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SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” Basically, it's a tool to make sure that your website is easy for search engines such as Google to find. The way that search engines work is that they read the content of your website and analyze it, looking for topics and keywords, and puts your page in their index. Then, when someone searches for your site, your page will come up in the search results.
Say that you are a wedding planner and that you have a website advertising your services. If you want your website to be found whenever someone types in “wedding planner” in a search engine, you need to make sure that your website has the word “wedding planner” beyond just the title page. The words need to be in the content of your web page.
What other words will you need if you have a wedding planner website? Here are some keywords:
If you want to find keywords for your website, check out websites like keywordtool.io or wordtracker.com which give you a sample list for free and provides keywords for search engines such as Google, Bing, and Amazon. It also provides keywords for international search engines, which is great if you don't live in the United States.
Google ranks websites based on how relevant and useful they are to whatever is being searched. A search for “wishing well” usually brings up images of a well or the song “I'm Wishing” from Disney's Snow White since the words “wishing well” are in the lyrics. The way they determine which websites are most useful and relevant depends on a complex program. However, what most SEOs know for certain is that sites are usually ranked by the following factors:
Simply put, getting your website to be put first on a Google search depends on content and image. By content, you need to make sure that your website has keywords that relate to what you think people will search for.
One current trend that beginners and experts can both do easily is collaborating with other websites and writing guest posts on blogs. This can go beyond two people collaborating on a movie review.
Nonprofit organizations often rely on collaboration in order to make their projects successful. The Wishing Well is a nonprofit organization that organized fundraising to make their clients' dreams come true, such as aspiring comic book artist Jim Bartlett.
After talking with The Wishing Well, Jim created a website promoting a fundraising event: a special historical tour of his hometown. The Wishing Well wrote an article on Jim's website that contained details of the fundraising event. In that article, they talked a little about themselves, but they gave more attention to Jim's comic and what Jim planned to show in the hometown historical tour. Not only was the tour a success for Jim, but it brought a whole new customer base for The Wishing Well.
Another basic technique you'll need to know is to understand analytics. Most people use Google Analytics to track how well their website is doing. Google Analytics shows you how many people visit your site every day, what kind of people visit your site, which pages and posts got the most views, and how long people stay on your website. You will need to set up an account on Google in order to use Google Analytics, but it's a worthwhile investment.
Make sure that you and only a handful of trusted people can gain access to the analytics. You don't want anyone hacking into your data. Once you linked Google Analytics to your web page, it will give you a tracking code that you can put on your webpage.
One benefit of Google Analytics is that it can help you keep track of the goals you set for your website. Let's say that you want a hundred people to subscribe to your website by Christmas. When you go to Google Analytics, you can set up a goal according to whatever milestones you have in mind for your website. Once the goal is set up, Google Analytics will measure your website until that goal has been met.
The most important technique you'll need to know, whether you're a beginner or an expert, is to make sure your content is top quality. Stay relevant and keep a good relationship with your audience. Ask them for feedback. If you're creating a website dedicated to sharing and reviewing mystery books, make sure that your website has quality book reviews of the latest novels from authors such as James Patterson and Michael Connelley.
Take advantage of visual content as well. Just don't put super-large images on your website, as big pictures tend to slow down a webpage's loading time. Trust me when I say that you don't want a slow website. It will drop your website down in the search engine rankings. Just like with pop stars, the popularity of your website will have to look good and make users feel like they can relate to your content.
When you share your web page on social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter, make sure that your most important SEO keywords are in the URL (www.exseo.com/important-keyword-here).
Don't limit yourself to just Facebook or Twitter. Try promoting your stuff on Instagram and Pinterest, especially if you're selling a product. Mimi Lu has an Etsy store where she sells her handmade dolls and stuffed animals and she posts pictures of her products on Instagram since she has a large following.
Make sure that you still include keywords when you post pictures. Mimi usually uses hashtags in her Instagram posts. Her picture of the stuffed bunnies she made for Easter are tagged with #handwork #handmade #handcrafts #sewing, #felt #easterbunny #toys #bunny #crafting. Figure out which hashtags work best for your product and put them below the description.