SEO: From foreign phrase to Google’s first page

Google receives more than 100 billion searches a month (Source: Mashable, 2015). Among these searches, writers, business owners, and companies try to land on that coveted first page using something called SEO.

SEO stands for search engine optimization, which puts in a good word with search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo to rank us so people can discover our business, our blog, and our words.

To me, “SEO” always sounded like a foreign, marketing buzzword. This little acronym kept popping up in job postings once I graduated college.

I’d see titles such as “SEO specialists,” “Marketing specialists,” and “Communications Coordinators…” that required at least 5 years of SEO knowledge. What the heck was this mysterious skill?

There was very minimal information on the topic back in 2013. I ignored SEO for another two years, even though the buzz only grew stronger.

So, I finally decided to do some research in 2016 when I learned it could improve my online writing and help my blog grow. I became more dedicated to my blog, so I wanted to do this correctly.

 

 

Thanks to that fancy SEO work, I landed on Google’s first page with the search term “FLBlogCon 2017” and the search term “BlogHer 2017.” Plus, I learned that anyone can navigate their way through SEO!

Thankfully, there are plenty of software options that guide us to see if we’re doing this SEO thing correctly.

SEO Resources

Search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing want readers to find our quality content. The search engines “crawl” for content.

Google will rank web content based on popularity (how many clicks and webpage visits), engagement (if people “like” and comment on posts), readability (based on layout and verbiage) and keywords (sprinkling a set word or phrase throughout the page without being repetitive).

If your website is built in WordPress, Yoast SEO is the best WordPress plugin out there. The plugin walks you through SEO requirements, step-by-step.

 

 

You select a focus keyword, add at least one internal link, add an outbound link, include at least one image, and fulfill a few other requirements. I’ll explain what each of these mean below.

If you don’t use WordPress, you can still use Yoast website resources. Other helpful websites regarding SEO include Search Engine Journal, Moz, and Google Search Console.

Your SEO checklist

Focus keyword

A focus keyword will be your starting point; this is your main topic or point of interest. The focus keyword can contain more than one word – which is strongly recommended. This is known as a long tail keyword.

If you’re writing about launching your small business, you might choose “business launch” or “small business launch” as your keyword.

But…hundreds of thousands of people are probably searching for “small business” on Google, so you have to stand out from the crowd with a long tail keyword.

A better focus keyword would be “new Orlando small business.” The more specific you make your keyword, the better chance you have of ranking with Google.

Using the focus keyword

Yoast SEO advises the keyword density to be at 2.5%. As I mentioned earlier, sprinkle in the keyword so it sounds natural. The number of times you mention the keyword will depend on the post length. Longer posts will contain more keyword mentions.

But don’t bombard the reader with keywords because they will notice repetition. Using a keyword too many times may also negatively impact your Google ranking.

The keyword should be included in the post or page title, in the page link, in at least one heading, in the SEO title, in the metadata, and throughout 2.5% of the post.

 

 

Passive voice

“I walked the dog.” = active voice. “The dog was walked.” = passive voice. We’re not sure who walked the dog in the second sentence. The passive voice makes a message unclear. The passive voice can also make a sentence longer and wordier, which is why we should use the active voice.

Headings – H1, H2, H3…

Headings are the big, bold words you see breaking up sections throughout a post. These make a post more visually appealing so the reader can easily skim through the page for the most important points.

Consecutive sentences

Avoid using the same word to start consecutive sentences. Using “I, I, I” for three sentences in a row will give us a big red flag. Mix up your phrases, read a post out loud, and rearrange some of the content so it flows without sounding repetitive.

 

 

Outbound Links

Outbound means readers or customers are going outside your website to visit another website. You need to guide your audience with a reliable outbound link. What does this mean?

Find a credible source to lead your readers to, to back up your points or provide additional information.

This outbound link builds credibility with your audience. Going back to the FLBlogCon 2017 example, a solid outbound link leads readers to related information, maybe previous conference years or speaker bios.

 

 

Internal Links

Internal links accomplish the opposite of outbound links – internal ikeeps the reader on your site! An internal link should take the reader to a page or previous post related to your current post. The source should be used to complement the post, not distract the reader.

If you describe top 5 clothing hacks in a new post, then a good internal link would lead to your previous post about summer fashion. However, a distracting link would lead to a food recipe you posted at the beginning of your blogging journey. Make sure you stay focused by including related internal links.

Searchable Images

Before you even upload an image to your website, NAME the image file very carefully.

Include as much information as you can in the image name when you save it on your computer. That’s right. Google isn’t going to rank our image titled “IMG_1234.”

But Google will give priority to an image with a location, business name, and description, such as “FLBlogCon2017_TwentysomethingVision_OrlandoLifestyleBlogger.jpg”.

 

 

Omit short, stop words in the image file name, such as “and” “with” “the.” Name the image with spaces or dashes in between the words.

My FLBlogCon example did not contain the recommended format (oops), but it still ranked well as the second and third result for “FLBlogCon 2017” in Google Images.

Once you name your image and upload it into your website, copy and paste the image name into the image title, alternative text, and description fields. Edit the information as needed. Remove the dashes, and you’ll be good to go!

The image title should provide additional information on the image. Alternative text will display in place of an image as a fallback in case an image doesn’t display.

 

 

Alternative text goes further than SEO best practices – it makes your website more accessible. Screen readers for the blind and visually impaired will recognize the alternative text.

The image description, similar to the image title, explains the image. The image description will display when readers hover their mouse over the image.

URL slug

Don’t forget about your webpage links! Also known as your URL slug, this is the link readers will see. The link should include your focus keyword and omit stop words. That same FLBLogCon 2017 post looks like this: https://www.twentysomethingvision.com/flblogcon-2017-orlando-conference-review/

I included the name of the event, the year, the location, the type of event (conference), and the type of post (review).

Most importantly…

Remember to stay consistent. Make a checklist for yourself so you hit all the important points when trying to rank with your SEO. Knowing the SEO basics creates a strong foundation for your website.

If you’ve got some SEO tips and tricks of your own, I’d love to hear about them in the comments!