Philadelphia SEO Agency

The website itself is the cornerstone of SEO — it’s the glue that holds all of your site together. The website has to be built for SEO, so it can do the work to convert. On-page SEO starts with an evaluation of your current website (if you have one) and either making upgrades to it or starting from scratch.

Central to on-page SEO is making sure the right keywords are … well, on the page. And not only on the page, but sensibly and where they will make the most impact. Keyword optimization is delicate, and less is often more.

Search engine AI algorithms are evolving so they can interpret not only text, but also images. Good SEO must pay close attention to image quality and relevance, as well as optimization of the image file itself and the alt text.

On-page optimization doesn’t just involve what you can see on the page. It also includes conventions like invisible alt text and the metadata that appears on the SERPs — in other words, the first impression you get to make for your potential audience.

When another website links to your website, that’s called a “backlink.” Search engine AI algorithms treat this as a “vote” for the authority of your website — and the more authoritative the backlinked site is, the better. Cultivating backlinks is a delicate process, but nothing adds more fuel to your SEO fire.

Authoritative sources aren’t limited to their own websites — their authoritative voice spills over to other websites in the form of guest content all over the web — as well as off the web. Attention to this kind of thought leadership bolsters the effectiveness of SEO.

Social media isn’t just window dressing — it’s part of your brand banner to the world and has to be brought into line with your SEO strategy. Social media assets can even benefit from SEO itself, taking up more space on the SERP for your brand message.

Search engines want happy customers, and they know that slow websites make unhappy customers. Therefore, search engine AI has evolved to discern fast websites from slow ones. The first priority of technical SEO is getting your site up to speed — literally.

Internal linking between pages not only improves users’ experience by letting them explore deeper into your content — it also helps search engine web crawlers discover every page in your site. Another way to do this is to include an XML sitemap.

Another way search engines know how to keep users happy is to make sure that mobile searches produce user-friendly mobile content. Google’s web crawlers actually crawl the mobile version first … so your mobile site has to be on-point if you want to rank high on SERPs.

Nearly every website neglects structured data — a coding language that speaks specifically to the search engine web crawlers and tells them how to interpret the site. Including structured data can give your SEO a major leg up, starting at the code level.

Local businesses stand to gain a large amount of organic traffic from search engine map results, which often appear right at the top of a SERP. Your map listing must not only exist — it must also be optimized with text and images to compete with other map listings, just like your website.

Local search engine algorithms look for mentions of your brand around the web, known as “citations.” These can be on websites, in directories, on social media assets, or elsewhere — but they have to match your local business listing, or they won’t work.

Just because you have a national brand doesn’t mean you’re shut out of the powerful local SEO algorithm. Localized satellite websites can give you access to the significant traffic driven by local search.

It isn’t always necessary to chase your competitors, but it helps to know what they are doing. You might find valuable keywords and content to emulate, or neglected segments in the market that you can capture by tailoring your message.

The most important keywords to target are the ones that point to an intent to purchase. It is a waste of time to target any other kind of keyword. Your keyword analysis must therefore include an assessment of which keywords demonstrate this intent.

A “short-tail” keyword is short and to the point, usually addressing a core part of the service. These are valuable keywords, but they can be expensive and competitive to target, and they may or may not indicate solid purchase intent.

“Long-tail” keywords get very specific — multiple words, even whole sentences and phrases. These keywords are often less competitive and expensive to rank for, and can be targeted to include keywords with high purchase intent. 

The role of content is to get your brand message in front of as many new eyes as possible. The more content, the better. Content is a common means of brand discovery, and prospects will often thoroughly consume your content before ever making contact.

It’s not enough for the message to exist; the message must contain authority. It must be a visible demonstration of your expertise, in language that your prospect will understand and find convincing. Authoritative content pays dividends from the standpoint of both SEO and brand trust.

One of the signposts the search engine algorithms look for when determining domain authority is the sheer size of your website. Consistently adding content is a way to systematically expand the size of your index.  Each addition increases your domain authority.

In addition to the size of the index, the “freshness” of the index matters, too — that is, how recently content has been added, modified, or updated. The search engine crawlers see this as a sign of relevance, so consistent content additions play a positive role here, too.