7 Simple Steps to SEO Success
There was a great video last week from Google telling us all about the algorithm which I have put at the end of this post. One of the things that was revealed is that Google is making changes to the algorithm about twice a day! So how on earth do you keep up with those changes? Simple, YOU DON’T!
Forget about the algorithm
It’s not about the algorithm it’s about the relevancy and authority of your web pages for a given search phrase. Just produce what Google is looking for. Good relevant content on fast, technically sound sites. Then of course you need to get social so your content is shared and your Google authorship becomes more authoritative. However the social steps, including authorship, should not have resources dedicated to them until you have completed these seven simple steps to SEO success.
Seven Simple Steps to SEO Success
1. Keyword research
Don’t guess about your keywords. Your keyword research forms the foundation of whether your customers will find you or not. Don’t skimp on this step. Consider things like regionality, plural versus singular and don’t forget the “long tail” phrases. Watch today’s video to see how I start my keyword research.
2. Assess the ranking competition
Who are you up against? Remember you only have to beat the number 1 position, not Google. Study what the number 1 position is doing and do it better. Today’s video is a good example of this. Have a look at their backlinks. Are they getting them naturally or are they going out and buying them trying to trick Google? If they are you have a real opportunity. Are they producing content on a regular basis? Do they have authorship code implemented? Once you begin to answer these questions you can then begin to get an idea of how much time and effort you are going to have to spend ranking for a specific phrase. Then you can assess whether it’s worth the effort to chase or not.
3. Check the Google index
Look for errant or rogue pages in the index. You’re trying to work out in this step if your site is being noisy to the Googlebot. Google does not want to send its users to broken sites. Also a noisy index can dilute the the strength of the rest of your content.
4. Check your code layout for SEO errors
Get the basics right. Make sure the way the site is built complies with W3C standards. Ask your web developer about this. See today’s video for some examples.
5. Keyword density & authority
Use your keywords in page titles, headings, general copy and if you are linking to other content on your site relevant to the keyword, make sure you have the keyword actually in the link.
6. Link structure
Can Google get to all your content? Do you have a sitemap for users? This is really helpful for Google too. The content management system we always use when we are building sites for clients is WordPress. It takes care of the link structure without you having to worry about it too much.
7. Setup webmaster tools
This is essential for not only submitting a sitemap specifically for the Google bot but also so that you can see how Google is responding to your site and what it knows about it.
Jim’s been here for a while, you know who he is.
