Are Search Engines Searching for You?

Anyone who has a website, e-commerce or otherwise, knows that the biggest challenge of owning a website is getting found. It’s not just the fact that thousands, sometimes millions, of sites are competing for the same keywords, it’s the fact that, like the Highlander, “there can only be one” that sits on the top of the organic results list. Add to that the fact that algorithms change often to thwart people trying to game the search results and it can be tough to establish and maintain a good position.

Let’s start with the basics, for those who may not know them, beginning with what exactly is SEO. SEO is Search Engine Optimization and it’s the method by which companies expand or increase their visibility in organic search results. Organic search results are ones that are not paid for, the ranking that the search engines determined based on whatever algorithm is in place at the time. The goal of SEO is to help a site rank well, so it gets found more often and ultimately more qualified visitors are driven to your website.

If you know anything about SEO at all, you may have heard of “black hat” and “white hat” SEO. Since search engines became a thing, there have been people who tried to game the rankings, using shady techniques to help their sites rank better. Practices like keyword stuffing, hidden text and misleading redirects are things that can get your site penalized or banned from searh engines entirely. Because search engines got wise to the “black hat” techniques, algorithms now change regularly to weed out those trying to game the system and make the techniques they use less effective. If you are managing SEO for your business, it’s best to stay firmly on the side of the “white hat” practices.

Wearing the White Hat: SEO Best Practices

Know Your Keywords - Keywords are the phrases that define your site’s topic. If you sell, for instance, running shoes, some of your keywords might be running shoes, athletic shoes, sports shoes, and so on. These phrases will be used in the text on your website and will be what the content is centered around. The idea is to pick a few keywords for which you think your site has the potential to rank well, and build your content around those keywords. Keyword optimization is key. You want to make sure your keywords are included in the right places on your site so that the search engines easily find them and understand that these are the keywords for which you want the site to rank.

Makes Connections - In SEO, creating links is important. Most commonly referred to as backlinks, this term means the references to your site on other sites. Be aware that not all links are created equal. Back in the day, people used to create directories where links could be listed and, for a while, that worked to gain sites connection credibility. Today, it’s all about the relevance and the authority of the link. Any link that is suspected of being deliberately created to boost a site’s relevance will actually reduce your score and your ranking.

Niche Keywords-When choosing keywords, some people gravitate toward the keywords with the highest search numbers, which has good and bad points. On one hand, yes, a lot of people are searching for that keyword. On the other hand, there’s probably also a lot of competition to rank highly for that keyword. Don’t neglect the niche keywords, the ones with smaller search volume, which are often longer phrases. Yes, there are less people searching for these, but there’s also less competition for that slice of the audience.

Local SEO - If you operate mostly in one area, or have a brick and mortar in a specific town, you’re going to want to think about local SEO. The focus here is on ranking highly in the specific results for your area. These results are focused more on location and you need to be sure to have your street address and phone number included on your website. Review are also important, as Google factors those in as well. You will also want to have a Google Business Profile.

Action Items

Optimize Your Keywords - Semrush - As this blog post says “Keyword optimization is about using the right ones in the right places and in the right ways.” The post gives you seven tips for optimizing your keywords. I especially like tip number three which advises you to create quality content.

Create an SEO Strategy - Backlinko - If you’re just building a website, or you’re new to SEO, you may be at sea when it comes to creating an SEO strategy. This blog post gives you the steps you need to follow to create a basic SEO plan.

Research Your Keywords - Zapier - Keywords are a big part of any SEO strategy and finding the right ones for your website and business is vital. This post lists the 4 best free keyword research tools and gives you a bit of the methodology behind how they decided their rankings.

About Me

My name is Kristine Shreve. A Marketing Director for over a decade, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about Marketing and what works and what doesn’t and why. Good marketing grows businesses and growth for everyone is what I’m rooting for. Visit my website to learn more about me.