## Take control of your time and finances so you can focus on design [**Going over budget?**\ \ Take control of phases, timelines, staff, and contractors with precise budgets that are easy to monitor and forecast.](/content/blog/architects-guide-to-seo-part-1#tab/index.html) [**Want stronger profits?**\ \ Stay on time and on budget with powerfully simple reports. Track and forecast project progress, revenue, and profit.](/content/blog/architects-guide-to-seo-part-1#w-tabs-0-data-w-pane-1/index.html) [**Is time your worst enemy?**\ \ Optimize time management across your team with seamless allocations, increased timesheet adoption, and dynamic reports.](/content/blog/architects-guide-to-seo-part-1#w-tabs-0-data-w-pane-2/index.html) [**Struggling with clients?**\ \ Easily share project progress, generate accurate invoices, and receive payments online. Then use streamlined reports to identify ideal clients.](/content/blog/architects-guide-to-seo-part-1#w-tabs-0-data-w-pane-3/index.html) More than likely you've heard the term SEO, but, for the uninitiated, SEO literally means _Search Engine Optimization_ — technical jargon for a set of methods used to boost your website's rank in Google's search results. Now, why should you care? Well, according to [this article](https://moz.com/blog/google-organic-click-through-rates-in-2014) put out by the SEO gurus at [MOZ](https://moz.com/), the top 3 positions in Google's search results account for a whopping 55% of organic clicks, with the number one spot alone netting over 30%. Think about that, over _one third_ of visitors click on the _first_ result they see. Naturally, everyone wants to be number one, so we've outlined below 5 steps you can take to help boost your website's ranking. ## Take Stock The first step is to make sure your website satisfies the most basic SEO criteria. These are things often forgotten when new content is uploaded but play a critical role in getting your site to rank well. For example: - **Meta Title Tags**\- Make sure you have defined a meta title for each page. These are very important, as they contribute keywords and will be displayed in Google's search results. - **Meta Description Tags** \- Make sure you have a meta description on every page. These have no keyword value, but are important for humans as they show up below your web page's title in Google. - **Page Headings** \- Make sure you have headings on each of your website's pages. These are typically headers, sub-headers and page titles (i.e. your project's title). ## Publish Often Google rewards websites that stay up-to-date and frequently post new content. Now, this doesn't mean you should just post for the sake of posting, as with most things _quality trumps quantity_. However, consistently updating your website is far better than mega updates once or twice a year. This will not only help your ranking but will make your site feel alive and provide a more engaging experience for your visitors. - Update Projects - Develop a content strategy that involves adding new projects periodically, set deadlines and stick to them. - Keep the blog fresh - Set yourself a goal, if you have a blog or news section, this could be one post per month or bi-weekly. ## Include Keywords Keywords help Google determine how relevant your content is to a particular search term. For example, if you're a residential architect and your project descriptions include words like "residence", "home", "single-family", and so on, you'll likely rank higher for those search terms than say, "museum" or "library". - Mix them in - Sprinkle 4–5 key words or phrases into your project descriptions and website copy, making sure they emphasize _your expertise_ or address _your clientele_. - Use it in a sentence - Keep the keywords _contextual_ by using them in sentences, and repeat the same concept using different wordings. - Stay Local - In addition, be sure to include _project locations_ (city, region, country) as these can help boost your rank for geographic specific searches. ## Build Backlinks Backlinks are when another website links back to your site. Here again, quality is better than quantity. Google determines a website's rank in part by how often that site is referenced by others, essentially quality by association. While this happens organically, there are a number of ways you can generate new links on your own. - Social Profiles - Create profiles on sites like [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/), or [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/) to promote and share your work. - Architecture Profiles - Check that your website URL is up-to-date in your profile on sites like [ArchDaily](http://www.archdaily.com/), [Architizer](https://architizer.com/), [Houzz](https://www.houzz.com/), and others. - Architecture Awards - Whenever you receive an award make sure the awarding body adds a link to your home page or project page on their website. - Blog Submissions - Submit your work to lifestyle sites like [Dwell](http://about.dwell.com/), or design blogs like [Dezeen](http://www.dezeen.com/submit-a-story/), and be sure to include a link to your website in the body text. ## Employ Metrics There are any number of free and/or paid tools out there to track and manage your SEO progress. We recommend a couple free ones below that you can start using today. Note, for both you'll need a Google account (fancy that). - Analytics - [Google Analytics](https://www.google.com/analytics/). Track how many visitors your website receives, what they look at and where they come from. - Keywords - [Google Webmaster Tools](https://www.google.com/webmasters/). See what keywords your website ranks for and where in Google's results you show up. Hopefully that's enough to get you started. Stay tuned for part 2, where we'll take a more in-depth look at a couple of the sections outlined above. If you're interested in learning more about how Monograph can help grow your firm's online reputation, send us a note at [moe@monograph.io](mailto:moe@monograph.io).