I love that the SEO community is so willing to share their trade secrets to educate the rest of us. Without such a strong community I wouldn’t be in the position I am today and I’m thankful for that. Typically, a great post takes 1000 words or so for two or three takeaways. This, however, is the opposite. A guide to SEO with as many key points as I can think of in as few words as possible in an easy – and SEO friendly – list separated with headers optimal for quick reading.
On-Page SEO
URLs
make ’em simple so they don’t have to to Google it
- Be sure to have your keyword(s) present
- Eliminate conjunctions and extra wording
- seperate words with hypens (-) or underscores (_)
- Keep URL’s precise
Title Tags
would you have read it if it was called “Awkward Teenage Vampire Love Story”
- Keyword(s) should be in the title
- Please the search engines – The mindset has changed, but we can’t forget about who’s actually providing the search results
- Entice humans – people are the ones who are actually going to click your link in the search results
- Make sure it’s relevant
- Keep titles 70 characters or less
- It’s better to have keyword(s) in the beginning rather than the end of the title
- If possible, add branding
- AND DON’T DUPLICATE your titles
Header Tags
we all hate writing outlines, but Google loves Cliff Notes
- Use H tags for section titles within your content
- Only use one H1 tag on a page
- Place keyword(s) within your H tags
- Work from broad (H1) to more specific (H2, H3, H4, etc)
Content Strategy
Blogging
Blogging (verb): to make money at home, right?
- Keep it relevant to your niche
- Use diverse content (blog posts, images, video, infographics, etc)
- Promote your content – share your content on your social media outlets, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Digg, niche communities
- Provoke conversation & encourage comments
- Stay involved
- Do your research and use data
- Create something useful – i.e. tools, plugins, widgets
Social Media
How cat memes spread
- BE HUMAN!!! – People want to hear from people, not something that seems like an automatic response
- Promote conversation
- Respond as much as possible even if its negative
- Don’t just share your own content – share relevant things you find interesting
- Host contests & giveaways
- Encourage likes/shares
- Join Google+ (don’t neglect the social media outlet owned by the company your trying to rank in)
Link Building
Build Relationships
Proceed with caution…just ask Manti Te’o
- Read other authors in your niche
- Use tools like Followerwonk to find influencers
- Pay it forward
- Make ego-bait
- Just say “Hi” – what’s the worst that could happen?
Outreach
If your parents taught you any manners, this shouldn’t be that hard
- Do your research beforehand
- Keep your subject line short, but enticing for better click thru rate
- Again, be human – these are real people your reaching out to
- Use some flattery (i.e. compliment them on a recent post so they know you’ve at least read their blog)
- Always ask don’t tell them what your going to do
Guest Posting
Like when your a guest in someone else’s home, while your there, follow their rules
- Find relevant sites within your niche
- Research the site’s link profile – backlinks, domain authority (DA), Alexa Rank, traffic, etc
- Use the eye check (does it look like a site that you would visit on a regular basis)
- Try to get links to your site within the body of the content
- Use your common sense
