SEO

Our Guide to SEO Success in 2023

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the key to success on search engines like Google and Bing. Since Google’s creation in 1998, SEO has helped businesses compete over keywords globally. In 2023, it’s more vital than ever to master best practices and stand out online.

Finding your SEO success can seem overwhelming when small businesses and large corporations compete. That’s why the digital marketing team at WebFX created a guide to walk you through finding success with SEO in 2023. 

Want to master your SEO? Keep scrolling to learn more, and subscribe to Revenue Weekly for regular insights from WebFX!

How do you measure SEO success?

Marketers have been perfecting the data analytics process for measuring SEO success since the ’90s. Several metrics help you uncover your performance: 

• Search traffic: It’s vital to rank on Google and receive website traffic since you can quickly lose traction over time. 
• Time on page: This metric reveals how long a user spends on each page. If the average user only spends a few seconds on a page, you may need to adjust the content. 
• Pages per visit: This metric reveals if users stop on your page and continue to explore other website areas. It’s a valuable metric to tell if your content is compelling. 
• Bounce rate: A bounced web session is when the searcher visited your page but left immediately without browsing. A high bounce rate can become a problem — Google will flag your website as irrelevant to searchers if they bounce too often. 
• Scroll depth: See how far a web visitor scrolls down on an individual page. Users may see your content but miss information like a call-to-action (CTA). 
• Conversion rate: To figure the conversion rate, divide the number of conversions for a single CTA by the number of unique visits. Apply the conversion rate metric to virtually any CTA to measure your return on investment (ROI). 

5 tips for boosting your SEO

Marketers worldwide study trends on search engines like Google to master SEO. We’ve compiled five of our favorite tips to help you find SEO success in 2023.

1. Focus on site speed

Site speed is critical to your site’s success on search engines. Picture a shopping mall with only one entrance. If your store were the farthest from the front entrance, it would take the longest to find it.

Search engines like Google understand that even a one-second delay in page load time will significantly lower conversions. The slow speed will discourage your customers, Google will detect the issue, and the algorithm will eventually lower your ranking. 

Google research reveals that the average mobile page takes 15.3 seconds to load. Any slower, and you risk falling behind the competition.

2. Create engaging content

Remember that excellent SEO advice is irrelevant if you don’t create engaging content for your customers. Google’s advanced algorithm understands when you stuff keywords into content to optimize your page without creating quality content for the reader. 

If you make the content your audience desires, your content marketing ideas should already contain the tools needed to rank naturally. 

The question is not what the search engine wants, but what the user desires. Fulfilling this need will build your organic traffic and satisfy the search engine’s objective.

3. Write high-quality meta descriptions

It’s also vital to write a high-quality meta description for every page on your website. The meta description is the first thing users see on the search engine results page (SERP), like a welcome mat. 

Some websites save time by duplicating meta descriptions for similar pages. Unfortunately, this process can impact user experience (UX) and Google search engine rankings. Google flags duplicate content as spam or irrelevant, so repeated meta descriptions can raise red flags for the algorithm. 

Repeat descriptions are also confusing for SERP visitors. For example, if a person types in a certain keyword and sees several pages with identical meta descriptions, they won’t know which to click, making them move on.

4. Create a user-friendly URL structure

Google designs its search engine to follow UX. If it’s hard for the average website visitor to understand your URL, then search engines might be confused. 

Many URLs contain phrases like “article/7338383.” The lack of description may confuse the reader and search engine since it depends on semantic language to understand search intent. A correct alternative would be “https://www.webfx.com/seo/services/.”

5. Image tags

Images are a central part of SEO — Google has an entire search platform dedicated to images. When a user searches for a particular image, they use keywords. 

If you strategically plan image names and caption text, you’ll have more opportunities to rank online and appear in search results. Use a simple keyword phrase without over-explaining or keyword stuffing to optimize your images.

Partner with WebFX to take your rankings to the next level

Finding SEO success can seem like a maze, but decades of experience from a digital marketing agency will help your team find success. WebFX has been generating revenue for businesses like yours through SEO innovation for over 25 years.

Our SEO services have over 785 satisfied customers who believe we will help your business thrive. WebFX will walk you through every phase of the SEO process, from analyzing competitors to monitoring strategies and managing keyword optimization. 

Want to find out more? The SEO team at WebFX is ready to provide SEO solutions today. Reach out online to connect with a specialist or give us a call at 888-601-5359 today!

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