SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of improving the ranking of a website on the search engine results page.
The higher you rank, the more likely people are to find the website. This means that they can reach a wider audience and attract more customers for businesses.
Many different factors contribute to a website’s ranking. Search engines use algorithms or rules to determine which websites should be at the top of the search results. They consider things like a website’s content, the number of other websites linking to it, and how often it is updated.
Websites need to monitor their data every moment and change algorithms constantly.
Because of this, SEO is an ongoing process. So what might be working now may not be working tomorrow.
The Machine
A learning (ML) Algorithm is a computer program that gets better at something over time. The more data it processes, the more accurate it becomes. Subsequently, an ML algorithm powers the Google Search Engine, which means that the rules for ranking websites are constantly changing.
This can be frustrating for website owners because they need to adapt their SEO strategy continuously. However, it also presents an opportunity. If you can figure out what the algorithm is looking for, you can get your website to the top of the search results.
Technical SEO & Crawl Accessibility
The first step to a good SEO strategy is ensuring that search engine bots can crawl your website. If your website is not accessible, it will not be indexed, and you will not appear in the search results.
You can do a few things to make sure your website is accessible. The first is to use a sitemap. A sitemap is a file that lists all of the pages on your website and helps search engine bots find them. You can submit your sitemap to Google through the Google Search Console.
The second thing you can do is to use robot.txt files. These files tell search engine bots which pages they can and cannot crawl. You should use these files to prevent bots from crawling pages that are not important for SEO, like privacy policy pages.
The third thing you can do is to make sure your website is mobile-friendly. More and more people are using their phones to search the internet. If your website is not mobile-friendly, it will be difficult for people to have the best user experience on your website, affecting your ranking.
Compelling Content
The next step to a good SEO strategy is creating compelling content. This strategy includes the text on your website and the media you share.
Your website’s text should be well-written and informative. It should be free of grammar and spelling errors, and you should structure it in a way that is easy for people to read.
In addition to well-written text, you should also share media on your website. This could include images, videos, infographics, and more. People are more likely to engage with and share websites that have media.
Lastly, you must also make sure to optimize your website’s media. This means including relevant keywords in the file names and descriptions of your images, videos, and infographics. Google doesn’t look at the photos per sé, and it checks out the alt text that comes with the media.
Competitor Analysis
Once you have made sure that your website is accessible and has compelling content, you should analyze your competition. This method will help you figure out what other websites are doing that you are not.
To do a competitor analysis, you should first identify your main competitors.
These are the websites that rank above you for the relevant keywords you want to rank higher for. Once you have identified your main competitors, you should visit their websites and take note of the following:
– What keywords they are targeting
– The type of content they are sharing
– How often they are sharing new content
– The design of their website
By taking note of these things, you can develop a better SEO strategy for your website. But take note, do not copy exactly what they are writing about, or you’ll end up in Google jail. The competitor’s analysis just serves to give you insight into what might work for the other businesses.
Keyword Optimized
Your website’s text should also be keyword-rich. This means that you should include relevant keywords throughout your website’s text content. However, you should not overuse keywords, as this can result in a penalty from Google.
Keyword Research
When choosing which keywords to target, you should consider both the search volume and the competition. Search volume is the number of people searching for a particular keyword. The competition is the number of websites that are trying to rank for that keyword.
You can use a tool like Google AdWords Keyword Planner to find relevant keywords that you can use for your strategy moving forward.
On-Page SEO
Once you have all of the above in place, you can start to think about on-page SEO. This is the process of optimizing individual pages on your website to rank higher in the search results. There are a few things you can do to optimize your pages.
The first one is to include relevant keywords in your title tags and meta descriptions. These pieces of text show up in the Google search results, so it is essential to include keywords that accurately describe your page.
In addition to including relevant keywords, you should also make sure to have a well-designed website. Your website should be easy to navigate and should have a clear hierarchy. This will help search engines understand your website and help users find the information they are looking for.
Off-Page SEO
In addition to on-page SEO, you should also focus on off-page SEO. This is the process of optimizing your website to rank higher in the search results by getting other websites to link to it.
One of the best ways to get high-quality links is to guest post on other websites. This means writing an article for another website in exchange for a link back to your own website. When writing a guest post, you should include a link to your website in the author’s bio.
Guest posting needs extensive research; you can’t just ask any website for a guest posting, as the quality of the website you are linking to is relative to the success of the backlink to your website. High-quality websites that are RELEVANT to your niche should always be considered.
Another way to get links is to create infographics and other types of media that other websites can share. If you produce something that is high-quality and relevant, other websites will be more likely to link to it.
Title, URL & Description
Your title, URL, and description are essential pieces of text that show up in the search results. This means that they are critical for both users and search engines.
Your description should be a brief summary of your page that includes relevant keywords. Your title should be descriptive and include relevant keywords that users might search for. Likewise, your URL should be short and should include relevant keywords.
By optimizing these pieces of text, you can help your pages to rank higher in the search results.
Snippet / Schema Markups
In addition to optimizing your title, URL, and description, you should also consider using snippet and schema markups. These are codes that you can add to your website to help search engines understand your content.
Snippet markups are used to create rich snippets. These are the pieces of text that show up under the title in the search results. They are designed to give users more information about your page.
Schema markups are used to create rich cards. These are similar to rich snippets, but they are designed for mobile users and are programmed to give users more information about your page in a format that is easy to read on a mobile device. Both of these types of markups help rank your website at the top of the SERPs.
SEO and The People
Great User Experience
User experience is a critical part of SEO. If your website is challenging to use or if it does not provide what users are looking for, they will not stay on your site for long. This will lead to a high bounce rate, which will hurt your chances of ranking higher in the search results.
To avoid this, you should focus on creating a great user experience which means having a well-designed website that is easy to navigate and provides the information that users are looking for without the unnecessary distractions and delays.
Share-worthy Content
Another vital part of SEO is creating share-worthy content. This is content that people will want to share with their friends and followers on their own platform, be it a website or their social media.
Share-worthy content can come in many forms. It can be a great blog post, an infographic, or even a video. The important thing is that it is exciting and relevant to your target audience. If you can create share-worthy content, you will be more likely to get links from other websites. This will help your website to rank higher in the search results.
PR, Sales, Promotion, and Community Involvement
SEO is not just about optimizing your website for the search engines. It is also about promoting your website and getting people to link and interact with it. There are many ways to promote your website. You can use traditional methods like PR and advertising. Or you can get involved in online communities and forums.
The important thing is that you are active in promoting your website. The more people know about your website, the more likely it will get links and rank higher in the search results.
The Results
Reporting and Analytics
Finally, you need to track your results. You can do this by using Google Analytics or other reporting tools. These tools will show you how much traffic you are getting from the search engines, what keywords people use to find your site, and how well your website performs.
By tracking your results, you can see what is working and what is not working with the SEO strategy that you will be implementing. Blindly following a process while not tracking if the results reach your goals is like giving out your money and time away without expecting something in return.
And you don’t want that, right?
Miscellaneous / Fun Stuff
We’ll leave you with a couple of tips and tricks that will help your SEO efforts.
First, you should try to get links from websites relevant to your niche. For example, if you have a website about gardening, it would be beneficial to get links from other gardening websites.
Second, you should try to get links from websites with a high PageRank. This is a metric that measures the quality of a website. The higher the PageRank, the better.
Third, you should try to get links from websites with high domain authority. This metric measures the quality of a website’s backlink profile, and the higher the domain authority, the better.
Lastly, you should try to get ranked for popular keywords in your country to further your authority in the niche you want to rank for. How?
Using Google Trends can determine which keywords are most popular in your country. You can then use these keywords to optimize your website and improve your chances of ranking higher in the search results.
How to hire an SEO Expert or Agency
The process of SEO can be daunting and time-consuming, especially if you are new to it. If you don’t have the time or resources to do it yourself, you may want to hire an SEO expert or agency. You should consider a few things when hiring an SEO expert or agency.
Review of your site content or structure
The first step is to have the SEO expert or agency review your site content or structure. This will help them to identify any problems that may be holding your site back from ranking higher in the search results.
They will also be able to suggest changes that you can make to improve your site’s SEO ranking and status.
Technical advice on website development: hosting, redirects, error pages, use of JavaScript
The second step is to get technical advice from an SEO expert or agency. This may include advice on website development, hosting, redirects, and error pages.
They should also be able to advise you on the use of JavaScript and other technologies that can improve your site’s SEO. These simple questions will help you decipher if they are the right people for the job.
Content development
The third step is to develop new content for your site. This may include articles, blog posts, infographics, or videos. The SEO expert or agency should be able to help you develop new content that is optimized for the search engines.
Management of online business development campaigns
The fourth step is to have the SEO expert or agency manage your online business development campaigns. This may include pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, social media, and email marketing.
They should be able to help you create and manage campaigns that are designed to improve your site’s SEO and visibility.
Keyword research
The fifth step is to research keywords that are relevant to your business. The SEO expert or agency should be able to help you find and target keywords that are being searched for by your target audience that you are not currently ranking for.
They should also help you determine how difficult it will be to rank for those keywords and the corresponding costs and benefits of doing so.
SEO training
The sixth step is to provide SEO training to you and your staff. The SEO expert or agency should be able to train you on the basics of SEO and how to implement it on your site.
They should also be able to provide you with resources that you can use to learn more about the latest trends and updates. SEO does not stop in one day, and training regularly is equivalent to the success of your SEO strategy as well.
Expertise in specific markets and geographies
The seventh and final step is to ensure that the SEO expert or agency you hire has expertise in your specific market and geography.
They should be able to show you examples of their work in your industry and region. Otherwise, they may not be able to deliver the results that you are looking for.
When you keep these seven steps in mind, you will be well on your way to hiring the right SEO expert or agency for your business. Don’t forget that SEO is an ongoing process, so you will need to continue to work with them as the digital marketing environment changes.
Conclusion
SEO is a complex and time-consuming process, but it is worth it if you want to improve your site’s ranking in the search results.
If you don’t have the time or resources to do it yourself, you should hire an SEO expert or agency. Just make sure that you keep these seven steps in mind when you are looking for someone to help you with your SEO strategy. Did you learn something new? Let us know in the comments section below.
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