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SEO tips to help drive traffic to your website

You may have heard the term search engine optimization, or SEO, but what does it mean exactly? Fundamentally, it鈥檚 the process of improving elements of your website to help it rank higher in online search results.

Should you incorporate the practice into your own business marketing strategy? To help increase the quantity and quality of traffic to your website, you may want to consider following some SEO best practices.

Here are a few basic tips to get your feet wet. For expert recommendations, you can consult with a company that specializes in SEO marketing or visit for more information about SEO tactics and training.

What is SEO?

When you type words into a search engine like Google, it crawls the internet to find results matching your criteria and returns a (typically long) list. SEO is the practice of optimizing your website so it appears higher in that list of search results. 

Helping your site rank higher

Google and other popular search engines periodically update their algorithms, changing what criteria they look for and their importance in ranking results. Staying current on SEO best practices can help keep your website visible. 

Here are four SEO tips that could help drive more relevant traffic to your site, attract more prospects and potentially lead to more sales.

1. Target your audience

An important step in optimizing your website is determining who you want to visit your site. Think about what words people might search for in Google to find the services you offer. Including these keywords in your website content is one way to help attract the audience you want. For example, you may want "financial help" or "save for retirement" included your keywords.

Keyword tips:

• Review your current website and note which words are used frequently.
• Ask yourself if new words should be added or outdated words be eliminated?
• Pay close attention to page titles, blog categories and taglines. 
• They can be important for optimization. 
• Review image names and captions to make sure they鈥檙e descriptive and relevant.
• Search for common terms, such as 鈥渟ave for retirement鈥� in your search engine and review the 鈥淧eople also ask鈥� section at the top of the results page. These questions may reveal other terms people are searching for that you might want to work into your content.

2. Be mobile-friendly

In 2023, there were over 295 million smartphone users in the United States and the number is expected to keep rising.¹ Statistics also show over 57 percent of all online traffic comes from mobile devices.²

With the number of mobile users and today鈥檚 expectations that sites are accessible on any device, having a mobile-friendly site can help you stay competitive and relevant.

If users find your website displeasing or can鈥檛 find what they're looking for, there's a good chance they will move on to another site. According to Statista, 61 percent of users won鈥檛 return to a website that鈥檚 not mobile-friendly.³ Having a modern-looking and well-functioning site can help build credibility and potentially help drive sales.

3. Keep content fresh

The more often you update and add content to your site, the higher it may rank in search results. Adding a blog to your website can be a great way to keep your content fresh. As people conduct online research, your blog can help provide valuable information in your area of expertise, helping establish your website as a go-to resource for relevant, timely insights.

4. Link to other websites

Driving traffic away from your site may seem counterintuitive. But linking to other reputable sites with useful content directly in your blog posts or on a dedicated resources page may help boost your site鈥檚 SEO ranking.

For example, if you mention Social Security benefits in a discussion, you can link to the SSA.gov website or a specific Social Security Administration page that readers may find useful. As current and prospective clients discover the value and breadth of your content, they may be more likely to visit your site time and time again.

Benefit of backlinks

Besides linking to other websites, others can link to your site. By providing useful resources on your website and interesting content in your blog, you could catch the attention of others. Every time someone else links to your site or shares your content on their own website or social media channel, exposure to your business is amplified. These backlinks can help establish your site as valuable in a search engine鈥檚 鈥渆yes鈥� which can help boost its ranking.

Summing it up

Your SEO strategy can be as in-depth or straightforward as you want it to be. If you need more guidance, there are many companies that offer consultations and expertise in search engine marketing. Making SEO an important part of your marketing strategy could help you reach more potential clients and build a stronger, more recognized brand. 

Two things you can do today

1. Use this to get started.
2. Create a content calendar to plan out content for the rest of the year.
    

Insights on 麻豆传媒 Connect. Tips, tools and resources to grow your business by helping clients retire with confidence.

¹鈥漀umber of smartphone users in the United States from 2014 to 2029,鈥� Statista.com, February 28, 2024.
²鈥漃ercentage of mobile device website traffic worldwide from 1st quarter 2015 to 4th quarter 2023,鈥� Statista.com, January 25, 2024.
³鈥漈he Most Relevant Mobile Marketing Statistics in 2024,鈥� Review42, February 13, 2024.