When it comes to being an entrepreneur you want to constantly update your skills in line with your competitors, it is this development that can put you ahead of the game in terms of skill set and outlay. SEO is one of those of skill sets that will not only put your website higher up in the ranking, it will also reduce your costs as you don’t need to pay anyone else to do it. If you don’t know where to start, we’re here to help. Here are 7 SEO basics that every entrepreneur can master in 2021.
Site Speed
As humans, we have been spoilt over the last few years with how quickly everything now loads for us. Research conducted in 2020 showed that if we have to wait more than 2 seconds for a website to load, we have already clicked off it to find an alternative. Site speed is a skill that you can easily master, all you need to do is refine the content on the website as well as cut back on how many pages you have. The more you refine this, the faster it loads.
Development For Mobile Use
When you are developing your site, you should always opt to develop it primarily for mobile phone use. The reason for this is because Google now ranks these sites higher as people are more likely going to access your site from their mobile device. This is easy to do, when you start building your site, simple click ‘mobile format’. It will look different from the desktop alternative, but it is well worth getting this skill on lock.
SSL Certificate
This is well worth the time and investment that it takes to get, this certificate means that when a customer opens your site, they won’t get the ‘this site is unsecured’ message at the top. When it comes to your site and brand, you want to make sure that you can build trust with your consumer base straight away and this is one way to do it. When you are building your site, build it with the SSL certificate in mind, this will add immense brand value that you can’t afford to ignore.
Search Intent
Google is moving away from keyword searches as it gives websites an unnatural flow when people load their content with these words. Instead, they are moving towards search intent and phrases. Have a think about what people will search to get to your website, this can be a grouping of words, a sentence or a phrase. Once you have a list of these, you can embed them into your content in your site. This will help you get a higher ranking on search engines, so it is well worth the effort you put in. If you are struggling to think of intent and enquires, ask your friends what they would search for when looking for your site.
Get Used To Writing
Content is king and writing is a sure-fire way to boost the traffic through to your site. You want to invest time in making long form content, this is 2500 words and more. This will be full of language about your niche, search enquires, key words and everything else in between. It also gives people something to read. Don’t always write your content with SEO in mind, you want to make sure that it flows.
Build Back Links
This area will require some level of research and investment of time, but you want it so that your site is linked by other authoritative sites (https://t-ranks.com). Don’t try and take the easy option here, you don’t want to pay for back link services as google will punish you for this. Instead, link to other authoritative sites and in return they will do the same for you.
Read The Data
The good thing about SEO is that it is data driven, but that’s only good if you are able to read and understand the reports that google or other search engines generate. Familiarise yourself with the terms, the numbers and create an understanding about what the site is saying about your performance. This means that you can understand what is and what isn’t working and then make adjustments accordingly.
Wrap Up
When it comes to developing your skills in SEO, there are some fundamentals that can’t be ignored. It is always worth starting with the basics, to make sure that you have a full understanding of exactly what impacts your SEO strategy is making. Always develop your site with the customer in mind. This means that the load up speed, layout and content will always be developed for them and make their experience far better. Familiarise yourself with key terms and strategies and before you know it, you’ll be an expert.