Search Engine Optimization, or "SEO" is commonly misunderstood. In a nutshell, for any business to be found on Google, Yahoo, Bing, or other online sites such as Yelp, SEO must be properly executed to get a business ranked within the first five pages of a search. SEO tactics determine how visible your business will be to consumers when they are looking for a product or service.

In 2019, these four best SEO practices and factors continue to drive how well your business will rank against the competition.

Website Optimization - Desktop/Mobile Responsive
Whenever you hear people mention website optimization, they are talking about how well a website is performing to give visitors the best experience. This means that a website should be both desktop and mobile friendly. Websites are reprimanded by search engines when they don't have mobile responsive websites. Mobile responsive means that a website changes layout and shape to fit mobile screens for customers. You can test this easily by going to your website on both a desktop and mobile phone simultaneously. Check to make sure that the functionality and features work seamlessly and similarly on both platforms. You will also want to check how your website populates and performs on tablets such as iPads.

Website/Page Loading Speed
Another part of website optimization is loading speed. Search engines such as Google and Yahoo reprimand your website points for loading too slow. Search engines demand a smooth website navigation experience, which entails having optimized loading speeds. Longer loading speeds have been statistically seen to increase the exit rate for site visitors. Maile Ohye, a former Developers Programs Tech Lead at Google says, "two seconds is the threshold for ecommerce website acceptability. At Google, we aim for under a half second."" To test your site speed, use a stopwatch on your phone and track how quickly your website loads both overall, and page by page.

Link Integrity
Search engines despise when websites have broken links, or they redirect to irrelevant links and other pages. Whenever you update your website or reduce the content, make sure to check that pages and hyperlinks that are leading to those pages and others are redirected to pages that are still live on the site. Links also become broken when the URL is entered incorrectly, so make sure to do a thorough URL search at the top of your website for each page. When links are broken or lead to paths no longer live on your website, your visitors usually receive the message "404 Error." Search engines ding a website after visitors see that type of error.

Keywords and Phrases
Keyword and phrase searches are how customers find you online. Search engines want to make sure that customers who visit your site were intentionally looking for your type of business or service. This means when you put keywords and phrases on your website, they have to be relevant to your business, industry, and the service you provide to visitors. This is where SEO is usually focused because search engines send out "spiders" to crawl onto your website when visitors type in certain keywords and phrases. Once the spiders find that these are relevant to the visitor's inquiry, they populate within the search engine ranking. If you need help understanding keywords and phrases to use for your business, you can find many SEO tools online that will help you find high-ranking words and phrases for you to use. The best practice is to have a mix of relevant keywords and phrases for different potential customers to visit your site.

Now that you have the four SEO best practices to take into consideration for 2019, take the time to look through your website. Make a checklist and see where you can make improvements. Don't be afraid to get rid of certain pages, content, and links that are antiquated, because search engines, like websites need to stay current and fresh. Remember, SEO is all about being seen!