There are lots of fancy acronyms floating around the interwebs these days. One, I’m sure you’re familiar with, and if not get acquainted with it here, is SEO, or search engine optimization. On its most basic level, SEO is an internet marketing strategy that considers how search engines, such as Google and Yahoo work. Marketers examine what people search for, the actual terms or keywords they type into search engines, and which search engines are preferred by their targeted audience.
Achieving outstanding local search results for your uniform website has a lot to do with how much effort you put into SEO, and in this particular case, on-page SEO. So in an effort to boost your online uniform store’s search engine rank (and as a result, pageviews and leads), we’ve compiled a list of 14 key on-page SEO factors that both Google and users love.
1. Utilize Keywords in Your Page Title
- Using title tags is the most important on-page SEO factor
- The keyword will have more weight with search engines the closer it is to the beginning of the title
2. Create SEO friendly URLs
- Make sure your URLs and titles both include keywords
- Avoid ugly URLs like: uniformwebsite.com/10-13-16/category/product-abbreviation
- Make your URls short and full of keywords: uniformwebsite.com/your-product-here
- According to studies, shorter URLs perform better in Google so keep it short and sweet
3. Add Modifiers to Your Titles
- Create excitement and engagement by manipulating your titles with phrases like “best” and “2016” etc…
- Think about how people use search
- For example, the “best uniform business closest to me”, “uniform store near ‘name you location’“, “Work shirts that will last longer” etc…
4. Use Header Tags to Break Up Your Content
- Do not simply bold copy and increase font size
- Utilize h1, h2, h3 tags throughout your content to break it up and organize
- Search engines like Google also like this more than bolded copy
5. Add Different Media to Your Content to Keep it Engaging
- This includes using images, diagrams and video in your content
- Using exciting multimedia will reduce bounce rate and increase viewer time on your site - both very critical factors related to ranking
6. Create Digestible Content
- Use header tags throughout your content and bullet points to make your information easier to read for those who are scanning your content
7. Include Keywords in Your First 100 Words
- For best ranking chances, you’ll want your keyword to appear within the first 100 words of your blog or page
8. Make Sure Your Website is Responsive
9. Link to External Sources
- Linking to outbound sites that are related to your content allows search engines to understand your page’s topic
- Studies have found that pages with external sources outrank those that don’t have those links
10. Link to Internal Sources
- Linking to internal pages keeps viewers on your site longer, ultimately boosting your rank
- Add 2-3 internal links to every page
- A great example of a site that does this is Wikipedia
11. Optimize Site Speed
- Users will typically wait 4 seconds for a page to load before they bounce
- Visitors want your information to load quickly and will leave your site if it doesn’t
- Increase site speed by using a CDN, low res images, and reducing irrelevant animation
12. Optimize Images With Alt Text
- Your image alt text should include a keyword found in your copy
13. Utilize Social Sharing Buttons
- These are buttons that allow visitors to quickly and easily share content across a variety of social channels
- They generate more views for your content and site
14. Google Likes Long Content
- Keep people on your page and increase dwell time by creating long-form content that keeps visitors reading
- “Length is Strength” - longer content tends to rank much higher on Google’s first page
- Avoid someone hitting their back button immediately after landing on your page — that’s a sign of a low quality page
Employing these SEO best practices for your uniform websites and individual pages will undoubtedly increase your page’s rank on any search engine. With hundreds, if not thousands, of online uniform stores floating in html space, you’ll need to include these key on-page SEO factors to get the best possible results for your company.
For more, or to learn about how UniformMarket can help you rank higher, click here.
