<\/p>\n
Questions this article addresses:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\u201cWhat are basic SEO techniques?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow can I get my website found on Google?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are the most important SEO tactics?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
Table of Contents: What are the various SEO Tactics?<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
1. SEO Basics for the Beginner<\/a><\/h3>\nWe will discuss the basics of search engine optimization, provide examples and share the most helpful articles on how to perform basic SEO techniques.<\/p>\n
2. What are the most important SEO techniques?<\/a><\/h3>\nThere are over 200 ranking factors in Google\u2019s ranking algorithm. We\u2019ll share with you the most important optimization tactics and provide our priority of top ranking factors, so you know where to focus your SEO efforts.<\/p>\n
3. SEO Best Practices \u2013 White Hat SEO<\/a><\/h3>\nThe internet has over 134 million results for \u201cSEO\u201d.\u00a0 With so much information available online about SEO, how does one identify \u201cbest SEO practices\u201d?<\/p>\n
4. What is Black Hat SEO & Should I Practice it?<\/a><\/h3>\nMany have heard about \u201cblack hat SEO\u201d but are unclear as to what it is and what to expect should one practice black hat SEO techniques.<\/p>\n
5. How Can I Become an SEO Expert?<\/a><\/h3>\nBecoming an SEO expert takes time and experience.\u00a0 While basic to advanced SEO techniques can be researched and understood by searching the internet for articles and videos, much more is required to become a true SEO expert.<\/p>\n
…<\/p>\n
1. SEO Basics for the Beginner<\/h2>\n
![\"SEO](\"https:\/\/webolutionsmarketingagency.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/SEO-Rankings-Analysis.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We are frequently asked by clients how they can help with search engine optimization efforts.\u00a0 Basic SEO techniques are not all that difficult to learn, understand and implement.\u00a0 The real secret behind SEO is not in understanding what it is and basic SEO techniques, rather great SEO results comes from experience, trial and error, and patience.<\/p>\n
Before covering the basics of search optimization, it is important to understand that while one may learn and practice elementary optimization tactics, achieving first page results as an SEO do-it-yourselfer is difficult to achieve.\u00a0 Why? Because basic SEO techniques seldom achieve first page rankings.\u00a0 SEO is both an art and a science that requires a much more in-depth knowledge learned through trial and error and years of experience testing various optimization techniques.<\/p>\n
Understanding the basics of SEO is ideal for entrepreneurs with limited funds as well as for online marketing professionals who are hiring a search engine optimization company<\/a>.\u00a0 The following 10 SEO tactics will help one improve rankings and stay ahead of competitors who are not practicing website optimization.<\/p>\nTop 10 Basic SEO Techniques for Beginners<\/h2>\nBasic SEO Technique 1. Keyword Research<\/em><\/h3>\nThe first step in website optimization is to understand what terms or keywords people are entering into Google search to find answers and information about your product or service.\u00a0 Perhaps the best tool to perform keyword research<\/a> is Google\u2019s keyword planner.\u00a0 While other keyword research tools are available, such as MOZ and SEMrush, why not go directly to the source?<\/p>\nTop Keyword Research Tools<\/h4>\n\n- Google Adwords Keyword Planner<\/a><\/li>\n
- SEMrush<\/a><\/li>\n
- MOZ Keyword Explorer<\/a><\/li>\n
- ahrefs Keywords Explorer<\/a><\/li>\n
- KWFinder<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Keyword Research Tips<\/h4>\n
Performing keyword research can be a bit confusing and, therefore, intimidating. If you are not familiar with how to use any of the above keyword research tools, be patient and understand that you will have a learning curve that, at first, will take you longer to figure out and execute keyword research.<\/p>\n
1. Do NOT simply pick keywords with the most search volume.<\/p>\n
2.\u00a0Rather than sort your keyword data by search volume, try a descending sort on the \u201cCPC\u201d column, which is the cost-per-click data.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Well, the average CPC is an indicator of how \u201cvaluable\u201d a keyword is toward converting into a lead or sale.\u00a0 This makes sense because businesses will bid more for keywords that will convert to a lead or sale.\u00a0 Typically, high search volume terms are one or two-word terms that are very generic and all-encompassing.\u00a0 The goal of keyword research is to <\/em><\/strong>choose the right keywords<\/em><\/strong><\/a> that will help your business grow, not just your website traffic.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n3. Another important factor to consider when selecting keywords to target for better rankings is the level of competition. In general, websites that are larger in terms of number of pages indexed by Google tend to carry more weight and, therefore, have an advantage to ranking better than smaller websites (all other things being equal).<\/p>\n
If you have a website with 20 pages and are attempting to compete against a website with 100 pages, it will be very difficult to succeed, therefore, find competing websites of approximately the same size as your site and target the keywords for which these similarly sized competitors are ranking.\u00a0 Competing for more competitive terms with higher search volume will require the production of new content\/website pages.<\/p>\n
Great Resources for \u201cHow to Perform Keyword Research\u201d<\/h4>\n
For more in-depth coverage of how to perform keyword research step-by-step, I recommend these resources:<\/p>\n
\n- MOZ \u2013 Beginners Guide to SEO \u2013 Keyword Research<\/a><\/li>\n
- YouTube Video \u2013 How to do Proper Keyword Research<\/a><\/li>\n
- ahrefs \u2013 How to do Keyword Research for SEO<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\u00a0You may also like another article I wrote on How to Choose the Right Keywords<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Basic SEO Technique 2. \u00a0Competitive Analysis<\/em><\/h3>\nIn step 1 we covered the importance of keyword research.\u00a0 An important part of keyword research is understanding competitors.\u00a0 A competitive analysis helps to identify important SEO considerations such as website size and keywords for which competitors are ranking.<\/p>\n
Because the size of websites impact rankings, one must know how the size of their website (number of pages indexed) compares to competitors.\u00a0 The simple way to approach this is to select a few of your most important keywords and perform a search in Google.\u00a0 Create a spreadsheet that shows several of the top-ranking websites for those terms.\u00a0 We recommend at least 5 competitors for 3-5 of the important keywords you\u2019ve identified.<\/p>\n
Here is an example of how a competitive analysis spreadsheet might look:<\/p>\n
Rather than restating a previous article I wrote on how to perform a competitive analysis, please see: How to Perform a Competitor Analysis for SEO<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Basic SEO Technique 3. Website Audit<\/em><\/h3>\nMost articles on \u201chow to perform SEO\u201d and \u201cthe most important ranking factors for SEO\u201d do not mention something as important as performing a website audit.\u00a0 Perhaps this is one reason why Webolutions\u2019 SEO Services<\/a> perform so well.\u00a0 We believe in cleaning-up technical issues with a website prior to performing search engine optimization.<\/p>\nThink of it this way, if you have a car with mechanical issues or if it is old and using less advanced technology, the car simply will not perform efficiently.\u00a0 The same is true for SEO.\u00a0 If your website has technical issues, it simply will not respond to SEO efforts as well as a well-running website.\u00a0 To realize the full impact of website optimization, ensure you correct website problems.<\/p>\n
How to Perform a Website Audit<\/h4>\n
The depth of a website audit may vary.\u00a0 An audit can be very basic or extensive.\u00a0 For those just learning SEO, we\u2019ll stick to understanding how to perform a basic website audit.\u00a0 Perhaps the simplest method to perform a website audit for beginners is to use SEMrush\u2019s website audit tool<\/a>.<\/p>\nThis tool is a great starting point when performing a site audit and will cover the most important issues that might be negatively impacting your website\u2019s performance and rankings. \u00a0\u00a0The tool provides an overall website health\/audit score on a scale from 0-100.\u00a0 As a point of reference, a score of 80 or better is good.\u00a0 Some of our client\u2019s websites had scores in the 40-50 range.\u00a0 When website issues were corrected to bring their score above 80, rankings improved significantly.<\/p>\n
Great Resources for \u201cHow to Perform a Website Audit\u201d<\/h4>\n
For more in-depth coverage of how to perform a site audit step-by-step, I recommend these resources:<\/p>\n
\n- SEMrush \u2013 Site Audit<\/a><\/li>\n
- YouTube Video \u2013 How to do a Technical SEO Audit for Your Website<\/a><\/li>\n
- ahrefs \u2013 16-Step SEO Audit<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
You may also find another article I wrote useful: SEO Analysis \u2013 SEO Audit<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Basic SEO Technique 4. Fix Website Issues (speed, mobile friendly, SSL)<\/em><\/h3>\nAssociated with a website audit, but important enough to address separately are ranking factors associated with a website visitor\u2019s \u201cuser experience\u201d. Factors like website speed, website mobile responsiveness and site security are important search optimization elements.<\/p>\n
Website speed is an important Google ranking factor.<\/em><\/strong> All other things being equal, a slow website will not rank as well as a faster site.\u00a0 Perhaps the most important thing to understand about Google is that they continually strive to deliver better results for their users.<\/p>\nHow many times have you visited a website to find that the page does not load quickly?\u00a0 What do you do?\u00a0 Like most everyone, you leave the website and look for another result in Google that loads quickly and provides a better user experience.\u00a0 Google knows this and, therefore, lowers rankings for websites that take too long to load.<\/p>\n
Another important ranking factor is whether one\u2019s website is mobile friendly.<\/em><\/strong> What does this mean and why is it important?\u00a0 A couple of years ago, the use of mobile devices like smart phones and tables surpassed desktop computers as the primary means of search on Google.<\/p>\nMore searches are performed from mobile devices, therefore, Google\u2019s goal of providing a good user experience favors \u201cresponsive websites\u201d.\u00a0 A responsive website changes its layout depending upon the size of the screen being used and delivers a better experience for the user.\u00a0 Many older websites are not responsive and, therefore, at a competitive disadvantage.\u00a0 Do you need a new responsive website?<\/a><\/p>\nThe security of a website is also important to Google.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 They do not want to be sending search users to websites that are not secure and might even harm one\u2019s computer with a virus or malware. They follow the adage \u201cbetter safe than sorry\u201d, therefore, one\u2019s website should install and use an SSL (secure socket layer) to encrypt and protect the website as data is shared over the internet.<\/p>\nMore than ever, internet users are aware of the frequent security issues with various websites.\u00a0 To ensure your website is not at a competitive disadvantage, use an SSL certificate on your website.\u00a0 You can tell if your site uses SSL if the web address shows \u201chttps\u201d versus \u201chttp\u201d.<\/p>\n
A few other metrics to watch (provided by Google analytics) related to \u201cuser experience\u201d are website bounce rate, number of page views and time spent on one\u2019s website.\u00a0 Google can track how long visitors stay on your website and how many pages you visit.\u00a0 Websites that provide a better experience for visitors typically have higher \u201cduration\u201d or time on site and view more pages.\u00a0 All other things being equal, Google will tend to rank these websites above websites with lower time on site and page view metrics.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Basic SEO Technique 5. Meta Tags (title\/description)<\/em><\/h3>\nMeta tags, including Title and Meta Description are among the most important ranking factors.\u00a0 To rank well for a keyword or phrase, Google needs to understand what your web site and pages are about.\u00a0 Meta tags are critical to conveying this information to Google.<\/p>\n
If one were to look at the source code of a web page, you\u2019ll notice that the title tag and meta description are located in the page header area, which is toward the top of the code.\u00a0 Because these elements are so high up in the code, they are among the first things that provide Google an understanding of what your website and a web page are about.<\/p>\n
Meta tags should contain variations and synonyms of the keywords for which you wish the page to rank well.\u00a0 Proximity is important.\u00a0 By this, we mean that listing your primary term toward the front of your meta information is more beneficial for rankings.\u00a0 A note of caution, do not keyword stuff your meta tags.\u00a0 This is a common problem for those new to SEO and is a common area of abuse (which is why Google no longer considers the meta keywords tag).\u00a0 Your title and meta description should stand out from other listings in Google and encourage users to choose your listing over others on the page.<\/p>\n
Finding the right balance of keyword inclusion and creating interest is both a science and art that may require \u201ctweaking\u201d to find the best combination that helps one rank well and results in a search user selecting your website over others.\u00a0 Improperly aligning your meta tags with the content\/information on the page provides a poor user experience and will likely result in your page being moved lower in the results.<\/p>\n
For websites built with WordPress, there is a very good plugin from Yoast that helps optimize meta tags.\u00a0 Learn more here: Yoast SEO Plugin<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Basic SEO Technique 6. Page Content \/ On-Page SEO<\/em><\/h3>\n![\"SEO](\"https:\/\/webolutionsmarketingagency.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Content-Marketing-1.jpg\")
As with meta tags found in the header of a website, the text or content of a web page sends signals to Google about the topic of your page and impacts rankings.\u00a0 If, for example, you want a page to rank well for \u201cdog food\u201d, then the page should be about dog food and contain words related to dogs and canines as well as food and nutrition.<\/p>\n
If the page does not mention these keywords on the page and focuses instead on pet food for various types of pets, then Google does not have a clear understanding and the page may very well rank for pet food rather than dog food.<\/p>\n
To ensure you are sending the correct signals to Google, include your primary keyword(s) in the \u201cheader tags\u201d.\u00a0 On-page headings are different than the source code header.\u00a0 Think of on-page headers in terms of the table of contents of a book or the outline of a term paper where the topic is broken down into categories, sub-categories and examples.<\/p>\n
Our goal is to create on-page content in such a way that we introduce the main topic or subject of our page toward the top and continue to discuss this topic in greater detail down the page.<\/p>\n
Perhaps a visual representation would help.\u00a0 Let\u2019s say we were writing a page about How to Perform SEO, an outline for this might look like this:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Title: How to Perform SEO<\/p>\n
I. Introduction: What is SEO?<\/p>\n
A. History of SEO<\/p>\n
B. Benefits of SEO<\/p>\n
II. Basic SEO Techniques<\/p>\n
A. On-page SEO Tactics<\/p>\n
B. Off-Page SEO Tactics<\/p>\n
III. Intermediate SEO Techniques<\/p>\n
A. Website Audit<\/p>\n
B. Content Audit<\/p>\n
C. Technical SEO Audit<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When performing on-page optimization, we would want to follow this type of process.\u00a0 The H1 (most important) header would be the title: How to Perform SEO.\u00a0 The H2 headers (next most important) would include \u201cIntroduction: What is SEO?<\/a>\u201d, \u201cBasic SEO Techniques\u201d, and \u201cIntermediate SEO Techniques\u201d.\u00a0 The other items (A, B, C) in our outline above would become H3 headers.\u00a0 If one were to provide examples, the header might use an H4 tag.<\/p>\nStructuring your content like this is good on-page optimization and will help Google understand the semantic meaning of the page from macro to more micro topics.\u00a0 The next step is to write informative content that is useful to users and provides them some benefit.<\/p>\n
There are many articles and videos about \u201ckeyword density\u201d on a page.\u00a0 If you\u2019re are writing well thought out content without trying to stuff your keywords into the content, then you don\u2019t need to worry about measuring keyword density.\u00a0 Simply be sure to include your keywords once or twice in your headers and a few times in the copy and your page should be in good shape.<\/p>\n
Similar to the meta title and description, you may want to make minor changes here and there to see if it impacts the rank of the page.\u00a0 You might change the order of words around a bit or add more synonyms related to your primary keyword.\u00a0 Because there are so many ranking factors, of which on-page content optimization is only one part, don\u2019t become overly concerned about how well the page is optimized.\u00a0 You\u2019ll likely find that you begin adding more and more occurrences of the keyword and the content begins to read poorly.<\/p>\n
Remember, Google now considers user engagement metrics as part of their ranking algorithm.\u00a0 Rather than worrying about where and how many keywords are on the page, you are better off focusing on writing useful content that visitors may come back to read\/reference again as well as share with others on social media or their own website.\u00a0 When someone else\u2019s website references your content and provides a link to that page, this is referred to as a backlink.\u00a0 The next section discusses the importance of backlinks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Basic SEO Technique 7. Backlink Profile<\/em><\/h3>\nMany SEO companies believe that backlinks trump all other types of SEO<\/a> elements.\u00a0 There is no doubt that backlinks are important, however, because so many SEO consultants<\/a> have manipulated backlinks in terms of over-optimized anchor text (the part of the text that you click on to be taken to another page) and creating un-natural links (blackhat SEO techniques), Google has lowered the weighting\/value of backlinks in their algorithm in favor of other factors that cannot be as easily manipulated, like user engagement.<\/p>\nA backlink profile analysis will consider attributes like:<\/p>\n
\n- The quality of links to your website<\/em><\/strong> (i.e. Domain & Page Authority). One good quality link from, say, the Huffington Post is better than 100 links from low quality websites. The key to acquiring good quality links to one\u2019s website is writing good quality content that others will reference.<\/li>\n
- The content and meta tags of the page linking to you.<\/em><\/strong> The topical relationship of the page linking to your website matters.\u00a0 Using our earlier example of wanting to rank for \u201cdog food\u201d, a link from an article on \u201cThe Top 10 Nutritious Dog Foods\u201d will help your rankings a lot more than a page about breeds of dogs or a totally unrelated page.<\/li>\n
- The quantity of links to a website.<\/em><\/strong> As mentioned above, the quality of links is more important than quantity, however, the total number of links is a ranking factor.\u00a0 A website with 10 good quality backlinks will have a tough time competing against a website with hundreds of backlinks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
Top Resources for \u201cHow to Perform a Backlink Analysis\u201d<\/h4>\n
For more in-depth coverage of how to perform a backlink profile analysis step-by-step, I recommend these resources:<\/p>\n
\n- How to Perform a Competitive Backlink Analysis<\/a><\/li>\n
- MOZ \u2013 Guide to Competitive Backlink Analysis<\/a><\/li>\n
- YouTube Video \u2013 How to Conduct a Backlink Analysis<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
Basic SEO Technique 8. User Experience<\/em><\/h3>\nEarlier we mentioned that Google has added to its ranking algorithm user engagement metrics like time on site, page views, etc. because other factors like backlink quantity and anchor text are easily manipulated.\u00a0 User engagement metrics are not as easily manipulated.\u00a0 By providing a good user experience, one helps their website rankings.<\/p>\n
How Can a Website\u2019s User Engagement be Improved?<\/h4>\n
Website design<\/a> is critical to improving user engagement and site conversions.<\/p>\nOne should always be considering how to provide the best website user experience as possible.\u00a0 After all, what good is it to have a visitor to your website leave immediately because of a poor experience.\u00a0 All the SEO in the world won\u2019t change the fact that your website will not convert to a lead or sale because no one stays on a difficult to use website.<\/p>\n
Among the top priorities for improving user engagement are website speed, mobile friendliness (responsive website), simple navigation that supports the goal(s) of your website, an un-cluttered layout that has plenty of negative space (blank space), good internal link building that takes a user from one area to related areas that may be useful, choice of colors, choice of graphics, content and many other factors.\u00a0 Simply consider what makes you stay on or leave a website.<\/p>\n
Top Resources for \u201cHow to Improve a Website\u2019s User Experience\u201d<\/h4>\n\n- User Experience Basics<\/a><\/li>\n
- SEMrush \u2013 8 Key Tips for Improving Your Site\u2019s User Experience<\/a><\/li>\n
- YouTube Video \u2013 How to Improve User Experience to Boost Conversion<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
Basic SEO Technique 9. New Content<\/em><\/h3>\nPerhaps you\u2019ve heard the saying \u201ccontent is king\u201d.\u00a0 This refers to the importance of a website having fresh\/new content added to their website on a frequent basis.\u00a0 What is frequent?\u00a0 We recommend at least 2 new pages a month and prefer 4 or more.<\/p>\n
Why is Fresh Content So Important?<\/h4>\n
Over time the lack of new content to one\u2019s website results in the website becoming \u201cstale\u201d.\u00a0 If one\u2019s website lacks new content, why would Google come back to your website to re-index the pages?\u00a0 There are no new pages.\u00a0 There hasn\u2019t been for some time.\u00a0 In Google\u2019s eyes, this is a sign that the website is not current.\u00a0 It is not being updated with new information and ideas.\u00a0 The more frequently you add content, the more frequently Google will crawl your website for new pages to include in its index.<\/p>\n
Perhaps even more important is new content means new web pages, which means the size of one\u2019s website is growing.\u00a0 Larger websites typically rank better than smaller websites (in terms of number of pages indexed).\u00a0 More pages mean more content, which means more occurrences of related keywords and keyword variations.\u00a0 More pages allow for more internal links to champion pages (those pages we wish to rank for a targeted set of keywords).<\/p>\n
This article for example, provides useful information and resources for visitors to webolutionsmarketingagency.com.\u00a0 My hope is that you will find at least some of the content useful and share it with others.\u00a0 The article is another page on our website that is topically related to SEO and helps support our rankings for SEO related terms.\u00a0 Additionally, where applicable, I can provide users links to other pages on our website that provide additional information.<\/p>\n
New (useful) content encourages backlinks from other websites and helps to improve a website\u2019s authority and credibility.\u00a0 The result of more pages and more backlinks is better rankings.<\/p>\n
Best Resources for How to Write Website Content<\/h4>\n\n- The 11 Golden Rules of Writing Content for Your Website<\/a><\/li>\n
- YouTube Video \u2013 Ultimate SEO Copywriting Tips That Still Works in 2018 & Beyond<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
You may also like these related articles on our website:<\/p>\n
Content Trends That Will Transform Your Marketing<\/a><\/p>\nWeb Content Marketing \u2013 What is Content Marketing?<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Basic SEO Technique 10. Clear Site Semantics<\/em><\/h3>\nWhat do we mean by \u201cwebsite semantics\u201d or \u201csemantic search\u201d?\u00a0 Quite simply it means that there are several sources available for Google to better understand what your website and a web page are about.\u00a0 Keyword stuffing the same term no longer works and provides a poor user experience.\u00a0 Rather, it is more advantageous for search engine optimization to provide Google several different, yet related, signals.<\/p>\n
Providing Google a clear understanding of what your website is about helps improve rankings.\u00a0 When we talk about this in terms of \u201csemantics\u201d we mean that our content is organized in groups of topically related information.\u00a0 Some SEO articles refer to this as \u201csiloing\u201d or \u201csilos\u201d where topically related content is grouped together in a meaningful way for users.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s say you have a website about pet food.\u00a0 Our topic silos might be Dog Food, Cat Food, Fish Food and Bird Food.\u00a0 While a website may very well interlink all these pages, it will not be as well optimized for search as when topically related content is grouped together.\u00a0 So, for semantic website optimization, we might have all pages related to Dogs interlink and grouped together.\u00a0 The same for cats, fish and birds.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019d like more information, this article may be helpful: Everything You Need to Know About Semantic Search And What It Means for Your Website<\/a><\/p>\n…<\/p>\n
2. What are the most important SEO techniques?<\/h2>\n
There are over 200 ranking factors in Google\u2019s search algorithm. We\u2019ll share with you the most important optimization tactics and provide our priority of top ranking factors, so you know where to focus your SEO efforts.<\/p>\n
Webolutions\u2019 List of the Top 7 SEO Factors to Rank Well<\/h2>\n\n- Keyword Research \u2013 you must understand what terms are most beneficial for your business<\/li>\n
- Clean-up Website Problems \u2013 ensure your website is mobile friendly, responsive & secure<\/li>\n
- Meta Title & Description \u2013 attract visitors with interesting page titles and descriptions<\/li>\n
- Headers \/ Headings \u2013 organize your page content with headers<\/li>\n
- Unique Content \u2013 provide visitors with valuable content that is useful<\/li>\n
- User Engagement \u2013 make your website easy to use and full of unique, interesting content<\/li>\n
- Quality Backlinks \u2013 remove poor quality backlinks and attract high quality links<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
…<\/p>\n
3. SEO Best Practices \u2013 White Hat SEO<\/h2>\n
![\"White](\"https:\/\/webolutionsmarketingagency.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/White-Grey-Black-Hat-SEO.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The internet has over 134 million results for \u201cSEO\u201d.\u00a0 With so much information available online about SEO, how does one identify \u201cbest SEO practices\u201d?\u00a0 Quite simply SEO best practices adhere to Google\u2019s Webmaster Guidelines.\u00a0 While Google encourages website optimization to deliver the best results to users of its search engine, avoid attempts to trick or manipulate rankings.\u00a0 Perhaps the most popular tactic to manipulate rankings are creating backlinks with optimized anchor text.<\/p>\n
We will discuss the basics of search engine optimization, provide examples and share the most helpful articles on how to perform basic SEO techniques.<\/p>\n
2. What are the most important SEO techniques?<\/a><\/h3>\nThere are over 200 ranking factors in Google\u2019s ranking algorithm. We\u2019ll share with you the most important optimization tactics and provide our priority of top ranking factors, so you know where to focus your SEO efforts.<\/p>\n
3. SEO Best Practices \u2013 White Hat SEO<\/a><\/h3>\nThe internet has over 134 million results for \u201cSEO\u201d.\u00a0 With so much information available online about SEO, how does one identify \u201cbest SEO practices\u201d?<\/p>\n
4. What is Black Hat SEO & Should I Practice it?<\/a><\/h3>\nMany have heard about \u201cblack hat SEO\u201d but are unclear as to what it is and what to expect should one practice black hat SEO techniques.<\/p>\n
5. How Can I Become an SEO Expert?<\/a><\/h3>\nBecoming an SEO expert takes time and experience.\u00a0 While basic to advanced SEO techniques can be researched and understood by searching the internet for articles and videos, much more is required to become a true SEO expert.<\/p>\n
…<\/p>\n
1. SEO Basics for the Beginner<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We are frequently asked by clients how they can help with search engine optimization efforts.\u00a0 Basic SEO techniques are not all that difficult to learn, understand and implement.\u00a0 The real secret behind SEO is not in understanding what it is and basic SEO techniques, rather great SEO results comes from experience, trial and error, and patience.<\/p>\n
Before covering the basics of search optimization, it is important to understand that while one may learn and practice elementary optimization tactics, achieving first page results as an SEO do-it-yourselfer is difficult to achieve.\u00a0 Why? Because basic SEO techniques seldom achieve first page rankings.\u00a0 SEO is both an art and a science that requires a much more in-depth knowledge learned through trial and error and years of experience testing various optimization techniques.<\/p>\n
Understanding the basics of SEO is ideal for entrepreneurs with limited funds as well as for online marketing professionals who are hiring a search engine optimization company<\/a>.\u00a0 The following 10 SEO tactics will help one improve rankings and stay ahead of competitors who are not practicing website optimization.<\/p>\nTop 10 Basic SEO Techniques for Beginners<\/h2>\nBasic SEO Technique 1. Keyword Research<\/em><\/h3>\nThe first step in website optimization is to understand what terms or keywords people are entering into Google search to find answers and information about your product or service.\u00a0 Perhaps the best tool to perform keyword research<\/a> is Google\u2019s keyword planner.\u00a0 While other keyword research tools are available, such as MOZ and SEMrush, why not go directly to the source?<\/p>\nTop Keyword Research Tools<\/h4>\n\n- Google Adwords Keyword Planner<\/a><\/li>\n
- SEMrush<\/a><\/li>\n
- MOZ Keyword Explorer<\/a><\/li>\n
- ahrefs Keywords Explorer<\/a><\/li>\n
- KWFinder<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Keyword Research Tips<\/h4>\n
Performing keyword research can be a bit confusing and, therefore, intimidating. If you are not familiar with how to use any of the above keyword research tools, be patient and understand that you will have a learning curve that, at first, will take you longer to figure out and execute keyword research.<\/p>\n
1. Do NOT simply pick keywords with the most search volume.<\/p>\n
2.\u00a0Rather than sort your keyword data by search volume, try a descending sort on the \u201cCPC\u201d column, which is the cost-per-click data.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Well, the average CPC is an indicator of how \u201cvaluable\u201d a keyword is toward converting into a lead or sale.\u00a0 This makes sense because businesses will bid more for keywords that will convert to a lead or sale.\u00a0 Typically, high search volume terms are one or two-word terms that are very generic and all-encompassing.\u00a0 The goal of keyword research is to <\/em><\/strong>choose the right keywords<\/em><\/strong><\/a> that will help your business grow, not just your website traffic.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n3. Another important factor to consider when selecting keywords to target for better rankings is the level of competition. In general, websites that are larger in terms of number of pages indexed by Google tend to carry more weight and, therefore, have an advantage to ranking better than smaller websites (all other things being equal).<\/p>\n
If you have a website with 20 pages and are attempting to compete against a website with 100 pages, it will be very difficult to succeed, therefore, find competing websites of approximately the same size as your site and target the keywords for which these similarly sized competitors are ranking.\u00a0 Competing for more competitive terms with higher search volume will require the production of new content\/website pages.<\/p>\n
Great Resources for \u201cHow to Perform Keyword Research\u201d<\/h4>\n
For more in-depth coverage of how to perform keyword research step-by-step, I recommend these resources:<\/p>\n
\n- MOZ \u2013 Beginners Guide to SEO \u2013 Keyword Research<\/a><\/li>\n
- YouTube Video \u2013 How to do Proper Keyword Research<\/a><\/li>\n
- ahrefs \u2013 How to do Keyword Research for SEO<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\u00a0You may also like another article I wrote on How to Choose the Right Keywords<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Basic SEO Technique 2. \u00a0Competitive Analysis<\/em><\/h3>\nIn step 1 we covered the importance of keyword research.\u00a0 An important part of keyword research is understanding competitors.\u00a0 A competitive analysis helps to identify important SEO considerations such as website size and keywords for which competitors are ranking.<\/p>\n
Because the size of websites impact rankings, one must know how the size of their website (number of pages indexed) compares to competitors.\u00a0 The simple way to approach this is to select a few of your most important keywords and perform a search in Google.\u00a0 Create a spreadsheet that shows several of the top-ranking websites for those terms.\u00a0 We recommend at least 5 competitors for 3-5 of the important keywords you\u2019ve identified.<\/p>\n
Here is an example of how a competitive analysis spreadsheet might look:<\/p>\n
Rather than restating a previous article I wrote on how to perform a competitive analysis, please see: How to Perform a Competitor Analysis for SEO<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Basic SEO Technique 3. Website Audit<\/em><\/h3>\nMost articles on \u201chow to perform SEO\u201d and \u201cthe most important ranking factors for SEO\u201d do not mention something as important as performing a website audit.\u00a0 Perhaps this is one reason why Webolutions\u2019 SEO Services<\/a> perform so well.\u00a0 We believe in cleaning-up technical issues with a website prior to performing search engine optimization.<\/p>\nThink of it this way, if you have a car with mechanical issues or if it is old and using less advanced technology, the car simply will not perform efficiently.\u00a0 The same is true for SEO.\u00a0 If your website has technical issues, it simply will not respond to SEO efforts as well as a well-running website.\u00a0 To realize the full impact of website optimization, ensure you correct website problems.<\/p>\n
How to Perform a Website Audit<\/h4>\n
The depth of a website audit may vary.\u00a0 An audit can be very basic or extensive.\u00a0 For those just learning SEO, we\u2019ll stick to understanding how to perform a basic website audit.\u00a0 Perhaps the simplest method to perform a website audit for beginners is to use SEMrush\u2019s website audit tool<\/a>.<\/p>\nThis tool is a great starting point when performing a site audit and will cover the most important issues that might be negatively impacting your website\u2019s performance and rankings. \u00a0\u00a0The tool provides an overall website health\/audit score on a scale from 0-100.\u00a0 As a point of reference, a score of 80 or better is good.\u00a0 Some of our client\u2019s websites had scores in the 40-50 range.\u00a0 When website issues were corrected to bring their score above 80, rankings improved significantly.<\/p>\n
Great Resources for \u201cHow to Perform a Website Audit\u201d<\/h4>\n
For more in-depth coverage of how to perform a site audit step-by-step, I recommend these resources:<\/p>\n
\n- SEMrush \u2013 Site Audit<\/a><\/li>\n
- YouTube Video \u2013 How to do a Technical SEO Audit for Your Website<\/a><\/li>\n
- ahrefs \u2013 16-Step SEO Audit<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
You may also find another article I wrote useful: SEO Analysis \u2013 SEO Audit<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Basic SEO Technique 4. Fix Website Issues (speed, mobile friendly, SSL)<\/em><\/h3>\nAssociated with a website audit, but important enough to address separately are ranking factors associated with a website visitor\u2019s \u201cuser experience\u201d. Factors like website speed, website mobile responsiveness and site security are important search optimization elements.<\/p>\n
Website speed is an important Google ranking factor.<\/em><\/strong> All other things being equal, a slow website will not rank as well as a faster site.\u00a0 Perhaps the most important thing to understand about Google is that they continually strive to deliver better results for their users.<\/p>\nHow many times have you visited a website to find that the page does not load quickly?\u00a0 What do you do?\u00a0 Like most everyone, you leave the website and look for another result in Google that loads quickly and provides a better user experience.\u00a0 Google knows this and, therefore, lowers rankings for websites that take too long to load.<\/p>\n
Another important ranking factor is whether one\u2019s website is mobile friendly.<\/em><\/strong> What does this mean and why is it important?\u00a0 A couple of years ago, the use of mobile devices like smart phones and tables surpassed desktop computers as the primary means of search on Google.<\/p>\nMore searches are performed from mobile devices, therefore, Google\u2019s goal of providing a good user experience favors \u201cresponsive websites\u201d.\u00a0 A responsive website changes its layout depending upon the size of the screen being used and delivers a better experience for the user.\u00a0 Many older websites are not responsive and, therefore, at a competitive disadvantage.\u00a0 Do you need a new responsive website?<\/a><\/p>\nThe security of a website is also important to Google.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 They do not want to be sending search users to websites that are not secure and might even harm one\u2019s computer with a virus or malware. They follow the adage \u201cbetter safe than sorry\u201d, therefore, one\u2019s website should install and use an SSL (secure socket layer) to encrypt and protect the website as data is shared over the internet.<\/p>\nMore than ever, internet users are aware of the frequent security issues with various websites.\u00a0 To ensure your website is not at a competitive disadvantage, use an SSL certificate on your website.\u00a0 You can tell if your site uses SSL if the web address shows \u201chttps\u201d versus \u201chttp\u201d.<\/p>\n
A few other metrics to watch (provided by Google analytics) related to \u201cuser experience\u201d are website bounce rate, number of page views and time spent on one\u2019s website.\u00a0 Google can track how long visitors stay on your website and how many pages you visit.\u00a0 Websites that provide a better experience for visitors typically have higher \u201cduration\u201d or time on site and view more pages.\u00a0 All other things being equal, Google will tend to rank these websites above websites with lower time on site and page view metrics.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Basic SEO Technique 5. Meta Tags (title\/description)<\/em><\/h3>\nMeta tags, including Title and Meta Description are among the most important ranking factors.\u00a0 To rank well for a keyword or phrase, Google needs to understand what your web site and pages are about.\u00a0 Meta tags are critical to conveying this information to Google.<\/p>\n
If one were to look at the source code of a web page, you\u2019ll notice that the title tag and meta description are located in the page header area, which is toward the top of the code.\u00a0 Because these elements are so high up in the code, they are among the first things that provide Google an understanding of what your website and a web page are about.<\/p>\n
Meta tags should contain variations and synonyms of the keywords for which you wish the page to rank well.\u00a0 Proximity is important.\u00a0 By this, we mean that listing your primary term toward the front of your meta information is more beneficial for rankings.\u00a0 A note of caution, do not keyword stuff your meta tags.\u00a0 This is a common problem for those new to SEO and is a common area of abuse (which is why Google no longer considers the meta keywords tag).\u00a0 Your title and meta description should stand out from other listings in Google and encourage users to choose your listing over others on the page.<\/p>\n
Finding the right balance of keyword inclusion and creating interest is both a science and art that may require \u201ctweaking\u201d to find the best combination that helps one rank well and results in a search user selecting your website over others.\u00a0 Improperly aligning your meta tags with the content\/information on the page provides a poor user experience and will likely result in your page being moved lower in the results.<\/p>\n
For websites built with WordPress, there is a very good plugin from Yoast that helps optimize meta tags.\u00a0 Learn more here: Yoast SEO Plugin<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Basic SEO Technique 6. Page Content \/ On-Page SEO<\/em><\/h3>\nAs with meta tags found in the header of a website, the text or content of a web page sends signals to Google about the topic of your page and impacts rankings.\u00a0 If, for example, you want a page to rank well for \u201cdog food\u201d, then the page should be about dog food and contain words related to dogs and canines as well as food and nutrition.<\/p>\n
If the page does not mention these keywords on the page and focuses instead on pet food for various types of pets, then Google does not have a clear understanding and the page may very well rank for pet food rather than dog food.<\/p>\n
To ensure you are sending the correct signals to Google, include your primary keyword(s) in the \u201cheader tags\u201d.\u00a0 On-page headings are different than the source code header.\u00a0 Think of on-page headers in terms of the table of contents of a book or the outline of a term paper where the topic is broken down into categories, sub-categories and examples.<\/p>\n
Our goal is to create on-page content in such a way that we introduce the main topic or subject of our page toward the top and continue to discuss this topic in greater detail down the page.<\/p>\n
Perhaps a visual representation would help.\u00a0 Let\u2019s say we were writing a page about How to Perform SEO, an outline for this might look like this:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Title: How to Perform SEO<\/p>\n
I. Introduction: What is SEO?<\/p>\n
A. History of SEO<\/p>\n
B. Benefits of SEO<\/p>\n
II. Basic SEO Techniques<\/p>\n
A. On-page SEO Tactics<\/p>\n
B. Off-Page SEO Tactics<\/p>\n
III. Intermediate SEO Techniques<\/p>\n
A. Website Audit<\/p>\n
B. Content Audit<\/p>\n
C. Technical SEO Audit<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When performing on-page optimization, we would want to follow this type of process.\u00a0 The H1 (most important) header would be the title: How to Perform SEO.\u00a0 The H2 headers (next most important) would include \u201cIntroduction: What is SEO?<\/a>\u201d, \u201cBasic SEO Techniques\u201d, and \u201cIntermediate SEO Techniques\u201d.\u00a0 The other items (A, B, C) in our outline above would become H3 headers.\u00a0 If one were to provide examples, the header might use an H4 tag.<\/p>\nStructuring your content like this is good on-page optimization and will help Google understand the semantic meaning of the page from macro to more micro topics.\u00a0 The next step is to write informative content that is useful to users and provides them some benefit.<\/p>\n
There are many articles and videos about \u201ckeyword density\u201d on a page.\u00a0 If you\u2019re are writing well thought out content without trying to stuff your keywords into the content, then you don\u2019t need to worry about measuring keyword density.\u00a0 Simply be sure to include your keywords once or twice in your headers and a few times in the copy and your page should be in good shape.<\/p>\n
Similar to the meta title and description, you may want to make minor changes here and there to see if it impacts the rank of the page.\u00a0 You might change the order of words around a bit or add more synonyms related to your primary keyword.\u00a0 Because there are so many ranking factors, of which on-page content optimization is only one part, don\u2019t become overly concerned about how well the page is optimized.\u00a0 You\u2019ll likely find that you begin adding more and more occurrences of the keyword and the content begins to read poorly.<\/p>\n
Remember, Google now considers user engagement metrics as part of their ranking algorithm.\u00a0 Rather than worrying about where and how many keywords are on the page, you are better off focusing on writing useful content that visitors may come back to read\/reference again as well as share with others on social media or their own website.\u00a0 When someone else\u2019s website references your content and provides a link to that page, this is referred to as a backlink.\u00a0 The next section discusses the importance of backlinks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Basic SEO Technique 7. Backlink Profile<\/em><\/h3>\nMany SEO companies believe that backlinks trump all other types of SEO<\/a> elements.\u00a0 There is no doubt that backlinks are important, however, because so many SEO consultants<\/a> have manipulated backlinks in terms of over-optimized anchor text (the part of the text that you click on to be taken to another page) and creating un-natural links (blackhat SEO techniques), Google has lowered the weighting\/value of backlinks in their algorithm in favor of other factors that cannot be as easily manipulated, like user engagement.<\/p>\nA backlink profile analysis will consider attributes like:<\/p>\n
\n- The quality of links to your website<\/em><\/strong> (i.e. Domain & Page Authority). One good quality link from, say, the Huffington Post is better than 100 links from low quality websites. The key to acquiring good quality links to one\u2019s website is writing good quality content that others will reference.<\/li>\n
- The content and meta tags of the page linking to you.<\/em><\/strong> The topical relationship of the page linking to your website matters.\u00a0 Using our earlier example of wanting to rank for \u201cdog food\u201d, a link from an article on \u201cThe Top 10 Nutritious Dog Foods\u201d will help your rankings a lot more than a page about breeds of dogs or a totally unrelated page.<\/li>\n
- The quantity of links to a website.<\/em><\/strong> As mentioned above, the quality of links is more important than quantity, however, the total number of links is a ranking factor.\u00a0 A website with 10 good quality backlinks will have a tough time competing against a website with hundreds of backlinks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
Top Resources for \u201cHow to Perform a Backlink Analysis\u201d<\/h4>\n
For more in-depth coverage of how to perform a backlink profile analysis step-by-step, I recommend these resources:<\/p>\n
\n- How to Perform a Competitive Backlink Analysis<\/a><\/li>\n
- MOZ \u2013 Guide to Competitive Backlink Analysis<\/a><\/li>\n
- YouTube Video \u2013 How to Conduct a Backlink Analysis<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
Basic SEO Technique 8. User Experience<\/em><\/h3>\nEarlier we mentioned that Google has added to its ranking algorithm user engagement metrics like time on site, page views, etc. because other factors like backlink quantity and anchor text are easily manipulated.\u00a0 User engagement metrics are not as easily manipulated.\u00a0 By providing a good user experience, one helps their website rankings.<\/p>\n
How Can a Website\u2019s User Engagement be Improved?<\/h4>\n
Website design<\/a> is critical to improving user engagement and site conversions.<\/p>\nOne should always be considering how to provide the best website user experience as possible.\u00a0 After all, what good is it to have a visitor to your website leave immediately because of a poor experience.\u00a0 All the SEO in the world won\u2019t change the fact that your website will not convert to a lead or sale because no one stays on a difficult to use website.<\/p>\n
Among the top priorities for improving user engagement are website speed, mobile friendliness (responsive website), simple navigation that supports the goal(s) of your website, an un-cluttered layout that has plenty of negative space (blank space), good internal link building that takes a user from one area to related areas that may be useful, choice of colors, choice of graphics, content and many other factors.\u00a0 Simply consider what makes you stay on or leave a website.<\/p>\n
Top Resources for \u201cHow to Improve a Website\u2019s User Experience\u201d<\/h4>\n\n- User Experience Basics<\/a><\/li>\n
- SEMrush \u2013 8 Key Tips for Improving Your Site\u2019s User Experience<\/a><\/li>\n
- YouTube Video \u2013 How to Improve User Experience to Boost Conversion<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
Basic SEO Technique 9. New Content<\/em><\/h3>\nPerhaps you\u2019ve heard the saying \u201ccontent is king\u201d.\u00a0 This refers to the importance of a website having fresh\/new content added to their website on a frequent basis.\u00a0 What is frequent?\u00a0 We recommend at least 2 new pages a month and prefer 4 or more.<\/p>\n
Why is Fresh Content So Important?<\/h4>\n
Over time the lack of new content to one\u2019s website results in the website becoming \u201cstale\u201d.\u00a0 If one\u2019s website lacks new content, why would Google come back to your website to re-index the pages?\u00a0 There are no new pages.\u00a0 There hasn\u2019t been for some time.\u00a0 In Google\u2019s eyes, this is a sign that the website is not current.\u00a0 It is not being updated with new information and ideas.\u00a0 The more frequently you add content, the more frequently Google will crawl your website for new pages to include in its index.<\/p>\n
Perhaps even more important is new content means new web pages, which means the size of one\u2019s website is growing.\u00a0 Larger websites typically rank better than smaller websites (in terms of number of pages indexed).\u00a0 More pages mean more content, which means more occurrences of related keywords and keyword variations.\u00a0 More pages allow for more internal links to champion pages (those pages we wish to rank for a targeted set of keywords).<\/p>\n
This article for example, provides useful information and resources for visitors to webolutionsmarketingagency.com.\u00a0 My hope is that you will find at least some of the content useful and share it with others.\u00a0 The article is another page on our website that is topically related to SEO and helps support our rankings for SEO related terms.\u00a0 Additionally, where applicable, I can provide users links to other pages on our website that provide additional information.<\/p>\n
New (useful) content encourages backlinks from other websites and helps to improve a website\u2019s authority and credibility.\u00a0 The result of more pages and more backlinks is better rankings.<\/p>\n
Best Resources for How to Write Website Content<\/h4>\n\n- The 11 Golden Rules of Writing Content for Your Website<\/a><\/li>\n
- YouTube Video \u2013 Ultimate SEO Copywriting Tips That Still Works in 2018 & Beyond<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
You may also like these related articles on our website:<\/p>\n
Content Trends That Will Transform Your Marketing<\/a><\/p>\nWeb Content Marketing \u2013 What is Content Marketing?<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Basic SEO Technique 10. Clear Site Semantics<\/em><\/h3>\nWhat do we mean by \u201cwebsite semantics\u201d or \u201csemantic search\u201d?\u00a0 Quite simply it means that there are several sources available for Google to better understand what your website and a web page are about.\u00a0 Keyword stuffing the same term no longer works and provides a poor user experience.\u00a0 Rather, it is more advantageous for search engine optimization to provide Google several different, yet related, signals.<\/p>\n
Providing Google a clear understanding of what your website is about helps improve rankings.\u00a0 When we talk about this in terms of \u201csemantics\u201d we mean that our content is organized in groups of topically related information.\u00a0 Some SEO articles refer to this as \u201csiloing\u201d or \u201csilos\u201d where topically related content is grouped together in a meaningful way for users.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s say you have a website about pet food.\u00a0 Our topic silos might be Dog Food, Cat Food, Fish Food and Bird Food.\u00a0 While a website may very well interlink all these pages, it will not be as well optimized for search as when topically related content is grouped together.\u00a0 So, for semantic website optimization, we might have all pages related to Dogs interlink and grouped together.\u00a0 The same for cats, fish and birds.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019d like more information, this article may be helpful: Everything You Need to Know About Semantic Search And What It Means for Your Website<\/a><\/p>\n…<\/p>\n
2. What are the most important SEO techniques?<\/h2>\n
There are over 200 ranking factors in Google\u2019s search algorithm. We\u2019ll share with you the most important optimization tactics and provide our priority of top ranking factors, so you know where to focus your SEO efforts.<\/p>\n
Webolutions\u2019 List of the Top 7 SEO Factors to Rank Well<\/h2>\n\n- Keyword Research \u2013 you must understand what terms are most beneficial for your business<\/li>\n
- Clean-up Website Problems \u2013 ensure your website is mobile friendly, responsive & secure<\/li>\n
- Meta Title & Description \u2013 attract visitors with interesting page titles and descriptions<\/li>\n
- Headers \/ Headings \u2013 organize your page content with headers<\/li>\n
- Unique Content \u2013 provide visitors with valuable content that is useful<\/li>\n
- User Engagement \u2013 make your website easy to use and full of unique, interesting content<\/li>\n
- Quality Backlinks \u2013 remove poor quality backlinks and attract high quality links<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
…<\/p>\n
3. SEO Best Practices \u2013 White Hat SEO<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
The internet has over 134 million results for \u201cSEO\u201d.\u00a0 With so much information available online about SEO, how does one identify \u201cbest SEO practices\u201d?\u00a0 Quite simply SEO best practices adhere to Google\u2019s Webmaster Guidelines.\u00a0 While Google encourages website optimization to deliver the best results to users of its search engine, avoid attempts to trick or manipulate rankings.\u00a0 Perhaps the most popular tactic to manipulate rankings are creating backlinks with optimized anchor text.<\/p>\n
The internet has over 134 million results for \u201cSEO\u201d.\u00a0 With so much information available online about SEO, how does one identify \u201cbest SEO practices\u201d?<\/p>\n
4. What is Black Hat SEO & Should I Practice it?<\/a><\/h3>\nMany have heard about \u201cblack hat SEO\u201d but are unclear as to what it is and what to expect should one practice black hat SEO techniques.<\/p>\n
5. How Can I Become an SEO Expert?<\/a><\/h3>\nBecoming an SEO expert takes time and experience.\u00a0 While basic to advanced SEO techniques can be researched and understood by searching the internet for articles and videos, much more is required to become a true SEO expert.<\/p>\n
…<\/p>\n
1. SEO Basics for the Beginner<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We are frequently asked by clients how they can help with search engine optimization efforts.\u00a0 Basic SEO techniques are not all that difficult to learn, understand and implement.\u00a0 The real secret behind SEO is not in understanding what it is and basic SEO techniques, rather great SEO results comes from experience, trial and error, and patience.<\/p>\n
Before covering the basics of search optimization, it is important to understand that while one may learn and practice elementary optimization tactics, achieving first page results as an SEO do-it-yourselfer is difficult to achieve.\u00a0 Why? Because basic SEO techniques seldom achieve first page rankings.\u00a0 SEO is both an art and a science that requires a much more in-depth knowledge learned through trial and error and years of experience testing various optimization techniques.<\/p>\n
Understanding the basics of SEO is ideal for entrepreneurs with limited funds as well as for online marketing professionals who are hiring a search engine optimization company<\/a>.\u00a0 The following 10 SEO tactics will help one improve rankings and stay ahead of competitors who are not practicing website optimization.<\/p>\nTop 10 Basic SEO Techniques for Beginners<\/h2>\nBasic SEO Technique 1. Keyword Research<\/em><\/h3>\nThe first step in website optimization is to understand what terms or keywords people are entering into Google search to find answers and information about your product or service.\u00a0 Perhaps the best tool to perform keyword research<\/a> is Google\u2019s keyword planner.\u00a0 While other keyword research tools are available, such as MOZ and SEMrush, why not go directly to the source?<\/p>\nTop Keyword Research Tools<\/h4>\n\n- Google Adwords Keyword Planner<\/a><\/li>\n
- SEMrush<\/a><\/li>\n
- MOZ Keyword Explorer<\/a><\/li>\n
- ahrefs Keywords Explorer<\/a><\/li>\n
- KWFinder<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Keyword Research Tips<\/h4>\n
Performing keyword research can be a bit confusing and, therefore, intimidating. If you are not familiar with how to use any of the above keyword research tools, be patient and understand that you will have a learning curve that, at first, will take you longer to figure out and execute keyword research.<\/p>\n
1. Do NOT simply pick keywords with the most search volume.<\/p>\n
2.\u00a0Rather than sort your keyword data by search volume, try a descending sort on the \u201cCPC\u201d column, which is the cost-per-click data.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Well, the average CPC is an indicator of how \u201cvaluable\u201d a keyword is toward converting into a lead or sale.\u00a0 This makes sense because businesses will bid more for keywords that will convert to a lead or sale.\u00a0 Typically, high search volume terms are one or two-word terms that are very generic and all-encompassing.\u00a0 The goal of keyword research is to <\/em><\/strong>choose the right keywords<\/em><\/strong><\/a> that will help your business grow, not just your website traffic.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n3. Another important factor to consider when selecting keywords to target for better rankings is the level of competition. In general, websites that are larger in terms of number of pages indexed by Google tend to carry more weight and, therefore, have an advantage to ranking better than smaller websites (all other things being equal).<\/p>\n
If you have a website with 20 pages and are attempting to compete against a website with 100 pages, it will be very difficult to succeed, therefore, find competing websites of approximately the same size as your site and target the keywords for which these similarly sized competitors are ranking.\u00a0 Competing for more competitive terms with higher search volume will require the production of new content\/website pages.<\/p>\n
Great Resources for \u201cHow to Perform Keyword Research\u201d<\/h4>\n
For more in-depth coverage of how to perform keyword research step-by-step, I recommend these resources:<\/p>\n
\n- MOZ \u2013 Beginners Guide to SEO \u2013 Keyword Research<\/a><\/li>\n
- YouTube Video \u2013 How to do Proper Keyword Research<\/a><\/li>\n
- ahrefs \u2013 How to do Keyword Research for SEO<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\u00a0You may also like another article I wrote on How to Choose the Right Keywords<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Basic SEO Technique 2. \u00a0Competitive Analysis<\/em><\/h3>\nIn step 1 we covered the importance of keyword research.\u00a0 An important part of keyword research is understanding competitors.\u00a0 A competitive analysis helps to identify important SEO considerations such as website size and keywords for which competitors are ranking.<\/p>\n
Because the size of websites impact rankings, one must know how the size of their website (number of pages indexed) compares to competitors.\u00a0 The simple way to approach this is to select a few of your most important keywords and perform a search in Google.\u00a0 Create a spreadsheet that shows several of the top-ranking websites for those terms.\u00a0 We recommend at least 5 competitors for 3-5 of the important keywords you\u2019ve identified.<\/p>\n
Here is an example of how a competitive analysis spreadsheet might look:<\/p>\n
Rather than restating a previous article I wrote on how to perform a competitive analysis, please see: How to Perform a Competitor Analysis for SEO<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Basic SEO Technique 3. Website Audit<\/em><\/h3>\nMost articles on \u201chow to perform SEO\u201d and \u201cthe most important ranking factors for SEO\u201d do not mention something as important as performing a website audit.\u00a0 Perhaps this is one reason why Webolutions\u2019 SEO Services<\/a> perform so well.\u00a0 We believe in cleaning-up technical issues with a website prior to performing search engine optimization.<\/p>\nThink of it this way, if you have a car with mechanical issues or if it is old and using less advanced technology, the car simply will not perform efficiently.\u00a0 The same is true for SEO.\u00a0 If your website has technical issues, it simply will not respond to SEO efforts as well as a well-running website.\u00a0 To realize the full impact of website optimization, ensure you correct website problems.<\/p>\n
How to Perform a Website Audit<\/h4>\n
The depth of a website audit may vary.\u00a0 An audit can be very basic or extensive.\u00a0 For those just learning SEO, we\u2019ll stick to understanding how to perform a basic website audit.\u00a0 Perhaps the simplest method to perform a website audit for beginners is to use SEMrush\u2019s website audit tool<\/a>.<\/p>\nThis tool is a great starting point when performing a site audit and will cover the most important issues that might be negatively impacting your website\u2019s performance and rankings. \u00a0\u00a0The tool provides an overall website health\/audit score on a scale from 0-100.\u00a0 As a point of reference, a score of 80 or better is good.\u00a0 Some of our client\u2019s websites had scores in the 40-50 range.\u00a0 When website issues were corrected to bring their score above 80, rankings improved significantly.<\/p>\n
Great Resources for \u201cHow to Perform a Website Audit\u201d<\/h4>\n
For more in-depth coverage of how to perform a site audit step-by-step, I recommend these resources:<\/p>\n
\n- SEMrush \u2013 Site Audit<\/a><\/li>\n
- YouTube Video \u2013 How to do a Technical SEO Audit for Your Website<\/a><\/li>\n
- ahrefs \u2013 16-Step SEO Audit<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
You may also find another article I wrote useful: SEO Analysis \u2013 SEO Audit<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Basic SEO Technique 4. Fix Website Issues (speed, mobile friendly, SSL)<\/em><\/h3>\nAssociated with a website audit, but important enough to address separately are ranking factors associated with a website visitor\u2019s \u201cuser experience\u201d. Factors like website speed, website mobile responsiveness and site security are important search optimization elements.<\/p>\n
Website speed is an important Google ranking factor.<\/em><\/strong> All other things being equal, a slow website will not rank as well as a faster site.\u00a0 Perhaps the most important thing to understand about Google is that they continually strive to deliver better results for their users.<\/p>\nHow many times have you visited a website to find that the page does not load quickly?\u00a0 What do you do?\u00a0 Like most everyone, you leave the website and look for another result in Google that loads quickly and provides a better user experience.\u00a0 Google knows this and, therefore, lowers rankings for websites that take too long to load.<\/p>\n
Another important ranking factor is whether one\u2019s website is mobile friendly.<\/em><\/strong> What does this mean and why is it important?\u00a0 A couple of years ago, the use of mobile devices like smart phones and tables surpassed desktop computers as the primary means of search on Google.<\/p>\nMore searches are performed from mobile devices, therefore, Google\u2019s goal of providing a good user experience favors \u201cresponsive websites\u201d.\u00a0 A responsive website changes its layout depending upon the size of the screen being used and delivers a better experience for the user.\u00a0 Many older websites are not responsive and, therefore, at a competitive disadvantage.\u00a0 Do you need a new responsive website?<\/a><\/p>\nThe security of a website is also important to Google.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 They do not want to be sending search users to websites that are not secure and might even harm one\u2019s computer with a virus or malware. They follow the adage \u201cbetter safe than sorry\u201d, therefore, one\u2019s website should install and use an SSL (secure socket layer) to encrypt and protect the website as data is shared over the internet.<\/p>\nMore than ever, internet users are aware of the frequent security issues with various websites.\u00a0 To ensure your website is not at a competitive disadvantage, use an SSL certificate on your website.\u00a0 You can tell if your site uses SSL if the web address shows \u201chttps\u201d versus \u201chttp\u201d.<\/p>\n
A few other metrics to watch (provided by Google analytics) related to \u201cuser experience\u201d are website bounce rate, number of page views and time spent on one\u2019s website.\u00a0 Google can track how long visitors stay on your website and how many pages you visit.\u00a0 Websites that provide a better experience for visitors typically have higher \u201cduration\u201d or time on site and view more pages.\u00a0 All other things being equal, Google will tend to rank these websites above websites with lower time on site and page view metrics.<\/p>\n
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Basic SEO Technique 5. Meta Tags (title\/description)<\/em><\/h3>\nMeta tags, including Title and Meta Description are among the most important ranking factors.\u00a0 To rank well for a keyword or phrase, Google needs to understand what your web site and pages are about.\u00a0 Meta tags are critical to conveying this information to Google.<\/p>\n
If one were to look at the source code of a web page, you\u2019ll notice that the title tag and meta description are located in the page header area, which is toward the top of the code.\u00a0 Because these elements are so high up in the code, they are among the first things that provide Google an understanding of what your website and a web page are about.<\/p>\n
Meta tags should contain variations and synonyms of the keywords for which you wish the page to rank well.\u00a0 Proximity is important.\u00a0 By this, we mean that listing your primary term toward the front of your meta information is more beneficial for rankings.\u00a0 A note of caution, do not keyword stuff your meta tags.\u00a0 This is a common problem for those new to SEO and is a common area of abuse (which is why Google no longer considers the meta keywords tag).\u00a0 Your title and meta description should stand out from other listings in Google and encourage users to choose your listing over others on the page.<\/p>\n
Finding the right balance of keyword inclusion and creating interest is both a science and art that may require \u201ctweaking\u201d to find the best combination that helps one rank well and results in a search user selecting your website over others.\u00a0 Improperly aligning your meta tags with the content\/information on the page provides a poor user experience and will likely result in your page being moved lower in the results.<\/p>\n
For websites built with WordPress, there is a very good plugin from Yoast that helps optimize meta tags.\u00a0 Learn more here: Yoast SEO Plugin<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Basic SEO Technique 6. Page Content \/ On-Page SEO<\/em><\/h3>\nAs with meta tags found in the header of a website, the text or content of a web page sends signals to Google about the topic of your page and impacts rankings.\u00a0 If, for example, you want a page to rank well for \u201cdog food\u201d, then the page should be about dog food and contain words related to dogs and canines as well as food and nutrition.<\/p>\n
If the page does not mention these keywords on the page and focuses instead on pet food for various types of pets, then Google does not have a clear understanding and the page may very well rank for pet food rather than dog food.<\/p>\n
To ensure you are sending the correct signals to Google, include your primary keyword(s) in the \u201cheader tags\u201d.\u00a0 On-page headings are different than the source code header.\u00a0 Think of on-page headers in terms of the table of contents of a book or the outline of a term paper where the topic is broken down into categories, sub-categories and examples.<\/p>\n
Our goal is to create on-page content in such a way that we introduce the main topic or subject of our page toward the top and continue to discuss this topic in greater detail down the page.<\/p>\n
Perhaps a visual representation would help.\u00a0 Let\u2019s say we were writing a page about How to Perform SEO, an outline for this might look like this:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Title: How to Perform SEO<\/p>\n
I. Introduction: What is SEO?<\/p>\n
A. History of SEO<\/p>\n
B. Benefits of SEO<\/p>\n
II. Basic SEO Techniques<\/p>\n
A. On-page SEO Tactics<\/p>\n
B. Off-Page SEO Tactics<\/p>\n
III. Intermediate SEO Techniques<\/p>\n
A. Website Audit<\/p>\n
B. Content Audit<\/p>\n
C. Technical SEO Audit<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When performing on-page optimization, we would want to follow this type of process.\u00a0 The H1 (most important) header would be the title: How to Perform SEO.\u00a0 The H2 headers (next most important) would include \u201cIntroduction: What is SEO?<\/a>\u201d, \u201cBasic SEO Techniques\u201d, and \u201cIntermediate SEO Techniques\u201d.\u00a0 The other items (A, B, C) in our outline above would become H3 headers.\u00a0 If one were to provide examples, the header might use an H4 tag.<\/p>\nStructuring your content like this is good on-page optimization and will help Google understand the semantic meaning of the page from macro to more micro topics.\u00a0 The next step is to write informative content that is useful to users and provides them some benefit.<\/p>\n
There are many articles and videos about \u201ckeyword density\u201d on a page.\u00a0 If you\u2019re are writing well thought out content without trying to stuff your keywords into the content, then you don\u2019t need to worry about measuring keyword density.\u00a0 Simply be sure to include your keywords once or twice in your headers and a few times in the copy and your page should be in good shape.<\/p>\n
Similar to the meta title and description, you may want to make minor changes here and there to see if it impacts the rank of the page.\u00a0 You might change the order of words around a bit or add more synonyms related to your primary keyword.\u00a0 Because there are so many ranking factors, of which on-page content optimization is only one part, don\u2019t become overly concerned about how well the page is optimized.\u00a0 You\u2019ll likely find that you begin adding more and more occurrences of the keyword and the content begins to read poorly.<\/p>\n
Remember, Google now considers user engagement metrics as part of their ranking algorithm.\u00a0 Rather than worrying about where and how many keywords are on the page, you are better off focusing on writing useful content that visitors may come back to read\/reference again as well as share with others on social media or their own website.\u00a0 When someone else\u2019s website references your content and provides a link to that page, this is referred to as a backlink.\u00a0 The next section discusses the importance of backlinks.<\/p>\n
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Basic SEO Technique 7. Backlink Profile<\/em><\/h3>\nMany SEO companies believe that backlinks trump all other types of SEO<\/a> elements.\u00a0 There is no doubt that backlinks are important, however, because so many SEO consultants<\/a> have manipulated backlinks in terms of over-optimized anchor text (the part of the text that you click on to be taken to another page) and creating un-natural links (blackhat SEO techniques), Google has lowered the weighting\/value of backlinks in their algorithm in favor of other factors that cannot be as easily manipulated, like user engagement.<\/p>\nA backlink profile analysis will consider attributes like:<\/p>\n
\n- The quality of links to your website<\/em><\/strong> (i.e. Domain & Page Authority). One good quality link from, say, the Huffington Post is better than 100 links from low quality websites. The key to acquiring good quality links to one\u2019s website is writing good quality content that others will reference.<\/li>\n
- The content and meta tags of the page linking to you.<\/em><\/strong> The topical relationship of the page linking to your website matters.\u00a0 Using our earlier example of wanting to rank for \u201cdog food\u201d, a link from an article on \u201cThe Top 10 Nutritious Dog Foods\u201d will help your rankings a lot more than a page about breeds of dogs or a totally unrelated page.<\/li>\n
- The quantity of links to a website.<\/em><\/strong> As mentioned above, the quality of links is more important than quantity, however, the total number of links is a ranking factor.\u00a0 A website with 10 good quality backlinks will have a tough time competing against a website with hundreds of backlinks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
Top Resources for \u201cHow to Perform a Backlink Analysis\u201d<\/h4>\n
For more in-depth coverage of how to perform a backlink profile analysis step-by-step, I recommend these resources:<\/p>\n
\n- How to Perform a Competitive Backlink Analysis<\/a><\/li>\n
- MOZ \u2013 Guide to Competitive Backlink Analysis<\/a><\/li>\n
- YouTube Video \u2013 How to Conduct a Backlink Analysis<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
Basic SEO Technique 8. User Experience<\/em><\/h3>\nEarlier we mentioned that Google has added to its ranking algorithm user engagement metrics like time on site, page views, etc. because other factors like backlink quantity and anchor text are easily manipulated.\u00a0 User engagement metrics are not as easily manipulated.\u00a0 By providing a good user experience, one helps their website rankings.<\/p>\n
How Can a Website\u2019s User Engagement be Improved?<\/h4>\n
Website design<\/a> is critical to improving user engagement and site conversions.<\/p>\nOne should always be considering how to provide the best website user experience as possible.\u00a0 After all, what good is it to have a visitor to your website leave immediately because of a poor experience.\u00a0 All the SEO in the world won\u2019t change the fact that your website will not convert to a lead or sale because no one stays on a difficult to use website.<\/p>\n
Among the top priorities for improving user engagement are website speed, mobile friendliness (responsive website), simple navigation that supports the goal(s) of your website, an un-cluttered layout that has plenty of negative space (blank space), good internal link building that takes a user from one area to related areas that may be useful, choice of colors, choice of graphics, content and many other factors.\u00a0 Simply consider what makes you stay on or leave a website.<\/p>\n
Top Resources for \u201cHow to Improve a Website\u2019s User Experience\u201d<\/h4>\n\n- User Experience Basics<\/a><\/li>\n
- SEMrush \u2013 8 Key Tips for Improving Your Site\u2019s User Experience<\/a><\/li>\n
- YouTube Video \u2013 How to Improve User Experience to Boost Conversion<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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Basic SEO Technique 9. New Content<\/em><\/h3>\nPerhaps you\u2019ve heard the saying \u201ccontent is king\u201d.\u00a0 This refers to the importance of a website having fresh\/new content added to their website on a frequent basis.\u00a0 What is frequent?\u00a0 We recommend at least 2 new pages a month and prefer 4 or more.<\/p>\n
Why is Fresh Content So Important?<\/h4>\n
Over time the lack of new content to one\u2019s website results in the website becoming \u201cstale\u201d.\u00a0 If one\u2019s website lacks new content, why would Google come back to your website to re-index the pages?\u00a0 There are no new pages.\u00a0 There hasn\u2019t been for some time.\u00a0 In Google\u2019s eyes, this is a sign that the website is not current.\u00a0 It is not being updated with new information and ideas.\u00a0 The more frequently you add content, the more frequently Google will crawl your website for new pages to include in its index.<\/p>\n
Perhaps even more important is new content means new web pages, which means the size of one\u2019s website is growing.\u00a0 Larger websites typically rank better than smaller websites (in terms of number of pages indexed).\u00a0 More pages mean more content, which means more occurrences of related keywords and keyword variations.\u00a0 More pages allow for more internal links to champion pages (those pages we wish to rank for a targeted set of keywords).<\/p>\n
This article for example, provides useful information and resources for visitors to webolutionsmarketingagency.com.\u00a0 My hope is that you will find at least some of the content useful and share it with others.\u00a0 The article is another page on our website that is topically related to SEO and helps support our rankings for SEO related terms.\u00a0 Additionally, where applicable, I can provide users links to other pages on our website that provide additional information.<\/p>\n
New (useful) content encourages backlinks from other websites and helps to improve a website\u2019s authority and credibility.\u00a0 The result of more pages and more backlinks is better rankings.<\/p>\n
Best Resources for How to Write Website Content<\/h4>\n\n- The 11 Golden Rules of Writing Content for Your Website<\/a><\/li>\n
- YouTube Video \u2013 Ultimate SEO Copywriting Tips That Still Works in 2018 & Beyond<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
You may also like these related articles on our website:<\/p>\n
Content Trends That Will Transform Your Marketing<\/a><\/p>\nWeb Content Marketing \u2013 What is Content Marketing?<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Basic SEO Technique 10. Clear Site Semantics<\/em><\/h3>\nWhat do we mean by \u201cwebsite semantics\u201d or \u201csemantic search\u201d?\u00a0 Quite simply it means that there are several sources available for Google to better understand what your website and a web page are about.\u00a0 Keyword stuffing the same term no longer works and provides a poor user experience.\u00a0 Rather, it is more advantageous for search engine optimization to provide Google several different, yet related, signals.<\/p>\n
Providing Google a clear understanding of what your website is about helps improve rankings.\u00a0 When we talk about this in terms of \u201csemantics\u201d we mean that our content is organized in groups of topically related information.\u00a0 Some SEO articles refer to this as \u201csiloing\u201d or \u201csilos\u201d where topically related content is grouped together in a meaningful way for users.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s say you have a website about pet food.\u00a0 Our topic silos might be Dog Food, Cat Food, Fish Food and Bird Food.\u00a0 While a website may very well interlink all these pages, it will not be as well optimized for search as when topically related content is grouped together.\u00a0 So, for semantic website optimization, we might have all pages related to Dogs interlink and grouped together.\u00a0 The same for cats, fish and birds.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019d like more information, this article may be helpful: Everything You Need to Know About Semantic Search And What It Means for Your Website<\/a><\/p>\n…<\/p>\n
2. What are the most important SEO techniques?<\/h2>\n
There are over 200 ranking factors in Google\u2019s search algorithm. We\u2019ll share with you the most important optimization tactics and provide our priority of top ranking factors, so you know where to focus your SEO efforts.<\/p>\n
Webolutions\u2019 List of the Top 7 SEO Factors to Rank Well<\/h2>\n\n- Keyword Research \u2013 you must understand what terms are most beneficial for your business<\/li>\n
- Clean-up Website Problems \u2013 ensure your website is mobile friendly, responsive & secure<\/li>\n
- Meta Title & Description \u2013 attract visitors with interesting page titles and descriptions<\/li>\n
- Headers \/ Headings \u2013 organize your page content with headers<\/li>\n
- Unique Content \u2013 provide visitors with valuable content that is useful<\/li>\n
- User Engagement \u2013 make your website easy to use and full of unique, interesting content<\/li>\n
- Quality Backlinks \u2013 remove poor quality backlinks and attract high quality links<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
…<\/p>\n
3. SEO Best Practices \u2013 White Hat SEO<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
The internet has over 134 million results for \u201cSEO\u201d.\u00a0 With so much information available online about SEO, how does one identify \u201cbest SEO practices\u201d?\u00a0 Quite simply SEO best practices adhere to Google\u2019s Webmaster Guidelines.\u00a0 While Google encourages website optimization to deliver the best results to users of its search engine, avoid attempts to trick or manipulate rankings.\u00a0 Perhaps the most popular tactic to manipulate rankings are creating backlinks with optimized anchor text.<\/p>\n
Becoming an SEO expert takes time and experience.\u00a0 While basic to advanced SEO techniques can be researched and understood by searching the internet for articles and videos, much more is required to become a true SEO expert.<\/p>\n
…<\/p>\n
1. SEO Basics for the Beginner<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We are frequently asked by clients how they can help with search engine optimization efforts.\u00a0 Basic SEO techniques are not all that difficult to learn, understand and implement.\u00a0 The real secret behind SEO is not in understanding what it is and basic SEO techniques, rather great SEO results comes from experience, trial and error, and patience.<\/p>\n
Before covering the basics of search optimization, it is important to understand that while one may learn and practice elementary optimization tactics, achieving first page results as an SEO do-it-yourselfer is difficult to achieve.\u00a0 Why? Because basic SEO techniques seldom achieve first page rankings.\u00a0 SEO is both an art and a science that requires a much more in-depth knowledge learned through trial and error and years of experience testing various optimization techniques.<\/p>\n
Understanding the basics of SEO is ideal for entrepreneurs with limited funds as well as for online marketing professionals who are hiring a search engine optimization company<\/a>.\u00a0 The following 10 SEO tactics will help one improve rankings and stay ahead of competitors who are not practicing website optimization.<\/p>\n The first step in website optimization is to understand what terms or keywords people are entering into Google search to find answers and information about your product or service.\u00a0 Perhaps the best tool to perform keyword research<\/a> is Google\u2019s keyword planner.\u00a0 While other keyword research tools are available, such as MOZ and SEMrush, why not go directly to the source?<\/p>\n Performing keyword research can be a bit confusing and, therefore, intimidating. If you are not familiar with how to use any of the above keyword research tools, be patient and understand that you will have a learning curve that, at first, will take you longer to figure out and execute keyword research.<\/p>\n 1. Do NOT simply pick keywords with the most search volume.<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0Rather than sort your keyword data by search volume, try a descending sort on the \u201cCPC\u201d column, which is the cost-per-click data.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Well, the average CPC is an indicator of how \u201cvaluable\u201d a keyword is toward converting into a lead or sale.\u00a0 This makes sense because businesses will bid more for keywords that will convert to a lead or sale.\u00a0 Typically, high search volume terms are one or two-word terms that are very generic and all-encompassing.\u00a0 The goal of keyword research is to <\/em><\/strong>choose the right keywords<\/em><\/strong><\/a> that will help your business grow, not just your website traffic.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n 3. Another important factor to consider when selecting keywords to target for better rankings is the level of competition. In general, websites that are larger in terms of number of pages indexed by Google tend to carry more weight and, therefore, have an advantage to ranking better than smaller websites (all other things being equal).<\/p>\n If you have a website with 20 pages and are attempting to compete against a website with 100 pages, it will be very difficult to succeed, therefore, find competing websites of approximately the same size as your site and target the keywords for which these similarly sized competitors are ranking.\u00a0 Competing for more competitive terms with higher search volume will require the production of new content\/website pages.<\/p>\n For more in-depth coverage of how to perform keyword research step-by-step, I recommend these resources:<\/p>\n \u00a0You may also like another article I wrote on How to Choose the Right Keywords<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In step 1 we covered the importance of keyword research.\u00a0 An important part of keyword research is understanding competitors.\u00a0 A competitive analysis helps to identify important SEO considerations such as website size and keywords for which competitors are ranking.<\/p>\n Because the size of websites impact rankings, one must know how the size of their website (number of pages indexed) compares to competitors.\u00a0 The simple way to approach this is to select a few of your most important keywords and perform a search in Google.\u00a0 Create a spreadsheet that shows several of the top-ranking websites for those terms.\u00a0 We recommend at least 5 competitors for 3-5 of the important keywords you\u2019ve identified.<\/p>\n Here is an example of how a competitive analysis spreadsheet might look:<\/p>\n Rather than restating a previous article I wrote on how to perform a competitive analysis, please see: How to Perform a Competitor Analysis for SEO<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Most articles on \u201chow to perform SEO\u201d and \u201cthe most important ranking factors for SEO\u201d do not mention something as important as performing a website audit.\u00a0 Perhaps this is one reason why Webolutions\u2019 SEO Services<\/a> perform so well.\u00a0 We believe in cleaning-up technical issues with a website prior to performing search engine optimization.<\/p>\n Think of it this way, if you have a car with mechanical issues or if it is old and using less advanced technology, the car simply will not perform efficiently.\u00a0 The same is true for SEO.\u00a0 If your website has technical issues, it simply will not respond to SEO efforts as well as a well-running website.\u00a0 To realize the full impact of website optimization, ensure you correct website problems.<\/p>\n The depth of a website audit may vary.\u00a0 An audit can be very basic or extensive.\u00a0 For those just learning SEO, we\u2019ll stick to understanding how to perform a basic website audit.\u00a0 Perhaps the simplest method to perform a website audit for beginners is to use SEMrush\u2019s website audit tool<\/a>.<\/p>\n This tool is a great starting point when performing a site audit and will cover the most important issues that might be negatively impacting your website\u2019s performance and rankings. \u00a0\u00a0The tool provides an overall website health\/audit score on a scale from 0-100.\u00a0 As a point of reference, a score of 80 or better is good.\u00a0 Some of our client\u2019s websites had scores in the 40-50 range.\u00a0 When website issues were corrected to bring their score above 80, rankings improved significantly.<\/p>\n For more in-depth coverage of how to perform a site audit step-by-step, I recommend these resources:<\/p>\n You may also find another article I wrote useful: SEO Analysis \u2013 SEO Audit<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Associated with a website audit, but important enough to address separately are ranking factors associated with a website visitor\u2019s \u201cuser experience\u201d. Factors like website speed, website mobile responsiveness and site security are important search optimization elements.<\/p>\n Website speed is an important Google ranking factor.<\/em><\/strong> All other things being equal, a slow website will not rank as well as a faster site.\u00a0 Perhaps the most important thing to understand about Google is that they continually strive to deliver better results for their users.<\/p>\n How many times have you visited a website to find that the page does not load quickly?\u00a0 What do you do?\u00a0 Like most everyone, you leave the website and look for another result in Google that loads quickly and provides a better user experience.\u00a0 Google knows this and, therefore, lowers rankings for websites that take too long to load.<\/p>\n Another important ranking factor is whether one\u2019s website is mobile friendly.<\/em><\/strong> What does this mean and why is it important?\u00a0 A couple of years ago, the use of mobile devices like smart phones and tables surpassed desktop computers as the primary means of search on Google.<\/p>\n More searches are performed from mobile devices, therefore, Google\u2019s goal of providing a good user experience favors \u201cresponsive websites\u201d.\u00a0 A responsive website changes its layout depending upon the size of the screen being used and delivers a better experience for the user.\u00a0 Many older websites are not responsive and, therefore, at a competitive disadvantage.\u00a0 Do you need a new responsive website?<\/a><\/p>\n The security of a website is also important to Google.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 They do not want to be sending search users to websites that are not secure and might even harm one\u2019s computer with a virus or malware. They follow the adage \u201cbetter safe than sorry\u201d, therefore, one\u2019s website should install and use an SSL (secure socket layer) to encrypt and protect the website as data is shared over the internet.<\/p>\n More than ever, internet users are aware of the frequent security issues with various websites.\u00a0 To ensure your website is not at a competitive disadvantage, use an SSL certificate on your website.\u00a0 You can tell if your site uses SSL if the web address shows \u201chttps\u201d versus \u201chttp\u201d.<\/p>\n A few other metrics to watch (provided by Google analytics) related to \u201cuser experience\u201d are website bounce rate, number of page views and time spent on one\u2019s website.\u00a0 Google can track how long visitors stay on your website and how many pages you visit.\u00a0 Websites that provide a better experience for visitors typically have higher \u201cduration\u201d or time on site and view more pages.\u00a0 All other things being equal, Google will tend to rank these websites above websites with lower time on site and page view metrics.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Meta tags, including Title and Meta Description are among the most important ranking factors.\u00a0 To rank well for a keyword or phrase, Google needs to understand what your web site and pages are about.\u00a0 Meta tags are critical to conveying this information to Google.<\/p>\n If one were to look at the source code of a web page, you\u2019ll notice that the title tag and meta description are located in the page header area, which is toward the top of the code.\u00a0 Because these elements are so high up in the code, they are among the first things that provide Google an understanding of what your website and a web page are about.<\/p>\n Meta tags should contain variations and synonyms of the keywords for which you wish the page to rank well.\u00a0 Proximity is important.\u00a0 By this, we mean that listing your primary term toward the front of your meta information is more beneficial for rankings.\u00a0 A note of caution, do not keyword stuff your meta tags.\u00a0 This is a common problem for those new to SEO and is a common area of abuse (which is why Google no longer considers the meta keywords tag).\u00a0 Your title and meta description should stand out from other listings in Google and encourage users to choose your listing over others on the page.<\/p>\n Finding the right balance of keyword inclusion and creating interest is both a science and art that may require \u201ctweaking\u201d to find the best combination that helps one rank well and results in a search user selecting your website over others.\u00a0 Improperly aligning your meta tags with the content\/information on the page provides a poor user experience and will likely result in your page being moved lower in the results.<\/p>\n For websites built with WordPress, there is a very good plugin from Yoast that helps optimize meta tags.\u00a0 Learn more here: Yoast SEO Plugin<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If the page does not mention these keywords on the page and focuses instead on pet food for various types of pets, then Google does not have a clear understanding and the page may very well rank for pet food rather than dog food.<\/p>\n To ensure you are sending the correct signals to Google, include your primary keyword(s) in the \u201cheader tags\u201d.\u00a0 On-page headings are different than the source code header.\u00a0 Think of on-page headers in terms of the table of contents of a book or the outline of a term paper where the topic is broken down into categories, sub-categories and examples.<\/p>\n Our goal is to create on-page content in such a way that we introduce the main topic or subject of our page toward the top and continue to discuss this topic in greater detail down the page.<\/p>\n Perhaps a visual representation would help.\u00a0 Let\u2019s say we were writing a page about How to Perform SEO, an outline for this might look like this:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Title: How to Perform SEO<\/p>\n I. Introduction: What is SEO?<\/p>\n A. History of SEO<\/p>\n B. Benefits of SEO<\/p>\n II. Basic SEO Techniques<\/p>\n A. On-page SEO Tactics<\/p>\n B. Off-Page SEO Tactics<\/p>\n III. Intermediate SEO Techniques<\/p>\n A. Website Audit<\/p>\n B. Content Audit<\/p>\n C. Technical SEO Audit<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When performing on-page optimization, we would want to follow this type of process.\u00a0 The H1 (most important) header would be the title: How to Perform SEO.\u00a0 The H2 headers (next most important) would include \u201cIntroduction: What is SEO?<\/a>\u201d, \u201cBasic SEO Techniques\u201d, and \u201cIntermediate SEO Techniques\u201d.\u00a0 The other items (A, B, C) in our outline above would become H3 headers.\u00a0 If one were to provide examples, the header might use an H4 tag.<\/p>\n Structuring your content like this is good on-page optimization and will help Google understand the semantic meaning of the page from macro to more micro topics.\u00a0 The next step is to write informative content that is useful to users and provides them some benefit.<\/p>\n There are many articles and videos about \u201ckeyword density\u201d on a page.\u00a0 If you\u2019re are writing well thought out content without trying to stuff your keywords into the content, then you don\u2019t need to worry about measuring keyword density.\u00a0 Simply be sure to include your keywords once or twice in your headers and a few times in the copy and your page should be in good shape.<\/p>\n Similar to the meta title and description, you may want to make minor changes here and there to see if it impacts the rank of the page.\u00a0 You might change the order of words around a bit or add more synonyms related to your primary keyword.\u00a0 Because there are so many ranking factors, of which on-page content optimization is only one part, don\u2019t become overly concerned about how well the page is optimized.\u00a0 You\u2019ll likely find that you begin adding more and more occurrences of the keyword and the content begins to read poorly.<\/p>\n Remember, Google now considers user engagement metrics as part of their ranking algorithm.\u00a0 Rather than worrying about where and how many keywords are on the page, you are better off focusing on writing useful content that visitors may come back to read\/reference again as well as share with others on social media or their own website.\u00a0 When someone else\u2019s website references your content and provides a link to that page, this is referred to as a backlink.\u00a0 The next section discusses the importance of backlinks.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Many SEO companies believe that backlinks trump all other types of SEO<\/a> elements.\u00a0 There is no doubt that backlinks are important, however, because so many SEO consultants<\/a> have manipulated backlinks in terms of over-optimized anchor text (the part of the text that you click on to be taken to another page) and creating un-natural links (blackhat SEO techniques), Google has lowered the weighting\/value of backlinks in their algorithm in favor of other factors that cannot be as easily manipulated, like user engagement.<\/p>\n A backlink profile analysis will consider attributes like:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For more in-depth coverage of how to perform a backlink profile analysis step-by-step, I recommend these resources:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Earlier we mentioned that Google has added to its ranking algorithm user engagement metrics like time on site, page views, etc. because other factors like backlink quantity and anchor text are easily manipulated.\u00a0 User engagement metrics are not as easily manipulated.\u00a0 By providing a good user experience, one helps their website rankings.<\/p>\n Website design<\/a> is critical to improving user engagement and site conversions.<\/p>\n One should always be considering how to provide the best website user experience as possible.\u00a0 After all, what good is it to have a visitor to your website leave immediately because of a poor experience.\u00a0 All the SEO in the world won\u2019t change the fact that your website will not convert to a lead or sale because no one stays on a difficult to use website.<\/p>\n Among the top priorities for improving user engagement are website speed, mobile friendliness (responsive website), simple navigation that supports the goal(s) of your website, an un-cluttered layout that has plenty of negative space (blank space), good internal link building that takes a user from one area to related areas that may be useful, choice of colors, choice of graphics, content and many other factors.\u00a0 Simply consider what makes you stay on or leave a website.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Perhaps you\u2019ve heard the saying \u201ccontent is king\u201d.\u00a0 This refers to the importance of a website having fresh\/new content added to their website on a frequent basis.\u00a0 What is frequent?\u00a0 We recommend at least 2 new pages a month and prefer 4 or more.<\/p>\n Over time the lack of new content to one\u2019s website results in the website becoming \u201cstale\u201d.\u00a0 If one\u2019s website lacks new content, why would Google come back to your website to re-index the pages?\u00a0 There are no new pages.\u00a0 There hasn\u2019t been for some time.\u00a0 In Google\u2019s eyes, this is a sign that the website is not current.\u00a0 It is not being updated with new information and ideas.\u00a0 The more frequently you add content, the more frequently Google will crawl your website for new pages to include in its index.<\/p>\n Perhaps even more important is new content means new web pages, which means the size of one\u2019s website is growing.\u00a0 Larger websites typically rank better than smaller websites (in terms of number of pages indexed).\u00a0 More pages mean more content, which means more occurrences of related keywords and keyword variations.\u00a0 More pages allow for more internal links to champion pages (those pages we wish to rank for a targeted set of keywords).<\/p>\n This article for example, provides useful information and resources for visitors to webolutionsmarketingagency.com.\u00a0 My hope is that you will find at least some of the content useful and share it with others.\u00a0 The article is another page on our website that is topically related to SEO and helps support our rankings for SEO related terms.\u00a0 Additionally, where applicable, I can provide users links to other pages on our website that provide additional information.<\/p>\n New (useful) content encourages backlinks from other websites and helps to improve a website\u2019s authority and credibility.\u00a0 The result of more pages and more backlinks is better rankings.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You may also like these related articles on our website:<\/p>\n Content Trends That Will Transform Your Marketing<\/a><\/p>\n Web Content Marketing \u2013 What is Content Marketing?<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n What do we mean by \u201cwebsite semantics\u201d or \u201csemantic search\u201d?\u00a0 Quite simply it means that there are several sources available for Google to better understand what your website and a web page are about.\u00a0 Keyword stuffing the same term no longer works and provides a poor user experience.\u00a0 Rather, it is more advantageous for search engine optimization to provide Google several different, yet related, signals.<\/p>\n Providing Google a clear understanding of what your website is about helps improve rankings.\u00a0 When we talk about this in terms of \u201csemantics\u201d we mean that our content is organized in groups of topically related information.\u00a0 Some SEO articles refer to this as \u201csiloing\u201d or \u201csilos\u201d where topically related content is grouped together in a meaningful way for users.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s say you have a website about pet food.\u00a0 Our topic silos might be Dog Food, Cat Food, Fish Food and Bird Food.\u00a0 While a website may very well interlink all these pages, it will not be as well optimized for search as when topically related content is grouped together.\u00a0 So, for semantic website optimization, we might have all pages related to Dogs interlink and grouped together.\u00a0 The same for cats, fish and birds.<\/p>\n If you\u2019d like more information, this article may be helpful: Everything You Need to Know About Semantic Search And What It Means for Your Website<\/a><\/p>\n …<\/p>\n There are over 200 ranking factors in Google\u2019s search algorithm. We\u2019ll share with you the most important optimization tactics and provide our priority of top ranking factors, so you know where to focus your SEO efforts.<\/p>\n …<\/p>\n The internet has over 134 million results for \u201cSEO\u201d.\u00a0 With so much information available online about SEO, how does one identify \u201cbest SEO practices\u201d?\u00a0 Quite simply SEO best practices adhere to Google\u2019s Webmaster Guidelines.\u00a0 While Google encourages website optimization to deliver the best results to users of its search engine, avoid attempts to trick or manipulate rankings.\u00a0 Perhaps the most popular tactic to manipulate rankings are creating backlinks with optimized anchor text.<\/p>\nTop 10 Basic SEO Techniques for Beginners<\/h2>\n
Basic SEO Technique 1. Keyword Research<\/em><\/h3>\n
Top Keyword Research Tools<\/h4>\n
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Keyword Research Tips<\/h4>\n
Great Resources for \u201cHow to Perform Keyword Research\u201d<\/h4>\n
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Basic SEO Technique 2. \u00a0Competitive Analysis<\/em><\/h3>\n
Basic SEO Technique 3. Website Audit<\/em><\/h3>\n
How to Perform a Website Audit<\/h4>\n
Great Resources for \u201cHow to Perform a Website Audit\u201d<\/h4>\n
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Basic SEO Technique 4. Fix Website Issues (speed, mobile friendly, SSL)<\/em><\/h3>\n
Basic SEO Technique 5. Meta Tags (title\/description)<\/em><\/h3>\n
Basic SEO Technique 6. Page Content \/ On-Page SEO<\/em><\/h3>\n
As with meta tags found in the header of a website, the text or content of a web page sends signals to Google about the topic of your page and impacts rankings.\u00a0 If, for example, you want a page to rank well for \u201cdog food\u201d, then the page should be about dog food and contain words related to dogs and canines as well as food and nutrition.<\/p>\nBasic SEO Technique 7. Backlink Profile<\/em><\/h3>\n
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Top Resources for \u201cHow to Perform a Backlink Analysis\u201d<\/h4>\n
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Basic SEO Technique 8. User Experience<\/em><\/h3>\n
How Can a Website\u2019s User Engagement be Improved?<\/h4>\n
Top Resources for \u201cHow to Improve a Website\u2019s User Experience\u201d<\/h4>\n
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Basic SEO Technique 9. New Content<\/em><\/h3>\n
Why is Fresh Content So Important?<\/h4>\n
Best Resources for How to Write Website Content<\/h4>\n
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Basic SEO Technique 10. Clear Site Semantics<\/em><\/h3>\n
2. What are the most important SEO techniques?<\/h2>\n
Webolutions\u2019 List of the Top 7 SEO Factors to Rank Well<\/h2>\n
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3. SEO Best Practices \u2013 White Hat SEO<\/h2>\n
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