What is SEO? Search Engine Optimization is the first answer. An art and science is the second.
Even after years designing websites, I still struggle with SEO. But, that’s actually good news. Because I still struggle with SEO, I am a constant student of the art. And all that learning has a direct benefit to all of my Pink Toad Studio clients.
In case you’re in the same boat and struggle with SEO, here a few things I’ve learned so far…
It’s All About the Keywords
First off, keyword is misleading. It’s not usually one word, but a phrase. Keywords are the cornerstone of SEO.
Keywords give your website content focus. They are the words that describe your business or the topic of a blog post.
There is a whole science behind keyword research. Sites like Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest and SEMrush specialize keyword research.
There are even SEO services that, for a fee, will come up with keywords for you.
I like to take a simpler approach… If someone’s searching for your business, what would they type into Google? That’s your keyword.
You can have keywords on website pages and blog posts. They can all get you attention from Google.
You can tailor your keywords to what your website visitor will want to do – get information, buy a product or service, find out how to do something or where to find things. They call this keyword intent. Build it into your keyword to get better results.
I talk a lot about Google from here on but it could just as easily be Bing or DuckDuckGo or one of the others out there. So if you don’t use Google, just substitute the name of your favourite!
A Way to Grow Your Business Without Spending Money
SEO, done right, will help Google find your business. And you won’t have to pay them. It’s called “organic” growth.
If Google can find your business, you’ll show up in the results when people search for a topic. The better your SEO, the higher up on the list you’ll appear.
Backlinks are Important
What is a backlink? It’s a link outside of your website that points back to your website.
Backlinks prove to Google that your website is legit and provides value. This is one way to move up in the search engine results.
There are good and bad backlinks, though. They don’t all hold the same value. Backlinks from an authority in your industry are good. Ones from a junk website that sells backlinks are bad.
How do you get backlinks? Comment on other blogs related to your business is one suggestion. Writing a guest post for another blog works, too.
The Technical Side of SEO
There are some technical elements to SEO.
- Good code behind your website works to improve page loading speed. This is a biggie for Google.
- Having a site map counts. This helps Google understand what your site is about.
- Clear menu navigation gets you points. Google likes user-friendly sites.
- Broken links on your website loses you SEO points.
- Google likes secure sites. Having an SSL certificate installed on your website (you use https:// not just http://) will work in your SEO favour.
What it boils down to is having a well-designed website and using keywords to help Google connect you to people searching for what you offer.
I use the WordPress plugin Yoast to hone my SEO skills. And do lots of reading. I’ve been at it a while and am just starting to understand it all so, if you find it overwhelming, stick with it. You’ll catch on!
