In our previous video, we saw how to find out which keywords we should use to optimize your website for search engines. Once you have identified your target keywords, it's time to start creating content around them. Search engines are becoming more and more intelligent. In addition to trying to understand keywords, they are also trying to understand the intent of the people who perform searches.
If you search for “London Football Teams,” your intent may be to find information about London's football teams. You'll find there are several: Arsenal, Chelsea, and the list goes on. Google tries to understand what you're actually looking for, searches all the related pages, and then shows you the results it thinks could help you best. It won't just show you the results that best match your keywords.
Well, once you've written that great content, it's time to optimize the page that people who click will be directed to.
1. First, optimize the page around your main keyword.
Make sure the keyword fits the description of what the page is about.
First of all, you're optimizing for the page's visitors, but it's also the way the search engine can understand the purpose of the page so it knows how best to index it. Add the keyword to the page title. The page title is displayed in two places: in the browser tab and in the link to your page in search results.
When optimizing your page, if you include your company name as well, use the vertical bar, also known as a pipe ( | ), to separate the two. Make sure your company name goes after the pipe. Just like people, search engines read from left to right, and it's important to highlight first the keywords they should focus on.
Next, add your main keyword to the URL. This can also be seen on the page and in search results. If you're using a long-tail keyword, use hyphens to separate the words (yourcompanyname.com/long-tail-keyword). If you're changing a page that's already published, any change to the URL will create a new page, so make sure you set up a 301 Redirect that points the old URL to the new one and sends people to the right page without any problems.
Speaking of broken links, it's important to have a custom 404 Error page. Having a custom 404 page will greatly improve the user experience, giving a page that doesn't even exist the same look and feel as your website. You should also have links back to your site.
Next, add the keyword to the page's heading and content. Use that keyword naturally throughout your page. If you have images on the page, add the keyword to the alt-text (alternative text). Search engines can't read images, so having alt-text lets them understand what the image is about. This also helps the image be found in image searches.
Next, add the keyword to the meta description. This is a short summary that appears below the link (or title) of your page in search engine results… Each page should have a unique meta description of no more than 140 characters. Although this doesn't directly affect SEO, optimizing it improves the rate of people who click on your page.
2. Include relevant links throughout the content.
Links to relevant, trustworthy sources will help build trust in your own site. Don't overdo it either; include 1 or 2 sources per paragraph, at most. You don't want your page to look like spam.
Include links to other pages on your own website to drive traffic to those pages. And although it may sound counterproductive, also include links to other websites. Google's own webmasters support this: it shows you've done your research, helps build connections and gives your readers more sources that can help them. For that reason, links to other sites work best in your Blog posts.
When you include links, make sure the linked text contains the keywords you're trying to rank for in search engines. This clickable text is what's known as anchor text.
3. Edit your page so your users have a good experience.
Search engines also look at the experience of the people who visit your site to determine how to rank you. Make sure your website is intuitive and easy to navigate. Don't make people hunt to find what they need. Show them the next step they can take with your company, and you'll be giving your company the best chance to convert those visitors into leads, and eventually into customers.
4. Optimize your site for mobile devices.
More than 80% of internet users have a smartphone, and the vast majority of them search more on it than on their computer.
And as more and more people use their mobile devices to go online, search engines are trying to make it easier for people to find mobile-optimized pages. Whether you have a mobile-optimized site or a responsive design, make sure your website's pages look good on any screen size. If your website isn't optimized for mobile, you're probably missing out on valuable traffic to your site and, above all, on good business opportunities.
Once you've created and optimized your content, don't forget to promote it through social media and email.
The more people see and share your content, the more popular your site will be, and that will help you earn trust with search engines.
So far, we've talked a bit about how to get search engines to understand your pages, but…
How can you get search engines to see you as a trustworthy site with authority on the subject?
Well, a lot of that comes from your great optimized content, but some of it also comes from the number of links pointing to your site. And this is called off-page SEO.
Search engines follow the links between pages and see how they are related to one another. Links that lead to your website are called inbound links or incoming links. Search engines see inbound links as a vote of confidence. If a trusted site is linking to your site, your site also becomes a trusted site.
But not all links are created equal. Make sure you're earning high-quality links, and don't focus on quantity. High-quality links come from a site that has authority and is relevant to your company or your industry.
To find out which sites are authoritative, use tools like Moz Open Site Explorer or HubSpot Links, and see all the sites that link to your site and their authority. In fact, what the link says also matters. For example, if the anchor text of your inbound link says “Click here” or your company name, it won't be as valuable as a link that is industry-specific and unbranded.
Example:
Let's say your company is a travel agency that specializes in tours of “The Great Wall of China.” Which anchor text is more valuable for an inbound link: your company name, or “Spectacular Prices for The Great Wall of China”? Anchor texts that include keywords and not your brand will help you rank better for those terms. It can be a bit difficult to earn unbranded inbound links because it's usually a manual process. Either way, if you have control over your anchor texts, try to match your main keyword as closely as possible with the page you're linking your content to. This will reinforce what you're trying to rank for on that page.
It definitely takes time, but building relationships with authoritative websites and industry leaders is one of the most effective ways to keep your company top of mind and get sites to link to yours. Use social media, send friendly emails or comment on posts on other blogs, don't rule out good old in-person conversations, and organize meetups and conferences with people related to your industry in your day-to-day.
A good way to build those relationships and those links is to create content with insights from industry thought leaders. Not only will they help you write your content, but they will also share it and generate new visitors and a new link.
You can create a “Best of..” list or a list of sources and give credit to those sources and their authors. Get an interview with a thought leader in your industry and publish it on your blog. Ask them to write a quote for an ebook. Write content based on people's opinions; ask for information and answers about a particular topic.
Extra tips that will help you with your SEO strategy.
Set up a page for your company in online directories. Directories are websites like Yelp, Sección Amarilla, and local and national chambers of commerce. Having a page in a directory will increase the number of links to your website.
Finally, if your business is in a specific location, create a Google+ page. This will help tie your website to a specific location, which Google will use to display in its search results. If your business is in a single location, link it to your homepage. If your business has multiple locations, link them to a dedicated location page for each one (e.g., yourcompany.com/guadalajara).
Well, there you have it: the fundamental SEO strategy and best practices you need to start improving your rankings and attracting more new visitors to your website.
In our next video, we'll look at a real example of a company that has optimized the pages of its website.
I invite you to share with us: How have you optimized your website, and what tools have helped you do it?
Leave us your comment below using the hashtag #inboundcondigitalegia.
I also invite you to learn a little more about me on my personal site www.ayalanovales.com
Don't forget to share this post!
