6 SEO Tips From SEO Guru, Matt Egan

Last Thursday, Matt Egan, founder of San Antonio-based Search Engine Optimization agency, Image Freedom, spoke to our Full-Stack Bootcamp students during our weekly lunchtime talk series. Read on for six SEO takeaways from his presentation.

1. Make your title tag effective.

The title tag, or the text written on the tab of your website, is a huge factor in your SEO ranking and should be as simple and straightforward as possible. The title tag is not the place for creative metaphors or puns: if your website is about finding cheap flights, the word “cheap flights” should most definitely be in your title tag.

2. Keep your key words simple and specific.

Likewise, the keywords you choose to emphasize on your website–especially the keywords within the first block of content on the homepage–should convey your purpose as concisely and simply as possible.

3. “Don’t half-ass two things, whole-ass one thing.”

Borrowing from the wisdom of Parks and Rec’s Ron Swanson, this quote means you should avoid spreading the same keywords across multiple pages on your site. Decide early on which keywords you want on each page and stick to it. If you need to reuse a keyword on a separate page, you can always put it in an image (which Google can’t read) or link it back to the original page where the keyword is emphasized.

4. Don’t use “click here” on your website.

Never use the words, “click here” on your website to direct users to links or documents. "Click here" has been used so frequently to link to Adobe PDFs that, when you Google it, Adobe Reader is the first or second item listed. Using “click here” can actually hurt your SEO. Instead, use a link title that describes the content to which it's linking.Example:“For more information about Codeup’s Teen SummerCamp, click here.” = WRONG!“Learn more about Codeup’s Teen SummerCamp.” = RIGHT!

5. Make shareable content.

Shareable content, like a free brochure or infographic, can increase the amount of people linking to your site. When it comes to SEO, quality links are golden. You want as many quality links as you can get!

6. Ensure your site is mobile-friendly.

Google is changing their algorithm (again) to factor in a site’s mobile-friendliness. This change is set to be released during the week of April 21st, 2015. If you want to maximize your SEO (and minimize mobile users' frustration when browsing your site), you must ensure that your website uses responsive design. Not sure if your site is responsive? Use Google’s free mobile friendliness test to find out.