6 Simple SEO Tips for Freelancers and Agencies

1. Use plain language

It's always smart to choose your words carefully, and SEO keywords are no exception. While you might be tempted to use industry jargon to appear more authoritative, it can work against you. According to SEO expert Christine Darby, it can be more powerful to explain things in the clearest terms possible than to inject industry jargon.

“People will sometimes use high-level, technical-sounding terms,” she says. “So I’ll ask, ‘in plain English, what is that?’ Then they tell me and it makes complete sense. This is where we start finding keywords.”

Before you begin writing or editing any of the words used on a website (including the backend), try writing:

• What your business does
• Why people should hire you

Use language that your ideal customers would use when trying to solve a key problem. And keep things simple. This will help you come closer to the words people use when they search. In turn, the copy will be clearer and the site will feature meaningful keywords.

2. Do a content check-up

“Time and time again, we have seen that websites with good content always rank higher,” says Deep Focus CEO Robbie Kohli. “You can invest a lot in SEO, but if your copy is lacking, Google will penalize you for it.” But how do you know if your content is good? According to Robbie, your bounce rate is an important indicator. A bounce happens when a user exits your website within the first 5 seconds of opening it. There are many reasons for a high bounce rate, but one of the most common is the quality of your copy.

Robbie recommends using plug-ins like Yoast and Ahref to improve content quality. These tools analyze your text (using the Flesch Reading Score) and offer suggestions for improving readability.

3. Write descriptive title tags

Title tags are descriptive text that should tell people what to expect on a page. They are an important part of SEO and help with ranking. Whether visitors see it in their search engine results page (SERP), or while hovering over a tab before navigating to it, this copy should clearly state what’s on the page.

According to Christine, “Site visitors should be able to clearly discern what you do and who you are.” For this reason, the same guidance for clear, targeted language applies here.

4. Think about the why (rather than the what)

As a small (or new) business, competing with established corporations for top search engine ranking can seem daunting—especially when you’re vying for the same keywords. “Our secret weapon is to identify intent-based keywords,” says Robbie. By intent-based keywords, Robbie means putting yourself in your client’s shoes and understanding the motivation behind their searches. When you can pinpoint the rationale behind a search, you can discover keywords your competitors haven’t invested heavily in.

5. Put the right stuff on your homepage

Christine has observed that many businesses use their website’s homepage as merely an aesthetic display—all style, no substance.

“A lot of people are going for design, but you want your homepage to work for you. It’s often going to be your most visited and the page with the most backlinks. So if people are landing on that page, you should give them something to do,” she says.

Outside of providing basic descriptive information about your business, the homepage should provide people with the right opportunities to explore your website.

In SEO terms, this is done through hyperlinked words called anchor text. This copy should feature keywords that indicate what the person will see if they click the link, and it should be more descriptive than “Click here.”

A call to action, or CTA, is the term for the anchor text on a hyperlinked button, which a person clicks to do something, like “Learn More,” or “Apply Now,” or “Contact Us.”

Christine suggests thinking carefully about what people might come to your website to do, and providing that pathway directly on the homepage. She’s seen this change yield great results for her clients.

6. Focus on users, not search engines

Even if your current task is to optimize for search, the long-term goal is always to make your website more useful and usable for real people. When you prioritize clear language, intelligent navigation, and valuable content, it yields results.

Give your business a boost when you apply these 6 simple SEO strategies to your website. When your website is search engine optimized, it’s working around the clock and around the globe to help more clients find you.