A website is not just a pretty face. The whole point of having a site is to capture leads, driving prospects to engage and buy from you, right? What if you have sunk thousands of dollars into designing it, yet your traffic is at a stand still — or not where you want it to be?
This may be because your site’s SEO ranking (search engine optimization) is below par.
So how do you bring up your ranking… and fast?
In this post, we’ll discuss some basic SEO tips that will help improve how Google and other search engines rank your site.
SEO Tip #1: Identify Your Keywords
There’s a bit of science to identifying your keywords properly. Lucky for you, you don’t have to rely on your own calculations to figure out which keywords to target.
Simply head over to your Google Search Console. You’ll discover which words people are entering in search engines in order to find your site. You’ll also learn how your site is performing on mobile and which sites are linking to your website.
If you use a marketing automation tool, such as Hubspot, you’ll be able to use its keyword tool to quickly see for which keywords you’re ranking the highest.
More importantly, if you’re not ranking highly for keywords that you know are crucial to your traffic, you can start to build a content plan to boost your keyword ranking.
SEO Tip #2: Use Your Keywords Strategically
Now that you have your go-to keywords, you can start using them in your owned content. However, keywords placed willy-nilly around your site aren’t going to cut it.
Let’s take Marx Communications as an example. Since we’re all about B2B PR, we want to rank highly for that keyword. So we pepper our content with that keyword, placing it in strategic places, such as:
- URLs
- Headings
- Page content
- Meta titles
- Meta tags
- Alt text descriptions for images
Exercise caution in this area, though. Too many keywords that are forced into places they don’t belong will make your site too spammy for Google, and will turn away readers who do find your site.
Search for ways to organically use your keywords. In addition, use synonyms and other related words when creating keyword-friendly content. This not only makes your content easier to read, but it helps Google understand what you’re all about.
SEO Tip #3: Maintain a Blog
By far, when talking with newbies about owned content, the most popular question is “Why should I have a blog?”
The short answer is that blogging creates more pages for search engines to crawl, and increases the likelihood of prospects finding you.
However, it does more than that. It establishes you as a thought leader and an authority in your industry. Getting your name and expertise out there is an obvious way to increase traffic.
“Those who succeed will be the ones who can best leverage all the marketing they do to work in concert with their SEO.” ~ Rand Fishkin, Founder of MOZ, as presented in the SlideShare, SEO Tips from the Experts’ Pen
If you’re slipping in ranking for some keywords, blogging is also a great way to boost your ranking. Remember keyword ranking not only depends on your own efforts, but that of your competition. This means that you need to keep continuous watch on your keyword ranking, even if you already score highly.
If your ranking starts to slip, run a keyword campaign for a month. Create a series of blog posts that use the keyword or topic for which you’re trying to rank.
Patience is required. If you’re just starting a blog, it may take six months or more of blogging twice per week before Google starts favoring you.
SEO Tip #4: Make Good Use of Attention-Grabbing Words
If you want to be one of the popular kids, you’ve got to use the right lingo. Here are a few words that typically grab attention and boost SEO rankings:
- Free
- How to (fill in the blank)
- Now
- Today
- Quick(ly)
- Easy
- Simple
- Best
Use these title tags to draw attention to your owned content. A full list of of power words from Coschedule can be found here.
In addition, when creating your titles, it’s best to score it with Coschedule’s Headline Analyzer, found here. Aim for a ranking of 70 or above.
SEO Tip #5: Don’t Forget About Local
With 51% of Americans spending more time on mobile devices than on desktops, it’s easy to see why you want to optimize your site for mobile search.
It may be easy to forget that your site doesn’t just reach people across the world, but also in your own backyard. Searchers aren’t just looking for “B2B PR firms.”They’re also looking for “B2B PR firms in Connecticut” (as in the case of Marx Communications).
To that end, make sure that your site is optimized for mobile so that Google will favor you in local search.
There you have it — 5 SEO tips guaranteed to boost your visibility. It certainly can be difficult keeping up with all of the changes in SEO best practices! If you find this to be painfully true, consider hiring an agency to keep up with industry best practices for you.
The number one mistake made by content creators while trying to optimize their site for SEO is “saving money on content.” ~ Ann Smarty, Brand Manager at Internet Marketing Ninjas, as presented in the SlideShare, SEO Tips from the Experts’ Pen
In the meantime, feel free to download my latest tool – a checklist for making the most out of your PR: 10 Simple Strategies to Boost Your B2B PR Campaign.
It’s based on my most popular blog post, and gives you an easy look at how to use and repurpose your B2B PR to get the most bang for your buck. Enjoy your FREE copy on me!
Read more: