Search engine optimization: it wasn’t all that long ago that most of us did not even know what the acronym SEO meant, and how it affected our business lives. Today, SEO rankings rate quite high in most business owners’ thoughts, since it can prove to be a make or break issue for almost any sort of business or enterprise. From the local landscaping company to the national or global chain, the need for top-rate search engine optimization is part of everyday marketing and business planning, but just how it is done can be mystifying.

Search Engine Optimization Must Be Done Right

Can you quickly itemize what contributes to your SEO rankings? Most of us can point to things like key words, social media, and content. Yet, can you explain how a sitemap, website speed and other factors might play a role in your SEO rankings?

Because search engine optimization is tricky stuff and because most of us are unclear as to how it is all done (especially with regular updates to Google’s algorithms), let’s look at five factors that can help your site get to that first all-important screen of SERPs (search engine results pages).

1. Website Design

Google does not look at the aesthetic appeal of the site, but it does look at your “information architecture” and general website structure. If the site is difficult to navigate, and also difficult for Google to crawl, you will dip in the rankings. Whether you are designing your website or a mobile site, think first about its usability.

And with mention of mobile…

2. Optimize for Mobile

Google is doing mobile crawling and will use their findings for mobile search. If you have yet to test your site on a mobile device, now is the moment. Check for graphics that slow down loading times to a crawl or cause pages to constantly reload, as Google punishes for that.

3. Address the Speed

Whether for mobile or desktop performance, you have to pay attention to the amount of time it takes to load and navigate your site. Google has tools to help with that, but it is up to you to do things like change image file sizes, add browser caching, remove augmentations to the site added for script handling, and so on.

4. Look at the Links

If your site is full of broken links or you are failing to turn mentions of your site into links, Google notices!

5. Optimization On-Page

This is the stuff most of us know about, including SEO for titles, blogs, content and more.

Get Expert Help with SEO Rankings

If your SEO rankings are nowhere near what they should be or you feel you could do a lot better with search engine optimization, you cannot afford to wait. At Organically, clients get all the help they need to develop the strongest SEO ratings possible. Using those complex tactics above, along with social media, marketing and more, you can see your site’s performance improve and ratings increase.