How to Use SEO Effectively

Feb 20
17:24

2016

James Sun

James Sun

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Highly and effective SEO ideas that can help you increase website traffic while focusing on the some critcal elemnts.

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Search engine optimization (SEO) is an important component to driving traffic to your site. Consistently placed content-rich articles with highly-effective SEO will increase website traffic and reduce bounce rates.

It may be confusing when first implementing SEO into your content given that Google’s algorithm has changed. Business and company pages used to be among the top-ranking listings in Google. ow,How to Use SEO Effectively Articles those coveted spots are held by articles and reviews. Keyword stuffing and excessive keyword repetition will no longer work as a strategy and any site using these tactics may be penalized by Google or other search engines.How can the small business owner drive traffic and use SEO effectively with today’s new algorithms? Taking the various search engines and platforms, keywords, meta descriptions and tags, and paid advertisements into account, will give your site the boost it may need.

Targeting Search Engines and Platforms As a business owner or content marketer, your primary focus should always be on the audience. Using the search engines and platforms your customers are using will maximize your efforts. Know your ideal customer and where they can be found. For example, if your ideal customers are lawyers or dentists, you should focus your SEO marketing on LinkedIn to bring those people to your site. However, if your customers are women working outside the home, then you will probably find them on Facebook or Pinterest. The reason targeting specific search engines and platforms are suggested is because placing SEO and content-rich articles in the wrong place will not increase traffic. In fact, it may produce a high level of bounce rates in which people leave your site quickly after discovering it is not what they are looking for. Since Google is widely known as a search engine, it will be the subject for the following SEO strategies. According to an article on MOZ, a software as a service company (SaaS), the new Google algorithm emphasizes value to the customer. When a customer types in a keyword, the search engine result pages (SERPs) will display content based on giving the searcher information about the keyword, compare it to other similar items, or allow the searcher to read reviews about the product.To maximize SEO on your website, offer visitors valuable content with the right amount of SEO keywords included. The content should offer more information about the product or offer reviews from other buyers. Focus your SEO content marketing on providing valuable content to your audience and traffic increase will be a natural result.

Using Keywords to Increase Traffic and ConversionsAs mentioned earlier, keyword stuffing should be avoided. Keyword stuffing is the excessive use of keywords in a piece of content. The keyword density is so high in these articles or blog posts they no longer make any sense. As a rule of thumb, keyword density should be natural or at a maximum of 1%. If your article is 500 words, the keyword density at 1% will allow you to place the keyword once for every 100 words of text. Keywords do not have to be single words, but can be phrases.

I wrote more about this in the organic-traffic article.

For example, your keyword could be “physician”, “pediatric physician” or “pediatric physician in New York”. According to MOZ, these long tail keyword phrases convert much better than single keywords. Google reads the long tail keywords as specific and relevant to the search. Plus, when a prospect searches for a single keyword, they may not be ready to purchase and only want more information. When the prospect comes back and searches for specific products, they are usually further in the sales funnel and ready to buy. It is the difference between someone searching for “handbags” and another person searching for “blue leather Coach handbags”. Use long tail keyword phrases in your SEO content marketing to increase traffic and conversions. Finding the keywords needed for your website is not that complex. The first step is knowing your ideal customer. Make a list of keywords you think your prospect is using on search engines. Many keyword generation tools are available if you cannot think of very many. Google Adwords Keyword Planner Tool is a popular tool used by many businesses for keyword generation.

According to the site, Adwords will allow you to “search for keyword and ad group ideas, get historical statistics, see how a list of keywords might perform, and even create a new keyword list by multiplying several lists of keywords together.” Another feature of Adwords is the Keywords to Include feature. This feature will provide more keyword ideas based on exact phrases you add.  Using the correct keywords will bring the right customer to your site and increase conversions.When the prospect enters the keywords into a search engine, you can increase the chances of your site showing on the SERP with a meta description.

Adding Meta Descriptions and Tags to Your ContentMeta descriptions are the preview snippets of a content piece.Although, meta descriptions will not increase your rankings in Google, it will increase your content’s relevancy to the search. The new Google algorithm is looking for relevancy. Writing a unique meta description consisting of a keyword or long tail keyword phrase will increase the click-through rate. This will also decrease bounce rates as the prospect knows this is the information they need.

Learning to write meta descriptions persuasively may take some time. It is worth the practice because Google will list the description and bold the keyword or phrase. This will make your meta description stand out to the prospect. The description should be around 150 characters and tell the prospect to do something.In meta description copy, powerful words like “discover” and “click now” include a call to action. This is a secret copywriters use to write persuasive sales copy. You want to move the prospect to click on your article or blog post. Craft a compelling meta description and that is what they will do. Make your description compelling, but do not oversell. State the benefit the prospect will receive when they click the link. For example going back to the “blue leather Coach handbag” search, the meta description might read “Find blue leather Coach handbags at X store this holiday for less than a train ticket. Grab yours now.” This description includes a benefit and a call to action. Google will bold the keyword phrase so it catches your prospect’s eye. Stick to the 150 character limit when crafting descriptions. Anything above 160 characters will force Google to truncate the remaining. Quotations will also be deleted in a description. If you must use quotations, use single quotation marks as to not flag Google. It is not too late to refresh your content with meta descriptions. Edit your original post and add a new description with a keyword or phrase.Insert keywords into the meta tag feature as well. Most websites used for blogging offer this field.

Using SEO in Paid AdvertisementsPaid advertisements include PPC (pay-per-click ads), CPC (cost-per-click ads), CPM (cost-per-thousand impressions), and paid search ads. Using SEO with search engine marketing can drive traffic to your site and increase conversions. Each search engine offers its own unique advertisement marketing. The big three – Google, Yahoo, and Bing – offer video tutorials and guides to help you create the most effective ads.According to Kissmetrics, an analytics company, Facebook is making over $4 billion in advertising alone. That revenue is made from offering small businesses an easy way to reach a targeted audience. While crafting these ads, use a keyword or preferably, a long tail keyword phrase to optimize the advertisement.This will increase your click-through rates.

Measuring Success To stay within a marketing budget, it is prudent to test any new content or advertisements. Doing this allows you to see any problems and make changes if needed to increase traffic. Buying traffic to use works well when testing SEO.

Using SEO EffectivelyUsing SEO in your content will drive traffic and increase both click-through rates and conversions. Keep the following in mind when writing SEO:• Know your ideal customer and use the platforms they are using. Offer valuable content including information or reviews. Valuable content should solve a problem or answer a question. • Use the keywords and long tail keyword phrases your prospects are using in search engines. Do not keyword stuff, but offer a natural keyword density. • Craft compelling meta descriptions and tags. Google will bold the relevant keywords to increase click-through rates. • Consider using SEO-rich paid advertisements to drive traffic. Look into the best type of ad to use for your business. • Always test a new piece of SEO content or advertisement. This allows you to make changes if needed without spending a great deal.

As with anything else in technology, SEO and search engine algorithms can change quickly.SEO is the tool to help you stay relevant to the search engines and more importantly, your prospects.