126 SEO411 How to Optimize Content for SEO
Jul 12

How to Optimize Content for SEO

By Beth GuideIn SEO411 Podcast, Uncategorized/  No Comments

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I often hear what I do is voodoo or some kind of magic. Simply that is not true. Optimizing for SEO has everything to do with math and common sense more than it will ever be about magic.

So we have some basic steps that we need to follow to do optimization for each page.

Step One: Define Objectives.

Coming off my last topic of Keywords this should be fairly easy to do. Figure out the core words you want to rank on and write them down and put them next to your monitor. They should be the forever guiding principles of how you want to run your website. For us, it is SEO and Web Design and I am going to speak and use those examples throughout. Notice how I just weaved the right words into my blog post.

Step Two: Understanding Your Competition

So maybe this can be defined as one of the most important steps because we need to understand the ecosystem that is the first page of google. So historically the rules were the same for everyone. A certain keyword density and you could bank that it was the same universally. Now the keyword and its usage is much niche-driven. What the right density for one industry maybe can be completely different from a second industry. It also can change from keyword to keyword and not just industry to industry.

The only way we can learn what it should be is is to understand and observe our competition. So you always take the word you want to rank on and see what the research or the SERP says.

When I take Houston SEO, I can see immediately there is a map. Because that map is there, we will have to change our strategy some, whereas the map will get the lion share of the clicks.

Past that I start to do some math and understand how the competition is using the keyword, how many times does it appear on their pages and how many words are even on a page. For Houston SEO the ranking homepages have in excess of 2500 words. And then I go through each page and understand the dynamics of each of the ranking pages so that I can utilize the topics. It’s a lot of data gathering and fact-finding.

I also am looking at what the competitors have as Title tags.

I use tools like SerpWorx so I can get a real good handle on each and every site. I need to understand the word count, the backlinks, and the technical SEO aspects of the page.

I also pick the first 10 non-directory websites to base my research on.

I take the information for each and then create an average and then use that average as the delimiter of how I optimize the page.

Now I do have to take links into consideration with this exercise although link-rich sites usually throw off the average so I do sometimes throw those sites out, just as I would a directory.

Step Three: The Tools

I run the websites through Moz, Screaming Frog, and understand and continue to average out what I should target for the title, word count, and Technical SEO. The slightly being off can be the difference between the first page and the second page.

We are also big fans of RankMath and how that on-page grader can help guide you to the right SEO balance. It is not as detailed as what I am outlining, but it does help guide you through a process and help get you into the right place with things.

Understanding the technical SEO aspects of a page and then what your competitors are doing will help you formulate a great per page strategy that will tell Google what your page is about properly.

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124 SEO411 Blogging vs Podcasting Episode 124
Jul 12

Blogging vs Podcasting Episode 124

By Beth GuideIn Search Engine Optimization, SEO411 Podcast/  No Comments

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There is a lot of confusion about how to handle blogs in 2021. From should I be running a blog down to how should I be running it. As a business owner, your website (notice I said website) needs to have a blog. That is not really optional anymore. And the blog needs to be a part of your website and not being run elsewhere. Everyone needs one.

In today’s website world, there is a level of brand building that has to go on for a sale to be made. The days of being in the number one spot and the sale being automatic are gone.  Plus, as the end-user has become more sophisticated in that they research purchases and they want to feel good about the company they are doing business with. They review and scrutinize each and every interaction. So to not have a blog that helps customers understand you, your brand, and how you do business puts you at a definite disadvantage in how you are reaching out to them, in hopes they choose you to do business with. The bar is definitely higher

How Do I Start blogging?

That is always one of the first questions I get along what is the difference between a blog and a Vblog.  So first things first. To start blogging you need to have your website set up in software like WordPress and it is hosted on your own website on your own domain. Now not to get off into the website builder conversation and why places like Wix, Square Space, and Shopify are not solid solutions for SEO, the fact is you need to have software that supports a solid blog and for us, WordPress is really the only solid option. If you care enough to follow this blog and our videos, then you take marketing seriously enough that it really is the only solid solution to excel in Google.

Once you have picked your platform, you will need to start generating the content, similar to what you see here. They usually are from issues and situations that impact your clients or provide information based on the services you provide. You would not put up a blog on selling coffee if you were a divorce lawyer. Remember these are ways potential clients and existing clients can know they have picked the right person for the job they have.

Should I have a Blog or a Podcast?

So my answer is both, but why should it have to be an either or situation? The reality is if you do your podcast properly it is the perfect fodder for your blog. After all, you are reading this, aren’t you? In essence, it is a summary of the attached podcast and this is providing the show notes.  And this serves multiple masters with half the effort. What i mean is that if you take your blog post and do what I’m doing here which is writing an engaging page of content about the blog I am solving two problems with the same idea. It is foolish to me to try to separate the two and the most successful bloggers and podcasters have something for the others.

So let’s look at why this is. Most businesses have customers that traverse multiple age groups. Those over 45 often like to take a moment and read about what they may be watching simply because they do not want to invest time into something that may or may not be productive. After all that maybe 2 hours of time you won’t get back.  There are the folks under the age of 35 that are more apt to watch a video, even if it is a talking head. They want video and have no interest in reading. And then there is everyone else that podcasting has become a norm. They subscribe. They listen in their cars, at their desks, in the grocery store. Podcasting has become a way of life.

Who Should Host My Blog and Podcast?

I get this question a lot and honestly, it’s hard to answer in a classroom because I don’t ever want to be self-promoting. I personally own a web hosting company that was set up in 1998. We have geared it to what the SEO companies need. We understand the traffic and the needs of running a solid blog. I also recommend BluBrry to host the actual podcast files and YouTube of course for the video files. If you look at the anatomy of this particular page you will see we add three components to this site.  You need a

 

Three Blogging Mistakes To Avoid

1. Not understand the audience

Sometimes when we write we forget who we are writing for. Our audience is future customers and writing or messaging in a manner that is not congruent with who they are. Being stuffy or erudite when you are not, often paints the wrong picture of your company and may draw the wrong clients. Building a great following requires you to relate to your audience.

I also use an example which is if you are a construction company you need to make sure you are not

2. Don’t forget your style

Also, as your company develops a personality, make sure your blog mirrors that personality. For me, when I have had people write for me, they often come off like they are from Brooklyn. And although I grew up in New Jersey, the closest I ever came to Brooklyn was a day trip to Crazy Eddies. The fact of the matter is the only thing NJ and Brooklyn have in common is geography. So writing for me and trying to capture me are two different things.  Don’t lose who you are or you may lose your audience

3. Not Editing

Let’s not get mixed up here. You can still be yourself and not be Hemingway, yet still remember to edit. Grammar and spelling are important. But style should not be edited out. I tend to write as I speak. In doing so, we always have to be careful not to edit out my personality. It would be easy to do simply by editing longer sentences or making my speech choppy. So make sure you edit but don’t edit yourself out.

Social Media

Social media is essential to a successful blog. Make sure you remember to push your blog out to all relevant social media platforms. Make sure you have graphics for each item and make sure you remember to repost these topics as you move through time. Not everyone sees them so multiple posting is important to push the messaging out.

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125 SEO411 Keyword: Why They Are STILL Important Today!
Jun 11

Keyword: Why They Are STILL Important Today!

By Beth GuideIn Blog, Search Engine Optimization, SEO411 Podcast/  No Comments

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I hear a lot of different opinions on keywords and how relevant they are. I even had someone tell me that Google says there is not published keyword density and if Google says it we know it’s the truth. While it is true there is no published keyword density, the density of the keyword presence is still relevant and needs to be considered.

Gone are the days of just adding words to a page with no consideration of what the user intended to get in results. And we now also have to understand what Google thinks a word is about rather than what the word actually. So it has become a much larger job than just ranking terms.

I suppose if I think about Keywords and how they are now, traffic for traffic sake is useless now. The days of the comment is just a numbers game although still somewhat true, is fraught with a lot of pitfalls. I can think of numerous terms that if I ranked on them would garner me traffic but would not add one cent to my bottom line and that is really the name of the game.

ROI is something that has always been used against organic search. And that opinion is because most SEOs talk about Keywords without any acknowledgment of the value of those words and how you intend to convert that traffic. So as we talk through picking keywords, and how best to accomplish that, the intent of the user always has to be considered, or you end up with traffic for traffics’ sake.

Long Tail Keyword and User Intent

Other things to consider, when looking at keywords and with a nod to the evolution of keywords would be the sophistication of the end-user.  What I mean is as search has evolved, end-users have learned how to better quantify their results. So they understand the more keywords they add to the root the more targeted the result will be to answer what they are looking for.

Considering the long-tail search is essential because the longer the tail the more unique the search but also the more likely someone will be to buy.

Keywords Everywhere 

One essential thing in selecting keywords it to understand how many people are searching for the word. When you select a word that no one searches for, it is a pointless exercise in my opinion.

Google of course provides a baseline to help guide this and with the Chrome plugin of Keywords Everywhere. It is designed to help you select the right keyword. The cost is cheap at a penny a search and it is well worth every dime you spend on it.

Some of the metrics it will cover is how many people search for a word. This is a great delimiter to help determine success. If the number is small, under a hundred, that word may not be a very effective keyword in driving sales. Conversely, a high number may equally be limited in the sense that it is so broad, there maybe is not a lot of competition on the word because it may not drive sales. By not being able to discern user intent, it may make a highly trafficked key term a bad key term.

Keywords everywhere also give the cost-per-click information. Although we are working with organic SEO, paid search terms are useful gauges of the value of the term. So when I review how worth a term is, if the word has low search volume but a $15 PPC bid, I am going to look to optimize for that word.

This tool is invaluable to selecting the right keywords for your site. But today, I had someone ask me where to start to find a keyword and the answer is simple. Google your competitors, find the biggest one, and then use a tool like SEMRush. This will help you find all the keywords associated with your business if you can’t figure them all out without some guidance. So when I put these tools together, I can make an informed decision about my website and how I interact with it. This allows you one set of tools to make the proper decision on how a page should rank.

Another overlooked tactic is often to consider your location. Locations, need to be appended to your search term when a term is deemed local by Google. How you determine how google defines a word is as simple as googling the term and reviewing the results. If there is a map on the page, that means include a location in your keyword for the page. Or decide if the term is for you.

Let’s look at the term Houston Attorney. The thing is with that term, Google returns 3 pages of legal directories with only a few attorneys listed. So, the psychology of this is either, try to be one of the few that are listed. Now the fact that Google lists pages of directories in the SERPs but also has a map is a direct signal for you that the right place to put your effort on that keyword is local SEO. In other words, get listed on the map and forget the organic search. If you get it a bonus, but overall the organic search results are basically irrelevant. I suppose Google is doing this because they know most people put in what type of attorney they need. Business or a personal injury attorney.

I do know some will rebuff this because Google sometimes devalues the use of keywords to help guide organic search. I pity them because they are believing the hype. Or, maybe they have set a course of link acquisition, which is usually against the Google guidelines. Or maybe they just aren’t very good. But if you are careful in your selections, strive to figure out the user intent and understand your competition. The use of Keywords in your text is a vital part of success and leaving them out and having the wrong density is a sure-fire way to have an SEO fail.

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