{"id":460,"date":"2016-03-15T02:47:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-15T02:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nickiong.com\/wp\/?p=338"},"modified":"2021-04-13T18:06:45","modified_gmt":"2021-04-13T18:06:45","slug":"4-easy-ways-to-optimize-your-site-that-you-may-have-forgotten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickiong.com\/simplesprout\/2016\/03\/15\/4-easy-ways-to-optimize-your-site-that-you-may-have-forgotten\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Easy Ways to Optimize Your Site That You May Have Forgotten"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SEO is starting to become much more of a household term. I find that, less and less, I no longer need to explain \u201cI make websites rank higher on Google.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While more companies are making the important investment in search, it\u2019s also very possible to start the process by doing some of the work yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1. Title tag<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The most important \u2013 and arguably, the easiest \u2013 place for implementing keywords on your website is in the title tags of your pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Title tags are what you see as the blue (or purple, once clicked) link on Google, as well as at the top of your browser window, in line with the minimize, maximize, and close buttons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To edit, you may need to have some HTML knowledge (or have your developer insert them). Or, if you use a CMS like WordPress, simply use the title tag area through a plugin (I recommend Yoast SEO<\/a>) or your CMS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Your title should be short, sweet, and descriptive of the page. Don\u2019t overuse your keywords and be sure to include your geographic location if you specialize in local business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Create a great navigation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Your website\u2019s navigation structure could make or break the visits \u2013 and therefore, conversions \u2013 on your website. Navigation is also crucial from an SEO perspective, because it will only help<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anticipate your users\u2019 needs by organizing your website in a way that they\u2019d understand. Here are a few quick tips for creating a great navigation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • Think about the first pages your visitors will be interested in: your products or services,\u00a0then\u00a0<\/em>your About\/Contact pages. You have to sell your visitors on your services before they\u2019ll be interested in learning more about you.<\/li>
  • Keep your navigation to 7-8 total items. Feel free to create drop down menus and even a second level of drop downs; but always keep the number of links in each menu to 8 maximum.<\/li>
  • If a page is clickable, make sure the page has content. It\u2019s important to create content for top level pages, as visitors can get frustrated with this type of setup. That means that instead of just having a page be a main header for a drop down menu, users would actually be able to click on the page.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n