What is SEO?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of optimizing your website and content to improve your website’s ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). SEO involves various techniques, including on-page optimization, keyword research, link building, local SEO, and technical SEO. With at little bit of work, SEO can help drive more organic traffic to your website and get you new customers!
5 Key Elements of SEO
On-Page Optimization
On-page optimization refers to the optimization of elements on your website that you have control over, including content, Heading tags, and meta descriptions to improve your website’s ranking.
Keywords
Keyword research is the process of identifying relevant keywords and phrases that are searched by your target audience. By conducting keyword research, you can find the best keywords to include in your content and create new content for each one, including blogs and adding copy to your service pages. Tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Ahrefs can be useful for conducting keyword research.
Off-Page Optimization
Off-page optimization refers to the optimization of external factors that influence your website’s ranking, including backlinks, social media, and online directories. You can improve your website’s off-page SEO by building high-quality backlinks and listing your business on online directories.
Building quality backlinks is often a mystery for those who are new to SEO, so let’s dive into this one a bit deeper.
For starters… Don’t buy backlinks! Admittedly, purchasing backlinks is a tempting option. But it’s one that will end up negating your SEO efforts in the long run.
Instead, focus on creating great content to attract links! When your content is truly exceptional it will not only establish you as the go-to authority in your industry, others will want to link to it and share it.
Learn more about writing authority articles here.
Local SEO
Local SEO involves optimizing your website and content to rank higher in local search results. Specifically in the Google Maps 3 Pack.
This area of search has the best ROI for local businesses! In fact, it’s the highest unpaid spot on the search result and if there are no ads for that search term, it holds the #1 spot on search.
You can improve your website’s local SEO by optimizing your Google My Business listing, creating local content, publishing Google posts, and building local citations.
This alone can be a powerful strategy.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO refers to the optimization of technical elements on your website, including site structure, page speed, and mobile-friendliness. You can improve your website’s technical SEO by optimizing your website’s structure, compressing images and ensuring that your site offers a great user experience.
The most important aspects are using heading tags properly. Heading tags, also known as H1 – H6 tags tell search engines what your pages are about.
Be sure to use only one H1 tag on each page and include keywords in your H1 that cover the topic of the page. After your H1 tag, it’s important to use subheadings tagged as H2s and H3s, in order of their importance, and include relevant keywords in them.
Technical SEO alone can mean the difference between a page on your site ranking in position 10 or position 60!
Is it Difficult to Do SEO Yourself?
While SEO can be complex, it’s possible to do it yourself with the right tools and resources. However, it does require a significant amount of time and effort to see results. If you’re willing to invest the time and effort, you can learn how to do SEO yourself and achieve better online visibility.
Tip:
As you begin to tackle your SEO, focus on actually explaining the topic at hand. When you strive to explain a topic thoroughly you’ll naturally include many of the keywords you’ll need to rank well on the SERPS. After all Google wants to provide users with complete answers to their search queries, thus focusing on explaining the subject matter expertly can be a great strategy for creating high quality articles that rank well.
Great Tools for DIY SEO
There are many great tools available for DIY SEO, including Google Analytics, Google Search Console, SEMrush, and Ahrefs. These tools can help you track your website’s performance, conduct keyword research, monitor your backlinks, and identify areas for improvement.
Not Ready for DIY SEO
If you’re not ready to do SEO yourself, we are hear to help! Book a free strategy call with here.
Whether you decide to do SEO yourself or hire a professional, SEO is a crucial part of any online marketing strategy in 2023.