Let's Chat! 1-(888) 262-6687
, ,

Does Blogging Help with SEO?

Will blogging for SEO work? We could answer this question for you right here, right now. (Spoiler alert: it does. And it doesn’t.) To answer definitively, though, and explain the contradiction in the spoiler we just gave you, we need to back up at least five questions…

Before you start bloggin for SEO and writing yourself into knots, getting b(l)ogged down with the nitty gritty of SEO, ROI, CTR, and all those other snappy marketing-related abbreviations, the question you really should be asking yourself is this:

“To blog or not to blog? That is the question.”

(With minimal apologies to William Shakespeare for altering Prince Hamlet’s tortured soliloquy.)

To help you answer that, follow up with one, or all, of the following questions:

  • “Do I have something to say?”
  • “Will blogging help my business?”
  • “Is blogging worth my time, effort and, ultimately, money?”
  • “Everybody is a blogger these days: is there any point to adding my voice to the masses?”

If you answered ‘Yes’ to the very first question on the above list, the simple answers to the rest of the questions are also yes. If you sense a ‘but’ coming, though, you’d be right; and not just any but. A multi-tiered, many-levelled, passionately-held “but.”

You should be blogging, and blogging will help you with your SEO, but only if you’re doing it right, and for all the right reasons. Once you’ve established the how and why of blogging, only then we can dive in and unpack how blogging for SEO can help you.

Blogging Done Right

Why to Blog

Blogging for SEO shouln’t be your main focus. Your main reason for blogging should be a simple one: you have something to say. Something to reveal. Something that genuinely interests you; that you believe in; that you care about and want to share.

How to Blog

Now start writing. Write with these 6 cardinal blogging rules in mind:

  1. Write as if you don’t care about SEO. Put your words in the air, like you just don’t care.
  2. Make your story true, whatever that story might be.
  3. Make it real for you and the reader.
  4. Make it relevant to your business.
  5. Make it interesting.
  6. Make it useful.

Renowned blogger and angel investor Jason Calacanis once said, “The currency of blogging is authenticity and trust.” This is why the above six points are so much more important to your blog than any amount of search engine optimization you might do. If your blog starts reading like an ode to a specific keyword, clearly generated with only SEO or ‘business’ in mind, it shows. Readers won’t like it. And perhaps more importantly, given the title of this blog, Google won’t like it. In which case, readers won’t even ever get to see it.

Which brings us back to the original question… Does blogging for SEO work?

5 Ways Blogging Helps With SEO

At this point, given that our number one rule for blogging done right is, “Write as if you don’t care about SEO,” you may be wondering if SEO even still matters.

Yes, it does.

When you optimize your website pages, including any blog posts you write, you’re making sure that your website is more easily found by people doing online searches related to your business, product, or service via search engines like Google. But as any marketer will tell you, Google is a tricky one. They are constantly updating their algorithms to give users – those doing the searching – better information. Right now, those algorithms are all about quality content, with SEO best practices currently focusing on relevancy, authenticity, and intent. And this is where blogging can really shine.

1. Blogging revels in relevancy, authenticity, and intent

Remember those cardinal rules?

  • Make it real.
  • Make it relevant to your business.
  • Make it interesting.
  • Make it useful.

There’s your relevancy, authenticity, and intent right there. So, just because you wrote your blog without SEO in mind, essentially keeping it real, you nailed SEO without even trying to.

Blogging also helps with SEO in a number of other ways, with the four that follow rounding out our top 5:

2.  Blogging keeps you fresh

Search engines do regular checks on time stamps to see when websites are updated. Nobody likes outdated information, and Google doesn’t like delivering old news to its users. At the same time, you don’t want to put your brand consistency at risk, and potentially lose loyal fans, by constantly updating the home page, or main navigation pages, on your website. Publishing blog posts is a very practical way to keep your website and content fresh without jeopardizing brand recognition. This way, when bots crawl the net, they can see you’re looking after your website with constant updates. The bots know they can send searchers your way, secure in the knowledge that your content is up to date and fresher than Tim’s latest brew.

3. Blogging increases your ‘crawl space’

The more pages you have on your website, and the more relevant, updated content you have on those pages, the more places search engines will have to crawl and index. We like to call this ‘crawl space.’

Without intentionally blogging for SEO, it can help in two ways:

  1. With more pages to crawl and more info to find, the search engines are given a better understanding of what your website is about, which translates to a better grasp on which types of searches your site should rank highly for.
  2. More content also gives you a better way to use keywords. While ‘keyword stuffing’ is a big no-no, you’re fairly limited in keyword usage: you can only use keywords so many times without getting a big ‘ol Google-slap on the wrist, which will send your pages plummeting in the rankings. Hello page two (or worse!). By blogging and increasing your site pages, you can increase your range of keywords, and avoid the risk of keyword stuffing. Blog posts also tend to be about quite singular, individual topics, which means they come in handy for adding different keywords into your site without diluting your current keywords.

4. Blogging gives great link love

SEO still loves links. As long as they feel natural and organic, links – be they internal links or backlinks – are a key way to feel some search engine sunshine.

Internal linking

Blogs, in particular, make a great playground for internal linking. Given that you’ve heard, and are playing by, our cardinal rules, your blog topics are no doubt all related and relevant to your core business or offerings. This means that within each blog you will find excellent opportunities to point readers/users to other highly relevant main pages on your website.

Backlinking

If you really want Google and the other search engines to love you, you’ve got to earn it! One of the best ways to do that is to earn a backlink – or external link – from another trustworthy and respected website. By filling your website with interesting, usable, and valuable information via blog topic after blog topic, you’re creating more opportunities for other websites to recognize your value and authority, and send their readers your way to answer any questions they can’t.

5.  Blogging captures attention

A good blog with interesting high-quality content, can capture the attention of the reader. This translates to more time spent on your website, as well as a greater chance of them clicking around, discovering more pages on your website. You want this.

The longer people spend on your site, the better it looks to Google. Say you do a Google search for “Does blogging for SEO work?” You click on a link but discover the page you land on to be particularly boring and/or unhelpful. You head straight back to the search results page. Somewhere in Google bot land, a red flag goes up: the signal has been sent that the page is a no-go-zone for that search term. Ranking goes down for that page. However, if you land on a page with a supremely helpful blog post – like this one (ahem) – you stop and spend a while there. Google gets the signal that this is a good page, that this page deserves to get searchers pointed in their direction; that this page deserves a great ranking. Well done blog post.

Of course, there are a few little tricks and tactics you can employ to make each blog post even more SEO-friendly, such as these…

5 Blogging for SEO Writing Tips

1. Go for long-tail keywords

Once upon a time, you could pick a couple of single-word keywords, litter them throughout your website, and voilà!, Google loved you. That was then. This is now! Dabble in keyword stuffing and Google will send you crying to the ends of the SERPs (search engine results pages).

The key now is to pick one or two long-tail keywords per blog post and use those without even thinking about them. If you choose them wisely, they’ll fit into your writing so organically you won’t even know you wrote them! What’s a long-tail keyword? It’s not as rude as it sounds! It’s simply a longer, three-or-four-word keyword phrase that is focused specifically on your product or offering. Long tail keywords are also frequently question-based, which allows you to really answer the questions your customers are searching for online.

2. Insert keywords here…

There are four key places to place your keywords:

  1. Your URL – This will be the first port of call for crawlers. So it makes sense that you want your target keyword in the URL. For more tips, see ‘Use user-friendly URLs’ below.
  2. Your blog headline (called the ‘Title Tag’ in a search result) – Your headline will be the first thing readers see on the page so make sure it’s relevant and that it includes your keyword. Pro tip: if your headline is a long one, include your keyword or keyword phrase within the first 60 characters of the headline – Google will cut off your headline at around the 60-character mark on SERPs.
  3. Your body content and sub-headers – While the only place that stuffing is any good nowadays is in a turkey, you do still need to include your keywords in your body content and sub-headers of your blog post. If your keyword phrase is relevant to your story or topic, you’ll end up using it so naturally that you won’t even know you’ve done it. Once you’ve written your post, go back, read it again, check that your long-tail keyword(s) is in there, but that it’s not in there too often.
  4. Your Meta Title & Description – The Meta Title and Description is found in the source code. This is the text that you can see in SERPs immediately below the link. This gives searchers a slightly longer description of, and insight into, what your link is about. It can make or break whether they actually click on the link. Use this space wisely, and use it all. Be sure to make it count and include your target keyword phrase in both.

3. Use user-friendly URLs

It’s only logical that your URL is one of the first places search engines will scan to find out what your post is about and whether or not your post is one worthy of a high ranking for a particular search. Each blog post you write has its own unique URL, which you can customize and optimize. Do so. Include your keywords in the URL, and make sure your URL matches the topic at hand.

4. Link like a pro

We’ve already highlighted the role links can play in helping with SEO , and how blogging can help with getting links into play naturally. Your blog topics should be relevant to your core business so, whenever and wherever it makes sense (which should be fairly often), link to other pages on your site. This keeps visitors hanging around on your website for longer and points search engines to even more relevant pages on your website – yet more great ways to help with SEO.

5. Make it mobile friendly

We’ve said it once, we’ll say it again: every single page on your website needs to be mobile friendly. Including your blog. Search engines do not like websites that don’t play nicely on mobile screens. Nor do people. And people use their mobile phones to search the net a lot. And we mean A LOT. According to Statista.com, 60% of Google searches are done via mobile devices. Compare this to just five years ago, when the figure was nearly half that at 34%! Fortunately, even though Google’s SEO algorithms are tricky little suckers, they have at least made this simple for you. Check to see if your website and blog are both mobile friendly using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.

A Blog Well Done

The bottom line is this, you don’t need to be blogging for SEO. If you have a highly relevant authentic blog with regularly updated posts that give great answers to your customers’ questions, it can have an excellent impact on how your website performs on Google and the other search engines.

More importantly though, it will connect you to your audience in a very real way, keep them coming back for more and ultimately, have a positive impact on your business.

If you still have questions about how to create blog posts to improve your SEO,  please call our SEO experts here at 1st on the List at 1-877-562-1750 or contact us online.

/by
, , , , ,

When More Traffic Doesn’t Equal More Sales.

More Traffic Doesn’t Equal More Sales

Are you experiencing more traffic but no sales?

Years ago, when the Internet was in its infancy and businesses were urged to get their very first place in cyberspace, there was a philosophy that ‘if you build it, they will come.’ There was this ‘first on the scene’ mentality that if you could get online first, you could reap all the benefits of the world-wide-web. Suddenly, local businesses could have worldwide audiences. Businesses were dreaming big.

Then came the onset of SEO or Search Engine Optimization. The goal was to utilize the power of search to get more traffic and more sales.

Website traffic used to be a modern-day version of a popularity contest where businesses promoted their page views as a factor in their success. That school of thought is now over because not all traffic is good traffic, especially if you have more traffic but no sales!

What good is having all of that traffic if your visitors are not actually converting – using your services or buying your products? No matter how many people visit your website, or how good your ranking position may be on Google, it’s not helping if your visitors don’t do anything.

Businesses are now demanding so much more from their websites and from their Internet marketing partners because more traffic but no sales won’t sustain a business.

ROI (return-on-investment) has quickly become a very important buzzword. SEO professionals are now elaborating on their reports. It is now necessary to include key metrics that show how ranking results and traffic are also converting and helping the bottom line.

Lead-generation and conversions have since taken over as the new buzzwords. And, rightly so. After all, most websites are built with a goal in mind: to generate more business.

More traffic but no sales could mean you are not attracting the right kind of traffic. It could also mean that you do have the right kind of traffic but your website isn’t helping that traffic to convert.

In either case, it may be time to conduct a conversion and lead audit.

Evaluate Your Website Traffic

What steps do you need to take when you have more traffic but no sales?

First, you need to determine if the traffic you are getting is the right kind of traffic. There are a lot of questions you can ask to help you get to the bottom of what your visitors are doing on your website and what they’re looking for.

  • Are your website visitors looking for what you have to offer?
  • Are they ready to make the next step?
  • Are they purely interested in information?
  • Do they fit in with your target demographic?

You or your Internet marketing professional can dig deep into your website analytics to uncover a lot about the people who are visiting your website. You need to uncover how they got there, what they did once they got there, and even what they might be looking for.

How to Identify Your Target Market?

If you haven’t yet identified your target market, now is the time to do so. By identifying your target audience you are defining your ideal audience for your particular niche. The better you understand your target market, the more you are able to customize your advertising and website content to match.

Some businesses start with a very broad target such as Baby Boomers or Millenials. Others tighten up the demographics slightly such as single professionals ages 30-60. What you need to know is that the more you tighten up your target market and then speak directly to that audience, the higher your conversions will be.

Here’s how you can identify your target market:

  • Compile research and stats on your current best customers including age, location, interests, spending power, spending patterns, language, and stage of life.
  • Analyze your website and social media analytics to determine the types of people who are interacting with your business already. If you have more traffic but no sales and your website isn’t converting, ask yourself if your analytics match your ideal target market.
  • Then, once you’ve uncovered your ideal target market you should create a target market profile. You can even name him/her.
    For example: Meet Jane. She is {gender} aged {age range} who lives in {place or type of place} and enjoys {activity}.

Target Market – Is Your Website Reaching The Right People Based on Their Demographics

Once you’ve identified the type of visitor that is most likely to convert, it’s time to really analyze your website traffic to make sure they are the ones who are visiting your website.

Then, you need to take a look at your website and landing pages with a critical eye for what this target market expects. If your website is soft shades of turquoise and blue but your target market is a business executive, your website probably isn’t attracting their attention.

Location – Are You Reaching The Right People Based on Where They Live?

Use more traffic but no sales to your advantage. By that, we mean analyzing your website data based on city demographics. This can help you determine if you’re falling flat in reaching the right people in the right locations. If you have multiple locations and markets you should determine if there are locations that could use further marketing efforts based on traffic markets.

In some cases, your traffic might be coming from everywhere other than your ideal location. In these cases, you need to set a new strategy to do location-based targeting.

More Traffic But No Sales – Where Are They in the Sales Funnel?

More traffic but no sales could also mean that the traffic is still in the wrong part of your sales funnel. Ideally, your website will be designed to speak to and reach visitors at all the various parts of the sales funnel. But, all too often, many websites fall short at capturing visitors when they’re ready to convert.

If your website has a lot of traffic, it could be because you offer some really valuable information. In fact, providing information, articles, and tips is a great strategy to get people familiar with your brand and your expertise. But, you want to make sure that also offer then the correct calls-to-action – get them to take the next step so you get something from them in return, right?

It’s time to take a critical look at how you move people through the sales funnel on your website and ensure they utilize your services or products when they’re finally ready.

Your Calls to Action – Are Your CTAs Working?

When your visitor is ready to convert, whether it’s buying a product or contacting you, are you making it easy for them to do so? Where are your calls to action (CTA) in relation to your visitors’ movements, habits, and actions? Visitors these days are impatient. They don’t want to have to search for your contact information. They don’t want to have to look for how to make a purchase or get in touch. Your CTAs need to be intuitive. If you can capture them impulsively, that’s even better.

If you are getting a lot of traffic but no sales and you are not seeing the business benefit of all of these people, it’s time to audit your calls to action. What are they? Where are they placed? What do they say? Are they intuitive for the visitor?

Ideally, a call to action that speaks directly to the visitor and asks them to move forward in a specific manner will convert better than a very generic “contact us” button.

Content – Is Your Website Saying The Right Things?

More traffic but no sales will also affect your bounce rate. How’s your bounce rate? Are people hitting your website or landing page and then failing to move further? Are they leaving your website once they’ve arrived? If so, you likely have a problem with your content (text and visuals).

Once you understand your target market, you can identify what it is they will be looking for online. Your content needs to:

  • Match their inquiries
  • Solve their problems
  • Capture their attention
  • And help them on their journey

If it can do this, you’ll stand a much better chance at connecting with and converting your traffic.

Your issue might not be with the people visiting your website, but rather, with the website itself. All too often we’ll get calls from businesses who want to get more website traffic; however, sometimes the best strategy is to really analyze the pages all this traffic will be landing on. You need to build your website and content strategy based on your target demographics and what they will like and be interested in, rather than based on what you like.

If your website is bringing in a lot of visitors but they aren’t converting, it could be an issue with your content, your colour scheme, your page layout, your images, etc.

It’s important that you provide detailed information for SEO; but, it’s also important you don’t give away everything online. Leave the visitor hanging and then follow-up with a strong call to action to get more information. Lead them in. Tease them. Give them good, solid information. But, leave them with a question that only you can answer. And, encourage them, at the right time, at the right place, to reach out to you.

Here’s the thing: many visitors are actually unaware of what they need, where to find it and what to do next. Do this for them. Guide them, lead them and then hook them.

Trust Signals

Items that many pages and websites are missing are what we call trust signals. If you have more traffic but no sales it could be a trust issue. Trust signals include reviews, testimonials, and other elements that prove that your business will do what you’re promising. Portfolio items, case studies, reviews, awards, and certifications are all trust signals that can help your traffic convert.

Mobile vs Desktop

Analyze if your visitors are on a mobile device, a tablet, or a desktop. Does one screen size convert better than the others? Navigating websites on mobile devices must also be intuitive and if it isn’t, it could also lead to more traffic but no sales.

Now, take a look at your website and landing pages on each screen size. If your website is hard to use on a phone and yet 75% of your visitors are browsing from their smartphone, you’ve got yourself a usability problem. There isn’t any amount of traffic that can fix this.

In short, if your website is getting a lot of traffic but is underperforming, there’s a lot you can do to fix these kinds of problems.

Here’s a recap of what we’ve covered.

  1. Identify your ideal target market. Who is your ideal visitor?
  2. Identify your current website visitor.
  3. Are the people visiting your website actually your ideal target market?
    – If yes, it’s time to analyze your website.
    – If no, it’s time to begin to target your ideal visitor with your SEO and marketing efforts.
  4. Identify the steps in your sales funnel. Generally, people are either conducting research, comparison shopping, looking to have a question answered or are ready to make the conversion. Does your website address every stage and then provide a clear call to action or lead-in to the next stage? Are visitors arriving on the right information based on what they’re looking for? For instance, if they’re just at the research page, they shouldn’t be arriving on a page that is designed for purchasing.
  5. Analyze your content. Is it written, created, and designed for your ideal target market?
  6. Analyze your calls to action. Don’t be vague. Don’t use marketing language. Be simple, clear and concise. Tell them, show them, and guide them to what they need to do next.

When it comes to more traffic but no sales, you either have a traffic-type problem or a website usability/target problem…or both.

Target the right people with your traffic-generating tactics. Use your website and content to speak directly to your target audience, answer their questions and provide them with the information they’re looking for. Quickly and easily lead them to the next step and capture their information along the way.

When you look at your lead generation strategy from the perspective of the visitor, rather than from what you like or think the visitor should do, you can begin to look at your strategy and content with all new eyes.

You should then have more traffic and more conversions. Your return-on-investment from your website and marketing efforts will be greater. After all, it isn’t just about getting people to your website. It’s also about getting the right people and then ensuring you’re handling them appropriately based on where they are at in the sales funnel.

And, the number one tip to achieve this? Make it simple for the visitor to understand what they need, what their next step is, and why they need the services/products of your business.

About 1st on the List

1st on the List is one of North America’s leading SEO companies that offers complete SEO services. Please call our SEO experts at 1st on the List toll-free at 1-888-262-6687 to learn more about SEO or if you still have any questions about getting more traffic but no sales.

/by

Quality SEO Content Checklist & Best Practices

On-Page SEO Guidelines

In this 1st on the List blog post, our 22-point SEO content checklist will highlight many of the SEO best practices and techniques for creating high-quality web content in a post-Google Panda world.

The whole purpose of Google’s Panda algorithm update was to eliminate web pages with low-quality web content and reward pages with high-quality website content. See this Google Panda Update article by Search Engine Journal for more detailed information.

We’ve all heard the term “Content is King” but is it possible to write great web content that engages the visitor and meets the criteria of the search engines? Absolutely!

Our SEO content checklist will show how your web content needs to be original, desirable, and relevant but also must meet other important quality content guidelines.

Below, we’ve compiled this SEO content writing checklist to help you create great web content that is appealing for both your visitors and for the Search Engines.

SEO Content Checklist

  1. Write with a specific purpose and audience in mind – one central theme from start to finish.
  2. Answer the reader’s most important question and help them complete a task.
  3. Be an authority on the subject – make sure your web content includes all the information your reader may be looking for about this topic.
  4. Make your web content relevant and timely.
  5. Write web content in a voice that represents your brand and keeps a consistent style of writing.
  6. Write for your audience and not your peers; stay away from industry jargon.
  7. Stay on topic; each sentence should have a purpose.
  8. Write without promoting yourself and without overt sales pitches.
  9. Link to good sources – off-site links need to be high authority websites that support the theme of your web page.
  10. Double check all your facts, stats, and sources.
  11. Organize text into sections with headers, quotes, bullet points, and so on – use plenty of white space, so that it is visually appealing.
  12. Make the content easy to scan as readers will read as little as 20% of the words on the page.
  13. Write a clear and concise Page Title to catch attention and indicate what content is about.
  14. Be sure to proofread multiple times and ask someone else to proofread once you think it’s perfect.
  15. Provide clear calls-to-action statements to encourage readers to take the next step – what do you want them to do next?
  16. Make the content easy for readers to share through Social Platforms.
  17. Organize text into thematic sections using synonyms, related terms, and supportive phrases.
  18. Write a strong Meta Title and Description that isn’t too long or short for the SERPs.
  19. Don’t overuse your primary keyword for the sake of SEO; be sure to use related terms and synonyms.
  20. Clearly define yourself as the author on the page for both readers and Search Engines to recognize.
  21. Make sure your content is 100% unique and provides unique value not found anywhere else online. Is your content adding anything new and of interest to the Internet or is it just rewriting someone else’s thoughts?
  22. Aim for a minimum of 500 (+ or -) words. Longer articles tend to do well in search so, depending on the type of content you are creating, it’s okay to strive for 1,000 words or more, but never compromise quality for quantity.

This SEO content checklist isn’t exhaustive by any means. We also recommend that you refer to Google’s guidelines for high-quality content to see how your writing measures up.

Web Content Questions You Should Ask Yourself

Below are some of their hardest questions you need to ask yourself as a web content writer:

  • Would you trust the information presented in this article?
  • How much quality control is done on the web content?
  • Does the article describe both sides of a story?
  • Does this article provide a complete or comprehensive description of the topic?
  • Does this article contain insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?
  • Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?

About 1st on the List

1st on the List has been serving clients throughout the United States and Canada since 1997. We offer professional SEO services plus PPC and SEO web design services.

We hope this SEO content checklist has been helpful. If you need assistance writing new web content or optimizing and improving your existing web content, we can help.

Give our professional web copywriters a call toll-free at 1-888-262-6687, or fill out our quick online form to get in touch today.

Please Note: This article was originally published January 19, 2015, and has since been updated to reflect current SEO web content best practices. 

Here are some additional recent SEO Content articles:

/by
,

Keyword Ranking Fluctuations

It happens all the time. You finally start to see your website or page in the top search results for your keyword phrase only to have it disappear faster than it took to get there. You panic. You’ll have forgotten the warnings of your SEO professional that there is bound to be some fluctuations as things get ranking. You’re worried and frustrated. You think something must be wrong. The good news is that in most cases, this sort of fluctuation is perfectly normal as the search engines work behind the scenes to determine a website’s natural place in the order of things.

SEO is a long-term affair, and can sometimes be quite tumultuous. As a business owner, you likely receive a variety of email sales-pitches telling you that you can get first page search engine results in a short amount of time. Or, they tell you that your website is not performing well on the search engines and they can very quickly turn this around for you.

It can be easy to get caught up in this offer, while questioning your current SEO efforts.

First, unless you are going for obscure or unpopular keywords (that are not being widely searched by your target audience), ranking well on the search engines takes time. For some very competitive industries and keywords this can be months, or even years of working a well-strategized SEO plan. And, just because your site may get to the illusive page-1 ranking, doesn’t mean it will stay there forever.

Keyword rankings fluctuate.

From an SEO professional’s standpoint, there is nothing more upsetting than finally getting a client’s website where it belongs in the search results only to have it disappear again. But, this is part of the game.

Top 6 Reasons Keyword Rankings Fluctuate

1. Site is New / Content is New – When you publish a new website or new piece of content, Google will test-drop you into the search results, in a variety of different positions. Google even has people who help index content by hand. This means they manually look at a website’s content and how it matches a particular search query.

New content is especially prone to fluctuations and can even jump on and off the results until the search engine can determine the most natural fit for a specific result.

How to Overcome This? Continue to create good content that is based on what your user is looking for. By determining your authority in the industry, your website content will speak for itself and you may find the fluctuations lessen.

Content really is KING. After all, the job of a search engine is to deliver the top related pages to a specific query.

2. Algorithm Update – Google makes minor updates to their algorithms on a regular basis. Even the most minor change in their programming can sometimes affect the positioning of a website or piece of content. Then, there are the bigger updates that can sometimes work amateur SEO professionals into a frenzy. They can even, sometimes, catch the most experienced SEO professionals off guard.

Over the years, the updates that have wreaked the most havoc on search results were:

2009 – Vince – While Google explained Vince was a minor update, the Vince update seemingly favoured big brands and some small businesses reported a negative long-term impact on their positioning and traffic.

2010 – May Day – This update was targeting long-tail keywords and content. Websites with thin content were hardest hit. </span

2011 – Panda – About 12% of search results were hit by the Panda update. Panda targeted content farms and weak, thin content. Additional Panda updates have happened in years since.  

2012 – Penguin – Penguin targeted websites that were over-SEO’d. Websites that had poorly written, keyword-stuffed content were hardest hit.

2014 – Pigeon – Pigeon saw some drastic search result changes for local query results.

2018 – Medic Core Update – Health and wellness sites were reportedly hardest hit, but change in results affected queries in all verticals.

How to Overcome This? First, a website built on a foundation of good SEO principals is best set to withstand algorithm updates. While no website is immune, if your content and website is built with your user in mind, which in itself will help because it will mean your website likely will not include many of the things that Google penalizes (spam, too much advertising, thin content etc.).

3. Search Engine Penalty – Break the rules and you can be penalized. Generally speaking, Google will let you know when you’ve been assessed a penalty within your Google Search Console. Overcoming a search engine penalty can be quite time consuming so it is best to play by the rules.

How to Overcome This? Keep an eye on your Google Search Console so if you ever are assessed a penalty you can begin the recovery process right away. Ideally, if your website is built by experienced professionals and is based on a sound SEO strategy, the chances of being assessed a search engine penalty are low.

4. New Players in the Game – Competition! A new related business may open up shop, or an old business may take on a new SEO strategy. Chances are, if your website ranks well, your site will be their goal. A good SEO professional will analyze what all the competitors are doing and then strive to do all of that, and then more (and better). Staying ahead of your competition is possible with a continuous SEO strategy.

How to Overcome This? Your ongoing SEO maintenance should include competition research. This way, you can keep an eye on the new players to the game and stay one step ahead. Once again, if you can continue to publish quality content that your target visitors want, you will have a head start over newcomers to the game.

5. Spidering Issues – If Google has a hard time spidering your website, you may notice fluctuations. In addition, in some website platforms such as WordPress there is a button “Do Not Index” and this can be for the page or the entire website. Many an SEO-professional has found this button turned on, generally from an inexperienced web developer who was building ‘live’ and forgot to turn the button off once the site was released to the general public.

How to Overcome This? Keep a close eye on your Google search console to determine what pages are being spidered. As you publish new content, ensure that content has a home on a page of your website that is regularly spidered so Google has an easier time reaching it. Having clean navigation is also key.

As for the “Do Not Index”, mistakes happen. So, if you have a web developer working on your website, which should be the first thing you check when website updates or content additions go live.

6. Personalized Search – Often, a user’s search results are specific to their location and their past behaviour. This can make it difficult to ascertain where you rank for your target audience. You may find that your listing fluctuates depending on the user. You can get a broad overview of your general ranking within Google’s Search Console; however, it doesn’t depict the entire story. For instance, for localized searches, often results will appear that are close to your location. If you have frequented a particular website many times, that website may appear in the top results when you search. As a general rule, your goal should be to average in the top results but not get too worried if certain users do not see your website where others do.

We’ve heard reports of unscrupulous SEOs using this type of search to their advantage when reporting or holding client meetings. Because they work on the website often, the website will show up high on the search results. Note – if you’re in a meeting with your SEO professional, ensure they’re using an incognito window.

How to Overcome This? Open an incognito window with your browser cache cleared to whenever you wish to check on your results personally. This will give you the best understanding of where you rank for the general public. If you do not wish for search engines to collect data on you, use an incognito window for your searches whenever possible.

How to Avoid Keyword Fluctuations?

Keyword rankings are in a constant state of movement, especially beyond page two or three. When new websites or content is launched, generally they will move around the search results for some time before eventually settling into a natural position. Movement from this stage is slow-going.

The websites in the top positions in search results are generally employing an SEO strategy, have the added benefit of having been there longer and usually have good content that web visitors like.

With patience, a solid multi-channel marketing campaign, sound SEO strategy, excellent content, ongoing content edits and even more excellent content you can find your own website in the top positions.

Once there, the last thing you want is to fall back down. Your ongoing SEO strategy will help keep you there.

1. Ongoing SEO edits – it is tempting to leave good, top-ranked content as-is to avoid any potential fall; however, your visitors search queries will see subtle changes over time and it is important your content stay up-to-date with the most popular queries. Do not take on SEO edits in an unorganized manner though. There needs to be a strategy and a reason to make even minor adjustments to content, and, your visitor should be the top priority.

2. Technical Maintenance – Site speed, user-flow and spidering should all be part of an ongoing maintenance program. A site that is performing at its best technically will stand a better chance of avoiding negative SEO impact.

3. More Than Just SEO – While organic search traffic may bring in the most targeted traffic to your website, you’d be remiss to rely solely on this form of visitor. Display advertising, offline advertising, pay-per-click keyword advertising, social media etc. can all nicely round out your visitor chart.

4. Ongoing Content – Your website should have a sound content plan including ongoing edits and publishing new, fresh resources for your visitors. Ongoing Keyword research will help determine what information your target visitor is looking for and can help assist in creating a content calendar.

5. Monitor Google’s Search Console – A lot of information can be had with regular monitoring of Google’s search console. You can see what keywords and content are performing well as well as any technical issues.

6. Monitor Google Analytics – Google Analytics can provide a wealth of information for those so-inclined to study the numbers.

7. Employ Regular SEO Audits – There are a variety of tools that can help you audit your own website and content. SEMRush, WooRank, Web.Dev all provide important insight. <

In Conclusion

Search engine results fluctuate, as can the traffic you receive from them. This is why it is important to embark on an ongoing SEO program that consists of regular keyword research, market research, content edits and a content marketing plan.

Patience is a key trait when it comes to SEO. Determination is also important. When you can stay the course of the strategy, even in the face of keyword fluctuations, you will come out the other side in victory.

Following best practices will help your website survive once it makes it to the top search results. It is important to remember that just because you get to the goal, the job is not finished. There will always be competitors vying for your spot so it is important to stay ahead of the curve.

SEO is a long-term lead generation and marketing approach. Along the way you will run into gains and setbacks. It is not a straight line, but rather a windy road to get to the top of the rankings. If you are looking for quick gains, you may find those with long-tail keywords; however generally speaking, for quick leads SEO will not be your marketing platform of choice.

It is important to have a decisive SEO strategy that incorporates a variety of keyword phrases. While you’re working on the more competitive keywords, you can be seeing faster wins on long-tail keywords. In fact, sometimes the cumulative traffic generated from these highly specific keyword searches can overtake the traffic from the ‘big-win’ keywords you are dreaming of.

Don’t lose hope. Keyword rankings fluctuate; however, an experienced SEO professional understands what to look for and how to stay the course.

/by
, ,

The Rise and Fall And Rise of Keyword Rankings

Keyword rankings are not always stable. In fact, especially when a website or piece of content is initially launched, the page will move around in the search rankings for various popular and related keyword phrases.

You may notice that eventually, you settle a few pages in, only to move page by page fairly quickly, until you get to the first couple of pages of ranking results.

Once you’ve landed in the top 10, 20 or 30 for a popular, competitive keyword phrase, moving further up the ranks can be slow-going.

Generally, the top results are usually employing an SEO strategy, have the benefit of being their longer, and have tried and tested content that visitors seem to like. Generally, you’ll have to work harder to take their spot.

Patience, a solid multi-channel marketing campaign, excellent content, ongoing SEO edits, and even more patience is what it takes to move to the top.

Tip: While you’re waiting for the slow-moving keywords to break the ceiling, work on content optimized for long-tail keywords or less competitive searches. Cumulatively, these can work together to increase your traffic which can also help any stagnant or slow-moving keywords, too.

/by
,

How Search Intent Modifiers Affect Google SERP Features

Did you know that one or two extra words in a search query can affect the type or types of SERP feature Google shows in its results?

The team at getstat.com recently posted an article titled How SERP Features Respond to Search Intent Modifiers which shows that swapping search intent modifiers can result in dramatic changes to Google SERPs features.

Before we take a closer look at STAT’s search intent data, let’s first define what we mean by search intent modifier.

What is Search Intent?

A basic search intent definition (also referred to search query intent) is determining what a searcher is most likely looking for when they type in a “keyword search” into Google. Often, they will use a search intent modifier to indicate their intent. For example, “buy” to indicate they want to make a purchase or “best” to indicate they want to compare products/service.

Some basic types of search engine user intent including:

  • Informational Intent Based Search – the searcher is looking to gain new knowledge on a topic.
    Search Modifier Examples: how to, what is, how big
  • Commercial Intent Based Search – the searcher is looking to gain more information before purchasing an item (ex. reviews, prices, warranties, etc.)
    Search Modifier Examples: best, compare, top
  • Transactional Intent Based Search – the searcher is ready to make a purchase.
    Search Modifier Examples: buy, coupon, price
  • Local Intent Based Search – the searcher is looking for something specific to their neighborhood or city.
    Search Modifier Examples: near me, close by, specific city names

STAT examined the 20 top SERP results (minus organics) for various search modifiers and compiled the numbers into extremely useful percentage points. For the purposes of this article, we have listed the top three types of SERP features based on their percentage in relation to the number of searches analyzed.

Search modifiers categorized by search intent were used to search on mobile devices in the US. The results provide some useful data for pursuing intent based search engine marketing and optimization. Let’s have a look.

1. SERP Features Triggered by Informational Search Intent Modifiers

No modifiers were used for informational searches, but the results are still interesting. News results came in a surprising 3rd, but given the keyword was found in the article title, this isn’t overwhelmingly unusual.

2. SERP Features Triggered by Commercial Search Intent Modifiers

The most common Commercial keyword modifiers for search intent purposes are found in the table below. I’ve selected the top 3 features for each modifier to highlight those with the most beneficial payoff.

Shopping Boxes led the entire Commercial intent category with the exception of the Compare modifier. What I found somewhat interesting is that Shopping snippets has substantial exposure for the modifiers “Deals” at 85.99% and “Used” at 74.92%.

STATS zeroed in on the potential of Featured Snippets (lists) for keyword modifiers “Best” and “Top”. These percentages are comparatively low and either Google is reluctant to present more of them in SERPs or there simply aren’t enough suitable Featured Snippets (lists) to present. This could be a golden opportunity for strategists focussing on such snippets.

3. SERP Features Triggered by Transactional Search Intent Modifiers

The most common Transactional modifiers for search intent purposes can be found in the table below. As with the Commercial modifiers, I’ve selected the top 3 SERP features found in the results using the modifier to highlight those with the best potential yield.

As STAT indicates, people want to quickly determine how much an item is going to cost – and likely search for the most affordable option. Google seems to feel that Featured Snippets (paragraphs) are an effective way to present this information for the Cost and Price modifiers.

What surprised me is that images were presented to such a large degree where the Price modifier was concerned. One would think at this stage of intent that numbers would supersede images.

4. SERP Features Triggered by Local Search Intent Modifiers

Because STAT only used Chicago and Dallas as local modifiers, there were few results. We see that Shopping, Places, and Images are the most popular type of SERP Feature.

We recommend that you do various searches with local intent for your own city. Search for local businesses, upcoming events, organizations, and so on in your area and see what type of results are shown.

Key Takeaways: Search Intent Optimization –  Planning Modifiers for Your SEO

  1. Examine the results of STAT’s research by focussing on Google’s propensity to post some SERP features above others for specific modifiers that were used. For example:
  • What modifiers do you think searchers could use when looking for your business and what SERP features are shown for those?
  • What modifiers show up in your Google Search Console Search Analytics reports and what SERP features are shown for those?
  1. You likely want to target Commercial, Transactional, and Local modifiers in your SEO Strategy. Be sure that you understand How Featured Snippets in Search Can Boost Your Website Traffic and How to Avoid Eliminated Featured Snippets.
  2. If images and videos are popular for search modifiers relevant to your business, be sure to have high quality and unique images loaded and optimized on your website. The same goes for uploading videos to YouTube and embedding on your website.

For more information about Advanced SEO Techniques such as search intent marketing and optimization please contact 1st on the List today by calling 1-888-262-6687 or email us at contact@1stonthelist.ca.

/by

3 Ways to Bring Emotion Into Your SEO Content Strategy to Build Brand Awareness and Trust

Emotions are a content marketing tool which SEO’s today can’t overlook. How we feel about a company determines whether or not we are compelled to share information about them and whether or not we bond with their brand.

This is especially true for companies which offer intangible merchandise, such as services. Selling intangibles is based on trust. You can earn that trust through emotional ideas presented through your digital content strategy that are shareable or by incorporating fear into your web content as a means to create an affiliation with your brand.

Did you know? A recent study suggested we’re only capable of 4 basic emotions:

  • Happiness
  • Sadness
  • Anger / Disgust
  • Fear / Surprise

Each of these four basic emotions have their place within SEO content strategies for promoting businesses. Consider the following three ways you can incorporate these emotions into your website content strategy.

1. Feelings are Trusted First & Thought About Second

The emotional aspects of our brain process information in 1/5 of the time it takes our cognitive processes to assimilate the same information. We immediately experience elation before we’ve had a chance to acknowledge or evaluate content.

Emotions are directly related to our evolutionary development. Auto-detecting emotions are hard-wired into us. We have learned to trust our emotional aptitude. Those instincts are what keep us safe and motivate us to share events or information with others.

Incorporating emotion into web or Facebook content strategy provides an incentive for visitors to convey your content to family, friends, and associates.

2. Happiness Inspires Social Sharing

Positive articles and images stimulating emotions are trusted and shared more frequently. Affirmative content makes us feel good, compelling us to express our elation to others. This exchange of energy intensifies our pleasure.

Remember the last time you shared a crazy cat video or upbeat story with someone? How did you feel after you pushed Send to email the link?

Selling intangibles is accomplished by developing the premise of trust to establish client relationships. Incorporate upbeat and affirmative ideas and stories when creating a content strategy. Positives are more likely to stimulate site visitors to share this content with others.

3. Safety Inspires Brand Affiliation

People who watch films which incite the feeling of fear experience a closer association with a brand presence (when there are no people nearby with which to share the event). Individuals who watch fearful movies encounter stronger brand affiliation than if they were watching films which evoke sadness, excitement or happiness.

Insurance companies create commercials involving auto accident scenarios to promote their policies. Fire safety equipment companies develop advertisements in which disaster is averted by using their solutions. Alarm companies introduce their merchandise as remedies for home or business break-ins and invasions. They are all using fear to sell their products.

In each instance, the premise of injury and loss are used to incite fear within the potential client. Fear motivates viewers and readers to correlate a solution with a company and enforces their brand awareness. If it is applicable to your company, use fear when developing a content strategy to create bonds with potential customers.

Emotions Gain Trust and are Excellent SEO Content Strategies

Don’t underestimate the power of human instincts. They motivate us to pass messages to others and create strong emotional connections to brands. Provide site visitors with a reason to trust your product or bond with your brand and your marketing efforts become a whole lot easier.

Introducing heartwarming stories into your arsenal of SEO content marketing tools provides site visitors a reason to share with others. In the right setting, inciting fear in your articles (where applicable) can create strong brand associations.

Reputation Marketing is also an important strategy to consider if you’re looking for more business leads. For more details on emotional content strategies for marketing your services, contact 1st on the List today at 1-888-262-6687.

Check out some of our other recent SEO Content related articles:

/by

3 Simples Ways Improve Your SEO Content Writing

Several months ago, I read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up Your Writing by Karen Hertzberg. It contained valuable information on being frugal with words that has changed the way I think about writing.

Her main idea was to groom your blog and content writing down to the bare minimum. Writing less becomes more appealing to readers. Ideas are presented more clearly. There is less opportunity for confusion. Minimalism helps your content get noticed.

“Writing less becomes more appealing to readers.”

Here are my three takeaways to pass onto you so that you too can improve your SEO content writing skills.

1. Remove Content Qualifiers from SEO Content

User attention span has shortened. Online article volume has increased exponentially. Long, rambling columns lack attraction. Help readers get through your narrative easier. Enhance your theme with fewer words. Say less, mean more.

Shorten content by removing superfluous qualifiers. Get to the point quickly. Waste less of your readers’ time. Some words and phrases to slash include:

  • As much as (phrase)
  • Believe (verb)
  • Can (verb)
  • Could (verb)
  • Like (verb)
  • May (verb)
  • Might (verb)
  • Possibly (adverb)
  • Really (adverb)
  • Up to (adjective)
  • Very (adverb)
  • Virtually (adverb)

Use replacement words and phrases. Dust off your Thesaurus. Use synonyms instead of words in the list above.

2. Eliminate Blog Adverbs, Conjunctions, Empty Phrases from SEO Content

We’ve all used them, sometimes as emphasis. Even to bump up the word count. Words and phrases below are reference points as to what you can exclude from your writing.

  • Actually (adverb)
  • Because of (phrase)
  • Currently (adverb)
  • In order to (phrase)
  • Presently (adverb)
  • Start to (phrase)
  • Suddenly (adverb)
  • That (conjunction)
  • Therefore (adverb)

3. Eradicate Repetition and Tautologies in SEO Content

Needless repetition is unprofessional and lazy. Comb blog and page content for extraneous statements and redundant phrases (tautologies). Dismiss them from your work. Obliterate examples such as those below:

  • 2:00 m. in the morning
  • Added bonus
  • Baby puppy
  • Completely devoid
  • Duplicate copy
  • Final outcome
  • Future prospects
  • Honest truth

Purifying Article Messages

Learning to purge your writing of wasted words will take effort. Gradually remove terms and phrases daily which inhibit clarity. Always evaluate your work and make improvements.

The benefits of doing this can include:

  • Stronger message.
  • Readers grasp concepts faster.
  • Google appreciates succinct content.
  • Ideas are more ordered and simplified.
  • Structure makes your subject matter easier to rank.

For more tips from our SEO content writers check out 16 Insanely Smart Small Business Blog Ideas.

If you have questions about improving the SEO content writing on your website or blog, call us at 1-888-262-6687 or email us at contact@1stonthelist.ca.

/by

11 SEO Title Tag Tips and Tricks You Can Implement Today

Are title tags still valid in the ever-changing world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? More so than ever!

Having well-crafted title tags helps Google assess your page content. This, in turn, results in more accurate exposure for your web page. Exposure equates to better click-through-rates to your website which in turn influences and improves your rankings even more.

Sounds great right? How do you take advantage of using title tags on your website?

Cyrus Shepard presented a great article 7 Title Tag Hacks for Increased Rankings and Traffic in a recent Moz Whiteboard Friday video. In it, he focusses on 7 ways to improve title tags. As he indicated in the video, not all suggestions will work in every scenario. You have to decide which ones might apply to your business and SEO efforts.

In this article, we have taken some of his best suggestions and added our own title tag SEO tips for you.

Before we start, let’s start with a brief explanation of what are title tags and the purpose they serve.

What are Title Tags?

HTML title tags (also called meta tags) are an element of a website page that describe the topic of the website page. The title tag will appear in two places:

  1. Search Engine Result Page

  2. Top bar of the user’s internet browsers

Why Title Tags Matter Today

It used to be that the keywords used in Title Tags were a major ranking factor and heavily influenced how the Search Engines understood and evaluated on the content on your page.

These days, the title tag is still important in suggesting to the Search Engines what the page is about. However, the more important function of the Title Tag is to tell the Searcher what your page is all about and reinforce that your website result has the information that they need.

In this way, title tags are important for both SEO and User Experience.

Now that we understand what title tags are and why they matter, here are our 11 tips for improving your title tag optimization.

1. Use numbers in title tags to attract attention.

SERPs are usually a wall-o-text on which you need to attract a searcher’s attention. For this article, I did a search for “what are title tags”. Scanning the results, I found only one result which included a number in the title: Title Tags and SEO: 3 Golden Rules.

It stood out quite prominently to me. Partly because of the number and partly because of Golden Rules which suggest a proven set of guidelines to follow. Utilizing numbers in your title tags gives you an edge over the competition if they are not using them. Do a little research into whether many of your competitor’s pages are using numbers in their title tags. If they aren’t, try incorporating numbers into yours!

2. Use dates to make your title tag stand out.

Using dates in title tags is also a useful strategy. Quite often when I perform a search, I will include 2017 at the end because I’m attempting to find the most current information on a given topic.

Adding the month or year to your title tag (where relevant) can reassure searchers that your website page is up to date with current information.

For this article, I again searched what are title tags but added 2017 to the end. This brought up numerous results with 2017 in the title tag, many of which had not appeared in the initial results. Try some searches with dates in the title tag you generate to determine if competitors are using them. Try some searches with last year’s date to find examples of pages which ranked well for dates in title tags.

3. Stick to the suggested Google title tag length.

The optimal meta title length is between 50-60 characters. Many title tags in use are either too short or considerably longer than necessary (and as a result get cut off).

According to Shepard’s article mentioned above, Etsy experienced significant increases in ranking by shortening title tags after sampling 8,000 of their pages. It’s a proven measure which should be considered. Shorten your title tags over 60 characters long and add to the title tags that are under 50 characters to bring them more in line with acceptable title tag length limits.

4. Use your brand in the title tag if it is well-recognized.

It can be beneficial to add your brand name to the end of a title tag to add authority to your page. This is a particularly successful title tag strategy for popular brands. Your name instantly adds trust. If your brand is less well-known you may wish to use your title tag real estate for a call to action instead.

5. Incorporate inviting call to actions in your title tags.

Titles which incite the searcher to take action are rare but effective. If you tempt searchers with a new skill to learn, data to download, a unique product to purchase or provide them with something useful which they can use to perform an action, it is more probable they will click on your SERP link.

Action words and phrases such as Download This PDF or Use our white paper to plan your marketing strategy create excitement and incentive to visit your site. Consider what you can afford to give away as an incentive for increased click-throughs and site traffic.

If you are a retailer, you may be able to incorporate any of these purchase benefits to your title tag:

  • Free Shipping
  • Save 25%
  • $10 Off Purchase Over $50

6. Match title tags to search intent.

When you match your keywords with searchers’ intent you increase clicks on your website in Search Results. If I search for what are title tags and I find the exact phrase in the search results I’m more likely to click on the link because it specifically addresses my search terms.

It’s just as important to optimize a title tag for keywords which already bring you traffic which may differ from the keywords you are currently using on the page. Use your Google Search Console query report to determine these phrases and meld them with your intended keywords to increase your chances of success.

7. Attract curious searchers by using questions in your title tags.

Searchers are in effect asking Google questions. If I want to know about title tags I enter what are title tags into Google. Having a question in your title tags content and directly answering the question in your page can potentially win you a featured snippet.

Google likes answers which meet searchers’ criteria. Furnishing the most effective response to a user query is Google’s sole purpose in life. Asking questions in title tags give you an opportunity to provide answers which meet the direct needs of searchers.

8. Avoid using ALL CAPS in your title tags.

Nothing is more annoying than reading titles which are all capital letters. Depending on the font used, all caps can even cause physical discomfort to your eyes. Here’s why.

Our eyes are used to skipping over the tops of letters. We don’t read each letter individually. We visually graze content. Below are the tops of letters contained in a word. Try to figure out the word.

Not much to go on, is it? Because our eyes are so used to skimming the tops of letters, just the upper half of letters, we find it difficult to absorb letters in a word where all caps are present. All cap title tags slow down our reading and our ability to absorb the intended message.

Now, if we take the same word and capitalize just the first letter it immediately becomes easier to read and identify.

DOWNLOAD FREE 30-DAY TRIAL

Capitalizing just the first letter of each word in a title tag is the most convenient way to emphasize a title tag without making it difficult to read. Leave any articles in lower case as well such as the, a, an, etc..

Download Free 30-Day Trial

Make sure your title tags are easy to read and absorb. The average reader online only skims titles and article content. Make yours stand out through simplicity.

9. Pay close attention to word order in your title tags.

Make your title tags easy to scan by placing important keywords near the front. This ensures users (and Google) understand the essence of your content immediately and can pick out the title of your article more readily on the SERP page.

Adding your keywords as an afterthought to the end of the title tag loses impact. It also forces the searcher to read through each SERP entry to determine which one best reflects their needs. Keywords placed near the front of the title tag make this process much easier.

10. Avoid duplicate title tags.

Not only should every page on your website have its own unique title tag, you should also look at the title tags for other website pages competing for the click in the Search Result. Make sure that your title tag says something different and unique. What makes your title tag stand out from the rest?

Being different is what will you get the visitor click.

11. Remember, your title tags will also appear on social networks.

When an article is shared on social networks, the title tag is often displayed. This provides readers with an opportunity to quickly grasp the content.

Making your title tags clear and easy to read by following the tips and tricks can improve the visibility of your website in Search Results and increase the level of traffic to your website pages.

Do your title tags need revitalization? 1st on the List improves title tag clarity through keyword research and title tag strategies developed through years of experience. Call us today at 1-888-262-6687.

Check out some of our other articles that discuss the topic of title tags:

 

/by

How To Do Hyperlocal SEO Keyword Research

Even with keyword research tools in hand, doing Hyperlocal Keyword Research is a challenging venture.

Simply put, there’s not enough data available in most keyword research tools to provide definitive results for small businesses in humble locations.

Before we dive into this article, let’s first explain what we mean by “keyword research”.

Keyword research is the process of discovering what search queries people are typing into Search Engines like Google to find the types of products, services, or information you promote on your website. By bringing the content and words used on your website in line with what people are actually searching for you are optimizing your website.

There are plenty of keyword research tools available to determine how many times a specific phrase is searched, how many other websites mention the keyword, and how competitive the keyword is. These tools are great, but even the best keyword research tools lack data when it comes to very specific local areas – what we refer to as hyperlocal keyword research.

In a recent Whiteboard Friday, Rand Fishkin presents 3 Tactics for Hyperlocal Keywords for Local SEO in data-deprived locations.

In this article, I’ve outlined Fishkin’s three suggestions and then added three of my own ideas for SEOs working in the often-frustrating digital space of small centres.

1) Use Numbers from Nearby Regional Data

Rand suggests using data for larger centres in close proximity to your focus area as a stepping stone for ideas. He argues that searches in more populated areas could provide results that would likely be just as applicable to the geographically similar but more modest location.

2) Rely on Google Autosuggest

Presuming that Google presents autosuggested results in order of usage popularity, they can certainly provide a foundation for close examination. And, as suggested, they aren’t unique to Google, which means the information you glean from other search engines may be just as useful when comprehensively investigating keywords.

3) Explore Lexical Vs. SERP Suggestions

Lexical searching involves using semantically-related search terms. Presumably one would crack their Thesaurus open for this method, and hunker down for a few hours exploring all the possible variations of the keywords being explored. Often, this can bring up volumes of very unique and surprising results and in this way do what is called long tail keyword research.

SERP suggestions can be a lucrative source of related keywords used to search for the same item. Sometimes, very slight changes in phrasing or presentation from the suggestions can win you SERP placements you might not otherwise have thought possible. All variations are worth exploring.

4) Consider Regionalisms Vs. Common Terms

This is one area of keyword research that I don’t believe receives enough attention. Examining language variations by region (East Coast) provides a whole new set of search terms from those commonly used on the other side of the country (West Coast).

I’ll give you some examples which show researching regionally specific word variations before you begin serious local keyword investigation can be more fruitful than one might imagine.

Let’s say you are an SEO client that sells small boats which sailors tow behind or often store on their vessels. These tiny boats are used for emergency purposes as well as for shuttling food, water, fuel, and other necessities between the shore and the sailing vessel. You want better global representation for the watercraft you produce.

What name would you use for the vessel? And how would you do keyword research for the vessel name? Examining your regionalisms is where you need to start.

Below are some regional and global specific names for the same vessel:

Cockleshell (UK)
Sampan (Asian)
Skiff (UK)
Tender (AUS)
Wherry (UK)

Have any idea what I’m talking about?

Here’s a hint. Where I live (Canada), it might be called a Dinghy. Did you have an aha moment? I sure did! I could suddenly picture the vessel in my mind. Your customers will only be able to do that if you use Regional terms with which they are familiar.

5) Expand Your Keyword Horizons

Local keyword research doesn’t just mean trying search terms you might use yourself if searching for a specific item or service in the area in which you live. It depends a great deal on the regional phrases used in the area being promoted. Products and services are called different names in different locales. People who live in those locations are going to use search terms with which they are familiar. Make sure your SEO firm is aware of any regionalisms used to describe your products or services. Otherwise, you may be circumventing the local market entirely.

Regionalisms are evident across the US for many things, particularly food. Although several years old, a good follow up article after you finish reading this one is Selecting Keyword Variations Based on Gender, Age, and Region. It will give you an excellent starting point to determine how products or services might be researched in varying location-specific searches across North America.

6) Drop the Industry Jargon

This suggestion isn’t specific to just hyperlocal markets but it is still very important to think about when doing your keyword research. Stop researching industry jargon phrases and terms that only people within your trade would use.

What you call one product or service may be much different than what your actual consumers think they are looking for.

As you do your keyword research, stop and think about all the phone calls and in person experiences you’ve had with customers. What words do they use to describe the product, service or solution they are looking for?

That’s where your keyword research should start.

Moving Hyperlocal Keyword Research Forward

Once you’ve determined the regional variations you can then begin dialing-in some specific Google searches and going through points 1 – 3 above. You’ll most definitely discover a wider range of search terms through which you can pursue hyperlocal SEO aspirations.

If you’d like more information on Local SEO keyword research strategies or to inquire about how our professional keyword research strategies could benefit your company, contact 1st on the List today at 1-888-262-6687!

Related Articles:

/by