I’ll admit that I’ve haven’t always taken SEO seriously.  I used to believe that if your website provides value as it should, you will get more and more eyes to your site.  I do still believe that but I also believe that there are certain things you can to put yourself in a better position to rank higher on Google searches.

Let me begin by stating that I’m definitely not an SEO guru.  I’m a photographer that has learned how to improve my SEO situation.  There are people who specialize in SEO and that’s all they do!  I’ll list some other great blogs to check out a bit later if you’re interested in really digging deep and getting  your hands dirty.

What I’m going to do here is give you a few high level tips that you can do right now to improve your ranking in searches so that you can put yourself in a better position to be seen.  Remember:  The goal here is to rank higher on Google searches.

Blogging

To show up higher in rankings, you need to be continuously providing content that brings value to people.  The best way to do that is to provide great info in blog posts on your website.  Google likes to see that your site is constantly being updated with valuable content and is constantly seeing traffic.

Make Sure Your Site is Mobile Friendly

Google frowns upon websites that aren’t mobile friendly and will consequently rank you lower.  More and more people view their content on mobile devices so you need to make sure that your site is compatible with mobile displays.  If your site is WordPress based (which I would recommend), make sure the theme you use is mobile friendly.  If you’re not sure whether or not your site is mobile friendly, you can find out here.

Yoast SEO

If your site is WordPress based, you probably already know about Yoast SEO. I say this because Yoast is one of the most popular WordPress plug-ins out there and the tool you can use to handle SEO tasks on your website.  Make sure you take the time to configure the plug-in to take advantage of all that it has to offer.  Use accurate keyword phrases for your pages and posts so that if people search for your topic, and your page pops up, it’ll get the clicks it needs so Google sees that your site is relevant which helps you rank higher on Google searches.  Make sure your keyword phrase and meta description is relevant to your post and use the keyword phrase somewhere on your page or post title.

Name Image Files as if Someone is Reading Them

Google pays attention to what you name your image files so use that as an opportunity to briefly tell Google what your image is.  If your image is name “DSC_1128.jpg” Google can’t tell if the image is relevant or not.  Instead, name the image “Steves_Headshot.jpg” to let google know that it’s a headshot image.  You’d be surprised at how effective this tip can be.

Have Effective Calls to Action

Having a call to action on your site doesn’t necessarily help your SEO but creating opportunities for people to engage with your site definitely will!  If people click on stuff around your site instead of leaving, Google will notice that your info is relevant and providing value, which helps you rank higher on Google searches.  Starting to see a pattern here?

The info I’ve given here is really just BARELY scratching the surface.  It’s up to you to decide just how much you want to dive into SEO.  To learn more about SEO and determine how dirty you want to get your hands, head over to Jamie Swanson’s site, The Marketog.  I’ve mentioned this site before and it deserves mention again.  She has a super-valuable site and even has a 6 week marketing course.  Neil Patel is a true SEO guru so ignoring his expertise would truly be a mistake.  Check out his blog here.

Hopefully, this weeks post helps you get a solid start on improving your SEO standings.  As always, thanks for stopping by and spending a few minutes with me this week.  If you like the info you see here, please don’t hesitate to share via the social media links.  I’ll see ya next week!