Websites Need SEO

SEO is a vague marketing term that is thrown around these days, but not often understood. The idea behind Search Engine Optimization is that after working on certain aspects of a website it will rank higher in search engines like Google for search terms related to the website. This can cause a gain in sales, brand recognition and many more opportunities for a budding or established business.

So what are these efforts that improve the SEO value of your website? Well, let’s start at the beginning with making sure your website is able to be crawled by the search engine spiders with a sitemap. Check to see if your website has a sitemap in place by using XML sitemap checker tool we featured in the 10 free SEO tools write-up. If no sitemap is detected, create one by simply installing the SEO Yoast plugin in WordPress.

Now that the spiders can crawl the site, it’s time to focus on content. Every site needs the basics such as what this site is about and what services/products/problem solving is occuring. In addition to having 300-800 words covering the basics, it is important to have articles that discuss the content and keywords you want to show up in search for. Taking an example of a local bakery, they may have recipes for how to bake a pie at home as well as a write-up on what gluten-free means. These are examples of content add-ons that many wouldn’t think to put on the site, especially the competition.

Now that there is good content, it is important to focus on the sharing of it. Putting links on social media pages like Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest not only create engagement and click-throughs but also gives a social “heat map” that Google and Bing will pick up. The larger the “heat-map” on social media, the better search rankins will be.

Finally, one of the most important factors for SEO is having all of the local listings complete with the proper NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number). We have assembled 50 of the top business listing directories to list your business. Completing this entire list will give your website a huge boost over the competition.

Make sure to check on the search results of the most popular terms in your area for your business. Create notes about the sites positioning in these searches and work to improve the ranking. Remember that SEO takes a lot of time and hard work to do right, and there are no shortcuts to winning the Google popularity contest. You’ll find that websites need SEO to be successful, so until next time, SEO yourself a win!

Written by: Jophiel Silvestrone

Jophiel Silvestrone has written 326 posts in the Tech Blog.

Jophiel grew up on a ranch in Paradise Valley, Montana near Chico Hot Springs. Working on the ranch instilled work ethic and self motivation. Filled with this drive, Jophiel started mowing the local school's yards twice a month throughout the summers, at the age of 12. He moved to Billings in 2004, where he has been deeply involved in the local business community ever since. A serial entrepreneur, Jophiel has ran multiple businesses in our local community. The first business, a janitorial and carpet cleaning company, founded in 2005, has employed over 50 locals. Moving on to the media industry, Jophiel and several partners founded Green Directory Montana in the spring of 2007. Green Directory's sustainability ranking software awarded points based on sustainable or "green" actions. These points counted towards a business's total "Green Score," which in turn ranked them against other businesses in their category and throughout the entire site. It also featured a limited edition print version distributed annually. A business acquisition allowed Jophiel to focus on new projects, and a few close business colleagues and Jophiel started Rocky Mountain Mr. & Ms. Magazine, a lifestyle publication for men and women in the Magic City. After a year and a half at the helm of RM3 Magazine, the business was purchased. He now runs a web development company SkyPoint Studios and fathers his son Jaoquin, who plays football, basketball, soccer, and is learning snowboarding from his dad. Recently, has expanded to locations in Havasu, Arizona & Vegas. SkyPoint Studios is a market leader in both Billings & Havasu and Jophiel is working on building that same level of market dominance in Vegas. Specialties: Extensive experience in online and offline business. Especially savvy at WordPress, and operate several sites, one example is the blog: skypointwebdesignbillingsmontana.com/tech-blog. Check out skypointwebdesignbillingsmontana.com for the latest projects from SkyPoint Studios.