This will be focused on the very basics of SEO. SEO is a very complex and oftentimes confusing entity, so I will do my very best to deliver as much information to you as possible, hopefully without overwhelming and confusing you in the process. The SEO rules are ever changing, just as anything that has to do with technology, but there are a few guidelines that always seem to stick no matter what, so those are the key points I’ll focus on in this article.
With that being said, what exactly is SEO? SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” It is the process of getting traffic from the “free,” “organic,” “editorial” or “natural” search results on search engines.
THIS DETAILED BEGINNERS GUIDE by Buffer explains the process in simple & easy to understand terms. Also, MOZ made their own beginners guide, which is incredibly useful. (Must Read)
To ensure that your website is ranked higher, which in turn gets your content seen, you must be implementing as many SEO practices into your website as well as your content as possible. The more you implement SEO tips and tricks into your content, the more likely it will be that your website will be considered “reliable” in the eyes of search engines. Meaning, if you’re a life coach and you blog on a regular basis about things such as overcoming fear, healing, or forgiveness for example, and someone decides to Google articles on forgiveness, if you’ve been implementing SEO practices into your content for a while then it’s more likely that your website/articles will show up on the 1st page of said person’s web search. We’ve all Googled things before, and honestly, it isn’t often that we go beyond the first page of search results. So, I’m sure you can see why SEO is so important. It is the most effective way to increase your audience organically.
So, now that we’ve covered what SEO is & why it’s important, what next? I would first suggest finding an SEO plugin for your website to assist you in keeping track of all of the important details that are much too complex to write about in one tool time. It takes the stress of SEO out of the equation, and a template to use so you never forget a detail. We use an SEO plugin by “Yoast” on WU’s website. It is a lifesaver, seriously. Yoast even offers a ton of blog articles and tutorials which are excellent resources. Some more useful WordPress plugins here.
This awesome tool measures the areas of your website that may have some issues in search engine performance and what to do to fix them: https://www.pluginseo.com/
Pay attention to:
Titles – Create eye-catching titles that raise the reader’s interest. You only have one chance to make a great first impression. SEO likes titles that are at least 3 words, but no more than 5 or 6. Also, choose a title that is relevant, meaning, choose a title that has a word that is mentioned in the body of your blog a few different times. Typically, that word will be the focus keyword you set.
Keywords – Pick keywords that will help bring people to your site and are relevant. Keywords should be found in your title, URL description, blog body, meta description, and tags. Also, it is helpful to put those same keywords on your image descriptions as well because although the SEO bots are advanced, they can only read the text to learn what your website and content are about.
Links – Link to quality sites that compliment what your website is about. It’ll encourage sites in your niche to link to you as well. It is important not to over-do this, as it can negatively impact your ranking if you link to less than reputable sources. We recommend one outbound link per article, although linking your sources is sometimes necessary.
Quality – Try to publish unique and quality content. This prompts users to come to your site because they cannot easily find the content elsewhere. The goal is to provide information & content that they cannot get anywhere else to ensure they keep coming back again and again.
Headings– Headings are a blog post in themselves, but they are incredibly important in the content you publish. Each heading, H1-H6 has a specific purpose, so it’s vital to learn what each one represents & use the correctly. Improper placement of headings can actually hurt your SEO ranking, so make sure to do lots of research on those alone.
As always, never publish someone else’s content on your site as your own. You can “reblog” someone else’s content by creating an external link and sourcing them properly. Otherwise, this creates duplicate content, and search engines can and will penalize you for it. More importantly, it lacks integrity and is against copyright laws which could end up landing you with a lawsuit for copyright infringement.
A few relevant links for some more information and tips on SEO friendly blog posts:
Yoast.com/seo-friendly-blog-post/
Links about the most common SEO mistakes:
Onlineincometeacher.com (Must Read)
Well, there you are! The basic SEO tips for beginners. Over the next few weeks, I’ll look for more detailed information to help all of us maximize our websites and its content to its fullest potential.
Love & Light
– Ashley xo
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