{"id":801,"date":"2016-09-20T14:10:53","date_gmt":"2016-09-20T18:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/activedatadigital.com\/?p=801"},"modified":"2016-09-20T14:10:53","modified_gmt":"2016-09-20T18:10:53","slug":"seo-why-it-is-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/activedatadigital.com\/blog\/2016\/09\/20\/seo-why-it-is-important\/","title":{"rendered":"SEO helps websites become search-engine friendly (Demo)"},"content":{"rendered":"
SEO helps websites become search-engine friendly<\/strong><\/p>\n SEO or “search engine optimization”\u00a0is a way\u00a0to get at the forefront of people\u2019s search for topics or the business you specialize in. You may have heard of\u00a0the term,\u00a0but you might not know the specifics of how it works.<\/p>\n Search engine optimization (or SEO) is the process of getting online traffic from \u201cfree, organic, editorial or natural\u201d searches for related content.<\/p>\n Think of it like a theatrical production. Each person has a specific role or task to make the production successful before, during and after each show.<\/p>\n The algorithm, or sequence of actions with a desired end result, for your website is like the whole company taking part to make it a success. To achieve higher SEO rankings, you need to know that each individual piece is equally important and contributes their own skills. For your website, this includes specific words, page titles, links, words in your links, and reputations of your business and how you mention your competitors (if at all.)<\/p>\n You might feel overwhelmed by the idea of SEO, but you can often have positive results with very minimal changes made. With popular search engines such as Google, you do not always need to focus on specific searchable keywords when writing your own content, but rather focus on writing with your audience\/visitors in mind.<\/p>\n For specific website layout tips, make sure your business\u2019 name or title tags for each individual page makes logical sequential sense for your audience. Make sure the flow and the amount of content per page makes it easy for your audience to stay interested and educated about any particular subject.<\/p>\n If you are writing a long description of your history, using the example of a theatre company, you don\u2019t need to write every detail about it on one single page that says \u201cAbout Us.\u201d However, if you spread content out to subheadings, it helps readers digest more information in smaller \u201cchunks\u201d and guides users to more clickable links when searching for your website online.<\/p>\n Think about your audience\u2019s approach to coming to your website when developing search engine keyword suggestions. For example: you could either type \u201cAndrew Lloyd Webber longest running musical\u201d or \u201clongest running musical in the world.\u201d Some of your audience might know a person associated with the topic, while some only know a general fact about a given topic. If you have keywords for both searches, you will be more likely to be found with these web searches.<\/p>\n When developing your website copy (your company\u2019s \u201cvoice\u201d and words on each page), think about what you have to offer that no one else does. Can you approach a common or lesser known topic in a different, memorable way?<\/p>\n If photos help you tell your story, make sure each has a file name \u2013 what you use to upload the photo \u2013 then make sure it has an \u201calternative\u201d name. An \u201calt\u201d name helps a viewer know what the photo is if it cannot be seen due to a) a broken link, b) someone is using a screen reader, due to visual disability of some sort. Not only can you give a description and keep people on your website, you are inviting a new group of individuals, since you took time to make your website as accessible to as many people as possible.<\/p>\n