Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
What is SEO? What does it do? Well if you don’t know already, Search Engine Optimization is the make or break for your company’s business. No matter the size of your company, SEO has a place for you to rank high in search results and create a stronger voice for your brand. You’re affecting your business’s visibility online for your true customer base, but even potential new customers as well. If you follow these five guidelines, you’re sure to score several organic results in the long run.
It Starts with Keywords
What does a ‘keyword’ have to do with all of this, you might ask? It’s only your pathway to acquiring more foot traffic to your site, no big deal. Try to think of the words that describe your company’s purpose or mission, through which your customers would think of right off the bat. Maybe there’s a slogan you run with on social media or a hashtag that summarizes your business’s function or purpose, that you could benefit off of as well?
You’re also allowed to utilize specific tools to aid with choosing the ‘perfect fit’ keyword for your site. Google Adwords Keyword Planner is the perfect tool made to help you stack up against competitors and discover the best keywords for you. After creating a Google Adwords Account, you’ll have access to so many personalized tips and recommendations on improving your advertising capabilities. You’ll be able to use the tool to monitor several ad campaigns and even gather metrics and forecasts for keyword variations as well. You won’t want to miss out on this free opportunity to better your business’s visibility.
Similarly, Yoast SEO serves a large function in providing users with the correct keywords and how to utilize them within your text. Yoast is the #1 plug-in for WordPress users and can be accessed as a free version or as Yoast Premium, where ISVs can unlock an array of SEO features. On one hand, Yoast SEO users are able to pull more visitors from social media platforms, in addition to increased foot traffic from Google and Bing. Users are also able to engage their readers more with their content. All of your tools are set right there for you, so why would you go anywhere else?
Keep an Eye on your Competition
It’s okay to keep an eye on your competition to see how they rank among search results. Think of your largest competitor. What is one thing that the both of you have in common? Take that word or phrase and type it into the search bar. Which business comes up first, you or your competitor? It’s also beneficial to utilize the free tools provided online to see which keyword has a larger search volume.
Craft a Long Tail Keyword
Your keyword doesn’t have to be one word alone, for you can pick out a phrase or craft out a slogan that would embody your brand. You’ll want to attract people who are interested in particularly interested in your solutions and would hope to achieve them as well through their own projects.
HubSpot will tell you to focus on two to three longer-tail keywords that match what your customers will be searching for. Nowadays, people tend to type full questions into the search bar, so perhaps including a FAQ section or a singular question directly into your site’s text would benefit you entirely.
Location is Everything
So now you know what your keywords are, but where do you place them within your website or blog post? Since location is everything, just make sure to follow these guidelines and you’re sure to score the results you’re hoping for.
Title: Place a keyword in the title, in the beginning preferably
Subhead: A keyword should be placed in at least one or two subheads to direct some additional foot traffic to your page.
Text: Incorporate keywords in a natural way. Don’t force them in. Your readers will be able to notice.
URL: Again don’t force the use of keywords, but one identifying keyword won’t hurt your URL.
Meta Description: This is the description of your post that will show up on the search results page, so to be able to score a few bold words in that description would be key. That might suit itself better as a phrase.
Image Alt Tags: Prospects can’t see you images from normal text searching, so be sure to filter your on-site photos with keyword-packed captions and descriptions that can stick out from the rest.
Shoot for Page 1
Though it may seem like this is a very drawn out way of doing things, SEO is so important to the future of your business’s success. By connecting the dots on how your customers identify you, but also figuring out the keywords that hold a high search volume, you’ll be able to land high up in the search results from now on.
