In the mad dash to maximize search engines in generating web traffic, we can all too easily lose sight of our greater goals in a myriad of overly techy details. While getting the best results from the SEO experience truly is a complex art, there are a core set of simple practices and focusing points that should never be overlooked. Without further fanfare, here are the ten essentials in drawing in audiences effectively yet ethically.
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1. Honor Your Audience
Sometimes, holy wisdom is simply a matter of setting common sense in stone. Simply put, if you create content written in the voice and jargon of your target demographic, you’ll connect with the customers you’re seeking and, for the same reasons, reach more eyeballs. Since search engines make their bread and butter by boosting premium content, scrimping on originality is never frugal.
2. Never Wear a Black Hat
The eyes of Google are all seeing: the complicated, kabbalah-like algorithms used by search engines will almost always notice those trying to boost their status by left-handed means. If you think only newbies get busted for trying to jack the system, consider the many high profile outfits who’ve been busted.
3. Seek Eternal Keywords
Assemble the most reliable keywords and phrases that are likely to create a traffic vector for your prospective customer base. To do this, check out existing keyword databases, list product names when applicable (as well as generic alternatives), and even survey existing customers as to what words they would use if on a hunt for your brand.
Note from Leva: You can use keyword research tools to make sure you know what your most important keyword are.
KEYWORD RESEARCH SOFTWARE
4. Do Not Take Searcher Profiles in Vain
Knowing your general intended audience isn’t nearly enough; you’ll want to continue to make your user profile more robust. Try to enter the searcher’s very way of looking at things: are they looking for information on a specific product or service, or are they on a quest for a solution to a more overarching problem? Asking such questions over time will help you lock in on your targets.
5. Map Out Keywords
Make a spider map of how the hottest keywords link to your page and to each other. Check out every page on your site and decide what words are most linked-in to the through-line of each. Go back and search for your own site with these words to be sure you’re making the anticipated hits.
6. Remember to Add Quality Links
The butterfly effect of linking only works when people want to share stimulating content with others in their social network, so your site should be filled with a wealth of legitimate links to impressive web pages. This upward energy will come from (again) writing dynamic and transparently practical content, and also from letting the word out on new updates through regular networking.
7. Respect the Meta Tag
A good meta tag should be both evocative and include a few of your most salient keywords. It’s only common sense that a keyword meta tag should contain all keywords, eschewing any words that don’t directly appear in your site’s text.
8. Put But Few Words Before Keywords
While always respecting the semblance of a natural flow, try to position your keywords as close to the beginning of a page as possible. If you can, weave the primary keyword within the first few sentences, and then again within the concluding paragraph: these are the places a viewer is likely to lock in on in an exploratory scan.
9. Keep Key Phrases Sacred
Whenever possible, try not to split up key phrases into their constituent parts. Although re-phrasing can make content seem fresher and less repetitive, it will also lead to fewer search engine hits and lighter traffic.
10. Don’t Misuse Alt Text
Often, web content relies on pictures just as much as text to create impressions, and when viewers can’t see them your site loses out. In such cases, give a thumbnail description of the image in question using alt text. Make sure not to translate superfluous images and graphics and words, however, as these banal descriptors can unwantedly show up on search engines.
And so it is written. While of course you may end up incorporating any number of additional caveats into your book of SEO law, these guidelines are all but a matter of orthodoxy — and you won’t have to wait for the next life to see the benefits of following them.
Camille McClane is a passionate writer who dedicates her time to researching topics of various online marketing strategies and B2B relations. She hopes the readers of profitablewebstrategies.com enjoy this article as much as she enjoyed writing it!
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