To the uninitiated, search engine optimization (SEO) can seem like magic. A keyword here, a code review there, and presto! Your site moves up in the search rankings. While SEO research involves black-box testing to figure out specific changes to the proprietary search algorithms, Bing and Google provide SEO information to help site owners and webmasters optimize their sites. We’ve put together this guide to best SEO practices for 2018 to get you on the road to better rankings!

Clear, Useful Content: Both Bing and Google point to quality content as the main driver for search engine ranking. Search engines want to see new content that is relevant to your site’s topic posted on a regular basis that is easy to read and distinct from other content on your site and across the web.

Avoid “keyword stuffing” - the practice of repeating your target keyword and related keywords. Search algorithms have made keyword stuffing obsolete, and the practice can negatively affect your rankings if detected.

Graphics & Video: Make sure you have relevant, original web-optimized graphics to accompany each page and post. Photos should be small enough to download quickly and be named to match the content of the page. Video content is gaining more popularity as mobile devices make use of the increase in public WiFi networks and unlimited cellular data plans to stream content everywhere.

On-Page Optimization: This practice gets behind the scenes to make your pages relevant to search engines through title and meta tags, HTML headings, and short, on-topic URLs. Your page title, meta description, and H1 headings should contain your keyword or a close derivation. Subheadings (H2, H3, etc) should also be relevant to the subject of the page or site. Search engines make note of these “hidden” attributes for how they will appeal to site visitors.

Responsive Web Design: Your site should adapt (respond) dynamically to the size of the browser that is viewing it, whether desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. The goal here is to provide a similar experience to the people who navigate to your site, no matter what device they are viewing on. Search engines will even ding your site in the rankings if it isn’t responsive!

There is a lot more to search engine optimization than the above best practices, but in 2018, these are still the top tips for your site. Dive in to the Google SEO Starter Guide as well as the Bing Webmaster Help & How To pages for more information direct from the search engine giants. Be sure to also head over to the Bigfoot Web services page and take advantage of our free SEO report, complete with a task list to help you keep track of your progress!