Search engine algorithms have come a long way since their dependency on hand-written meta-tags and keyword density. There are no easy fixes these days to bring you to the top of the search engine and the only way to succeed is to produce highly relevant, engaging content.
Search engine algorithms have come a long way since their dependency on hand-written meta-tags and keyword density. There are no easy fixes to bring you to the top of the search engine. The only way to succeed is to manage your onsite and offsite SEO while producing highly relevant, engaging content.
Social Signals
NAP = Name, Address, Phone Number
It may not seem like much, but NAP plays a very important role in local search rankings, as businesses with verifiable physical addresses are given preference over those without.
Since anyone can be anything on the web, businesses with real, verifiable addresses provide an extra layer of legitimacy and are rewarded as such in search results.
NAP consistency is also required, so no matter where you post your business address, you must ensure that it is written exactly the same in all instances (i.e. see Citations in Off-site SEO).
Google My Business Profile
a.k.a. Google Maps
While the term “keyword density” has literally dropped off the map in terms of SEO value, keywords in titles still contain value… if and ONLY if, they correctly match page content.
In general, there are two ways to properly match a keyword title with relevant content.
- Research a relevant keyword within your niche, (preferably with low competition) and write an article that specifically demonstrates your expert knowledge on the subject.
- Write an article that an article that clearly demonstrates your expert knowledge on a specific subject within your niche and research relevant keyword titles to match (again, preferably with low competition).
Citation Signals
LSI is the evolution of keyword density. Whereas search engines used to value the same word being used multiple times on a specific page, they now look for related keywords that demonstrate the entire page text is related to the same subject matter.
In regards to a keyword title like Custom Built Homes, industry related keywords should be scattered throughout to demonstrate knowledge on the subject.
- Custom home builders Toronto
- Financing for custom homes
- Home builders who build on your lot
- Floor plans for custom built homes
- Home plans with cost to build
- Homes on your land with no money down
- Price per square foot to build a house
- Cost of building a house vs. buying
- How much does it cost to build a house from scratch
Where possible, you should extract meaningful and reformat sub-headings to match your page text, as well as ensure that you are using relevant industry terms that related to your main title subject.
i.e. custom, house, home, builder, build, built, lot, land, home plans, floor plans, square foot, price, cost, financing
Link Signals
While due diligence is required to be mindful of keyword relevance in your website’s content, it’s much more important to understand who you are writing your content for.
The happiness of your website visitors, not search engine robots must take precedence within your content writing. If you only write with only SEO in mind rather, you will most likely find your potential customers bouncing to your competition.
Your content must engage your visitor and to do so you must first understand why they are visiting your site, and then quickly and adequately address their needs.
In general, most visitors will be looking for information, whether that be your address, your associations or your knowledge on a specific subject. You will be tested with each and every page view… and the more tests you pass, the greater the chances of having them contact you now or in the future.
Review Signals
Google also attaches a high-value (11%) to your search ranking based on what a visitor does when they see your website in search results.
- Do they click-through to your website based on your keyword titles, content descriptions
- After clicking-through, do they bounce-back and look at more search results?
- Are they willing to do a mobile click-to-call before or after visiting your website?
- In regards to physical locations (like bars or restaurants) are they checking in?
In short, the behavior of your website visitors will directly indicate what you are doing right, as well as what you are doing wrong.
i.e. see Visitor Actions under Lead Generation
- If you don’t have meaningful keyword titles, you will not generate search engine clicks.
- If you don’t have engaging content, your visitors will bounce and look for another company.
- If your website does not inspire both knowledge and trust, you will not get many calls.
Visitor Trust
Standing out from the crowd will not only ensure your visitor appreciates your efforts, it adds SEO value in the fact it accounts for 9% of your local search ranking score.
There is no “one right way” to build a website, especially one that matches every single niche. The personality of your business, as well as your employees, should shine brightly on every page.
If you make what stands out about your company, stand out on your website; Google will notice and so will your potential customers.
Relevant Links
There are two types of relevant links, internal and external, both of which, add SEO value to a page via the context they provide. In essence, these links are read by search engines as Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords.
If they directly relate to the content on the page, they provide context as to what the page is about, adding SEO value.
If the links don’t relate to your page content or there are too many of them to easily understand how they all fit together, they will create a negative SEO value.
In general, if linking to another page (whether internally or externally), it should be directly related to the subject the visitor is reading and add value if the visitor leaves the current page to read it.
If any on-Page link does not follow this rule, then don’t add the link. Show extra care with external links, as they will cause a page bounce and possible lost customer when they leave your site.
Image Titles and ALT Tags
While the future is not too far away from where search engine robots will simply scan your website image and know what exactly what they are; that time, unfortunately, is not yet here.
The SEO value in adding relevant image titles is that you add context to your page content which helps search engines further classify it in search engine rankings. It also helps them classify your image and allow it be shown in Image only search results.
ALT tags are further used by screen readers for the visually impaired, which directly read the ALT tag aloud, as a description of what the image is. If you do not provide a meaningful description, the screen reader cannot let its user know what it is.
Accreditations
While brand trust does play a minor role in SEO ranking, its greatest value is its ability to inspire a large amount of visitor trust, which directly affects both leads and sales.
Visitor trust is not given freely, it is earned.
The more respected accreditations (Canadian Home Builders Association, Better Business Bureau, etc.) you can provide the better.
Basically, any association that gives your company credibility or matches any criteria below should be prominently displayed on your homepage, as well as on interior pages.
- Demonstrates your company meets or exceeds industry standards
- Demonstrates that your company runs a safe and respectable business
- Sets you apart from your competition
Review Signals
While the importance of reviews signals is explained in more detail in Off-site SEO, the relevance of ensuring that you display your reviews on-Site are two-fold:
- First and foremost, you do not want your visitor leaving your site for any reason, especially if you are using PPC marketing. The longer a visitor stays on your site, the greater chance they will contact you.
- The second is that review diversity adds SEO value to your website. If your website has only been reviewed in one place such as Google or Yelp, there is little diversity.
Furthermore, some clients will only offer reviews will only receive via email or in conversation, and the only way you can copy and paste them will be on your website.