In this blog, you will learn how to SEO your own website. This guide belongs to beginners or new website owners.
You have created an awesome website- congratulations!
Now it’s time to think about what strategies are needed to attract traffic.
Haven’t you thought about that yet? No worries, we’re going to break down a few simple SEO techniques to get you started!
Everyone knows the importance of being found at the top of search engines(Google and Bing specifically), but not many people understand the “how” – even the top SEO companies try out different strategies to improve websites and their ranking.
Let’s go over 6 basic steps to implementing SEO for yourself:
Identify your Target Audience
More than 60% of consumers use search engines to start their shopping journey.
Now put yourself in their shoes before you do any work optimizing your website.
What do you think they’re thinking, what keywords would they be using to find your product online? This is equally important in the content you write on your website, understanding your audience is key to creating content that will grasp their attention.
The Older generation audience may not be as interested in advancements in technology compared to millennials that are just starting their careers after college.
Take some time to consider your audience, before you waste a bunch of time and money targeting a group of people that don’t care about your business.
Understanding Data and how to read it
Are you starting to realize how much research and preparation are required to run a successful SEO campaign?
The next study to master is knowing how to read your data. Successful businesses know to make decisions based on data, not emotion. This is a hard realization when humans are by instinct emotional creatures.
Keyword analysis and research are how you battle plans your next attack.
Just like in the game of rock, paper, scissors – there is a unique angle to attack any challenge online.
You’ll want to invest in an SEO tool like Google’s Keyword Planner, Semrush, or Ahrefs to help identify the best verticals to attack first. Then assess how much time or money you have to invest in competing for a specific vertical.
All this research before you start working will mitigate the time/money wasted in trying to go after the keyword “shoes” nationally. You’re a little late for the show there!
With enough brainstorming, you may come up with a unique keyword no other company has thought to target yet!
Make a list of keywords, and divide them by priority and search volume so you can visually see the landscape. This will help you solidify the strategy you want to go after first.
Build up your Site SEO Friendly
SEO Marketing Companiesalways stress the importance of keeping your website tidy and organized.
It’s not because we’re a bunch of neat freaks, it’s because Google is. This ensures that your web pages consist of each of your high and medium priority keywords. Google wants your website to be organized like a library.
If someone is searching for a book, Google should be able to easily direct that individual to the exact page spot to find the information.
Here are a couple of basic things you should do to ensure your website is organized accordingly.
- Include your keyword in the SEO Meta title and description.
- Write headers like H1, H2, and H3 with a targeted keyword.
- Ask your web content writer to stuff keywords in between the content and blogs.
- Keep the URL short and sweet after including a targeted keyword.
- Place the keyword in each ALT tag of the image to optimize your images.
Build Domain Authority and Backlinks
If you’ve done some research at all about SEO, you probably already know how coveted quality backlinks are.
This is essentially Google’s way of validating your authority on a particular topic.
Think about how many articles are written about how to cook a Denver omelet? Who does Google send the visitor to?
Well, it’s simple, whoever has other people saying this is the best article for learning how to cook a Denver omelet! This is achieved by building your website’s backlinks to important articles.
Quantity is not as important as it used to be, you don’t need to be an SEO specialist to get all the quality backlinks.
Although you need to be at least an average marketer, because you’ll have to contact other website owners soliciting a backlink to improve your exposure.
If you can form a link partnership with some persuasive words – congrats! You took the first step into building a quality backlink.
Create and Maintain Social Presence
Take a guess what websites are the most heavily used online? If you guessed Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn – give yourself a cookie.
Promoting as much content on these networks (within reason) is the easiest way to get some quality exposure for your website online.
Google tracks how many people were referred to your website via Facebook/Twitter/Instagram so they value that people are enjoying the content you produce.
Connect with customers, industry partners, competitors, and the general public through social media channels.
No matter the size of your business, you should have a good social media presence on a few leading channels such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Optimize your pages, and share content and image to create a strong brand presence.
Understand Google Analytics (It’s intimidating I know!)
How do you know SEO is working? I’m glad you asked! If you haven’t yet, install Google Analytics immediately on your website.
This is going to help you monitor website traffic and and conversions, also understand what’s going on in your customer’s minds. You’ll even retrieve key data points that Google gathered for you like age, a device used, location, and more!
The first time I stared my Analytics count in the eye, I ran for the hills – especially if you aren’t a super analytical person, it becomes data overkill.
Take some time to understand the data presented in front of you, because it will save your business thousands if not millions in wasted marketing dollars.