Before you get into the intricacies of search and SEO Top Tricks, first try to understand the aim of Google and the experience they want to provide to users.
They are in the business of giving the best possible answer to a question. If you can understand how Google decides which answer is the best, you are half way to mastering SEO and leveraging it in your business.
What is SEO?
SEO is the process of tailoring your website to rank highly in Search Engines
SEO can be divided into three categories:
Technical
Technical SEO is work that is not related to content such as the code of your website, the speed of your server. It is performed to give your content the best chance it can to rank for the keywords and phrases you target.
On Page
The content on the page and how well it is optimized for a keyword.
Off Page
Things outside your control, such as links to your site.
This image from Neil Patal at Quicksprout summarizes the differences between Technical and On-Page SEO:
The 6 SEO Top Tricks For Higher Rankings
There are over 300 ranking signals in Google's algorithm that decide where your site will appear in the search results. If you try to tick off all of these points you will soon realise that it's impossible to do 300 things for every blog post manually.
However, some ranking signals carry more weight than others. Research has shown that there are 6 Top SEO Tricks For Higher Rankings, which are proven to have a greater impact on your search ranking than anything else within your control.
1) title-tag
- blue link displayed by Google in the search results
- single most important thing on the page
- if users don't click on your title, the rest is pointless
- aim for 50-60 Characters with the keyword towards the front
Leader Tip: Add modifiers like best, top, recommended, #1
2) URL
- make it SEO friendly
- include your keyword
- shorter is better
- remove connectors like and as, if, or
Leader Tip:: Enable Wordpress friendly URLs in Permalink settings
3) H1
- make sure it includes the keyword
- aim for 6-9 words
- most CMSs default settings for H1's are fine
- if using plugins ensure they are not injecting multiple H1's
4) Internal links to page
- internal links help google understand your site better
- have 2 or 3 internal links to other pages on your site
- have links from other pages to this page
Leader Tip: Related posts section is a great way of making internal links
5) Pagespeed
- speed of a site is an important ranking signal used by google
- test site on Google's Pagespeed Insights tool. Aim for 80 or above
- compress Images!
Leader Tip: W3 Total Cache Plugin
6) Semantic relevance of page
Structure the HTML of the page correctly. A well formatted page contains:
- 1 keyword around which it is written
- title tag which includes the keyword
- a single H1 with keyword
- keyword in first 100 words
- a few H2's for scanning with one containing the keyword
- 1000 words of content
- variations of the keyword in content 3-4 times
- a compressed image that has the keyword in its name and alt tag
- keyword in last 100 words
Tools
Our 6 Top SEO Tricks For Higher Rankings will add time to your blog writing schedule but there are some tools to help you remove the manual work.
Google Analytics
Your number one tool as a blogger. Measure the traffic coming to your site, where they came from, what they searched for and which pages are doing well.
Search Console
Previously called Webmaster Tools. It allows you to monitor and maintain your search presence. It offers a technical overview of your site with an error list, suggestions and health overview. It also contains search analytics to show where you rank for keywords.
Adwords
PPC tool for buying traffic to your site. Use it to perform keyword research for ideas and see what you can rank for, without ever spending a cent.
Screaming Frog
Downloadbale SEO analysis tool which is free up to a certain number of URLs.
Answer The Public
Search for a topic and get content ideas.
Mozbar
Chrome plugin to assess the SEO of a page in real time. Helps makes sure the title tag and meta description are correct and the H1 is good.
Linkio
Linkio is a link building management platform that helps SEO teams use data to plan their strategy and provides workflow management for monthly activities.
Resources
Brian Dean from Backlinko has an excellent article about On Page SEO. It is a must read for any SEO newbie and reinforces Our Top 6 SEO Tricks for ranking higher in Google.
The Smart Passive Income Podcast has lots of useful and digestable information about content marketing and SEO. I've selected the top three episodes for people starting their blog.
Conclusion
Our Top 6 SEO Tricks For Higher Rankings are reinforced by the opinions of SEO experts. Use them and you will rise up the search rankings.
It requires time as SEO is not a set and forget item. There is an entire SEO industry with enterprise level companies that specalise in SEO as their only service.
Nonetheless, if you learn about your audience, put in the effort and dedicate yourself to the task, you can achieve a respectable SEO score that delivers consistent traffic of the highest quality.
To help you understand SEO follow the Leader Internet Blog for regular updates and SEO Top Tricks.
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