How to Optimise your Website for Search Engines in 2022

Search Engine Optimisation is simply giving your website the best chance of being found when potential customers search for your products or services. The process of doing so can be somewhat complicated, but the objective really is that simple!

Every month, would you believe that 98.7% of Irish people use a search engine to find products, services of information? The majority of people in Ireland use Google, so that is the primary search engine you need to optimise for.

In this article, we bring together the latest 10 SEO tips that will help deliver the results you want from your website traffic in for 2022.

1. Keep Title Tags Under 60 Characters

A title tag is a HTML element that indicates the name of the page. You will recognise these as the headlines on search engine results. There is no limit on length, but we recommend keeping it between 50-60 characters. If it is too long, you run the risk of your title showing up incorrectly, or Google re-writing it. According to?Moz, title tags shorter than 60 characters display correctly on Google 90% of the time.

2.?Prioritise Mobile

How your blogs look on mobile is no longer an after-thought. According to the CSO, 95% of Irish people accessed the internet through mobile in 2021. In comparison, only 75% used a laptop, and 29% used a desktop computer. Your audience are most likely to be viewing your blog on a mobile device. If your website is not mobile responsive, you can run the risk of visitors leaving your site as soon as they reach it.

3.?Always think ‘User Experience’

The User Experience of your website is going to have a lasting impact on your SEO. Users expect to find what they are looking for on your site in seconds. If your website is slow loading or poorly laid out, you run the risk of users bouncing off your site. This is important, as the average time on site is a key consideration for Google.

Want to find out more about how UX can benefit your business? Check out this helpful resource:

–?Why User Experience is Important for your Website

4.?Aim to Rank for Snippets

Snippets are short excerpts from a website that appear at the top of search results. They are often in the form of numbered lists, bullet points, how-to guides or answers to a specific question. These aim to provide searchers with quick answers to common searches.

To optimise for snippets, you must first identify existing snippets and recognise the format it appears in. You can then structure your blog post accordingly through the use of lists, bullet points, subheadings and so on.

Make sure you are also using the correct schema markup for your page. This is code that will tell the search engine what kind of information to display on the results page. For example, you can set the schema to populate the relevant fields for recipes on cooking blog. You can use this?list of schemas supported by Google?to find the closest match to your blog post type.

5.?Add Internal Links

Linking to other relevant pages on your website will encourage your readers to explore. As they will be sticking around for longer, this in turn can increase your average time on site. Internal links also help search engines find other authority pages you have to offer. It is essential to ensure the link anchor text describes the page it will link you to. This is usually something similar to the title of the page. Avoid using generic terms like “read more” or “click here”.

6.?Backlink from Podcasts

We all know how vital backlinks are for effective SEO. Gathering rich backlinks for your website can be a challenge. One solution to this is sharing your knowledge as a podcast guest. The podcast boom is still going strong, with 1 in 3 Irish people expecting their consumption to increase this year according to IAB Ireland. Many podcast hosts would welcome the expertise in your area. In return, you get a link to your website in the show notes.

7.?Incorporate Video

Including video is more than a nice option for your website visitors that do not feel like reading a full blog post. Video also encourages people to linger on your site for twice as long. Google shows video thumbnails for 26% of search results as rich snippets. These have high click through rates than regular snippets.

8.?Cut out the “Fluff”

You know the kind we are talking about. It’s the unnecessary waffle leading into the body of an article. Or the pointless essay before a recipe, when all you want is to learn how to make carbonara! Your audience wants to get to the meat of your blog fast, and they will leave your website if they don’t.

Google’s John Mueller recently confirmed on Twitter that the algorithm does not look favourably on this kind of copy. It is difficult for Google to understand, and you might take a hit to your rankings because of it. We recommend keeping intro text to three sentences or less.

9.?Embrace Infographics

Infographics are a wonderful addition to your website, especially if your blog is very data heavy. Infographics make hard data more digestible through the use of visual communication.

In terms of your SEO, blogs are also share-worthy on social media and other blogs. This makes them a good way of generating back links to your site. Their sharable nature has also been shown to increase website traffic by?12%. This is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the power of infographics. If you would like to learn more about them, you might want to read the article below.

–?How can using infographics benefit your business

10.?Focus on Readability

Remember: You are writing for other humans, not robots! If your blog is a pain to read, your readers will not stick around for long. This in turn will lead to a high bounce rate on your site. We recommend using a readability tool such as Hemingway App to ensure your blogs read well. It goes without saying to also make sure there are no spelling mistakes or grammatical errors in your blog. If this is an area you struggle with, you might benefit from using an application like Grammarly to review your text.

Is Your Website Optimised for Search Engines?

Keep these tips in mind and you will be setting your business up for search engine success in 2022. Remember; your SEO strategy should be ongoing. Continuous testing is essential to recognise what is working, and adjustments need to be made.

If you would like further assistance with your Search Engine Optimisation, we would be happy to help! We offer a comprehensive SEO package, based on the most up-to-date information.