The keys to improving your SEO are important because it can bring you search engine traffic. And it is well known that the most targeted traffic you can get is what comes to you from search engines.
Understanding the keys to improving your SEO will go a long way to getting more visitors and from a much more targeted audience.
And yes, it does involve some social media, now one of the more important parts I’ll go over here, but you can’t ignore your old SEO basics!
If your site is ranked on the first page of Google for your search term, and on the top half of that page, then you are in a coveted place.
With attention to just three key areas, your site can rank in these first few results, getting you more page views and highly targeted prospects.
Key 1 to Improving Your SEO: Keywords
Doing a bit of thinking ahead of time on keywords will take you a long way toward having an optimized search engine friendly website.
A general rule of thumb is to find keyword phrases that has no more than 30,000 results for at least a hundred searches per day. Too few searches indicates low interest; too many indicates too much competition.
When you come up with the phrases, use them in your post title, at least once in the first paragraph or two, and at least one or two more times in the body of your article, depending on the length.
Be careful not to overpopulate your post with the primary keyword phrase, but do use related keywords throughout the post.
The keyword should be in the first and last sentence, as well as a few times throughout your post, particularly in H1, H2, and H3 headers.
Use them in alternate text behind images
(the ALT=”image_tag_your_keyword”), and in your link text.
Use the long tail keywords (phrases) in favor of short ones which are highly competitive.
And the leads you get from the longer ones will be more targeted, but more importantly you’ll have a better chance of reaching the first page due to a smaller number of results.
Use keyword tools like the Google Wonder Wheel to do your keyword research (here’s a step-by-step on using the Google Wonder Wheel).
And you can test your post for placement of keywords through this post Term Targeting tool by my friend Shaylee Greg.
Key 2 to Improving Your SEO: Backlinks
Backlinks are an important factor in your page rank, so increasing the number of backlinks is also key to improving your SEO.
It also matters the page rank of the site which is providing the backlink. Find the page rank of a particular site at prchecker.info by entering the URL of the page. Most blogs have between 0 and 4 page rank.
But with recent Google changes, the weight of backlinks depend on he quality of those links, in many cases reduced such as many of the article marketing sites.
But in turn, social proof became more important, and you can definitely take advantage of that!
When your readers link to your posts from their websites, or share links through social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Digg, etc, this creates backlinks to your page indicating their approval.
Moreover, their clicks on your share and Like buttons as well as their votes and ratings on your content are now important.
Once you have accumulated votes and shares on these sites, your page get even more visibility, more traffic, improving your SEO more now due to the fact that this is what Google is paying attention to now!
Your use of content syndication will a powerful impact on your SEO, and I’ve not seen any better way to do this than TribePro, a free content syndication tribe network.
Commenting on others blogs is another way to create backlinks to your content. It can also drive traffic to your site, particularly from ones that get high traffic. Be sure to make the comments meaningful and do not spam, or you may be blocked!
But in addition to the social content syndication, Google is now also looking at comments, as well as your own responses to them so don’t ignore your commentators!
As an aside here, building links within your site is also important for improving your SEO. Creating links to other posts within your site forces the search engines to crawl deeper within your site.
Key 3 to Improving Your SEO: WordPress Plugins
Using some particular WordPress Plugins are essential to improving your SEO.
Using blogs over static web pages provides a benefit due to the inherent capabilities for improving your SEO.
In particular, these plugins are recommended for improving your SEO:
1. Google XML Sitemaps faciliates search engine crawlers to assess your site, increasing your rank.
2. SEOPressor acts like an SEO coach sitting within your editing session giving you crucial pointers, a most effective helper! This is actually my most favorite, it has increased my search engine visibility tremendously with so little effort on my part to remember all the details that it tells me about (reminds me of that tax software!)
3. Outbrain enhances your SEO by giving readers a chance to be drawn into other posts – you see the icons at the bottom of this post which link to other posts here? That’s it!
4. All-in One SEO Pack optimizes your blog for SEO in a variety of ways.
And to be sure, having Akismet on your stie is the one more important things you can do to protect your site from malicious spammers that can actually damage your SEO.
As your site gains more exposure, your page rank will increase, and you’ll find that using all of these tools will have a cumulative effect in improving your SEO, so use Google Analytics with this plugin so you can see your results.
Ensuring that you use all of these methods for improving your SEO will have your page rank increasing!
Coach Freddie (28)
Oliver Tausend (28)
Gabriele Maidecchi (24)
Amy Hagerup (23)
Chris Fairchild (21)
Jennifer May (20)
John Engle (18)
Ryan Yokome (17)
Audrey Ross (15)
Steve Nicholas (15)
Hi Vicki – these are some great tips. Finding good keywords can be challenging at times, but having great tools like you suggest (I personally use Market Samurai) is a great help. The trick I have found is to think about what your target market will be searching for. That way, you not only get traffic but it is targeted traffic. Thanks and warm wishes,
Cindy
.-= Cindy Schulson´s last blog ..Small Business Marketing Strategies– Learn from the Best =-.
Thanks Cindy, and for the added tool too! I know there are a few great ones, I appreciate your adding value here!
Wishing You the Best!
Great post Vicki! If you don’t have the SEO you are dead in the water. I see to many people putting hard work into blogs that are from blogger or other sources like that, that will never produce the results.
.-= Kyle Clouse´s last blog ..Powerful Lessons Over Soup and Salad =-.
Thanks Kyle!
I know, maybe that’s because it’s a bit daunting at first, but it’s really not hard stuff to learn or do, and so worthwhile!
Thanks for your comment and support!
Vicki, I always learn something important from your posts This is hot training on SEO! The insights you offer are vital for anyone who wants to exponentially grow their online business. Consider me a convert to your blog. I recommend that people visit your site frequently if they truly want success.
.-= Louis Di Bianco´s last blog ..Blog Comment Secrets =-.
Wow Louis, I am honored, thank you! I have learned so much through this incredible community too!
Wishing You a Brilliant Day!
Hey Vicki, great post. SEO is very important and your 3 points give great power to the overall scope of what SEO really is. Awesome value.
~BT
.-= Brian Tomlinson´s last blog ..The Zen of Social Media Marketing (Book Review) =-.
Thank You Brian, I really appreciate your kudos!
It does seem a difficult topic to span all of but when you break it down it’s not bad, and the keywords is a skill that just takes a bit of practice, writing around them that is!
Wishing You Every Success!
Thanks for the info, I am sure many will love the content and find it usefull.
Marty Ware
.-= Marty Ware´s last blog ..Make Money With Your Facebook Fan Page =-.
Thanks Marty!
I appreciate your stopping by and commenting!
Wishing You Every Success!
Hey Vicki,
Having the right plugins will definitely improve your SEO efforts. The ones you mentioned in this article were right on.
Keep sharing great info
talk soon
Hector
.-= Hector Cuevas´s last blog ..4 Ways To “Switch Up” Your Blog Content For More Return Readers =-.
Thanks Hector! I appreciate your validation, I know you would have added any if I’d missed some!
Wishing You a Brilliant Day!
Hi Vicki,
thanks for sharing this great post with is. The “Google Wonder Wheel” is completely new to me, so I’m really grateful you shared it with us. Keep up your great work.
Take care
Oliver
.-= Oliver Tausend´s last blog ..Stop it ! =-.
Thank You Oliver!
Yes that Wonder Wheel is definitely useful! Glad I shared something of value to you!
Have an Awesome Weekend!
Hi Vicki,
Great post and timely for me as well. I will be releasing a new blog in 4 weeks and will be using all your great tips. I especially like the plugin for related posts. What a great way to encourage your audience to stick around and dig deeper.
I see a smart and common thread throughout many of the posts/videos I’m viewing. How to optimize both social proof and creating community/tribe to your site and brand.
Thank you!
Faith
.-= Faith Barnard´s last blog ..Net Neutrality Means Keeping the Internet Free for Everyone =-.
Hi Faith!
Sorry, somehow this comment was not notified to me and though I regularly go in and approve them, I have a whole back-log from the past week!
Anyway thank you for stopping by and commenting! Glad you find it useful, and incorporating all aspects of SEO is the best way to achieve it!
Wishing You a Wonderful Day!
Thank you for another great post, Vicki! This is so much great information I almost don’t know where to begin! I have learned so much and I can’t wait to put it into practice!
Stacy
Thanks You Stacy!
I know what you mean – I have learned so much my head is going to pop! I am still trying to get everything implemented!
But putting it down in its simplest form here helps I think, and even though say, keyword research and utilization is a practice that will take some time, at least beginning is good, and knowing the other keys as well, like using wordpress and taking advantage of those plugins!
Wishing You an Awesome Weekend!
Just found you on the tribe… found your SEO tips quite useful. I use many of them but am going to get the Google XML Sitemap generator. That’s one I have not yet used and need to. Thanks for the good info.
.-= Pat´s last blog ..Golf Fashion Question: Should You Be Able To Wear Jeans on the Golf Course? =-.
Hi Vicki, although I knew this stuff, I thought it was well presented and thorough. Very useful for newbies.
Best
Nic Penrake
.-= Nic Penrake´s last blog ..Bank Big Commissions Working With YourNetBiz =-.
Thanks Nic!
Yes, my intent was to provide a simple outline for anyone either just getting started or that might appreciate a recap (and to see if anyone chimed in with anything that I had missed!).
Thank you for stopping in and commenting!
Wishing You Brilliant Success!
Thanks Vicki , those were great tips:)
Thanks Vicki,
Keywords and SEO are the next things on my list to tackle. I have the plugins, next is research on keywords.
Coach Freddie
.-= Coach Freddie´s last blog ..How Hanging Out With Your Soul Can Be Good For Business =-.
Thank You Freddie!
Good luck on the keyword research, that is one which takes practice, they key being to look for search results under 200k because if you shoot for one that has, say, over a million results, you’re not likely to get on the front page!
Wishing You Brilliant Success!
Vicki thanks for sharing this information on SEO. These tips provide great value to readers looking to improve their site rankings.
Great value here.
-James
.-= James Hampton´s last blog ..Stop Procrastinating – Start Your Home Based Business! =-.
Thanks again James!
As always I appreciate your stopping by and leaving your comments!
Wishing You Brilliant Success!
Hi Vicki,
thank you so much for those great tips.
Much appreciated!
Love and Light
from
Yorinda
Hi Yorinda!
Nice to see you, thanks for stopping by to comment!
I hope you are enjoying a wonderful weekend!
Wishing You Every Success,
Another good post. The wonder wheel was brought up. Many people are unaware of it. Here is something to note.
Google releases algorithm changes on a daily basis (many many of them). Last year they came out with a major code change which they have labeled it as Google Caffeine.
Caffeine places more emphasis on something called LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing). In other words, synonyms or keyword off shoots. I won’t go anymore technical on you. Here’s the cool thing though.
The wonder wheel (if taken down to the 3rd level) will show you how Google would like to see your site built. Go there, try it out, and you will see what I mean. If you design your web site following the correct guidelines, you will have a clear advantage in ranking your site over others.
.-= Jim|best mlm business´s last blog ..Niche Marketing Tips for Your Best MLM Business =-.
Thank you Jim!
You have added great value with your comment here, I truly appreciate it!
I have some additional training on Latent Semantic Indexing that I will probably post here now that you have mentioned it – it’s not nearly as scary as it sounds, as you said, it is basically synonyms or related keyword phrases.
Thanks again for the added value!
Wishing You Brilliant Success!
I need to bookmark this. I am so lazy with SEO and I never used to be like that. Sometimes I can go over the top though and I think subconsciously that is what made me back off.
Natalie´s last [type] ..Why You Should Not Worry About Your Bounce Rate
I know what you mean – I have learned so much my head is going to pop! I am still trying to get everything implemented!
seo arizona company´s last [type] ..Making Room for SEO in Your Budget
The first two was kinda obvious to me, but the third is something I haven`t paid to much attention to it until now! Thanks
Thanks Vicki, for this great information on SEO, especially the wordpress plugins, It really helped.
This are great tips Vicki. Thank you for sharing. I just want to add that you can create backlinks by commenting on blogs, posting on forums and guest posting. Among the 3 techniques, my favorite is guest posting. It gives you traffic to your site and at the same time you’re building relationship with fellow bloggers.
Absolutely Audrey! That’s what I discussed for Key 2 although I did leave out forums and guest posting, thanks for adding that! But don’t forget on the guest posting, that the page rank of the site which is providing the backlink is important, so selecting a blog with a higher page rank will definitely make a difference!
Thanks for stopping to comment again!
Wishing You Brilliant Success,