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Google may have over 200 search metrics and also constantly update algorithms, but the truth of the matter is that SEO does not need to be complex.
By understanding the key basics of SEO, even little effort can help increase both the quality and quantity of website traffic, as well as exposure to your brand.
Overview
When it comes to SEO, it is important to understand that Google and other search engines are in the business of serving people with the most relevant answers for their search terms.
Google does this by understanding what people are searching for online, the answers they are seeking, the words they’re using, and the type of content they wish to consume.
Considering this, it becomes ever more important for SEO for you to understand the type of people who visit your website, how they find your website, what they are looking for, and how your website caters to those needs.
“Successful SEO is not about tricking Google. It’s about partnering with Google to provide the best search results for Google’s users.” – Phil Frost
SEO User Intent
Your job as an SEO specialist is to provide users with the content they desire in the format in which they desire it. To achieve this and also give users the best user experience, it is vital to understand the following user intents:
Informational:
Searching for information. Example: “What is the best type of laptop for Digital Marketing?”
Navigational:
Searching for a specific website. Example: “Apple”
Transactional:
Searching to buy something. Example: “good deals on MacBook Pros”
Mazlow's Hierarchy of SEO Needs
Using this beginner's guide from MOZ, we can follow these seven steps to successful SEO:
- Crawl accessibility so engines can read your website
- Compelling content that answers the searcher’s query
- Keyword optimised to attract searchers & engines
- Great user experience including a fast load speed and compelling UX
- Share-worthy content that earns links, citations, and amplification
- Title, URL, & description to draw high CTR in the rankings
- Snippet/schema markup to stand out in SERP.
Here are 5 tips to get you on the road to SEO success.
1. Pick a good focus keyword
Firstly, select the search term you want your business’s website to rank for in search engine results. The search term you want to rank for is called your focus keyword.
With the keyword in mind, you need to create content like blog posts using this keyword, if you want your content to show up for a particular focus keyword.
We recommend using Google Keyword Planner, a free tool that shows you the estimated search volume for any search phrase. However, we also think you should be focusing effort on long-tail keywords.
Long-tail keywords are different from your short-tail broad-based keywords.
These keywords are usually three words or more. As a result of being much longer, long-tail keywords have much less competition than short-tail keywords, and will often draw in more targeted traffic to your website.
This targeted traffic is more buyer-friendly, which is a win-win for your website.
2. Research your competitors
Now is the time to do some recon and investigate what your competitors are doing SEO-wise. Open up an Incognito tab or enter private browsing mode on your web browser of choice and head over to Google.
Type in a keyword that you have identified as a focus keyword for your business. Now, take a look at all the top search results, barring Google ads.
The top 10 results are your competition! Identify what they are doing that is making them successful and use this as a benchmark to see where you can improve.
3. Make sure you are writing the best content ever
With your competition in mind, you can now start creating content that is going to get you noticed on search engine results pages.
Your content needs to be valuable, unique and of appropriate length for it to stand out from the rest of the crowd.
I think we need to mention something about meta-descriptions here since that’s the snippet that you read on the Google search page that will help you decide whether to click or not.
Don't quickly add the meta, if the meta is not valuable, unique and of appropriate length, no one will click through to your content. This applies to all the content you create, be it a blog post, e-commerce product, a services page, or even a landing page.
4. Place the focus keyword in your page title and headings
This is a cardinal rule of good technical SEO. Be certain that your page title contains your focus keyword.
On top of this, you need to make sure that the title is interesting and engaging and that it encourages readers to click on it.
Think about different ways to flavour your titles to make them much more interesting i.e. use stats to make your titles more specific
The best approach to organising any content, especially in the case of web pages is to have a hierarchy of a large heading at the top of a webpage, followed by subheadings throughout the rest of the content.
This can be done structurally using H1 and H2 tags, which tell search engines what the key ideas in your article are. Make sure that your focus keyword is present in all of your headings.
By doing the above, you are showing Google what your blog post or piece of content is about and focused on.
5. Put your keyword in your images, URL and post
A great way to further your content for SEO purposes is to make images on your blog contain your focus keywords. There are two ways to insert your focus keyword in the name of your image and the image alt tag.
To change your chosen image’s name, simply rename the filename to include the focus keyword you want to rank for. The alt tag, on the other hand, is something you designate after uploading your image.
Although Google is getting there, the search engine can’t visually inspect an image, so you need to use alt tag to tell Google what the image is about. Remember to also include your focus keyword in the actual URL of your blog post and into the title of the page to assist with proper indexing of your content.
With all of the above tips, you will soon find your website ranking for your list of keywords.
And importantly, we suggest focusing on very specific long-tail keywords (two to three-word search phrases) instead of head keywords that are typically only one word.
Final Words
SEO does not have to be complex, but it does have to abide by the basic rules and cater to various clients’ search needs by remaining hyper-relevant to a specific topic, providing original unique, and engaging content
In all your SEO efforts, remember that your website pages need to be easy to read, easy to navigate and find, quick to load, and should remain consistent in layout and design throughout.
Keep this in mind in all your SEO endeavours and see your website ranking even higher on the SERPs.
