 |
| 7 things you should know about SEO by Adewole Olakunle |
Search engine optimization is an essential aspect of any successful online marketing campaign. Business owners, bloggers, online marketers and professionals are applying all kinds of techniques everyday in a bid to win the never ending SEO war; the Prize to rank top on Google search pages.
Do you know that a whooping 91% of pages do not get any organic traffic from Google ? You are surprised right?; Well this is only a result of wrong SEO strategies.
Therefore, I decided to share in this post on 7 vital things you should know about SEO which would help you determine what to prioritize and what to ignore in your SEO strategy. Don't forget to share
Be inspired...
1. Research on your Audience
- The first step when determining your SEO strategy should be identifying your audience. You should ask; Who are they? what are
their interests? what challenges or needs will the information you are creating
help them solve or meet? Also where can you connect with them? These are vital
aspects of what should constitute your audience/buyer persona persona.
For instance on Attain, my interview stories, have inspired several hundreds of young professionals and entrepreneurs; who also happen to be my target audience. About 95% of everyone I have interviewed gave great reviews and also shared the interview link. But it didn't stop there, several times thier social media followers did the same. These engagements were a result of identifying compelling content (inspiring interview stories) for my target audience.
Additionally I invite my audience to promote their work on my blog for FREE. Now who doesn't like that?
Additionally I invite my audience to promote their work on my blog for FREE. Now who doesn't like that?
2. Research for Keywords
Having created
your buyer/audience persona, the next action point should be Keyword research.
You need to know what you audience is currently searching for in your chosen
niche. You should identify what your audience searches for as well as how they
search for it.
Also, you need to know the norms in terms of industry market shifts, and how they impact your overall SEO strategy.
You should however ensure you only place keywords where appropraite and as necessary within your content. Resist the urge to engage in Keyword stuffing as it doesn't help your site on Google search pages, rather it kills it in the long run .
You should however ensure you only place keywords where appropraite and as necessary within your content. Resist the urge to engage in Keyword stuffing as it doesn't help your site on Google search pages, rather it kills it in the long run .
3. Compelling and Engaging
Content is Most Important
- So you are about to write your next blog post and you’ve been
thinking about Keywords, keywords and keywords. Chill friend, Keywords are important
but shouldn’t be the primary focus when writing content.
The Mozlow's Hierarachy of SEO Needs pyramid for instance clearly shows that compelling content is the second most important factor when it comes to SEO.
If you are not sure at what point to start from, simply research for ideas on the topic you want to talk about. Your content is of value to your audience and not search engines, therefore your audience should be considered first during content creation. They are the ones who can choose to share and engage your content, thereby increasing your site's ranking on Google.
Create content that adds great value to your readers and you will find them rushing back to your site for more.
The Mozlow's Hierarachy of SEO Needs pyramid for instance clearly shows that compelling content is the second most important factor when it comes to SEO.
If you are not sure at what point to start from, simply research for ideas on the topic you want to talk about. Your content is of value to your audience and not search engines, therefore your audience should be considered first during content creation. They are the ones who can choose to share and engage your content, thereby increasing your site's ranking on Google.
Create content that adds great value to your readers and you will find them rushing back to your site for more.
4. Learn to Link
effectively
The
importance of linking to authoritative websites and blogs cannot be
over-emphasized.
Neil Patel of Quicksprout explained that link building remains a fundamental part of smart search engine optimization strategy.
Neil Patel of Quicksprout explained that link building remains a fundamental part of smart search engine optimization strategy.
Also
according to Rand Fishkin, founder of Moz,
“Linking out sends trackable traffic, it makes
your site a more valuable and scalable resource.”
You should
simply link to pages with great value for your readers on the topic you intend
to talk about. This is very a key part of your SEO strategy.
Remember the
easiest way to get inbound links from authoritative websites and blogs is to
link to them first and let them know you did. If your content is valuable they
would surely also link back to your website/blog.
5. Meta Descriptions
Your meta description should be given top priority in your SEO Strategy. It is the first
section that people see when Google serves up your page to search users.
It therefore
deserves to be given special attention. Some key meta description rules
include ensuring you post meta descriptions relevant to each page on your site.
You should not attempt to duplicate meta descriptions for any reason.
Doing so with
the intent of generating leads or sales may seem enticing at first but would damage your site reputation in the long run. First you may not be able to
retain your audience and even worse, you could get penalized by Google.
Duplicate meta
descriptions do not fly on Google. Rather learn how to make the most of meta descriptions.
6. Page Speed
According to eConsultancy, “40% of people abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds
to load.”
Also Strange
Loop, stated that a 1-second delay in page load time can yield a 7% loss in conversions .
What does
this imply:
YOU MUST TAKE
PAGE SPEED SERIOUSLY… If your pages are slow, you’re have already lost over 40%
of your audience, now imagine losing this large chunk of your audience on a
daily basis. You can be rest assured that if necessary corrections are not
made, you might not have much readership for your content.
More
importantly, page speed is one of Google's key ranking factors. Meaning
failure to ensure your website loads as fast as possible would also
negatively affect search rankings.
Remove all elements
that slow down your site which you don’t really need. Also consider using
lesser images sizes instead of very large images. If you’re a WordPress user, consider
deactivating plugins you may have installed and activated but don’t actually
need.
7. Web Analytics and Reporting
Accurate SEO
reports are fundamental to your SEO strategy and campaign. As a matter of fact,
if you are unable to measure your SEO efforts, you won’t be able to determine what
worked or what didn’t and you won’t be able to identify which content your audience
engaged more with and which didn’t generate any conversions.
There are lots
of tools and software you can use to track your SEO efforts including popular
ones like Google Analytics and Google Search console .
You should also consider tools like Varvy SEO tool, Crazy Egg and Hubspot Website Grader. These tools will greatly help in tracking your SEO efforts
You should also consider tools like Varvy SEO tool, Crazy Egg and Hubspot Website Grader. These tools will greatly help in tracking your SEO efforts
If you integrate these lessons which you have gained from this
post into your SEO strategy consistently, then you get ready for some crazy
traffic to your website as Google consistently ranks you high in its search
pages.
Subscribe to my blog to get my next post on how to develop a result driven digital marketing strategy. Subscribe now so you don't miss it.
Subscribe to my blog to get my next post on how to develop a result driven digital marketing strategy. Subscribe now so you don't miss it.
See you Attain.
Connect with Attain:
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Comments
Post a Comment