Getting started with SEO strategies can be a real hurdle for many website owners. There are no fancy user interfaces like Google Ads that allow you to just start throwing together a campaign to see how it goes. SEO requires knowledge. It requires you to keep up with Google’s algorithm and its updates. Finally, it requires you to put in the time and to be patient when waiting for the results.

But oh boy, can it pay off. If your website consistently ranks among the top 5 results on Google for pretty much any search term, you are guaranteed a ton of organic (read: free) traffic to your website.

To achieve this, unless you are already a certified SEO whiz with a lot of free time on your hand, you will most likely have to rely on professional services like those of agencies like the NYC based Mass-Appeal, who specialize in getting your website up to the highest SEO standard.

Let’s be realistic for a second. SEO isn’t some black and white thing. Even small measures can personally take on your website and can improve your rankings among Google and other search engines drastically. You don’t necessarily need to always be among the top 5 results to improve your flow of organic traffic. Just appearing on the first page can already be a difference-maker.

There are some relatively easy measures that you as a website owner can take, now, without needing to involve any professionals. We will layout the 3 most important of them here:

1. URL structure

In recent years, Google’s algorithm has moved towards “readability” as the #1 factor influencing a website’s ranking. The general principle here is if it makes sense for a person, Google bot likes it too. Make sure to structure your URL in a way that makes sense and avoids duplicate words and combinations of random letters and numbers. Here is a good example of a URL path. It specifies the language of the website and a reader knows what they’re getting from just looking at the URL like https://example.int/en/blog/Subject-of-Post

2. Duplicate content

Something you should avoid at all costs is duplicate content, content that is exactly the same but appears on two different pages of your website. Google interprets this practice as an attempt at creating a website that appears to be deeper than it actually is and will heavily downgrade your ranking if it finds a significant amount of duplicate content.

3. Compatibility

Nowadays, the internet is mobile. Done are the days of making fun of people that film vertical videos. The desktop is still popular, but the smartphone is the internet device of the masses.

Many websites nowadays start out by designing the mobile version of their website first. Personally, we don’t really think you should go that far yet, but that doesn’t change the fact that mobile compatibility is the most important feature any website needs to have. Not only to improve your user experience, but also your Google ranking.

For your SEO strategy to work, you require knowledge and practice. It doesn’t just happen overnight. In fact, you must be patient in implementing various campaigns to find out which works best for your business, and which don’t. Don’t fret, however, as there is a multitude of advantages that come when you nail your SEO strategy.