Search engines are essentially the sole pathway for many users to your websites. However, helping those engines locate and rank your website for inclusion in their listings can be a challenge. Like other online strategies, there are some simple tips you can take advantage of to help improve your search rankings. Keep in mind that for a larger boost, you may need the help of an agency focused on web design in Toronto.

Have one topic per page 

You can have a page with a list of all your services and/or products, but each of those topics should also have a website page.

Each website page should have its purpose stated in your content, URL, and ALT text. In addition, the keyword(s) you are targeting should come into play, but they must be used in a way that makes sense with the content and is not “stuffed”, which occurs when you’re overloading a page with keywords solely to boost search rankings.

Mind your outbound and internal links

It’s not just who is linking to pages on your website that is important; where you link to matters, too. This can have an impact on trust and relevance when it comes to Google’s rankings. Linking out to low-quality websites will also negatively impact your search rankings.

In addition, when you don’t have internal links, it will dent your pages’ ability to be crawled by Google, which is how they rank websites and pages.

Update on a regular basis

You may not have the time or resources to post new content every day, but you do need to upload your own content on a regular basis. Keep in mind that content doesn’t always have to be text; photos with short text descriptions, for example, count as new content.

Use local directories

Local business listing places are available in many spots online–Yelp, Yellow Pages and Foursquare are all examples–so you should have updated entries that include your business name, address, phone number and other information. If you are in directories where users can leave reviews you are able to respond to, be sure to do so in a professional and helpful way, even if the review is negative.

Tap into Google

Google has many tools that can help you improve your search rankings. “Google My Business” listings are essential for local searches these days, and it is doesn’t cost anything to set yours up to improve your local SEO visibility. Google reviews of your business can help you demonstrate the validity of your business to Google.

If your tweaks don’t give you the bump you need in search visibility, it’s time to speak to an agency for web design in Toronto to learn what else you can do so more users can find your website and your business!