Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is an organic science. It grows and reacts to the atmosphere around it. That atmosphere can be the search engines themselves or it can be the changing habits of internet users. Today, we’re taking a look at five issues and how you can work on ways to improve your search engine ranking. It’s DIY
Research your Target Phrase
Research target phrase and target long string search terms – these typically have three or more words. They might have less searches but the people that do search using these terms are higher quality visitors. And there’ll be lower competition for those terms. Let’s take the example of ‘tennis shoes’, if you search for tennis shoes in Google.ie you have 59million listings coming up. BUT if you search for ‘ladies tennis shoes size 6’ there are only 2.6million listings coming up. So yes, the more specific you are, the better the results will be. You can do some initial keyword research by using the
Where to put the Target Phrases
Once you’ve found these target phrases, where do you put them? First of all, ensure they are in the page name itself. They should also be in the product name. Where possible, weave the target phrases throughout your on-page copy. The url is another vital part where they should appear. Within the pages themselves, inbound links and anchor texts always attract attention from search engines. And the target phrase or keyword should be an ever present in your meta titles and meta descriptions for SERPS too. There is a disclaimer though!! Only include all these if they make sense to the reader.
Don’t ruin your Brand Message
SEO is important but it is not everything. You should never ruin your brand message or marketing communications online just to facilitate your
Social Media
Social media plays a role too so put sharing buttons on all key content like special offers, product pages, news and blog posts. Google takes social signals into account so you need to allow your visitors and readers to share and endorse your content across their social media accounts.
Current Content
And finally, you need to be relevant and active. Keep content current. There is a myth that the more active you are the bigger your online footprint therefore the more visitors you will attract. Being active and relevant is important but more importantly you must write about topics that your customers are interested in. Ask your customers what they want from you; listen to what they are already asking about. This leads to building your reader numbers and these readers will comment, share, endorse and link to your content. All this equals more visibility and ultimately improves your ranking.
SEO DIY is not hard. You just need to keep account of what you’re doing and deciding if it’s working and to what extent. Most of all ensure your branding and marketing communications remain consistent and accept that
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Images: “Process of Search Engine Optimization illustrated by gears / Shutterstock.com“
