Can SEO be optimized for the homepage of a website? Yes, a homepage can rank for pertinent non-branded keywords and aid in the ranking of other pages on your website. Search engine optimization (SEO) for websites may seem complex, but it is identical to SEO for websites in general. Homepage optimization can increase your site’s authority and quality in Google’s eyes, as well as increase brand recognition among your target market.
So, you are passing up a huge opportunity if you’re not prioritizing homepage SEO in your SEO campaigns. In this article, we’ll not only discuss tips on how to optimize your homepage for SEO but also learn how it can be optimized for search engines.
Four Stages for Optimizing a Homepage for Search Engines
The general process of optimizing a page for search engines is similar to homepage SEO. We conduct keyword analysis, write SEO content, and generate links. There are several restrictions and unique considerations, though. Let’s discuss this in detail-
1. Choose Target Keywords Carefully
Google and your readers should be able to understand what your product or service is all about from your homepage.
In SEO, this is mostly accomplished by centering a page’s content around a target keyword. This term describes the topic of the page. This does not imply that this keyword will be the only one for which your page ranks. It will undoubtedly appear in search results for dozens or possibly hundreds of similar terms. But you have to pick that one first.
Make a list of keywords that best describe your product or service to get started. Here is how to add items to your list:
- You can brainstorm for these keywords with your team to determine which matches your brand perfectly. Simply write down any words or phrases that spring to mind. These terms should come effortlessly to you because you probably already know a lot about your niche.
- Analyze the competition Make a list of your rivals and browse their websites to discover the terminology they employ to describe their products.
These keywords will then be entered into an SEO tool. We must determine each keyword’s potential for traffic and comprehend the search purpose behind each one. Any SEO tool you choose is acceptable, but it’s recommended that you choose one that doesn’t group keywords.
The search intent for these keywords needs to be investigated next. The purpose behind the search query is known as search intent. In essence, we want the same kind of pages—homepages—to appear in the search engine results pages (SERPs) for these keywords.
Furthermore, because we may presume that our homepage would be a product description, we can broaden our search for landing pages with the same purpose. Going forward, see if you can spot a homepage or a product page among the top 10 pages ranking for those keywords by taking a look at them.
At this point, you can be in one of the following situations:
- There is just one keyword that matches your search criteria; you can use it as your target keyword.
- Even though you’ve discovered several keywords that match, only one should be your main focus. The GV column (Global Volume) can be used to determine how popular a keyword is (i.e., the language your target audience uses the most).
- You have not found any. Keep using the keyword that best defines your offering in this situation. That’s due to two factors: First, your homepage probably has more functions than just SEO; second, the search intent for that keyword might shift and start displaying certain businesses similar to yours.
What should be done with more pertinent keywords at this point? Save them. To demonstrate the context of your homepage, you might still need to use them in the copy. In addition, you can also use them for different content formats (blog posts, landing pages, free tools, etc.).
2. Create Content for Your Homepage
The creation of the title tag, meta description, primary content of your homepage, and the incorporation of schema markup will all be covered in this part.
Title
One of the factors Google will consider when analyzing and evaluating your site is the title. However, the title is intended for more than only Google. You must still make the title enticing enough for readers to click.
Here are some guidelines for creating a title for your homepage:
- Make it accurate and eye-catching. Write a phrase that grabs users’ attention and clearly explains what makes your offer special.
- Be sure to make it sound natural as you insert the target keyword in your title.
- Put your company name here. It won’t affect rankings how or where you place it, but it might affect user choice.
- Fit inside 60 characters – If you go over, Google may rewrite your title and your description may be reduced.
The ideal moment to begin improving your title for click-through rate is when you are within the top 10 results for that keyword.
Meta Description
The meta description is not a ranking element, in contrast to the title tag. According to research, Google changes meta-description tags 62.78% of the time). In any case, a compelling meta description might persuade a searcher to visit your homepage.
- Make sure it is intriguing enough for the user to click.
- Avoid engaging in any “clickbaity” activities. The user will just go back to the SERPs and avoid your website going forward if your page fails the initial test. Or, to put it another way, they won’t click at all.
- Your description should not be any longer than 920px. Make sure that your description will fit by using a tool like SERPSim.
- Treating the title and description as two components of the same message is a good concept. What you assert in the title may be expanded upon or supported by the description.
Main Content
When constructing the homepage’s main content, keep your brand and company in mind first and foremost. What information must your visitors have about your company straight away? What distinguishes you from the competition? Which route on your website should the user take?
When creating your core content, keep the following in mind for SEO purposes:
- Your search intent should match your main content.
- Organically include your desired term in the H1 tag.
When it comes to matching search intent, you must examine the top SERP pages for a specific keyword and determine what they are discussing and what services they are providing.
For instance, several pages for the term “CRM” provide basic information on CRMs, such as what a CRM is, its advantages, how it functions, and its features. This shows that Google “promotes” pages that provide CRM-related knowledge in some way. In order for Google to “view” your website as something that aids users in understanding the product and learning how they can profit from the product; it is definitely a good idea to incorporate similar points inside your primary content.
You might take it a step further and search for-which keywords are used in the top 10 pages for your target keyword. Or, what other terms and phrases do the pages with the highest search engine rankings for your chosen keyword typically use?
Last but not least, as simple as it may seem, make sure you mention your brand in the copy. As a large portion of searchers will probably arrive on your homepage via branded terms, this is still a component of search intent.
Regarding the second recommendation (using your target term in the H1 element), SEO is once again put last in this scenario. This tag’s inclusion of the main keyword will aid Google in comprehending the context. But the H1 tag also has to do with making a page more user-friendly and accessible. Additionally, there is nothing improper with making your H1 text more convincing than the competition.
Add Schema Markup
One of the main benefits of including schema markup in your SEO tactic is that it allows search engines to understand your content and accurately display it in search results. By displaying rich snippets on the SERPs, adding schema markup can increase your site’s visibility and drive more traffic.
Adding schema markup to a homepage is similar to adding meta tags in practice. You are providing details about your company, your product, etc. under a few predetermined categories. Although you can create schema “by hand,” it’s definitely advisable to use tools like the Schema Builder extension to produce it
HubSpot’s usage of schema markup to provide FAQs that match the informational nature of each keyword’s search intent is an intriguing example.
Your company is a type of schema attribute that you would wish to feature on your site. It will assist Google in recognizing that your page is about a company (and not, for example, a type of fruit). You may also gain a knowledge panel by using this markup. The site links search box is another often utilized function. Although you have some control over it via schema, Google can choose to display this feature whether you like it or not (depending on its utility for the user).
Furthermore, it’s worthwhile to experiment with other kinds of properties, such as FAQs, local businesses, and reviews. Multiple schemas are acceptable as long as they correspond to the homepage’s real content and don’t present contradictory information.
3. You Must Build High-Quality External Links
Backlinks are necessary for a homepage to properly compete for non-branded keywords in search engines, just like any other page. The likelihood of appearing in the top 10 increases with the number of higher-quality backlinks you have.
Your homepage might receive backlinks from a variety of sources. The link authority will not be passed by all of them, though. So, before you chase after those links, consider what constitutes quality and high-ranking backlink:
- Relevance – You should try to obtain backlinks from sites that are associated with your specialized field.
- Authority- Backlinks from authoritative websites typically pass more “authority” than those from unreliable ones. Links will also have more authority if they come from pages with fewer outward links.
- Traffic – Rankings and backlinks from pages with organic search traffic have a slight but distinct correlation.
- Placement – Links that are prominently displayed may be given greater authority than others. The usual rule of thumb is that a link will pass more PageRank the more probable it is that a person will click it. Links within the body copy of the text that is placed high on the page, for instance, will pass more authority than links put among many other links in the footer.
- Anchor: Google interprets the language immediately around a link as a clue about the page’s context. Our research shows that there is only a modest relationship between anchor text and search engine rankings.
- Nofollowed vs Followed- Nofollowed backlinks often have no effect on the rankings of the connected page.
However, keep in mind that getting links of excellent quality can be challenging. You will almost always need to make a compelling argument to convince a website to include your company, item, etc.
Let’s look at several ways in which you can obtain high-quality backlinks to your homepage-
Reviews
Positive reviews can significantly boost demand for your good or service. Your reviews not only assist you to obtain a high-quality backlink but also raise your SERP ranking and drive more traffic to your site.
You might research the backlinks of your competitors and contact the same websites to look for review possibilities. Searching for reviewers in your product category on Google is another approach to uncovering those prospects.
Digital PR
Digital PR presents a fantastic chance for link building because media links are frequently among the highest-quality backlinks you can obtain.
There are typically two methods for doing this.
- Respond to media inquiries on websites like Source Bottle, ProfNet, or HARO. You may search for hashtags like #journorequest on Twitter.
- Write press releases and offer them to credible, pertinent media sources.
There is a possibility that a journalist will use you as a source for their story if you have an original perspective on an issue relating to your area of expertise or if you\’re engaged in a newsworthy activity. Your brand will be exposed as a result, and your homepage will receive a link.
PR can develop “organically” without your assistance, much like reviews can. Will those tales also relate to you? Search for mentions that aren’t linked, then try to make them into links to find out.
Guest Posts
On the internet, guest posting has become quite a phenomenon. It probably doesn’t require any introduction of any type. Like reviews, guest articles can help a brand and its goods or services in a variety of ways, such as increasing brand recognition and product demand. The advantages of this strategy alone make it worthwhile to use.
However, when SEOs discuss guest blogging or guest posting, there is only one objective in mind: obtaining a high-quality backlink. You may manually search for guest blogging possibilities on Google. Or you may use an SEO tool that allows you to swiftly filter through the results and do it on a large scale.
Additional Methods
Link building is a vast subject with numerous strategies. Other methods for obtaining backlinks include:
- Having your homepage published in directories and listings is particularly useful with local business homepages.
- Examining the backlinks of your rivals in order to duplicate their links (such as those from review sites) and identify trends in the backlinks’ composition.
- Regaining lost links.
- Adding links to community websites.
4. Add Internal Links
When you connect internally, three things take place in terms of SEO:
- You assist search engines in finding new pages – Internal links offer a crawl path to target pages.
- You share link authority among your pages, which helps you promote other pages that you control.
- You aid search engines in comprehending the content of a website. If you want to rank for relevant keywords, Google needs to comprehend the meaning of your content.
For the reasons mentioned above, you should look for opportunities to connect both to and from your homepage.
From Your Homepage
The pages with the most backlinks tend to be home pages. They build link authority that other pages can use to boost their ranking by receiving. The page’s footer is a common place to link to your vital material. However, this method will pass less authority based on our understanding of how links pass authority as compared to other methods such as using tools like salesforce.
To Your Homepage
If your homepage is linked to your resource pages (blog, ebooks, case studies, etc.) via the site navigation or even a logo, that link already passes page authority to your homepage.
However, if you recall from our section on what constitutes a high-quality link, the link’s placement and anchor text also matter. Links with higher clickthrough rates are more likely to be trusted. Additionally, the link’s anchor aids Google in understanding the context of your homepage.
For these reasons, you want to incorporate pertinent links to your homepage into the main body of text as well. For instance, offer a link to your brand or product in a blog article rather than just discussing it.
Conclusion
Your homepage is the face of your brand, so you need to make sure that it looks and functions perfectly. The design of your homepage presents your business in its best light, but it shouldn’t be overly intricate or busy. An attractive, basic design is simpler to understand and leaves a better first impression on users. Making the most of your homepage also requires responsive design for mobile devices.
