If you are investing your time and money into building a beautiful website then you will surely want your customers to find it. So how do you make your site stand out in the ocean of content on the Internet? With search engine optimization (SEO). This is how customers find your site when they search it on Google, Bing and Yahoo. By building up your site the right way and optimizing your keywords, you’ll drive more traffic to your page and generate more sales.

Here are some tips on how to help you rank higher in online searches:

Find the right keywords

Think about the words your clients are most likely going to use when looking up your business. You will want to start off by making a list of 20 to 50 keywords, then go on Google AdWords. You can use Google AdWords to validate that the keywords you chose are frequently used in online searches. Use your keywords on each of your website pages to help them rank higher when prospective customers search using those keywords.

Make sure your website is user-friendly

You want to have a clean, easy-to-navigate website. It should be clear to visitors who you are as a business and what you’re offering. Make use of a lot of headings in order to improve readability, and put your keywords in the headings. Headings stand out for search engines and will help you rank higher. Site speed is also important for SEO. The last thing you want to do is annoy your visitors with a sluggish site.

Get social

Social media is a great ally in your SEO strategy because people also use social media platforms as search engines. They’ll often search for companies or products using Facebook’s search function, for example. Your company’s social media profile will also rank in the search results when people search for your company or for related terms.

Don’t overstuff your site with keywords

You want to make pages that are for the users, and not for search engines. If you are just sprinkling keywords all over your content, then you are at risk of distorting the meaning and irritating readers, so don’t overdo it. Your priority should be to make sure that the text is clear and easy to read.

Publish high-quality content and lots of it

The main mission of search engines is to help people find answers to their questions. So your best strategy to get lots of traffic is to create compelling content—articles, videos and photos—that provides quality information to your readers. Make sure to update your content frequently so it stays relevant.