Search engine optimization, or SEO, is divided into two categories – on-page and technical. On-page SEO is what is included on each page of your website, such as the content, schemas, and links. For small businesses, on-page SEO is where you want to focus, since it requires little technical knowledge and is relatively easy to update.
While the most important factor in your on-page SEO remains high quality, informative content, there are a few tricks you can use to make that content more appealing to search engines and, by extension, your readers. This makes your site appear higher in search results without paying for ads, and is more likely to result in conversions when potential customers visit your web page.
Improving SEO through Formatting
When you write content for your website, you are writing for readers, but you are also writing for search engine algorithms. Luckily, today’s search engines like many of the same features that your readers do because they make your site easy to read and more engaging. These features include:
- Subheadings – Breaking one piece of content into smaller sections, titled with an H2 heading, makes it simple to find specific information. Subheadings are also a great place to insert keywords.
- Bullet Points – Lists are simple to read and help draw attention to important information. Search engines like lists as rich text they can display in search results.
- Whitespace – In addition to subheadings and bullet points, breaking up content into paragraphs increases readability. Each paragraph should be about 4 to 5 lines long, leaving plenty of space around them that is easy on the eyes.
Incorporating this formatting as you write blog posts, service pages and other content for your website
is a simple but valuable tool in improving your SEO on already strong content.
SEO with Schema Markup
Schema markup is a way to tell search engines exactly what type of content is on your site through embedded code. Google and other search engines look at your schema markup and can then display that information as a rich text in search results.
Different schemas can include business information like operating hours, or contact info, FAQs, and customer reviews, all of which Google may display directly on the search results page underneath your business site.
Markup helps with SEO by making it clear what questions your site is answering. It also shows potential customers that you have valuable information on your site, encouraging them to look deeper into your services or products.
Unlike formatting, schema markup will not be visible to your site visitors. Instead, it uses HTML or JSON code that you copy onto individual pages. There are several different types of schema markup you can integrate into various pages on your website. One of the easiest is FAQ schema markup and we encourage you to check out our blog post on the topic for three easy steps on adding FAQ markup to your website.
Using Featured Snippets to Optimize SEO
Search results include a short description from your website, called a featured snippet. This could be your meta description if you have one, but Google could also choose different text on a web page that it believes answers the searcher’s question.
You can have some control over what Google displays as the description for pages on your site by including small content summaries throughout on each page. Use a summary of your main point and supporting details as the first paragraph, and a similar summary for each main section of the content. This gives Google additional options to pull from for the search result description, increasing your relevance.
Boosting SEO on your website is a powerful way to engage with online leads and customers whether you are a local business or working with a diverse customer base. SEO works for every business, no matter their size or budget, as long as you can provide engaging content and implement these basic SEO best practices.
However, we know how time consuming it is to learn and use SEO on your website. Even if you know how to format, use markup schema, and include featured snippets, having the time to write the content can still be an obstacle for most small businesses. At Great Leap Studios, we offer a range of content marketing services to help bridge that gap and let you take full advantage of SEO for marketing your business online. Call us today to find out more about our SEO services.
