Marketing 101: Total website optimization

There are lots of ways to optimize a web page or blog post. The most obvious and popular is SEO. However, it’s only half the story. In today’s post, I’m going to share another kind of optimization, which is even more important.

As you know, with SEO you optimize your content and site. The idea is to make it rank as highly on search engines as possible, for the correct search terms. It means getting the balance right, with things like:

• Word count.
• Image tags.
• Keyword repetition.
• The use of bold (and italics) on certain words
• The use of keyword weighted subheadings.
• External link building.
• Internal linking.

Basic SEO is both important and easy. Really easy.

There are software packages, which will show you exactly what to do. As of August 2017, Yoast’s SEO plugin for WordPress alone has over 3 millions active users. And many of Yoast’s users have thousands of pages optimized. There could be hundreds of millions, maybe billions, of SEO’d pages out there. Remember, that’s just one of many SEO packages, on just one framework.

Another way to optimize your website or blog

As well as optimizing for search engines, there’s another area of optimization. It’s something, which gets a lot less attention. That’s because it’s a lot trickier. Plus, you can’t automate it. I’m referring to optimizing your writing for people. For example:

• Improving the clarity of your message.
• Summoning the courage to write what you believe, rather than repeat your version of what everyone else is saying.
• Maximizing the motivational impact of your message, so it becomes utterly compelling and converts readers into clients, customers, sales leads, subscribers, etc.

Be sure to get the basics of SEO right. Make it as easy as possible for search engines to understand what your site is about, so they can offer it as a resource to the right people.

More importantly, when people arrive on your website or blog, your words need to inspire them to take action. So, consistently strive to optimize your writing. Make it as compelling as possible. Every word must count. No fluff.

Because there’s no point attracting people to your site, if they leave as quickly as they arrived.