15 Steps You Can Take To Make Google Love Your Website

Having spent a little over a decade as a search marketing professional, I can tell you with absolute authority and conviction that a well-targeted SEO campaign will result in highly targeted traffic and conversions, which in turn will add to the bottom line of your business.

To help you get started in the right direction, I’ve assembled a list of fifteen ways small businesses can make their websites more “Google friendly.” This will also benefit your rankings in Yahoo and Bing. Before we dive in, I want to point out that this list assumes you’ve already done keyword research to identify your target keywords. If you haven’t had a chance to do that, bookmark this page, research what keywords you should optimize your website for, and then come back and dive right in:

1. Have good title tags: Not only do title tags tell search engines what your site is about, but compelling title tags will also give users a reason to click through to your website when it appears in their search results.

2. Have well-written meta descriptions: Since a meta description is used to provide the text under the title link in search results, you want to write really good ones that contain keywords and accurately describe the different pages of your site. If you’re using WordPress, you can use the WordPress SEO by Yoast to help with both title tags and meta descriptions.

3. Use keywords in your internal link anchor text: Search engines pay a lot of attention to the links on your site, along with the words that you use in them. Instead of using phrases like “click here” or “for more information,” use anchor text that contains keywords and tells users where they will be going. However, only do this when it’s natural and will make sense to visitors. Be sure not to get too key wordy with this. Example if your business services page is about blue widget repair you could use “blue widget repair” for your internal link anchor text or maybe just “widget repair” is you do more than just blue widgets, but you wouldn’t want to use “blue widget repair in Houston” because it sounds forced and unnatural (too key wordy).

4. Use relevant keywords in your general copy (but don’t overdo it): This can be tricky, but it’s worth the effort. While some people will say you should ONLY write for humans and others will say you should write for search engines, the truth is that you need to find a balance between the two. While stuffing a keyword into your content dozens of times will sound ridiculous when humans read it and could trigger an “over-optimization penalty”, you can find creative ways to include a couple of keywords for search engines to come across. It’s usually sufficient if you use your keywords a few times in your copy, as well as once in the title, heading or subheading of the page.

5. Use descriptive alt text and titles on images: All images on your website should have alt tags (alternative text) and titles. Alt tags are used to describe the image, and in the event that the server cannot find the image it’s looking for, this text will display to visitors. This text also improves the accessibility of your pages, and helps visitors like those who have a visual impairment and use a screen reader. Alt tags are also a great opportunity to legitimately add some extra keywords to a page.

6. Use descriptive filenames for images: If you have an image of a frog, instead of something generic like 1.jpg, you should name the file frog-1.jpg.

7. Have an XML sitemap: An XML sitemap is a coded sitemap that makes it easier for search engine spiders to index all the pages of your website. WordPress users can create one with the Google XML Sitemaps plugin, while other website owners with a standard HTML site can use the XML Sitemaps Generator. Once it’s created, you’ll want to register your sitemap with Google Webmaster Tools.

8. Have an HTML sitemap: Putting an HTML sitemap on your website will not only make it easier for Google to crawl your deep content, but will also provide users with a better navigational experience.

9. Use keywords in heads and subheads: An important aspect of basic on-page optimization, this allows you to tell Google and users exactly what your website is all about.

10. Focus on homepage optimization: This is the most important page of your website, and the key to your site being found by search engines. Your homepage should be easy to understand and summarize the rest of your website. Your homepage should also have your main keywords spread throughout the title, heading, content and alt tags of the homepage. Just remember to keep things natural and avoid the temptation to stuff in too many keywords.

11. Start a link building campaign: Having quality inbound links shows Google that your site can be trusted. When it comes to inbound links, “quality” is the most important word. For example, a link you get from publishing a great guest post is going to be worth a lot more than multiple links from borderline spammy directories. Also be sure not to go nuts with “exact match” anchor text, or you could actually see yourself losing rankings for your desired keyword phrases.

12. Guest post frequently: In addition to helping you build links, guest posting allows you to network with other people in your industry, which can lead to them linking to you on additional occasions.

13. Have a company blog on your website: The nice thing about this one is it can also aid in your social media efforts. A blog can be used to communicate directly to your customers, as well as demonstrate your expertise in your field. And in regards to SEO, publishing new content will ensure your website is being crawled on a regular basis. Consistent blogging is also a great way to naturally attract incoming links.

14. Add your site to Google Search Console (formerly known as Webmaster Tools): There are multiple reasons to add your site to Google Webmaster Tools. For an in-depth look at all of the reasons, check out this post.

15. Have a robots.txt file: As mentioned above, you can create this file with Google Webmaster Tools. The main benefit of a robots.txt file is you can tell Google if there are any pages of your site that you don’t want indexed.

This post 21 Things SMBs Can Do To Make Google Love Their Website originally appeared on HostGator.com.