“SEO Strategy” sounds overwhelming and intimidating, but the truth is the most impactful methods for optimizing your site are actually very simple, especially if your site is small.
1) Add brief but descriptive alt text to your images, icons & logos.
According to this Semrush blog, "Alt text (alternative text) is a written description of an online image that provides an alternative when the image is inaccessible to the user. Alt text gives screen readers something to read aloud to users with visual impairments, helps search engine bots understand image contents, and may appear on a webpage when the image fails to load."
We know that search engines prioritize websites where the images are properly labeled with alt text. Plus, it allows more people to properly use your site. A win-win!
2) Make sure each page has a link to and from it.
For example, the home page links to the services page, the services page links to the about page, and the about page links to the contact form back on your home page. This helps the search engines know that it’s easy to navigate between pages on your site.
3) Pick 5 keywords.
SEO Strategies of the past focused heavily on finding as many keywords as possible and stuffing them in every possible place throughout your site. These days, it's more important to just pick a few descriptive keywords to use throughout your site.
Don't overthink it! For example, if you own a modern wedding/event venue in Wisconsin, your words could be: Wisconsin, venue, wedding, event, and modern.
4) Refresh your page titles.
Page titles should be in the following format, and be between 10 and 200 characters:
Page Name | Company Name | Page Description -- Bonus points if you can use a keyword here.
ex. Home | The Spring Stone Ranch | Modern Wedding Venue in Wisconsin
5) Update your meta descriptions.
Go through and make sure your meta descriptions on each page are correct. This is what search engines display as the page description, so you want it to be accurate. We often forget to update this when we're making changes to the page.
6) Spruce up your home page.
Your home page is like the entryway of your home. It's the first thing people see when they arrive - and search engines have a few more requirements for this page than others.
Obviously, make sure there is text/content on the page
Make sure the page is visible (not hidden) and that you allow search engines to index it
Optimize it for different screen sizes (mobile, tablet, laptop, XL desktop)
Connect to Google Search Console - this will tell Google you're ready to be found!