10 SEO Tips Every Website Needs

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) doesn’t have to be complicated. While there are hundreds of factors that influence how a website ranks on Google, a handful of simple SEO tips for your website can make the biggest difference.

When I build websites for clients, I focus on these core SEO elements to help their sites perform well from the start. I choose one of two SEO plugins to use on each site. SEOPress and All in One SEO. Both are excellent tools that handle essential SEO tasks like page titles, meta descriptions, and site indexing.

All in One SEO is a robust plugin with a wide range of features, which can be helpful for larger or more complex websites. SEOPress provides many of the same core capabilities but with a simpler interface. I install the free versions, but they both have paid version of benefits if you want that.

But you can’t just install and hope for the best. There is more to SEO than a plugin.

Here are 10 of the most important things every website should be doing.

1. Clear Page Titles and Headings

Search engines need to understand what your page is about. If your page title is vague or your headings are a mess, Google has to work harder to figure it out.

This structure is also important for accessibility. Clear heading structure helps people using screen readers and other assistive technologies navigate your website more easily.

Every page should have:

• A clear page title
• One main H1 heading
• Organized subheadings (H2s, H3s) that break up the content

I structure pages so both humans and search engines can easily understand your website. Your goal is to have a potential client land on your website and instantly know where they are and find what they need.

2. Content That Actually Explains Something

Search engines try to match pages with what people are searching for. If your page has two vague sentences and a stock photo, it doesn’t give them much to work with.

Good content should:

• Clearly explains what you do and easy to navigate
• Answers common questions your audience might have.

This doesn’t mean writing a novel stuffed with keywords. Google is ‘too smart’ for that. It just means being clear and helpful. While I do ask for content for the website, I provide feedback and suggestions if it’s clear and benefit-oriented from an outside perspective.

3. Optimized Images (Huge Images Slow Everything Down)

Large, unoptimized images are one of the biggest reasons websites load slowly. Best practices include:

• Compressing images so they load faster
• Using descriptive file names (for example: kathy-osborne-design-logo.jpg instead of image28423.jpg)
• Adding alt text so search engines understand the image

BONUS: Alt text also improves accessibility by describing images for people using screen readers or other assistive tools.

When I prepare images for your website, I optimize them before they even get uploaded and use descriptive file names. I also add alt text and other metadata so the images are easier for both search engines and accessibility tools to interpret.

4. A Website That Loads Quickly

People are impatient. If your website takes even a few seconds to load, visitors will often leave. Search engines pay attention to that behavior.

• Optimized images
• Clean page structure
• Avoiding unnecessary plugins and bloated code

A faster website improves both user experience and SEO performance.

5. Mobile-Friendly Design

If your site is difficult to use on a phone, visitors will simply leave and find someone else. A good mobile experience means:

• Layouts that adjust to different screen sizes
• Text that’s readable without zooming
• Navigation that works easily on smaller screens

I will build your website responsive so it works smoothly on desktops, tablets, and phones.

6. Adding New Content (Like a Blog)

Search engines tend to favor websites that are regularly updated with helpful content. Adding blog posts, articles, or helpful resources allows you to expand on topics related to your business and answer questions your potential clients might be searching for.

The more useful pages your website has, the more opportunities search engines have to show your site in search results.

7. Getting Other Websites to Link to You

When other reputable websites link to your website, it signals to search engines that your site is trustworthy and relevant. These links (often called backlinks) can come from:

• Partner businesses
• Articles or interviews
• Local directories
• Industry organizations

Quality matters more than quantity though. A few good links from relevant websites can be more valuable than dozens of low-quality ones.

8. Link Between Pages on Your Own Website

Another simple SEO practice is linking between pages on your own website. For example, if you write a blog post about branding, you might link to your logo design or website design services page.

Internal links help:

• Visitors navigate your site more easily
• Search engines understand how your pages relate to each other
• Important pages gain more visibility

When building your websites, I will create natural connections between pages so visitors can easily explore related topics. One long page is currently a favorable layout. Having your home page work as a Table of Contents that cna link to ‘deeper dives’ on the topic is a great way to build links and content on your site.

9. Fully Filling Out Your Social Media Profiles

Search engines also look at your overall online presence. Having fully completed social media profiles helps to reinforce your brand and provides additional places on the internet where people can find you. It creates more avenues for your name, company name, keywords to be on the internet.

For example, instead of a short sentence like: “Kathy Osborne Design, LLC designs websites”, this one is more keyword rich in the description.

Kathy Osborne Design is a graphic designer with over 25 years of experience creating branding, websites, and print materials for businesses and organizations. Her work includes logo design, brand identitys, brochures, websites, and marketing materials.

10. BONUS: Website Age and Consistency

New websites can absolutely rank in search results, but older websites with consistent content updates often gain more authority over time. Search engines look at signals like:

• How long the site has existed
• How often it’s updated
• Whether the content remains relevant

Maintaining and updating your website regularly helps build trust with both visitors and search engines.

The Bottom Line

SEO isn’t about gaming the system with keyword stuffing. It’s about building a clear, helpful, well-structured website that both visitors and search engines can understand.

When these basics are done right from the start, your website has a much better chance of performing well over time. And the good news is, none of this requires complicated tricks. Just thoughtful design and solid fundamentals which I use when designing and building your website.