Better SEO & Content Strategy

Imagine a friend has picked out 2 books that might interest you. They both have the same cover. They both have basically the same title. But Book A has a blurb about the book on the back cover while Book B has a random grouping of words.

Which one would you choose to read? Probably the one with a blurb on the back of the book. After all, you know for sure what is going to be inside, and what kind of tone and content to really expect. It’s not that Book B would be any less relevant, it’s just that you’re sure about Book A.

Meta descriptions are the lowly, ignored marketing tool that make a difference, but all too often gets ignored. And even though they are not a direct ranking factor in any search engine, here’s how to use meta descriptions for search engine optimization (SEO) to increase qualified visitors coming from search engines.[Continue Reading]

Anyone who owns a website and recognizes the opportunity to get visitors from Google organic search suspects the importance of keywords. But how do you use those keywords on your website to actually get traffic? Put them in the meta=”keywords”? Use them over and over on your site?

Note: nothing against Bing, but I’ll be using “search engine” and “Google” interchangeably in this post

It’s been more 15 years since simply using keywords on your website was the only way for search engines to understand the relevance of your website. It’s no longer about just stuffing keywords all over your site. Search engines have gotten much smarter.

Google and Bing use hundreds of signals to try to decipher and rank the relevance of your website. They factor in what other people say about your site; they try to place your content in a graph of topics and entities, and perform all sorts of semantic analysis.

But keywords are still part of the foundation of how search engines understand your website.

Using keywords effectively on your website will help you tell a better story to both your visitors and search engines, and it will help communicate what searches your website is relevant for…so that you can get more visitors from search engines.

Here’s how to use keywords on your website with what is known in the SEO industry as a “keyword map.”[Continue Reading]

Like I mentioned in How To Decide Which Keywords To Use: Keyword Research for Beginners – a key part of keyword research is judging keyword difficulty.

If you are creating a page to generate organic traffic – there is no point in fighting a losing battle by targeting keywords that you have no chance in ranking for.

Let’s face it, everyone has limited resources. You should spend your limited resources creating content/pages that can “win” (aka “prequalified”).

In fact, the most common beginner SEO mistake I see is not choosing which keywords to target – that’s usually fairly straightforward. Instead, it’s choosing which keywords / content topics to avoid.

Many SEOs over-simplify judging keyword difficulty to –

• How difficult would it be to rank for this keyword?
• How strong are the pages that already rank on the front page of Google?

Those questions are redundant and not helpful.

Instead, let’s break down some of the nuances of keyword difficulty, so that you can rely less on guess-work and automated tools – and more on professional judgement & process.

It’s professional judgement & good process that will put you ahead of the competition rather than simply copying tactics that anyone can use.

*Note – all images in this post should be clickable so that you can see the full-size image.

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This post was originally published in 2012 – and the three trends that I said “killed” keyword rankings then have now been overshadowed by even larger trends. I’m going to update you on what has changed and what actually matters to you now.

In 2016, organic traffic & search engine optimization is a completely different world. Google’s Search Results Pages (SERPs) look different. Google Search has more features. More people are searching on mobile than desktop.

*Aside – throughout this piece, I will use “Google” in place of “search engine.” Bing, Yahoo! and other search engines matter, but Google has consistently driven the trends that I discuss – in addition to owning most of the marketshare.

And yet – “where does my website rank in Google” still feels like the right question to ask.

That’s because your keyword ranking does matter as a tool more than ever. But it matters less as a metric than it has since the late 2000s.[Continue Reading]

Google built both the AdWords Keyword Planner and Display Planner for Pay-Per-Click (PPC) research – not for SEO & Content Marketing

And yet, Keyword Planner is a fundamental tool for all SEOs. Keyword Planner provides a wealth of data directly from Google that you cannot get anywhere else. In a way SEOs love Keyword Planner as much as PPCers.

But what about Display Planner – the other research tool in AdWords?

If you are building an organic / SEO campaign – you probably think of Display Planner like it’s a desolate, uninteresting land of PPC terms like “viewable CPM, “impressions” and “IAB ad sizes” – all meant for PPCers who run those awful banner ads.

That’s all true. But like Keyword Planner, Display Planner has a ton of useful data when you hack it for SEO & content campaigns. Here’s how.[Continue Reading]

Keyword research is possibly the most important part of search engine optimization. It helps guide how your content is written, how you approach your audience, and how you approach your content strategy.

Many non-specialists in search engine optimization are just familiar enough with keyword research to be dangerous (ie, they know enough to start and stumble into either total success or total failure).

That’s a good thing though – SEO keyword research for beginners should not be such a complicated process that DIYers view it as a magical black box.

Keyword research for SEO is finding the specific words and phrases that people use to search for information, along with figuring out relative search volume and competition among your target keywords. Doing keyword research isn’t so much a single step or action as it is a process where each step informs the previous and the next step in the process.

Here’s an overview of my SEO keyword research process for total beginners, which itself is part of the process of keyword mapping.[Continue Reading]

Google might be the ultimate search engine. But it’s still a search engine. It’s only as good as the instructions you give it.

So did you know that Google has a plethora of search operators that make it easy for you to find exactly what they’re looking for?

Whether you’re doing research for a content strategy, trying to grow your personal brand, or even looking for linking opportunities for your business’ website, search operators are here to make your searches more effective. But first, you have to know how they work.

I’ve compiled a list of Google’s search operators, as well as examples of how to use them. Then, I dive into how to combine these operators to get the most out of your search.[Continue Reading]

Google Keyword Planner is a fundamental tool for planning SEO and content marketing campaigns. It’s the only place to get search data such as keyword ideas, trends and search volume directly from Google.

And for most non-professional SEOs, it’s the beginning and end of keyword research efforts. There are plenty of beginner guides for Keyword Planner, but this post will focus on ways to use Keyword Planner more effectively with advanced techniques.

Since Keyword Planner replaced the old Keyword Tool in 2013, well-known SEOs have criticized it for hiding keywords and having a laundry list of “dirty secrets.” The general sentiment is that it’s flawed, but it’s the best we have right now.

Some of the criticism is justified, but like criticism of Search Console / Webmaster Tools, it covers up some useful functionality that is much better than Keyword Tool ever could have been.

Before looking at specific ways to use Keyword Planner better, keep in mind two principles –

1. Keyword Planner is not meant for SEOs and Content Marketers. It is meant for PPC professionals looking to spend money on search ads. You have to be able to correct that bias with complementary tools, techniques and filters.

2. Keyword Planner is a tool – not a consultant. It’s only as good as how you use it. You have to coach and coax it to provide the information you need based on your objectives.

With that in mind – here are a few ways to make Keyword Planner work for you.[Continue Reading]

Google Search Console (formerly Webmaster Tools) is Google’s suite of tools, data & diagnostics to “help you have a healthy, Google-friendly site.”

It’s the only place to get search engine optimization information about your website directly from Google.

Side note – Bing has a separate but similar tool suite at Bing Webmaster Tools.

Google Search Console (Webmaster Tools) is free. Any website can use it. But, simply installing it will not improve your SEO, or your organic traffic. It’s a toolset – which means you have to understand how to use Google Search Console effectively to make any difference on your website.

That said, it can be a bit daunting to understand. This tutorial will go through what each feature is, what you should be using it for, and some ideas on being creative with it.[Continue Reading]

Getting quality links to point to your site are a key part of ranking in organic search – and will be for the foreseeable future. But getting links for links sake will often do more harm than good.

Real, quality links that represent real people endorsing your website requires some legit marketing, hours invested in planning & outreach plus a bit of risk – something not a lot of businesses or agencies can afford.

Aside – Seasoned SEO? Skip down to the ideas here.

Broken link building aims to at least reduce the risk of lost investment. The general idea is straightforward:

• Find links on a website to pages that no longer exist
• Point out the dead links to the website owner
• Have a similar or complementary page that can replace the broken URL

It’s a win all around. You get an editorially placed link, the website owner saves some time researching replacements, and the website’s users are no longer frustrated by 404 pages.

Broken link building reduces the risk of creating an unwanted content asset or page since you are replacing dead pages that already succeeded in getting links.

However, it can still be time-intensive to find the dead links & do outreach. Here’s how to prospect & do outreach much more efficiently & effectively. [Continue Reading]