6 Simple SEO Steps That Make a Big Difference for Your Website

If the phrase “search engine optimization” has ever made your eyes glaze over, you are not alone. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has a reputation for being technical, complicated, and expensive—and while it certainly can be all of those things at a deeper level, the foundational principles are far more actionable than most people realize.

To put it simply, SEO is the practice of helping search engines like Google understand what your website is about, so they can show it to the right people at the right time. Getting the basics right can make a tremendous difference in how easily your ideal audience finds you, without relying on social media or paid ads.

Here are six steps that actually help move the needle, and they’re so easy that you can begin working through them today!

Step 1: Start with the Right Words

Before anything else, think about how your ideal reader, client, or customer searches for what you offer. What words or phrases would they type into Google? Those are your keywords, and they should show up naturally throughout your website—in your page titles, your headings, and your written content.

You don’t need a fancy tool to get started. Try typing a topic into Google and notice what it suggests before you finish typing. Those auto-fill suggestions are real searches real people are making, and they can point you toward the language your audience is already using.

For example, if you’re a Christian life coach, “faith-based life coaching for women” or “Christian coach for entrepreneurs” will serve you far better than simply “life coach,” which is far too broad to compete in.

Step 2: Give Every Page a Clear Purpose

Each page on your website should be focused on one topic or goal. Your homepage introduces who you are and how you serve, acting as a landing page or table of contents for the rest of your website. Every other page of your site should have a clearly identifiable purpose. Your services page explains what you offer. Your about page tells your story. When pages are focused, search engines can more easily understand and rank them.

Each page also has a title and a short description that appear in search results, called the page title and meta description. These are prime real estate. They tell both Google and potential visitors what the page is about before they ever click. When our team builds or redesigns websites for our clients, we complete these entries intentionally for every page, oftentimes using the Yoast SEO plugin. We love the simplicity of this plugin, which is one of the most trusted tools in this space, because it works seamlessly within WordPress and the fill-in-the-blank structure makes it easy for our clients to maintain on their own.

Step 3: Add Alt Text to Your Images

Every image on your website has a behind-the-scenes field called alt text—a brief description of what the image shows. Search engines can’t “see” images the way humans do, so alt text helps them understand what’s on your page. It also makes your site more accessible to visitors who use screen readers.

Writing good alt text is simple: describe the image clearly and naturally, and include a relevant keyword if it fits. “Author Jane Smith speaking at a women’s conference” is far better than leaving the field blank or allowing the file name to auto-populate in the space. “Image1.jpg” does not add any value to your page or content. This is a small step that adds up quickly across an entire website. (Bonus tip: Giving your image file a relevant name before you upload it also helps with SEO.)

Step 4: Write Content That Answers Real Questions

One of the most effective long-term SEO strategies is also the most straightforward: write helpful content. Blog posts, resource pages, and FAQs that genuinely answer the questions your audience is asking give search engines more to index and more reasons to pay attention to your site.

This is exactly why a consistent blog matters beyond just staying connected with your audience. Every post is a new page Google can discover and rank. Over time, a library of helpful, keyword-informed content builds the kind of authority that drives organic traffic, meaning visitors who find you through search, not just through your social media posts.

Step 5: Tell Google Your Site Exists

This step surprises a lot of people. Google doesn’t automatically know your website is there. You have to tell it. This is done by submitting your sitemap—essentially a map of all your pages and posts—to Google Search Console, a free tool that also shows you how your site is performing in search results and flags any issues that might be holding it back.

If you have a WordPress site with the Yoast SEO plugin or something similar installed, your sitemap is automatically generated for you. Submitting it to Google Search Console is a one-time setup that opens the door for Google to begin properly indexing your content. This is a foundational step we complete for every website we launch.

Step 6: Build on a Platform That Works in Your Favor

Not all website platforms are created equal when it comes to SEO. WordPress, our preferred platform for all of our client websites, is widely recognized as one of the most search-engine-friendly platforms available. Paired with a premium theme like Kadence, which is built for speed and clean code, and a reliable SEO plugin, the technical foundation of your site is already working in your favor before you write a single word of content.

Page speed matters here too. A slow-loading website frustrates visitors and signals to Google that the experience isn’t great, both of which can hurt your rankings. If you are just starting out and on your own, be sure to research the tools and options so you have the strongest foundation possible. If you are working with a professional developer, the tools and themes are most likely chosen in part because of their performance so that side of things is handled well from the start.

Final Note

SEO is a long game, but the good news is that consistency compounds. Every page you optimize, every blog post you publish, every image you add alt text to—it all adds up over time. You don’t have to do everything at once. Start with what’s in front of you, starting with the steps outlined here, and build from there.

If you need help or want to discuss a deeper strategy, don’t hesitate to ask!