On-Page:
Get Your Website in Shape
1. Follow a Long Tail Strategy: Successful
SEO strategies start by identifying the appropriate keywords. If you want to
build a sustainable strategy, then focus on long-tail keywords. Blogs are a great way to go
after long-tail keywords, so start creating contentwith a specific audience in mind,
and you’ll do much more than just help your SEO.
2.
Research Appropriate Keywords: Now
use keyword research to
find opportunities by looking at the search volume and competition.
3.
Focus on One Keyphrase Per Post or Page: You
should focus onoptimizing each post or page with only one keyphrase. So instead of
jamming keyphrases into each page, spread them out by focusing each page on one
topic.
4. Put a Keyword in your Title Tag: The Title Tag of your website is one
of the most important SEO factors. So try using a tagline, slogan, or keyphrase
just before using your brand name. For example:
Title | Sitename
Or
Keyphrase | Sitename
5.
Use a Keyword in Your Page and Post Headline:You
should also put a key phrase in the headline of each page and blog post. Put it
towards the front, and avoid going over 70 characters in length. Write
headlines that intrigue people, but that are also descriptive enough for search
engines.
6.
Write a Meta Description that Begs to be Clicked: The meta description is the short box
(about 160 characters) that shows up in search results just under your
headline. They don’t help much for SEO purposes… but they are extremely
important for getting people to click through to your website. So focus on
copywriting that gets people’s attention and lures them in.
7.
Place Your Keyphrase in the Alt Attribute of a
Picture: There are specific places on every blog post or page you create
that should be optimized with a keyword. One
of those that’s often overlooked is the alt attribute on your images. It usually looks like this:
<img
src=”http://domain.com/image” alt=”Keyphrase and sentence.” />
8.
Create a Flat Site Architecture: Users
(and search engine spiders) shouldn’t have to look hard to find anything on
your site. As a general rule, keep all of your most important pages within 3
clicks of your homepage. So try not to bury or “silo” content, because people
(and search engines) will have trouble finding it. One way you can tell is by
looking at your URL structure. For example, the “Team Page” in this domainhttp://domain.com/about/mission/team.html is
already three steps deep.
9.
Have a Clean URL: Take a look at your URL
structure. Are there unnecessary words, phrases, or strings-of-numbers (also
calledParameters)? Make your
URL as clean and clear as possible. Again, this helps people remember and share
your work, but it also benefits search engines by making your site easy and
quick to crawl.
10. Usage
Data: Your website
usage data now has an impact on your SEO. So if you have a high bounce rate,
or people aren’t staying on your website longer than a minute, then you might
have problems.
11. Speed:The speed
of your website also affects search engine rankings now. If you have a website
that loads slowly with too many images and has other performance issues, then
it’s time to start figuring out how to speed it up.
Off-Page:
Focus on Real Links from Real People
12. Use
Social Media to Build Audiences: Social media is becoming a huge influence
on your search results. The next phase of link-building will be dominated by links from blogs, and
“social signals” every-time someoneTweets, Likes or +1’syour
content.
13. Start
Using Google+: Everyone needs to start using Google Plus
for business. It’s heavy integration with every aspect of Google
means that user adoption will explode in the next year, and it will have a
significant impact on your search rankings.
14. Invest in
Linkable Assets:“Linkable Assets” are free tools or premium content (like
infographics) that people love to share and recommend. Promote these powerful
assets to everyone you know, both online and off. You can also pitch other
website owners as long as it’s (1) free, (2) specific to their audience, and
(3) high-value.
15. Join
Offline Groups and Associations: Believe it or not, offline groups and
associations can help your SEO efforts. For example, joining the Better
Business Bureau and local Chamber of Commerce helps boost yourcredibility.
You can also figure out ways to get links indirectly from other members,
events, etc.
16. Donate to
Charity: Do you want to “buy” white-hat links? Then donate time and money to a
good cause! Links from non-profits and schools are very valuable because
they’re seen as high-value and high-trust.
17. Use Guest
Blogging to Drive Traffic and Backlinks: Guest
Blogging is one of the best ways to acquire links from other
top-notch sites. Create valuable, engaging content that you know will succeed
for a specific audience, and offer it to other site owners.
Bad SEO Tactics: Stop Doing These
Things Right Now
- Stop
Worrying About Your Keyword Rankings: Your SEO keyword rankingsare quickly becoming
obsolete. Each person’s search results are nowpersonalized. So that means that everyone is seeing unique
search results tailored to them based on their (1) past browsing history,
(2) location, and (3) social media connections.
- Stop
Abusing Keywords in Your Site: The meta keywords tag was used as a way to
tell search engines what each page is about. They’re much smarter now, so
they can figure that out all by themselves. Years of manipulation have now
changed the perception of the meta
keywords tag. Search engines now use it to identify potential
spammers. So I wouldn’t even bother using it.
- Stop
Worrying about “Keyword Density”: See point above.
- Stop
Using Blog Comments for Backlinks:People used to rely on spamming the comments
section of blogs as a way to acquire backlinks. This is a dumb,
inefficient and ultimately ineffective strategy. So stop trying to “game
the system” and invest in tactics that will also drive traffic and build
your brand.
- Stop
Using Article Marketing: Article marketing (or “spinning”) was
another cheap tactic used to drive backlinks. Again, it doesn’t work any
longer. Most of your articles are now de-valued because of duplicate content issues, so
it’s another waste of time. Instead, look for real guest posting
opportunities or a place you can contribute a weekly article.
- Stop
Relying on Directories:Submitting your site to directories used to
work well. But now, most of those directories have lost a lot of value and
trust in the eyes of Google.
- Stop
Talking about PageRank: PageRank was significant… years ago. Even Google recommends you should stop tracking
it.
Instead, focus on your (1)conversion
rate, (2) bounce rate, and (3) Clickthrough
Rate(CTR).
- Stop
Buying Links: If
your SEO strategy relies on buying links from other sites, then I would
urge you to stop now. It may have worked for a few years, but that’s all
coming to an end. You’re not fooling anyone… it’s incredibly easy to tell
if you’re buying links by looking at your link profile. There will come a day very soon when you
will be penalized. That means your rankings will drop significantly
overnight, or your website could be removed completely. I don’t think it’s
smart to risk either one.
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