SEO is both what you see and what you don’t see. When users search for information they want to receive answers. The reason Google has become such a dominator in the industry is because it became the best way to get most everyday queries solved.
There are some research techniques that require specialized tools, but if you are looking for answers, Google has become so intuitive that it’s the place most people start. It’s important to optimize for all search engines, but if you only have time for one, it should be Google. Your ultimate goal is to get on the first page of Google for your main keywords.
However, getting on the first page for long-tail keywords is good, too and is often an easier place to start. A long-tail keyword is a phrase that people search for when they are looking for websites like yours. It’s important to ensure that the people who are finding your website are the ones in your target market. Long-tail keywords help you get your results in front of the people you are trying to reach. For example, if you are selling small business accountant services, you want to target small businesses, not people who want to learn accounting from scratch (unless some of those people are small business owners who will eventually give up and hire you).
Local SEO basics
Another great place to start is getting on the first page of Google for your local area. This is especially important for small and medium business that sell products or services mainly in their own community. There are many free and paid tools that will help you find the best keywords for your business or organization.
Make sure to verify your business or organization with Google My Business.
Another technique is to analyze the competitors that are on the first page of Google and try to figure out how they got there. Look at their keywords, site architecture, blog and backlinks.
Technical SEO
The intuitive experience you get with Google should apply to all aspects of your site. In order to recommend your site, Google wants it to have both quality information and quality user experience. If a website is slow, poorly coded or otherwise difficult to use, Google will send people elsewhere. Recently, responsive design and an SSL certificate have been added to the list of “must-haves.” As well, ensure you are following the best practices for accessibility.
The basics of SEO are to fulfill these two goals:
1) Information
2) User experience
In order to meet these two requirements, you’ll want to focus on:
- Content creation
- Website promotion
- Technical requirements
Deciding what's important for your SEO
Website promotion is part of the information experience. If other people trust your website and rely on it, Google will take that as a good sign. This is why link building is a part of SEO. If other people respect your site enough to link to it, that used to be a pretty good indicator. However, with the rise of link building schemes, paid links and other tactics, many SEOs argue this type of promotion does not carry a lot of weight. The key is to gradually build natural, quality links to avoid any impression of working the system.
Social media is another area with questionable importance on SEO. Because it’s so easy for people with sloppy websites to build audience through promotional means, it can be tough for Google to determine who has an organic following and who is just better at marketing. However, great social media will organically grow your audience, which is always a good thing.
Keywords used to be a big deal, but this was another area where people found ways to scam the system by stuffing their pages with the most popular words and failing to provide the goods in the form of quality content. Metadata relates to data about your website that is hidden in the source code. This data tells search engines what your page is about. Pay attention to metadata, but make sure it’s organic and related to the content on the page. Use the keywords you want to target in a natural and organic way throughout the main body of your page content. Metadata often shows up in the Google search results, so having quality page descriptions can convince people to click through to your site.
Site maps are important for robots to crawl your site. Create one for both your human guests and an XML site map for the robots.
Optimization through content
The primary SEO tactic that works every time is creating high quality content and posting on a consistent basis. Once you have mastered this you will find that it’s easy to check off other things on your SEO list such as having a low bounce rate, eliminating duplicate content and developing quality backlinks. When it comes to content, think beyond text. Infographics, videos, podcasts, images, Google maps, downloads, and interactive features are great for adding value to your site. Make sure you include alt text in your photo metadata along with good descriptions. Google robots cannot read images or videos.
Some people say that hosting your videos on YouTube and embedding the YouTube video on your site will boost your SEO. It also benefits engagement from a social perspective.
Where to start?
Build your SEO strategy by determining where your current challenges are. You may be ranking for your keywords, but your site has technical issues. You may be dealing with a lack of content that prevents the search engines from finding you or understanding what your site is all about. Once you know the problems you need to tackle, it will become easy to prioritize.
Also consider the tone and purpose of your website. You want to make sure that all your metadata, content, social links and other assets are consistent with your brand voice.
SEO is organic, which means it won’t happen overnight. If you have a service that needs to be promoted yesterday, your best option is paid advertising. If you want to grow your audience and authority for the long-term, focus on SEO to reach your goals. However, you should also set your expectations. You need goals to measure your SEO campaign and adjust your strategy if results aren’t happening.
Are you ready to get started with your SEO plan? Our service is a campaign based strategy that is customized to your brand and market position. Find out how we can help you realize your goals.
Shella Gardezi is a marketing, PR and SEO specialist with experience doubling website traffic and sales and getting features in national publications and on the airwaves.