Websites: SEO

Search Engine Optimization. There has been so much written on this topic, both good and bad, that I've chosen to stick to the basics. Essentially, this is optimizing your website so that it shows up higher in the search results and more specifically the search terms that a company/organization has chosen to align themselves with.

What does this look like? Most people immediately jump to content optimization. While this is definitely a large part of SEO, it is by no means the only area that needs to be optimized. Some areas to look at would be:

Of course, content:

This everything from your welcome message to your product description(s) to the about us page. Don't try to force this or add in words that wouldn't normally be there. Instead, write the content as it would naturally occur, this will work better in the long run.

Imagery:

This is both about the size and a little thing called meta data. You want the images to load quickly, so use the size and file type that is needed.

Meta Data is the information attached to the image. It's actually data that gives information about other data, but that's a different article. You might hear someone refer to this when talking about the alt attribute, they go hand in hand. Basically, include an appropriate description of the image.

https:

We should all recognize the s on the end of that http, but don't take it for granted. You might have hear about SSL (Secure Socket Layer), this means that your site has another layer of security and that your customers information is more protected, specifically on the transmission side.

Having that little s on the end tells the search engine that your site is more secure than another site that doesn't have it. Therefore, it's one more thing that will help boost your rankings.

What to remember: SEO is part science and part art. In the end, remember to write content with integrity and for your customers not the search engines.