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Five Ways to Boost Your Website’s Ranking (SEO)

Follow these tips to increase your search engine optimization (SEO) and see your website surge to the top of search engine rankings.

1. Publish Relevant, Authoritative Content

Quality, authoritative content is the number one driver of your search engine rankings and there is no substitute for great content—this is especially true when doing SEO marketing. Quality content created specifically for your intended user increases site traffic, which improves your site’s authority and relevance. Improve your web writing abilities and position yourself as an authority on the subject you’re writing about.

2. Update Your Content Regularly

You’ve undoubtedly seen that we care a lot about content. Search engines do as well. Regularly updated material is regarded as one of the finest markers of a site’s relevance, so keep it up to date. Audit your material on a regular basis (say, every semester) and make modifications as appropriate.

 

Blogging

Writing more keyword-rich material for your departmental news blog can also help your search engine rankings. Blog entries can simply be brief updates on the specific topics you’re interested in. When it helps the reader get a better image or more information about a topic, interlink your linked CMS webpages and blog entries.

3. Metadata

When creating your website, leave a gap between the head> tags for metadata, or information about the page’s contents. If you have a CMS site that was created by the UMC web team, this data will be pre-populated for you. However, as your site evolves, it is critical that you evaluate and update the information.

Title Metadata

The page titles shown at the top of a browser window, as well as the headline inside search engine results, are controlled by title metadata. It is the most crucial piece of info on your page.

Description Metadata

The textual description that a browser may employ in your page search return is referred to as description metadata. Consider it your website’s window display—a succinct and appealing summary of what’s inside, with the objective of enticing visitors to enter. A decent meta description will usually consist of two whole phrases. Although search engines may not always use your meta description, it is crucial to provide them with the opportunity.

 

4. Have a link-worthy site

A content-rich, authoritative, unbiased homepage that helps visitors learn more about what they are interested in is more likely to get connections from other websites, which enhances your search engine optimization.

Add relevant links within the content to boost your authority and trustworthiness. Instead of using “click here” links, consider writing out the destination’s name. “Click here” has no search engine value beyond the linked URL, however “Michigan Tech Enterprise Program” is keyword-rich and will increase both your search engine rankings and the ranking of the page to which you are connecting. Always utilize descriptive links by connecting keywords—this not only enhances search engine optimization but also provides value to your viewers, particularly those with impairments or using screen readers.

5. Use alt tags

Always use alt tags, or alternative text descriptions, to explain your picture and video files. They let search engines to find your website, which is important for folks who use text-only browsers or screen readers.