- SEO Basics: Understanding Keywords
Once upon a time, marketers focused on strategizing which keywords to place across their web presence in order to increase their rankings in asearch engine results page (SERP).But the world of search engine optimization has been changing drastically --particularly with the constant changes Google has been making to its search algorithm over the past year. And all that emphasis you put on keyword-research and selection, in other words on-page SEO, is only worth 25% ofwhat actually impacts your spot in SERP.The only problem is, you can’t truly master the other 75% -- off-page SEOdiscussed later in this guide -- until you understand and master the basics.
- Why Do Keywords Matter?
Keywords or key phrases are simply the search terms someone types intoa search engine, such as Google or Bing, when they are looking for certaininformation. People are constantly using keywords: whether they are insearch for a specific product or just browsing to conduct personal research.
- Determine Your Keywords
Keywords are at the heart of SEO, and selecting the right ones can makeor break your SEO strategy. Compile a list of about ten keywords associatedwith your product or services. Plug these keywords into Google’s KeywordTool, and find variations that make sense for your business.
Use search volume and competition as a good measure for determing whatyou can easily attack. But never settle on a list of 10-15 keywords, as the oldways taught. Start with a small list, but continuously adapt and analyze yourchoices as your business grows and adapts.
2. What is On-Page SEO?
In the history of search engine optimization, the rank of a piece of content insearch engine results has typically come down to two key drivers: relevancyand authority built through content on your website. When optimizing yourcontent, focus your copy on specific keywords that match what people aresearching for online.The first rule of on-page SEO is to think about what your target users mightbe searching for and make sure those keywords are on the page. Thisincreases the likelihood of reaching those users as they go to Google, Bingor other search engines.That being said, on-page SEO is basically about two things:
- Picking the best keywords around whichto base each of your pages
- Making it clear to search engines that yourpage revolves around those keywords
- The Core Components of On-Page SEO
- Meta Tags
Meta tags are the official data tags for each web page that are found inbetweenthe open and closing head tags in the HTML code. The mostpopular Meta tags are the title tag, meta description, and keyword tag.These tags alert search engines with relevant information describing thecontent of the page, which helps the search engines decide if your websiteis an appropriate listing in response to a particular search query.
- Title Tags & Meta Descriptions
Title tags and Meta descriptions are two of the most important tags when itcomes to SEO and enticing potential visitors to click through to your website.A title tag is an HTML tag which contains a sentence of text describing thecontents of its associated webpage. These tags are the first aspect of yourpage that a search engine crawler – (crawlers are what search engines useto analyze the content of a site in response to a search to then present thebest results) comes across when visiting your website, so it’s important tomake a good first impression by optimizing them with your keywords andbrand. Titles generally run about 77 characters, so make sure to easy eachcharacter wisely.Meta descriptions are what appear on SERP describing the content of thepage being linked to. While these descriptions are not used by the searchengines to determine relevance, they are used by your visitors to determinesaid relevancy and entice them to click – think about when you search! Youalmost always read the description of each link before deciding to click,right? Or at least skim. Make sure you include your keywords and the maincall-to-action right in this description.
- Content
On-page content is a critical component of onpageSEO. Content is what the search enginecrawlers need to associate your page with aset of keywords and/or key phrases. Withoutit, crawlers are left in the dark as to what yourpage is about.When building your content, it’s important toremember to give the crawlers enough to biteinto. A hundred words typically isn’t enough copy for these crawlers to readand understand what the content is about. And this content shouldn’t bestuffed with keywords either, as some search engines (as you’ll learn in latersections) punish websites for keyword stuffing.Instead, you should write about your product or service or idea naturally, andlet your keyword variations naturally fall into place. If that doesn’t happen,go back and spring in some variations into the content so that the samemessage gets across, just optimized!
- Localization
Where appropriate, you should add localization. This is extremely importantto businesses who offer products and services to a specific geographicregion. If you are an attorney, you’ll want to have a page of content set up foreach location you service. When building your content, you’ll want to includelocalized keywords so that the search engines know you have offices andoperate in certain locations.
Quick Action Items for Local Businesses
If you are a local business, be sure to optimize your location easily andquickly with the following tools:.
- Google Places.
- Bing Local.
- Yahoo Local Listings
UNDERSTANDIING
OFF-PAGE SEO
What is Off-Page SEO?
Off-page SEO is all about building online authority – trust and reputation – for your website.
Off-page SEO has long been defined by the quantity, quality, and relevance of links to your website that establish your SEO authority and ultimately influence your search results ranking.
Authority historically was established as other websites linked to you; building your link portfolio. The problem, however, was that authority was almost entirely defined by just links. Essentially, off-page SEO used to be a fancy word for “getting more links,” but now it should focus on earning links through multiple channels instead.
Understandably, it will require a paradigm shift to stop thinking about offpage as just link “building” and instead as link “earning.” Your site’s authority is only partly based on analysis of the sites that link to you. Off-page SEO is more than just link building (link building itself will be discussed more in the next chapter). The way you diversify authority for your website is through the conversations people are having about your brand and the references they make to it. A diversified link portfolio should look something like what I detail throughout this chapter.
Link Building
Link building is essentially the practice of building inbound links to help give your website authority. The modern efforts of “earning” links are discussed more in the next chapter.
Compelling Content
Yes, optimizing for off-page SEO is still about content marketing. After all, without content it’s hard to earn those links. The best way to earn relevant links from other sites to yours is to create unique, relevant content that
can quickly gain popularity online, particularly with your target audience. The more useful, relevant and compelling your content is, the greater the chances someone else will find that content valuable and link to it.
Your content must align with your target audience – that persona that surmises your ideal customer. Content must also be authentic and unique, and ultimately solve a problem or answer a question. That content then
also should be easily sharable which combined with solid on-page SEO best practices makes for awesome “link bait.”
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