Everyone talks about SEO and keywords and how those play a key part in getting your business found online. Well what is SEO, anyway, and where is a good place to start with making sure you’ve targeted some keywords that will get some traction?
First off, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO consists of optimizations done to your website and its pages in order to help Google and other search engines place your site listing in front of the correct set of eyes. To search engines, the big job is matching the searcher’s query to the most relevant content on the web. This can be a pretty complex job because it can include some pretty specific context, such as your location, what’s happening in current events, what your previous searches were… that’s just the tip of the iceberg!
It can also include specific things about your site, for example, what words are on the page, where they are on the page, whether your site is secure, how long it’s been around, how it runs on mobile, how many other sites link to your site, and how many sites are competing with the same or similar information… again, this is just the start. It’s a very complex set of specifics, which is why SEO pro’s get paid the big bucks to get your site to the top of the listings.
So how do content creators (like you) dig through those specifics and select the best place to start? Most people aren’t made of money and can’t afford an SEO pro to sharpen every post or page that they create, so they need to know a few key things to at least get a good start. Here is what we advise our content creators (like you!) to look at:
1. Choose your keywords carefully
For each page or post, determine your key phrase. We advise that beginners choose just one and focus on that. What key thing might a searcher be looking for that would most closely match what your article or page is about? This quest in itself can be a rabbit hole, because as content experts, we may have a different set of lingo that our searchers. There are quite a few tools out there (like https://trends.google.com/) that will help you determine what people are searching for, but if you know your audience well, you may already have a good idea of what words they will use. So if you don’t have time to research, and you trust your gut pretty well, choose one that makes the best sense to the content that you are creating.
2. Include your keyword in your page or post title
Include your keyword once in your page or post title. As a visitor, you can find the title of a page as the blue text in a Google search. It also shows up when you bookmark a page, or at the top of the browser (often on the page’s tab) when you visit the page.
As a content creator, this title should be pretty clearly outlined in your editor. For example, for WordPress, the title of the page is either the actual name that you name the page, OR if you have an SEO plugin installed, you should see the page title in or near the Meta Data information section of the page. If you hand code your site in one way or another, you should look for the <title> tag in the head of the page.
3. Include your keyword in the top level heading of your page or post
The code of your pages is read by search spiders and certain areas are given different weights of importance based upon what tags are being used. The top level heading, or H1 tag, is the most weighty of the tags. This is the visual equivalent of the Title tag, so you will want to make sure that your top level heading, or H1 tag, includes your keyword (only one time). Your top level heading should be the first heading on the page, and there should only be one of those. Think of your website as your book, and each page as a chapter in that book. Each chapter has only one chapter name, right? And so should each page.
4. Include your keyword in your text content
The top of your content is the most important part of your content, so the best location to use your keyword is in the first paragraph of your text. Of course, use it as it seems proper throughout the rest of your content, but don’t overuse it. Good, well-written content is the most important piece of the puzzle, and shoving your keyword in there a bunch of times doesn’t often read well. Make sure that above all, you write the content for your audience, to help guide them to the knowledge they need, so only use your keyword if it makes sense for what you are trying to say.
5. Include your keyword in your meta description
Each page should have its own meta description, and that description should be unique to each page. Search engines use the meta description to help give a short summary to visitors, and also to help place and rank your page in listings for visitors. A visitor sees your meta description beneath the blue link text (page title, remember?) as a short summary of what your page or post is about. Definitely include your keyword toward the beginning of this short description. And make sure that the description is quite brief, only a sentence or two long.
For editors, the meta description can be found and edited, usually pretty readily. For CMS users, like WordPress for example, you should find this field in the same area that you found the Title field… in with the meta data options for the page. For hand coders, this tag will be a <meta> tag in the head of the page. The one you are looking for is formatted like this: <meta name=”description” content=“Your page summary goes here!”>
And Last but not Least: Keep it real!
This wasn’t one of the original 5 steps, but maybe think of it as step 0. . . YES, just being genuine is your first best step! Speak as your ideal visitor would speak. Answer the questions that they would ask. Use the language that they would use. Present great solutions to problems that they’re seeking to solve. All of these things will help you reach the people you need to reach and build a good reputation with them. And if you find you’re up against fierce competition and need help getting the SEO honed, you can always find a pro to help!
