We all know that SEO can be time consuming!! And, "time consuming" is an understatement, especially if you are new to it and don't quite have your SEO groove yet. Although it's time consuming... it IS extremely important if you are looking to get your website up to the top of the search engines.
If you could only make one SEO optimization, I would tell you to develop title tags... They are the easiest, most efficient, way to start optimizing your website for SEO.
You know when you search for a topic in Google and then the list of websites pops up? Well, title tags are the blue copy that links out to the websites they are headlining. They are the first impression searchers receive of your brand! You can usually set up your title tags in the SEO section of the web platform you built your website on.
1. Keep the character count to around 60.
2. Your highest priority keyword should be the first words.
3. Every page on your website should have a different title that explains what the page is going to be about. Title tags should never be duplicated on your website.
I typically set up my titles tags following this format:
Primary Keyword | Secondary Keyword or Location | Business Name
Ex: Emergency Dog Veterinarian | Phoenix, AZ | 24Hour Pet Care
The biggest mistake I see is that people are putting their brand name first. Unless you are a huge/famous company or there is a specific reason why a ton (and I mean A TON) of people will be searching specifically for your company's name, then you need to stick with placing your primary keyword first in your title tags as search engines put more SEO weight in those first words.
If you are trying to increase your rank for a certain keyword and your title tags are not set up like this already, give it a try and let me know how it works out for you!
Wondering what a good keyword is? Check out my Keyword blog post.
Looking for other ideas on how to increase your SEO rank. Check out my SEO checklist.