5-min and 30 sec read
If you are like most home builders and developers, then you have a website and you integrate SEO as a major part of your digital marketing strategy. In this article, you’ll learn the five steps needed to perform on each page of your website for on-page optimization. Before we begin, let’s define what SEO is and what on-page optimization means for you. Continue reading about SEO for Builders and optimization for beginners.
Table of Contents
SEO is short for Search Engine Optimization and through numerous techniques, it helps you organically reach the top of the search engine results page (SERP). The SERP is a page on Google, Yahoo! or Bing which shows the results which appear after you perform a search query.
The difference between SEO and other top performing pages on the SERP is organic versus paid. Don’t get SEO confused with PPC, pay-per click advertising, because they’re two completely different animals in the eyes of Google. SEO is organic search results while PPC is pay-per-click strategy.
You can tell the difference between SEO and PPC because a PPC ad would have a small green or black indicator to inform the user that it is an ad and not an organic listing. Here is an example of a PPC ad with the indicator:
And here is an example of the same home builder company appearing organically on the SERP:
Notice the difference between the two search results. When searching for these, the PPC ad appeared first on the SERP while the organic listing appeared below it.
Many times, I manage on-site optimization for my clients and contribute to their SEO efforts accordingly. However, even these on-site optimization steps can be complete by anyone if they have access to their WordPress login information and a well-informed understanding of SEO.
I like my clients to understand how to navigate their WordPress sites for them to learn how to manage their online digital presence. After all, each one of my clients personally owns their website so creating this step by step guide for on-page optimization benefits them greatly. Let me share it with you…
On-Page SEO is the continual practice of optimizing individual web pages both to the content and HTML source code. The opposite of this is off-site SEO which relies on link building, gaining quality backlinks and other external signals. Think of on-page SEO as what you can do now, internally, to improve your website’s SEO value while off-site is external and takes more time.
Having your website built on WordPress comes with many benefits. For example, WordPress is available in 196 languages and is by far the most used CMS, content management system. The WordPress network is home to 41.7 million new posts and 60.5 million new comments each month worldwide.
Yoast SEO is a tool for optimizing the content on your website which can be performed by anyone. In fact, it is the #1 WordPress SEO plugin in the world and provides you with free tools, descriptions, and techniques to optimize content.
On WordPress’s left-hand column, you can find your blog posts, pages, and much more:
For each post and page, Yoast SEO helps you optimize content by giving you recommendations on what to fix and edit on your website. In order to access this, you must scroll down the very bottom of the selected page or post.
From there, Yoast essentially gives you a chance to write about a keyword or phrase, adjust the snippet preview, and gives you a brief SEO analysis of the piece of content. Each blog post or page should contain one focus keyword or phrase which encompasses the main subject matter of the content.
Let’s take Homes by Artisan as an example. Homes by Artisan is trying to rank this blog post for the focus keyword of “luxury home builder”. Notice how this example has no meta description (part of the snippet preview) and how one of the faces is red. This means the post hasn’t been optimized yet:
Editing for optimization via Yoast includes adding a meta-description, keyword or phrase, including a featured image, and improving readability. Optimizing each post or page can be quick or take a while depending on how many edits need to be complete. For example, if Yoast recommends adding more content, you need to be prepared to develop more information.
I recommend applying each one of Yoast’s suggestions when it comes to on-page optimization. If you get confused or lost in this process, you can always learn from Yoast’s explanations by clicking the hyperlinks in the analysis. While you can learn a lot from the plugin itself, they’re some techniques Yoast doesn’t explain.
After applying these five steps to the Homes by Artisan article, notice how the faces are green and the article has been optimized:
Hopefully, these five steps and tips give you a chance to rank your pages higher on the SERP. I understand this information might be a lot to digest at first, so partnering up with an experienced SEO agency or expert can be a big advantage.
Do you have any questions about on page optimization for beginners? Want to learn more about SEO for builders?
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About Terry Zelen
Creative Director | Consultant | Author | President of Zelen Communications
Terry Zelen is a seasoned Creative Director with more than 35 years of experience in Home Builder advertising and marketing.
He is the founder of The Punch List, which is an online blog to help inform home builders and developers on strategic marketing insights to fuel their firm.
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