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Master SEO in 4 steps
Master SEO in 4 steps
May03
Created by SuperUser Account on 5/3/2018 6:06:32 PM
Search engine optimization (SEO) may seem complex, extensive and, frankly, exhausting. But the core tactics are straightforward: Develop and design your site so search engines can index it; and, include relevant, searched-for keywords in the quality content you add to your site.

Search engine optimization (SEO) may seem complex, extensive and, frankly, exhausting. But the core tactics are straightforward: Develop and design your site so search engines can index it; and, include relevant, searched-for keywords in the quality content you add to your site.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that SEO is only for larger companies with the time and resources to devote to it. By setting your site up properly and focusing your content on what people are searching for, you’re essentially marketing for free—something that’s imperative for businesses with minimal advertising budgets.

It’s worth the dive. So, let’s jump in.

1. Brainstorm how your target audience searches

You already know who you’re trying to sell to. In fact, if you’ve researched thoroughly, you probably know a whole lot about your target audience. This data proves useful beyond product development and marketing, and it’s an oft-overlooked aspect of SEO. Dig in to the information you have on your target audience and think about the type of language and search phrases they might use.

Start by defining the problems they’re most likely to be facing that will prompt them to search for a product or service you offer. Then, pinpoint what features of your product are most appealing to your target audience. Use these two angles during your keyword research to pinpoint popular or relevant queries that fit your target audience.

2. Come up with a list of keywords

Now, it’s time to nail down the specific keywords you want to rank for. There are two types: short-tail and long-tail. Short-tail keywords are one to two words and tend to be broad; because they lack specificity, they’re incredibly difficult to rank for. But, they also let search engines know exactly who your company is and shouldn’t be overlooked. Long-tail keywords contain multiple words, and typically read like a broken sentence. This is where most small businesses should focus their efforts.

Using a keyword research tool, come up with a list of three to four short-tail keywords that best describe your company and your purposes. For example, if you run an accounting company in Houston, Texas, a solid set of short-tail keywords might include accounting, finance, tax prep and bookkeeping.

For each of these short-tail keywords, come up with a list of three to five long-tail keywords that tie in to the broader search term. Remember those web-style brainstorming exercises you did in grade school? It’s the same concept.

brainstorm web diagram

Certified accountant in Houston targets individuals looking for an accredited professional in their area (Houston).

Accounting for small business targets small businesses rather than families looking for financial guidance and acts as a versatile keyword to focus content around.

Accounting services in Texas broadens your target audience outside of your specific area (Houston).

Accounting profit formula indirectly targets small businesses and sets your website up to create helpful content that your audience might be looking for (like a profit formula).

Continue this process for every short-tail keyword, taking notes of other long-tail keywords you might want to focus on in the future.

Note: Your keyword list will grow over time. Focusing on a relatively short, manageable list is the best way to get started with SEO.

Shooting in the dark and coming up with keywords off the top of your head is generally ineffective. Keyword research tools help you find highly-searched words and phrases that are specific to your company. Below are a few of the most popular keyword research tools out there:

Tools like Google Trends are also helpful in finding popular long-tail searches. If you search “accounting” in the tool, you’ll pull up the current highest-volume related topics and searches.

3. Tackle your website’s SEO

Incorporating your chosen keywords into your website’s visible content and backend design allows search engines to crawl your site, determine who you are and what you’re selling, and then categorize your site so it shows up to the appropriate searchers.

There are lots of tweaks you can make to your site to incorporate your keywords and meet other SEO best practices; however, this is an area where you might want to consider hiring a professional so you’re starting the rest of the process with a solid, crawlable website.

If hiring someone isn’t in the cards, Moz’s beginner’s guide has a fantastic section on search engine friendly design.

Here are a few steps you can take to make your website more SEO friendly.

Make sure that all keyword-focused content is in HTML. This is the easiest for search engines to read, and algorithms value HTML higher than they do things like images and Flash files.

Get your URLs in order. This isn’t as complicated as some experts might lead you to believe. As a general rule, if a human can read a URL and get a basic understanding as to what the URL leads to, search engines will be able to as well. Take a look at the URL of this post: the domain name is clear, the page name is a single word and the article title is the same as the one you see at the top of the article. There aren’t random numbers, the navigation to the page is crystal clear and the URL tells you exactly what the page contains.

**Give crawlers an easy, clear path for indexing. **One of the most common mistakes small businesses make is putting up a lot of pages but providing no clear way to navigate through those pages. This not only hinders a visitor’s experience, but it makes it impossible for search engines to index anything on your site.

Incorporate keywords naturally in the static content. Your home page for your accounting company should include the word “accounting” in a header, one or more of your long-tail keywords in the body text as well as one header and/or subheader. Don’t attempt to use all of your keywords on every page, or overuse any one keyword on one page. Space them out and decide which pages they’re most relevant to. For example, your short-tail keywords probably belong on the home page and services pages, while your long-tail keywords can be incorporated into the copy on those pages but fleshed out and focused on more in your content marketing.

Then, add keywords to your title tags, metatags and metadescription. Title tags have one of the biggest impacts on SEO outside of content. So, include the primary keyword you’re trying to rank for on each specific page in the page’s title tag. Then, add that keyword and any secondary keywords relevant to the page to the metatags. Due to nearly a decade of keyword stuffing, search engines place very little value on metatags; however, if used sparingly and only included on pages where the keyword matches the content, they make the page easier for crawlers to read. Likewise, the metadescription also has minimal impact on rankings. That said, including one relevant keyword in the metadescription, and writing the description as you would any marketing copy—with conversion in mind—increases click rates.

Use SEO analysis tools to find areas on your website that need adjustments. Here are a few that are great for newbies:

  • Fetch as Google is a tool that lets you see how easily Google can crawl every page on your site.
  • Website Grader creates loads of different reports, including an analysis of your page titles and meta descriptions.
  • Moz Pro offers an all-in-one SEO toolkit that lets you identify areas that need improvement, including the very handy RogerBot, which crawls your site like a search engine and lets you know of any issues.
  • Screaming Frog’s SEO Spider evaluates every single URL on your site and helps you update them so they’re completely optimized. It also works with Google Analytics and generates XML Sitemaps, among other helpful tools.

Once your site is search engine friendly, submit it to Google and Bing for indexing. No amount of SEO will help if you don’t give search engines permission to crawl and index your site.

4. Create exceptional content

We’ve covered content creation extensively here, but content is the single most important aspect of SEO. This is how you keep your site regularly updated (something search engines look for) and build up the usage of the keywords (short and long) that you’re trying to rank for.

Here are some things to keep in mind.

Focus content around keywords, don’t shove keywords into content. Keyword research is a fantastic way to get topic ideas for your content; with this method, it’s a breeze to work a few long-tail keywords from your list into the content you’re producing. Attempting to create a ton of content and then going back and trying to work your keywords into that content reduces the value for your visitors and makes search engines reduce your ranking for that keyword.

_For example: That “accounting profit formula” keyword is perfect for a blog post that actually explains a profit formula. It’s relevant to the accounting firm’s services, a term searched for by that firm’s target audience and the post provides a solid, valuable answer from an expert to searchers, something search engines prioritize. Take that same keyword and shove it into a blog post about different types of accounting software, and the content won’t help you rank for that specific term. _

Don’t forget to add those keywords to your title tags and metadata. As with your static content, including the most relevant keyword in the title tag for each piece of content is extremely helpful. To make your site easier for crawlers and searchers to navigate, include the primary keyword and other relevant keywords in the metatags and metadescription.

Keep content organized. Search engines look at titles, headers and tags in addition to scanning content. The more organized and easily-scannable your content is for readers, the higher it’ll rank in search engines.

Don’t be afraid to link to outside sites. Of course, you want visitors to stay on page. But search engines want you to provide visitors with a robust, beneficial experience. If you can achieve that by linking to reputable sites to back up the information on your site, it only helps to improve your reputation.

Check out these exclusive posts on creating content:

Is there more to SEO? Of course—that’s why there are millions of articles and thousands of books on the subject. But these four steps will get you well on your way to improving your online visibility.

 

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