Top Ways
to do SEO Yourself
As the world keeps becoming digitally advanced
day by day, there is a constant need to understand the importance of making
your business more visible to the relevant audience. ‘Making it visible’
clearly remind us of the term ‘SEO’ or Search Engine Optimization. Although it
is not in any way near to advertising, it may still cost you some time and
money. If you are financially strong, hiring an SEO agency or consultant is
preferably a good option to save you some time, so you can invest it in some
other business-related chores. But in case if you are short on money, you can do
it yourself by keeping a few helpful tips about SEO in mind.
The consumers of today live in a digital world
and fully realize the significance of Internet and its importance in their
shopping experience. It does not matter if they prefer online shopping or buying
items in person, knowing about the product or service through the Internet is
crucial. Businesses that do not invest in SEO miss out the opportunities they
could have attained through this. At first look, it may seem a pretty easy
concept to understand but there are a lot of factors which influence the
results. Usually, businesses hesitate before stepping into this as it may take
time to see real results. But if it turns out to be positive experience, then
it would be a great addition for your business.
Understanding SEO
The process involves natural or organic
results affecting the online visibility of a website or
a web page in a web search engine is known as Search Engine
Optimization. A higher ranked website in search result lists get the most
clicks. These clicks by visitors become leads and can be converted to potential
customers. This process needs continuous maintenance, testing and monitoring.
Its primary function is to exhibit the value of your business to the search
engines. When your value is demonstrated properly to these search engines, your
site will be ranked higher for queries searched by customer relevant to your
content.
You need patience and a lot of time to succeed
in SEO - it is not an overnight phenomenon. This is because of constant changes
in Google’s algorithms. Just work on it and you will see results gradually. A few
important components of an effective SEO plan are a strategy to achieve the
realistic goals, budget and tactics, demonstrated keyword research that examines
capacity, social media, competition and relevance; website optimization that abides
by SEO best practices, marketing of content, directory listings, etc.
Understand the main principles of SEO
Search engine optimization describes a
strategy that incorporates nearly every feature of site building and content
development. Doing it effectually, does not only create an exceptional
user experience, but also build their trust in your business. Link building, anchor
text, keyword density, Alt text, SEO-friendly URLs, on-page SEO, title tags, meta-description
are the main principles you need to focus on.
How search engine optimization works
In SEO, you use
certain specific keywords which you have searched through any keyword tool and
use them in the content written for your targeted audience. When audience
search for such keywords Google tend to show result on the basis of ranking
each and every website got. Content with good quality and relevancy gets the
Google’s attention and they rank your page. The more relevant keywords you use
the more helpful it will be in ranking you high on Google search engine.
Tips for implanting SEO
1.
Master Keyword Research
Keyword research is the thing that you will
need to focus on as without mastering this art you cannot survive in the
digital world. It seems pretty easy to assume that you know all about your
customers, but that’s not true. Your knowledge is limited to what you have
experienced or what you have seen happening around you.
However, you can start searching for most
common keywords used for that particular product or services and which are more
beneficial for your business. Keywords research helps you to better understand
the common words or phrases that customers use to find that particular product
or service. Google Keyword Planner which was formerly known as Google Keyword Tool
is the best option to start with if you are going to do it yourself. To get the
most useful data and results from it, you will need an active Google AdWords
account. In order to open this account simply follow these steps:
1.
Access Google AdWords, enter your
email address and your website.
2.
Login to your Google AdWords account.
3.
Next, at the top corner, you will see
the toolbar. Simply click on Wrench Icon it will lead you to different options
to select from. You will find ‘Keyword Planner’ option there.
4.
By Clicking ‘Keyword Planner’ you will
see two tools. One is ‘Find new Keyword’ and the other one is ‘Get metrics and
forecasts for your keyword’. These two tools are enough for SEO keyword
Research to generate many effective keywords for your business.
There are so many other options to select from
if you are not interested in Google AdWords, Übersuggest is one of them.
Übersuggest is free and uses Google autocomplete to produce effective keywords.
2. Analyze your competitor's strategies:
If you wish to be in top searches for the
products or services you are offering then you must understand your
competitors. Do detailed research about what they are doing, and what
strategies they follow. Observe their content structure and website features
and note down what you need to work on for your own site. Also, social media
accounts and other forums give a proper view of what they are doing best. Once
you observe all these things, just list them down and start working on that. It
will give you the idea what type of keywords you need to use to make it more
effective for your website.
3. Website planning
After analyzing your competitor’s strategies,
you can now start planning your website features and content. Or if you have to
make alterations, then try to do it in a more effective manner than your
competitors. Use such keywords which are most commonly used by customers to
find the product. Make a list of things you need to add and include your higher
and medium priority keywords with their corresponding web pages. Your research
keywords must be included strategically in your content. You should also
include long-tail keywords as most of the customers search with the help of
these generic and specific keywords.
4. Site optimizing
To improve the user experience you should optimize your website.
Make it mobile friendly to be precise as day by day, increase in usage of
mobile devices leads to more searches through mobile sites. Your site’s mobile
version and desktop version should consist of same structure to make it easy
for users to understand your site. More effective user experience more chances
to succeed in your SEO plan.
5.
Produce Regular Content
Starting SEO and improving it through
time is very crucial. This is because if your content gets outdated then it may
affect your overall SEO strategy. Try to produce resourceful content which
really has some value in it. Your content should not contain irrelevant
material just to increase the word count as the quality of that content will be
more important to get noticed by Google. Good quality and lengthy content which
gives users all the information they want can get the most views. More views
means higher chance of generating leads and sales. Keep your users up to date,
so they will know what you are up to. It is the best trick to engage them.
6.
Build Your Social Media Network
Start creating Content with your
specified Keywords and spread that content on all social media platform. Social
media platforms like Facebook, Instagram etc. play a really important part in getting
more leads. If your content is good enough to engage the audience you may get
more shares. And more shares means more traffic to your site. With increase in
this organic traffic you can get higher rankings for your website.
7. Understand Google Analytics
To improve and optimize you need to
understand the importance of Google Analytics. When you will be able to know
where you lie in your performance, you can easily make improvements. Use Google
Analytics to measure your performance by only clicking ‘Organic search’ you
will be able to see performance of your SEO Strategy.
8.
Read an SEO Blog
If you are a newbie and find it pretty
difficult to start SEO for your website, then you can initiate this by reading
SEO blog so that you get the idea. Reading the blogs or content related to your
business will help you a lot. You can list down things to start with, what
would be strategy. How many times and where you should put your specified
keywords.
9.
Ask Questions
If you are new to this you will be hesitant to begin,
which is pretty obvious. You can go to different forums and ask questions from
experts. It will not only boost your morale but will also provide you with the answers
to your questions.
Importance of SEO
1-
Brand building
The main purpose of SEO is generating traffic
which later on converts into sales and leads, but other than that it has
another benefit of improving brand image. If you own a brand, an online
presence is going to build your brand to the level where people recognize you
through your logo, name and products and increase your share in market. Online
presence does not mean that you are only available through your website, but it
also includes other social media channels. Using all the social media channels
will increase the chances of people searching for you product or services which
increase more traffic. Brand building is not an easy task but if you understand
the importance of SEO it will definitely improve your overall brand image by
increasing brand reach. More search engine traffic leads to more sales and
higher page ranking which relatively helps in brand building.
2-
Better positions on the SERP
Your position on SERP plays very important
role in the number of clicks you receive on your site. The top three positions
on the SERP receive an average of 60% of all the clicks according to Advanced
Web Ranking.
3-
More Traffic
Consumers searching for particular product or
service usually gets the result which is generally available in market with
higher ranking in SERP (Search Engine Result Page). To increase your position
on SERP you will need more clicks on
Benefits
1-
Improved visibility
Visibility of the
site increases as rankings improve. When you observe all the errors and
fix them, also start with your specified keyword to include in your content. You
will start increasing your position. It might not take you to the top, but you will
see the difference.
2-
Better engagement with site users
As you get the idea of importance of SEO, you
will improve your content and make it worth clicking for. Your users will start
to increase as they will get what they are looking for in your site. As
visibility of the site will improve the reputation of site will also increase.
More people will visit your site means more leads and more leads convert to
sales.
3-
Improved user experience
Optimizing your site and reducing load from
your website will improve user experience. This can help in better ranking on
search engine.
Tips to rank higher on Google searches
1-
Publish Relevant Content
If you wish your website to rank higher, then
you should avoid all the irrelevant content on your site. People tend to like
the content which is more accurate and answers all their questions. Relevant
content is more important in the eyes of Google, than long form content filled
with irrelevant words. Google pays special attention to those site which serves
its user with most useful and trustworthy content. Good quality content can
grasp the attention of users and these users are your stairways to higher rank
in Google search.
2-
Metadata
Title metadata is the most essential metadata
on your page. The page titles you see on top of the browser window and the
headlines in search engine results are displayed by that title metadata.
Description metadata is the short description
of your page which is meant for the users. So that they would know what they
are going to see in your page. It has to be appealing description which
encourage users to click on the page.
3-
Decrease your homepage’s load
time
For the past few
years, Google is focusing on providing exceptional user experience. And it is
only possible if you will not let them wait while using your site. Reducing
your homepage’s load will save them time and let them find what they were
searching for on your website. This will have positive impact on your website
as the number of people visiting your site will increase. User satisfaction is
Google’s top priority.
4-
Create interesting content
Creating creative
and interesting content will engage the users and keep their attention on your
content. Providing all the necessary information is mandatory but if you be
creative with it, this will be a huge plus point for you. It will help you to
retain your users and make them share your website with their own circles.
5-
Have a link-worthy site
‘Click here’ links are outdated
and are not very much in use. Writing name of the destination instead can help
user understand where this link will lead them. Also, including keywords in
name of destination will not only increase your search engine ranking but also
the ranking of the page you are linking to. Using descriptive links will
improve SEO and also helps users to understand about the page they are heading
to.
6-
Use alt tags
If you
have video or visual media to add then you should describe them using alt tags
or alternative text descriptions. This will allow search engines to locate your
page easily.
7-
Content Marketing
When you create such interesting
content for your site, the next thing you will need to do is market that
content. You can use Social media Platforms to market your content which will
not only increase your followers but also build a trust of users in your
business. A good quality content will be loved by both the search engine and
users. This will eventually aid you in increasing your ranking.
Factors that
affect Rankings
1-
Backlinks
Google has given more
importance to backlink for a past few years. Backlink helps the Google getting
a clear view about your website and how good it is regarding to its quality and
relevance. Backlinks which are high in quantities but with poor quality do not
get the attention as quality and relevance is more important for the Google. To
judge your links Google will most probably focus on these three aspects:
Ø Variety of your backlinks.
Ø The strength of pages
linked
Ø The number of links on
your page
Following two things
will help you to achieve the right kind of backlinks which are required for
ranking high:
Ø Produce the content that
your audience wants
Ø Promote your content
consistently
One thing that you need
to keep in mind is what can hurt your website’s SEO is having too many poor-quality
backlinks.
Link score and relevant
anchor text are the things that have huge impact on your backlink campaign. Link
score shows the strength of your backlink, higher it is, the more powerful your
backlink is. It is indicated on 0-100 scale. However, relevant anchor text
shows the Google relevancy of your backlink.
2-
Content Length
If you are a small
business owner and want your website to rank higher in search engine results, then
you need to put in a little more effort to gain it. As you are planning to work
yourself, most probably you are going to create the content yourself too. You
can easily create short form content for your site but creating long form
content may consume a lot of time, but from an SEO point of view, it is totally
worth creating it. You can see that top-ranking websites having long form
content perform better, as their audience find most of answers of their queries
from it and it also engage them into reading and sharing with others.
There is a reason behind
why Google focus on content length as your users can find all the answers and
relevant information at one place. Users don’t have to wander from one place to
another to find information they want. Again, long form content will only work
if it is good enough and is not bloated with irrelevant stuff just to lengthen
it or to increase the word count. You need to focus on the quality of content
and it should be fully loaded with value that your users would want. Only in
that case you can receive actual benefit from it.
3-
Attracting more links
As we know quality backlinks
can help Google to assess the relevance and quality of your site. Longer
articles can help you attract those quality backlinks from top relevant
websites which are already reputable in Google’s eyes. Most likely these
websites would like to associate with the content which is resourceful and
serves its purpose rather than poor quality or shorter content with irrelevant
stuff.
4-
Getting shares on other platforms
Quicksprout conducted a
study which shows that longer contents attracted more shares on social media
platforms as compare to shorter ones. According to that study articles with
more than 1500 words got more visits and shares.
5-
Mobile First User Experience
Due to constantly
changing nature of Google Algorithms, the Google ranking factors are also
changing day by day. In past few years, Google has changed a lot in order to
improve user experience. At this time, if you are trying to rank higher then
you have to work on optimizing user experience as Google created RankBrain
algorithm to de-rank the websites which do not offer great user experience.
If your website has only
a desktop version then you might need to improve it and make it more useful by
having mobile version of it as well. Nowadays, 85% of websites are mobile
friendly. There are two main things to focus on in this section to make
exceptional user experience.
a.
Page speed and mobile friendliness
In the case of mobile
searches, page speed is the factor which can have a great impact. Loading time
for mobile sites should take less than two seconds. Slow pages can cause users
to leave that page and may never come back as they will be wasting their time,
waiting for those pages to load.
Mobile versions of sites
is not an option anymore, it is a necessity. As usage of mobile devices is
constantly increasing, Google is trying to give the best user experience to
audience. To make it happen, mobile friendly websites are given much
preference.
You can use Google
Search Console to make sure that mobile version of your website is doing well.
Just keep in mind that mobile and desktop site are structured same. Make sure the
mobile version of your website can be retrieved by the Googlebot by using text
testing tool. Also, you can check your page speed through Page Speed Insights
tool.
b. Click-through Rate
Click through rate is
very important metric when it comes to measuring SEO success. CTR is simple to
understand and you can get CTR when you divide the number of clicks you get on
your website’s search result by the number of views. The result of this metric
shows how well your site is performing in Search Engine Result Page or SERP. A
lot of changes in Google Algorithms are kept private and are not exposed to
public but this CTR is open to everyone. If your result shows higher CTR, then
it means your search result is appealing enough to attract the attention of
search users.
The
reason why you need to optimize for a good click through rate is simple: the
more people visit your site via Google search, the more chances you have to
convert them into leads or sales. You can improve your CTR when you know where
you can make adjustments to make it easy for your users to understand what they
are going to see on your page. The reason behind why you should have good click
through rate is pretty easy to understand, as higher number of people visit
your site have higher chances to convert them into leads or sales, which is
your priority.
You can increase your
CTR by enhancing the two simple and significant areas:
1.
Title Tag
2.
Meta Description
Your title tag must be
persuasive and relevant in nature to increase your CTR, as it is not only going
to tell user about what benefit they will be achieving but also persuading them
to give a click. After the title tag, meta description is the most important component
as most people use that to read descriptions before clicking. That’s why it
should be written in very appealing manner so that user do not go on without
clicking it. It shows the smaller picture of your page as it tells user what
they are about to see after clicking that.
6-
Technical Discrepancy:
The factors we discuss above are very important in ranking your website.
If they are left unchecked and are not given proper attention can lower your
rank in search engine. However, few other things to keep in mind to have more
effective user experience for your website are encryption of HTTPS, H1 and H2
Headings, and Pop-up Ads.
7-
Encryption of HTTPS
HTTPS secures the connection
of a visitor to your website. You can see in your Address bar, if lock icon is
closed then you have secured connection and if it is open then it is not secure.
If you are planning to increase the chances of hitting first page of Google,
use HTTPS encryption.
10- H1 and H2 Headings
These headings helps the
search engines to see relevancy of the content and how well-organized and
structured the content of page is. According to SearchMetrics, pages that use
at least one heading tag tend to rank better.
11-
Pop-up Ads
Pop-up
ads are most annoying thing that can ever happen to user, especially when
user’s interest is building in your website. When there are too many pop-up ads
or that one pop-up ad which is taking so much time to be closed, users interest
in your website starts to decrease. This means that the lesser time that user
will spend on your website can negatively affect your site’s SEO. According to
Google, pop-ups are only acceptable when they are necessary. So you should only
use it when you want to show a login dialog for your website.
Conclusion
If you are a business owner, SEO is extremely
important and without putting an SEO plan into practice, you can easily miss
out on large opportunities to maximize your business potential. However, if you
cannot set aside a budget for an SEO team because you are a startup (or for
some other reason), you can use a number of techniques to get the same level of
results such as using the Google Keyword planner tool and Ubersuggest tool. To get good rankings, you might need to take
into account a few factors such as backlinks and content length. All in all,
doing SEO by yourself is very doable and can help you get enough rankings to
keep you in the game without losing a good flow of traffic on your business
websites.
