I have some bad news. Getting ranked on the first page of Google can be extremely difficult. It isn’t impossible, but there’s only so many links available on the first page. Competition is high and often tough to beat.
SEO takes hard work. It takes time. — Get creative. Stay positive. Stay focused.
When teaching myself search engine optimization, there were a lot of trial and error moments. I wrote Brad Wester SEO Tips to highlight the beginning steps of search engine optimization. These are the steps I use to start every SEO project. These SEO tips have been the most powerful for me.
How many times have you heard “the customer is always right”, “always keep the customer in mind”, or “the customer is always the focus?”
Well, I disagree – especially when it comes to search engine optimization.
When I’m writing content to improve a website’s search engine optimization, I picture myself physically speaking with the target audience. Right now, I’m typing this post out on a computer in a quiet room – but in my head, I’m picturing myself speaking, not writing, directly to a specific person. In my mind, it’s a one-on-one conversation.
Having this mindset helps me stay focused on what my target audience is interested in, what questions they may have, and what I need to do to truly help them. I want to write content that will truly be useful for them. I want them to enjoy reading my content and find worth in the “conversation” we are having.But it’s not all about them, I’m viewing a conversation, not a speech – so I’m in it too and I’m looking to gain something as well.
But it’s not all about them, I’m viewing a conversation. I’m in it too and I’m looking to gain something as well.
We speak with others to learn more about them, to help them with what they need or sometimes just for entertainment, but there’s a reason we speak with others. In the best conversations, both members gain something by being a part of it.
As a business, your content shouldn’t just be focused on giving a potential client what they want. Yes, you want happy clients – but as a business, you also need to make sure you’re getting what you need.
So before you start writing, set a goal.
Don’t just say my goal is to create content that will rank on search engines. That’s great, but why do you care about ranking high? Having a high ranking page will get more traffic to your website. What do you want that traffic to do? Do you want them to buy a product or service? Schedule an appointment? Click to more pages of your website, reading more content and see more ads (making you more money)?
Your goals always need to be on your mind and a part of the content you’re creating. Sometimes business growth comes with a simple ask, don’t be afraid of the ask.
So keep your audience happy and stay on the topics they are interested in but don’t forget about yourself. There’s two of you in the conversation, but you need to focus on three. Yes, there’s a third person in the conversation you’re having.
- Your target audience.
- You.
- Google. (and other search engines)
You can’t just keep your customer happy, you have to keep Google happy as well.
Google isn’t looking to be your client. Google isn’t looking to be entertained by your writing. Google isn’t at all like your target audience, but Google connects you with your target audience – so you need to keep Google happy as well.
How do you keep Google happy? Well, there are two ways. You can buy ads, but that’s SEM (search engine marketing) or PPC (pay per click advertising). Or you can make sure your content appeals to Google by having the correct structure. There’s a lot that can go into this, but I’ve found the steps listed below in Brad Wester SEO Tips to be the most useful in helping me get pages to rank and at the same time, keep target audiences happy. It’s a win-win.
Choose the right keywords.
Don’t start writing yet. It’s time for research – keyword research. What are the most popular ways your product or service are searched for? What are questions commonly asked by your target audience?
You’ll want to learn as much as you can about how your target audience is searching for you. How are they phrasing their searches? Google’s Keyword Planner can quickly help you learn more about your target audiences’ searching habits.
When it comes to choosing the best keywords, don’t look directly for those with the highest searches per month. Those keywords not only have high monthly searches but usually a high competition – making it more challenging to rank highly for.
Focus on long tail keywords.
Long tail keywords are the search terms that consist of several words placed together to create the searched for phrase. Long tail keywords are more specific to what your target audience is searching for. Long tail keywords are not only less competitive than generic keywords, but they are also more likely to meet your set goals (convert to sales or leads).
Use keywords correctly.
Summary:
- Use keyword in post title
- Use keyword in post permalink
- Use keyword in the first paragraph
- Use bold, italics or underline for emphasis on keyword once
- Use keyword in anchor text
- Use keyword in Heading 1, 2 or 3
- Exact keyword should be mentioned 2-5 times
- Use variations of the keyword
Post Title:
Your post title should be written to create interest and entice clicks while using your exact keyword if possible. Your keyword should be placed near the beginning of the title, ideally in the first 5 words. Typically, words appearing before your keyword are similar to “How to…”, “What is…”, “The Best” or “Top 5…”. Placing your keyword at the beginning of your title helps search engines identify the subject.
Post Permalink:
Permalinks are the permanent URLs of your individual blog post or page on your website. Use your keyword in the post’s permalink with each word separated by a hyphen. Leave out any stop words such as, “a”, “and”, “the”, etc.
Example: http://www.stlsocialmediaconsultants.com/seo-template.
Only change these before the post is published. Once the post is published, you’ll want to leave these alone. If you change them after the post is published, you risk having broken links to your post.
First Paragraph:
Using your exact keyword early in the first paragraph helps quickly identify the topic of the blog post.
Bold / Italics / Underline:
In the first paragraph or two of your blog post add emphasis to your exact keyword by using bold, italics or underline. This formatting uses HTML codes which will help search engines identify the important words for your blog post – your keywords. If you use these emphasis tags too frequently, it may cause confusion about which words are important in your post.
Anchor Text:
Anchor Text is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink. It is often underlined and set as a custom color from the rest of the text. In general, adding links to your content shows you have done research on your topic and search engines like that. Try to add links to other posts/pages of your website as well as a few external links (other websites). Include your exact keyword in anchor text of one of these links, but make sure it is relevant.
Bad Anchor Text: “If you’d like to learn more about anchor text, click here.”
Good Anchor Text: “Learn how to write SEO friendly anchor text.”
Heading 1 – 3:
Using the heading tags are important for both users and search engines. Your website viewers will appreciate the appropriate use of headers so they can quickly scan your blog post. Search engines appreciate them for the same reason; their crawlers will quickly scan over your post and including your exact keyword in H1, H2 or H3 Heading will help define your topic.
Keyword Density / Variations:
It is important to use your exact keyword a handful of times in your blog post. However, over using your keyword can harm your search engine optimization. Overusing your keyword is a common signal for Google and other search engines that you may be simply keyword spamming. Search engines want to ensure they provided value to their users, so blog posts should always be written with the users in mind – but formatted to appeal to both users and search engines.
Thank you for reading Brad Wester SEO Tips!
Thank you so much for reading my post, Brad Wester SEO Tips. By simply reading through some of this post, you’re helping me test some search engine optimization tactics – thank you! I hope that you’ve found some of my search engine optimization tips to be helpful as well. The tips I mentioned above truly are the first steps I take when performing SEO for myself and my clients. I truly believe in the advice that I’ve shared in Brad Wester SEO Tips. Following these tips alone has often been enough to get web pages ranked on the first page of Google!