A website without traffic is like a shop without customers – it simply won’t thrive. Search engine optimization, better known as SEO, is the key to boosting your website’s visibility and attracting a steady stream of visitors. Wix, a popular website building platform, recognizes this crucial need and offers a built-in tool called Wix SEO Wiz. This intuitive wizard guides users through the often-complex world of SEO, making it accessible even for beginners.
Table of Contents
- What is Wix SEO Wiz?
- Getting Started with Wix SEO Wiz
- Choosing the Right Keywords
- Optimizing Individual Pages
- Beyond the Basics: Optimizing Your Website at Scale
- FAQ
What is Wix SEO Wiz?
Wix SEO Wiz acts as your personal SEO assistant. It analyzes your website, identifies areas for improvement, and provides a customized plan with actionable steps. With its user-friendly interface and a checklist-style format, the Wiz breaks down the SEO process into manageable tasks, taking the guesswork out of optimizing your website. Whether you’re a seasoned SEO expert or just starting, Wix SEO Wiz empowers you to improve your website’s ranking in search engine results and ultimately drive more traffic.
Getting Started with Wix SEO Wiz
Step 1: Accessing Wix SEO Wiz:
- Log into your Wix account and access your website’s dashboard.
- Locate the “Marketing & SEO” tab on the left-hand side menu.
- Under the “Marketing & SEO” section, you’ll find “Get Found on Google,” which will lead you to the SEO Wiz.
Step 2: Defining Your Business/Site Name:
- Enter your business or website name accurately. This is particularly important for local SEO as it helps potential customers find you in local searches.
- If you’re an individual or sole proprietor, enter your personal name. For businesses and e-commerce stores, enter your registered business name.
Choosing the Right Keywords
Step 3: Understanding Keyword Research:
Keywords are the words and phrases people type into search engines. They are the foundation of SEO, connecting your website with your target audience. Wix provides a handy keyword suggestion tool within the Wiz, making it easier to find relevant keywords for your niche.
Step 4: Finding Your Primary Keywords:
- Aim for a balanced mix of short-tail and long-tail keywords. Short-tail keywords are broad (e.g., “relationship coach”) while long-tail keywords are more specific (e.g., “relationship coach for divorced women”).
- Start with 2-3 short-tail keywords and 3-5 long-tail keywords that accurately reflect your website’s content and target audience.
- Wix’s keyword suggestion tool can provide ideas based on your initial input, helping you refine your keyword list.
Step 5: Saving Your Keyword Selection:
Consistency is crucial in SEO. Once you’ve chosen your keywords, stick with them for at least 4-6 months. It takes time for search engines to recognize your website’s relevance to these keywords and adjust your ranking accordingly.
Optimizing Individual Pages
Step 6: Understanding Page-Specific SEO:
Wix SEO Wiz provides the flexibility to tailor SEO elements for each page of your website. This allows you to optimize each page for specific keywords and target audiences. The Wiz even includes a Google search results preview, allowing you to see how your changes will appear to users.
Step 7: Editing Page Titles and Meta Descriptions:
Page titles and meta descriptions are brief summaries that appear in search results, providing users with a snapshot of your page’s content.
- Page Title: Keep it concise (under 60 characters) and incorporate your primary keyword. For example, a relationship coach’s home page title could be “Relationship Coaching for Lasting Love | [Your Name/Business Name]”.
- Meta Description: Aim for a compelling summary (under 160 characters) that uses your keyword and entices users to click.
Step 8: Managing Indexability:
Indexability refers to a search engine’s ability to find and list your website in its results. Wix SEO Wiz allows you to check if your pages are indexable and control their visibility. Make sure your important pages are set to be indexed, allowing search engines to discover and display them.
Step 9: Utilizing Advanced SEO Settings:
Wix SEO Wiz provides a range of advanced settings to fine-tune your optimization:
- Social Shares: Customize how your pages appear when shared on social media platforms. Optimize your images and text to make them visually appealing and shareable.
- Structured Data Markup: This type of code (JSON-LD) provides context to search engines, helping them understand your content better. Wix SEO Wiz makes it simple to access and edit this code.
- Robots Meta Tags: These tags give instructions to search engines about how to treat your page. For example, “noindex” tells search engines not to index a specific page, “nofollow” instructs search engines not to follow links on the page, and “nosnippet” prevents search engines from displaying a snippet of text from your page in search results.
- Additional Meta Tags: You can also add custom meta tags for specific needs, like modifying the canonical tag. The canonical tag tells search engines which version of a page is the preferred version, preventing duplicate content issues. This is especially important if you have similar content across multiple pages on your site.
Beyond the Basics: Optimizing Your Website at Scale
Step 10: Using Wix SEO Settings for Bulk Optimization:
Wix offers a separate section within your dashboard called “SEO Settings,” where you can establish SEO rules for entire categories of pages. This saves you time by applying similar logic to multiple pages at once. This is particularly useful for website sections like blog posts, product pages, and galleries. For example, you can use Wix SEO settings to hide all blog archive pages from Google’s index or set a default character limit for meta descriptions across all your product pages.
Step 11: Setting Default Automations:
Within the “SEO Settings” section, you can create default settings for page titles, meta descriptions, and other SEO elements. This ensures consistency across your website while still allowing you to override these defaults with custom settings for specific pages. This feature is especially helpful for websites with a large number of pages, where manually optimizing each page would be time-consuming.
FAQ
What are some common mistakes to avoid when using Wix SEO Wiz?
Failing to conduct thorough keyword research is a significant mistake. Selecting the wrong keywords can lead to targeting the wrong audience and receiving minimal traffic. Additionally, constantly changing your keywords can confuse search engines and hinder your ranking progress. It’s crucial to stick with your chosen keywords for a reasonable period (4-6 months) to allow them to take effect. Other common mistakes include neglecting to optimize page titles and meta descriptions, which play a crucial role in attracting clicks from search results, and overlooking advanced SEO settings like structured data and robots meta tags. These settings provide valuable information to search engines, helping them understand and categorize your content more effectively.
How often should I update my keywords in Wix SEO Wiz?
It’s generally recommended to stick with your chosen keywords for 4-6 months to allow search engines time to assess their effectiveness. Regularly monitor your website’s performance using tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track your rankings and identify keywords that are driving traffic. You can then refine your keyword list based on changes in your business, industry trends, and user search behavior.
How long does it take to see results from using Wix SEO Wiz?
SEO is a long-term process. While Wix SEO Wiz simplifies the optimization process, it still takes time to see significant improvements in your website’s ranking. Patience is key. Generally, expect to see noticeable results within 4-12 months, with an average of 6 months. This timeframe depends on various factors, including the competitiveness of your industry, the quality of your website content, and your overall SEO strategy.
Are there any additional SEO tools or resources available for Wix users?
Wix offers a comprehensive SEO Learning Hub with a wealth of resources, including articles, videos, and guides. These resources cover a wide range of SEO topics, from keyword research to technical SEO best practices. You can also find numerous third-party SEO tools that seamlessly integrate with Wix, providing additional insights and functionalities. For example, tools like Semrush and Ahrefs offer comprehensive keyword research, competitor analysis, and backlink tracking features.
Can I use Wix SEO Wiz if I have a multilingual website?
Yes, Wix SEO Wiz supports multilingual websites. You can customize SEO settings for each language version of your site, ensuring your content is optimized for the relevant target audience. This includes translating your keywords, page titles, and meta descriptions for each language version.