How to make your website (and your projects) more visible on the internet

 It is more than likely that you have heard the term SEO , but for the uninitiated, Search Engine Optimization literally means search engine optimization , a technical jargon for a set of methods used to increase the rank of your website in search results. of Google. Now, why should you care? Naturally, everyone wants to be number one, so I describe below the 5 steps you can take to help improve the ranking of your website (and therefore your projects).

Think Carefully

The first step is to make sure that your website meets the most basic SEO criteria . These are things that are often forgotten when new content is uploaded, but they play a critical role for your site to have a good rating. For example:

• Meta Title Tags :  having defined a title for each page. These are very important, as they contribute with keywords and will be displayed in Google search results.
• Meta Description Tags:  have a description on each page. These do not have keyword value, but they are important for humans, since they appear below the title of your web page on Google.
• Page Headings : have headings in each of the pages of your website. Usually, these are headings, subtitles and page titles (that is, the title of your project).

Post often

Google rewards websites that stay current and often publish new content. Now, this does not mean that you should only publish for the good of the publication, because as with most things, quality trumps quantity. However, the constant updating of your website is much better than the mega updates once or twice a year. This will not only help your ranking, it will make your site feel alive and provide a more attractive experience for visitors.

• Project update:  develop a content strategy that involves adding new projects periodically, establishing deadlines and sticking to them.
• Keep the blog updated: set a goal, if you have a blog or a news section, this could be a publication per month or biweekly.

Include keywords

Keywords help Google determine the relevance of its content for a particular search term. For example, if you are a residential architect and the descriptions of your projects include words such as "residence," "home," "single-family," etc., you are likely to get a higher ranking for those search terms than "museum." or "library."

• Combine:   4-5 key words or phrases in the descriptions of your project and the copy of the website, making sure they emphasize their experience or address your clientele.
• Use it in a sentence: keep the contextual keywords using them in sentences and repeat the same concept using different expressions.
• Stay Local: Also  , be sure to include the project locations (city, region, country), as they can help increase your rank for specific geographic searches.

Build links

The links - backlinks - are when another website links to your site. Once again, quality is better than quantity. Google determines the rank of a website in part because of the frequency with which others refer to that site, essentially quality by association. While this happens organically, there are several ways to generate new links on your own.

• Social profiles: Create profiles on sites such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to promote and share your work.
• Architecture profiles: verify that the URL of your website is updated in your profile on sites like ArchDaily and others.
• Architecture Awards: every time you receive a prize, make sure that the awarding body adds a link to your homepage or project page on your website.
• Send to blogs: send your work to design sites or blogs and be sure to include a link to your website in the body text.

Use Metrics

There are a number of free and / or paid tools to track and manage your progress. Next, I recommend a couple of free tools that you can start using today. Keep in mind that for both you will need a Google account.

• Analysis: Google Analytics. Record how many visitors your website receives, what they watch and where they come from.
• Keywords: Google Webmaster Tools. See what words your website is ranked in and where the Google results appear.

I hope this is enough to start.