Search Engine Optimisation or SEO can be a scary place. You usually find this out when you enter the world of online marketing. With Google Hummingbird, Pandas and the world of Search Engine Related Pages (SERPS), people tend to get lost and have no clue where to start. Therefore, if you are small business owners looking to get one up against your competitors, then read on and see how you can get our website optimized in no time.
SET THE THINGS UP
The first thing that you need to do, if you have not already done, is to set up Google Webmaster Tools. It is helpful in finding out things later on in the line, and the best part of it is it is free. If your website is built on Word press then it is also a good idea to get the latest version Word press SEO by Yoast. This will ease your life tenfold when you get to the on-page stuff.
PUT UP A PLAN
This is probably the first thing to do. Think about the service you offer, and then do some keywords research on what keywords you should be going after. Find out how people visit your site using Webmaster tools. Check what keywords they are using to get to your site. Use this as a starting point and decide whether you want to use these keywords or introduce new ones.
THE TECHNO STUFF
It is now time to get cracking. You have got your keywords, and set everything up to start. The list below gives you the recommended starting point.
ON PAGE
Optimise your pages to be more SEO friendly. You can do this by ensuring that your pages have at least 300 words worth of good quality content. Make sure the keyword appears in the title, H1 as well as within the content. Make sure your content is not full of keywords and use variations to make them look natural.
The next thing you need to do is work on your meta tags. Get an SEO plug in installed if you have a Word press site. This will save you time. Your meta tag description should be less than 160 characters. Try to work your keyword in here too even though the meta description is not a ranking factor. Think of it more as a conversion factor.
OFF PAGE
To help Google crawl your site efficiently, submit a sitemap to Google Webmaster Tools.
CONTENT STRATEGY
You have now optimized what you already have and can start creating new content that will help your rankings. Make sure you think about your keywords and your target audience and think what would interest them. The thumb rule about you content is that it should be useful to your readers.
Think of as many ideas as possible, jot down blog ideas in a couple of minutes, and filter out the best. You can use the remaining ones later for content.
Try to make sure your content is between 350-500 words in length. Research shows that Google likes around 1000 word blog costs, but that does not mean you have to write a 1000 word blog. Good quality content with 500 words will do just fine. Avoid adding filler information just to reach a certain word count. Also, consider things like info graphics, white papers and downloadable pdfs.
WIN THE GAME BY EASY LINK BUILDING
An important aspect of SEO in Melbourne, link-building strategy is one of the points to consider. Discussed below are a few easy link building methods:
It is important to create shareable content. When you write content, think about making it useful and likeable to people so that they will share it. You can do this by a well-written blog or an interesting topic. Use your social network and encourage your followers to link to your content.
If you are a bricks and clicks business, then try and increase your NAP (Name, Address and business Phone number) mentions using local citations from business directories like Google My Business, 192.com, Yell.com etc. Ensure that the details are consistent on all the directories and that it matches to that on your website. This helps with local search and proves to Google that you are a legitimate business.
ROLL OUT AND START MEASURING
It is now time to roll out, as the hard work is now complete. Stagger out your content and post things related to your industry. Roll out the content over all your social media channels too.
To determine the success of your exercise, measure it by using ranking tools like Link Risk or Moz Rank checker. Measure visitor numbers to your content with Google Analytics to help determine the success of your content and get an idea of what you should write more and what you can improve on.
Now that you have an idea how to get started, contact Platinum SEO, a company dealing with SEO in Melbourne who will assist you in all aspects of SEO and get you ahead of your competitors.