AD - Sponsored post with Tekfirst all opinions my own.
OK so first up, what does SEO actually mean!? SEO simply stands for 'Search Engine Optimisation' and is the way Google (for example) organises the results based off of what you're searching for.
The majority of traffic these days comes from search engines so it's incredibly important that your website is correctly optimised so that more people can find you! Useful if you're trying to sell something!
A relatively small number of people click on advertisements these days so organic searching is vitally important if you want your website to stand out.
If my blog was better optimised, it would mean that if someone was searching for 'vegan cookies' then my blog post would appear high up on the first page of search results. Which is the sweet spot for every website going, preferably you'd want to be in the first 2 results as most people don't scroll these days!
It basically means that the work you put into your post isn't wasted and more people will see your post and click on it, leading to more eyes on your blog as a whole and page-views going up which can only be a good thing!
It can also pay dividends over time as a high-ranking post which perhaps leads to an e-book you're selling, could organically lead to more sales without you having to actively promote it! Nothing quite like a bit of passive income!
You needn't be scared of it, or back away from it slowly like it's some sort of wild animal to be avoided at all costs, quite the opposite in fact. If you break it down it can be relatively simple and this is coming from someone who doesn't necessarily understand it herself or know where to start!
So, here I'm going to give you some basic tips and hopefully make it easy so you can both start making your work pay off for you!
Internal Linking
This is probably one of the easiest ways to increase your SEO and you can do this for every post you write. Here's an example, I'm writing about SEO in this post so I may therefore link to another post which may also be relevant! Clever ay?!
Improve Your DA Score
Now DA is a whole other post in itself but basically, it's the metric used by search engines to rank your website in comparison to others of a similar nature.
The higher your DA, the better rank your website or blog will have leading to more people clicking on your site. More people on your site, the more eyes there are to potentially sell to. Win-win all round!
Write A Minimum Of 300 Words
Google likes long posts so if you love to ramble on, the better it is for SEO purposes!
Delete/Edit Your Broken Links
This will help you in innumerable ways as many search engines (i.e Google) will not rank a page high up on the results page if it just leads to an ERROR 404 page!
Fixing broken links will also help to improve your DA score which as we know, leads to your website/blog being ranked higher up in the search results!
Use Headings
To go with my above point, it's better to break up these long posts with headings so it's not just long form content which can be hard for people to read as well as search engines!
Have A Short URL
When finalising your post, it's always best to have a shortened URL so that it's better optimised for search engines. Rather than having it as 'www.YOURBLOGNAMEHERE/the-best-chocolate-chip-vegan-cookies-to-bake-in-lockdown' it could simply be '/vegan-cookies' which is (again) way better for search engines to rank and optimise!
Make Posts Shareable
How many times have you been on a website or blog and wanted to share the post you've just read but haven't found those sharing buttons, so you were unable to do so, therefore you forgot about it? Yes, exactly!
So, make it easy for your readers to do so and it will also help search engines to know your website is relevant!
These are all relatively simple and easy ways to get started with SEO, but for a more complex analysis you may want to look at hiring someone to do a thorough SEO edit of your whole website/blog.
Do I need a SEO professional, consultant or agency?
Well, this depends on the complexity, band-with and willingness to learn, there are some aspects of SEO which you could do yourself! But if you don't have the time or just want someone else to do it, there are plenty of people out there who are experts in this field and consultants who could do it for you.
But it's important to know that the people you choose are reputable as bad SEO can harm your site more. It takes only a few minutes to do a bit of research and see what others have to say about them.
Ask around and see who your friends are using and who they recommend, better to spend this valuable time now rather than having to pay through the nose at the other end!
Sometimes a small local consultancy agency could be just what you're looking for. Not only will they be able to offer you the services you're looking for, but you'll be supporting a small business at the same time.
By working with a local business, you'll get better one-to-one attention, be reassured that they have your best interests at heart, and they'll look after your website/blog like it was their own.
For more help in SEO visit Tekfirst: Digital Marketing Agency Harrogate.
Sarah xoxo
