz

7. Have an XML Sitemap

Sitemaps are a way to tell Google about pages on your site we might not otherwise discover. In its simplest terms, a XML Sitemap is a list of the pages on your

websiteIn addition, you can also use Sitemaps to provide Google with metadata about specific

types of content on your site, including video, images, mobile, and News

Resources:1. How to create a Sitemap2. Sitemap protocol3. About Sitemaps

8. Tag Content with Microdata

Microdata is a way to add more context to a website. The extra bits of code that these tags represent give a

greater meaning to your content in the eyes of the search engines.

Without Microdata

With Microdata