Looking for some SEO copywriting tips you can use to improve your content? Copywriting is one of the most important aspects of any online marketing campaign, as it helps attract and retain attention.

If you are not taking the time to write quality copy, you are missing out on a major opportunity to reach and engage your audience. Around 40% of visitors bounce in less than 15 seconds, which may be a sign that your copy isn’t quite hitting the mark.

In this article, you will discover several SEO copywriting tips that’ll help you attract and retain the attention of your visitors. This will ensure people spend more time on your website, discover your products or services, and learn more about your company.

If you want my team at Sachs Marketing Group to help you with your SEO copywriting and content development, click here.

SEO Copywriting Tips

The difference between traditional copywriting and SEO copywriting is in the name – the goal of SEO copywriting is to work hand-in-hand with search engines in an effort to attract the attention of potential visitors searching Google, Bing, or Duck Duck Go for information.

For the best results, the modern copywriter working within the digital marketing space will combine the basics of traditional copywriting with the techniques proven to work for online publications.

To help you get started, we’ve gathered several SEO copywriting tips you can use with your own content.

1. Use Copywriting Formulas

There are several copywriting formulas that have proven to be successful for traditional copywriting, and they can also work well for SEO copywriting.

These formulas provide a foundation to craft your outline to ensure your content flows smoothly while keeping your visitor’s attention.

Here are a few examples:

• Attention – Interest – Desire – Action (AIDA). This formula is used for various marketing content, including landing pages, sales pages, emails, and more.
• Before – After – Bridge. This is one of the most dependable formulas. With this formula, you introduce a problem, describe a world without that problem, then explain how to get there.
• Problem – Agitate – Solve (PAS). Instead of introducing the world without the problem, you describe a world with the problem persisting (agitate). This is one of the most effective formulas, encouraging your reader to take action before the problem worsens.
• Features – Advantages – Benefits (FAB). This formula helps you overcome one of the most common mistakes while selling your products or services – focusing on the features, not the benefits. The key is introducing the features, describing what your products do, and illustrating the outcome your customers enjoy.

You can use copywriting formulas to plan out the overall flow of your content, structure sections within your content,

It’s important to test different copywriting formulas with your content and audience. You can use these formulas to guide the flow of your content from start to finish or ensure smaller sections within your content flow.

2. Outline Your Content

The outline is one of your most important tools as a copywriter.

Whether you’re creating content for a landing page or a new blog post, it’s important to outline your content. An outline provides a bird’s eye view of how your content will flow. Seeing this before you start writing ensures you won’t waste time writing a section you decide to delete later in the process. It also allows you to move things around in an effort to improve the flow of how your content reads.

The outline helps you hone your content early in the process, saving time during the editing stage. An outline can also help you ensure your content hits all the necessary points for SEO, including keyword usage and links to internal or external content.

3. Create a Compelling Headline

Your headline is the first opportunity to capture attention and attract people to your content. Few people will make it to the rest of your content if it’s not interesting.

When creating your headline, ask yourself: would I click on this if I saw it in a search engine or social media feed? Would it stop me while scrolling through my newsfeed? Does it pique curiosity and offer value that would motivate someone to click?

[smgquote author=”Chris Rice, Senior SEO Specialist”]
Every headline has one goal – convince the reader to click and read the next sentence.
[/smgquote]

When creating your headline, try to include the following:

• Incorporate keywords (if applicable)
• Use numbers or lists
• Use power words to create intrigue
• Make a promise

Once you have your final headline, consider running it through tools like CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer for feedback and guidance to make it even stronger.

The headline is the cornerstone that makes your content work across all platforms, so be sure to spend time on this step.

Related: The Benefits of Multichannel Marketing (SEO, Social, and PPC)

4. Write a Strong Intro Paragraph

Now that you’ve captured someone’s attention, you need to retain it – that’s where the intro paragraph comes into play.

The intro paragraph of an article or landing page is where you set the tone for the rest of your content and give a preview of what’s to come. It’s important to hook the reader, offer value, and clearly understand what they can expect from your content.

Include any necessary background information or context in this paragraph, but avoid getting too wordy. Your intro should be concise and to the point, leaving the reader wanting more.

When it comes to the intro paragraph, simplicity is key. Don’t use overly complicated language or industry jargon that may confuse your reader. Write in a clear, straightforward manner that’s easy for anyone to understand. Lean on the copywriting formula you’re using for your content and set up the flow and pace of the article.

5. Use Subheadings Strategically

Subheadings are a great way to break up your content and make it easier to read your content. They also help search engines understand what your article is about.

Refer to your outline during this step, and ensure you’re hitting all the key points you want to make within your content.

Subheadings can be used to provide hierarchy within your content. Take a look at this post, for example – you’ll see that we’ve used the <h3> subheadings tags to indicate all of these sections relate to SEO Copywriting Tips. This gives the reader and the search engines an idea of how this content connects from section to section.

Bonus: If you’re using a table of contents, crafting your subheadings can give your reader an easy-to-understand overview of everything the article provides. In addition, the table of contents provides anchor links, which search engines crawl and could result in additional keyword rankings.

6. Use Keywords Naturally

Make sure to include your target keywords throughout your content, but don’t overdo it. You want to sound natural and organic, not like you’re trying too hard. A good rule of thumb is to use them once or twice per paragraph.

As the saying goes: write for humans first.

Search engines are super-smart and capable of detecting if you’re stuffing an article full of keywords in an effort to rank. The key is to write like you talk and let the keywords flow naturally. There will always be opportunities to place keywords – don’t overdo it.

Don’t spam your reader.

7. Break up Your Content with Lists (Bullet or Numbered)

As we all know, people tend to skim an article for highlights before dedicating time to read a full article. Breaking up your content with bullet lists and numbered lists makes this easier for the reader. The more lists you provide, the easier it is for readers to get your content’s main points and takeaways.

This type of structure also makes it easier for search engines to understand what your article is about.

It’s easy on the eyes, provides information clearly, and helps position your content in a good place to rank prominently. Just be sure your lists are relevant and helpful.

A bullet list will something like this:

• Tip one
• Tip two
• Tip three

While a numbered list will look something like this:

1. Tip one
2. Tip two
3. Tip three

The writer will often determine which style to use within the content, depending on the topic. When writing a list post like this, I tend to veer away from including numbered lists. I prefer bulleted lists in most cases unless I’m providing a step-by-step tutorial.

8. Dive Deep (Passage Indexing)

If you’ve ever clicked on a result in the SERP that pointed you to the middle of an article (highlighted purple), you’ve experienced passage indexing.

During its introduction, it was an innovative change Google made to transport searches to the exact passage of content related to their search query.

It’s a powerful innovation, allowing content to rank for more specific queries that align with search intent.

For the best results, spend time compiling related keywords based on search volume and relevance that makes sense to your target search intent, and naturally sprinkle content throughout your content.

9. Answer Questions (Voice Search)

The best way to approach voice search optimization is to identify popular questions related to your target topic and provide simple answers. This will help your content rank for voice search queries and improve overall SEO.

Including questions with your target keywords in the title and throughout your content can also help to boost rankings because it shows search engines that you’re providing high-quality, informative content that answers specific questions.

Consider including an FAQ section at the end of your article, and make sure it utilizes the proper FAQ schema markup.

10. Write a Strong Conclusion (Call Your Reader to Take Action)

The conclusion is just as important, if not more, as the intro paragraph – it should wrap up the content and call the reader to action.

The conclusion is often where copywriters fail to make the most of their opportunity to convert the reader. Whether offering a discount code, signing up for your email list, or following you on social media – have a clear call to action in mind and include it in your conclusion.

This helps with conversions and signals to search engines that your content is useful and worth ranking.

This is a great place to ask your readers a specific question (if you want to encourage discussion within the comments section), provide a special offer, or place a distinct CTA banner to increase conversions.

Whatever you do, don’t let your conclusion fizzle the momentum. Keep it up. Your job as an SEO copywriter is to guide the reader to the next chapter of their journey, whether exploring your products or services, discovering a related article, or sharing their thoughts in the comment section.

11. Use Optimization Tools to Compare and Improve

There are a variety of tools available today that will help you optimize your content. However, Surfer SEO is great at providing insight into how your content stacks up against the top-ranked content related to your topic and keyword.

If possible, use this tool to identify the shortcomings of your content compared to what’s working in the real world. This tool will reveal a plethora of information, including how many internal links, external links, images, and keyword placements you might need to compete with the top-performing content within the same niche.

These tools require time and energy, on an ongoing basis, for the best results, but they’re game-changers.

Conclusion

We hope you found these SEO copywriting tips helpful. The more time you spend crafting solid copy for your website, the more attention you will attract from search engines, social media, and advertising.

It takes time and effort to hone in on what works for your business, so it’s important to experiment and analyze your results.

You may find it difficult to do all the necessary SEO copywriting on your own as a business owner. If that’s the case, consider hiring the Sachs Marketing Group team for your campaign. We handle everything from start to finish to ensure your digital marketing campaign is driven by solid copywriting across all mediums.

SEO problems are the stuff of legend. They make for great campfire tales but can damage the real world. SEO horror stories often arise when a business is trying to optimize its website and makes a mistake that costs it dearly in terms of traffic and visibility.

One common SEO horror story is the accidental cloaking of a website. Cloaking is the process of showing one version of a web page to human visitors and another version to search engine crawlers. This can be done accidentally if you’re not careful about how you code your website, or it can be done on purpose as a way to game the search engine results pages (SERPs). Either way, it’s an SEO nightmare that can lead to decreased traffic and visibility and even manual penalties from Google.

If you want my team at Sachs Marketing Group to help you with your SEO, click here.

SEO Problems to Avoid

Our search engine optimization team dove into Crystal Lake and gathered a few common spooky SEO problems to avoid this Halloween.

This article will discover some of the most common SEO problems to avoid as you venture onboard and upward. These apply to small mom-and-pop shops to international companies striving to improve organic visibility across search engines.

Here are 18 spooky SEO problems to avoid this Halloween.

1. UX/SEO conflicts

UX/SEO conflicts can significantly impact a website’s SEO performance. From how URLs are structured to content placement and CTAs, UX and SEO have to work hand in hand for a successful website. Failing to consider SEO in the design process can lead to major issues with crawlability, indexation, and overall visibility in search engines.

Including SEO early in the website design and development process can often avoid these issues. The SEO team can work closely with UX to ensure that the website meets user and search engine needs.

2. Mishandled migrations

Changing a website’s domain or URL structure can be a daunting task, but it’s sometimes necessary for rebranding or consolidating multiple websites. However, it can lead to major SEO consequences if not done correctly.

Ensure you properly set up 301 redirects to ensure that any existing links and search engine rankings aren’t lost during the migration process. And don’t forget about things like canonical tags, href lang attributes, and updating any links on your website to the new URLs.

3. Robots.txt issues

The robots.txt file is a crucial part of SEO, as it tells search engines which pages they can and cannot crawl on your website. But if there are mistakes in your robots.txt file, it could lead to important pages not being indexed or, even worse, search engines crawling and indexing pages you don’t want.

Regularly check your robots.txt file for any errors and ensure it’s properly blocking pages that shouldn’t be crawled while also not accidentally blocking important pages.

4. Implementing SEO tricks and shortcuts

Trying and game the system with SEO tricks and shortcuts can be tempting, but they can often do more harm than good in the long run. These tactics, from keyword stuffing to buying links, may work in the short term but ultimately result in penalties or plummeting search rankings.

Focus on creating high-quality content that serves user needs instead of trying to manipulate search engines with tactics that offer only temporary gains.

5. Neglecting SEO altogether

Perhaps the scariest SEO horror story of all is neglecting SEO entirely. Many businesses fail to realize SEO’s importance and potential benefits, leading them to miss out on valuable organic traffic and visibility in search engines.

Don’t make the mistake of neglecting SEO. Stay up to date on industry trends and best practices, and continually work towards improving your SEO performance for long-term success.

6. Canonicalization mistakes

If you don’t set a canonical URL for each page, you risk duplicate content issues and confusion for search engines about which page should rank. This mistake can lead to a loss of SEO visibility and traffic. Ensure that all your pages have a self-referencing canonical URL, and use rel=canonical on any duplicate or similar pages.

7. Testing/staging pages getting indexed

If you’re not careful during the website testing and staging, search engines may end up crawling and indexing these pages. This can lead to duplicate content issues and confusion for search engines about which version of the page should rank.

To prevent this from happening, block staging or development versions of your website in robots.txt and use no index tags on any testing or staging pages. And remember to remove these tags and unblock the staging version before launching your website.

8. Forgetting about local SEO

Local SEO is crucial for brick-and-mortar businesses, as it helps them show up in local search results and attract potential customers in their area. But forgetting about local SEO can mean missing out on valuable opportunities for visibility and traffic.

Ensure that your business information, such as name, address, and phone number (often referred to as NAP), is consistent across all online listings. And don’t forget about local SEO signals like reviews, citations, and Google My Business optimization. Local SEO efforts can have a major impact on driving foot traffic and sales for local businesses.

So there you have it – some SEO horror stories to keep in mind as you work towards improving your overall SEO performance. Keep these potential pitfalls in mind, and stay proactive in avoiding them for successful SEO efforts.

9. Crawl traps

It’s important to pay close attention to crawl issues, as this can affect the efficiency of search engines crawling your website. Crawl traps occur when a search engine gets stuck in a loop trying to crawl endless pages on your website, ultimately decreasing its ability to crawl and index important pages.

Avoid this SEO nightmare by identifying potential crawl traps, such as infinite spaces and URLs with multiple parameters, and fixing them accordingly

10. Google Search Essentials

Google recently updated its webmaster guidelines to Google Search Essentials, which outlines the most recent SEO guidelines from Google and offers resources for improving your search performance. Ignoring these guidelines will not only result in SEO issues but may also lead to penalties from Google.

Stay up to date on SEO guidelines and best practices, and continually work towards following them for successful SEO efforts. And don’t forget about the power of Google Search Console – use this tool to monitor your website’s performance and address any SEO issues.

11. Javascript Implementation

At this point, you’re really in the trenches. Javascript can hurt SEO if not properly implemented. This can lead to crawling and indexing issues and a decrease in website speed – all major SEO no-nos.

Ensure important content and links are visible in the HTML rather than solely relying on Javascript for rendering. And be cautious when using Ajax for content or navigation, as this can lead to crawling and indexing issues. Using Javascript can positively impact SEO, but be sure to do it carefully and consider any potential SEO implications.

12. Neglecting mobile optimization

Mobile usage continues to increase, so ignoring mobile optimization can result in a major loss of traffic and potential customers. Mobile-friendliness is now a ranking factor, so ensure that your website is responsive and easy to use on mobile devices. And don’t forget the importance of page speed – optimize mobile-friendliness and page speed to improve SEO performance and overall user experience.

13. Neglecting site security

With online threats constantly evolving, it’s important to prioritize site security. Site security is the most important SEO consideration, affecting user trust and experience. In addition, a lack of site security can lead to penalties from Google. Take steps to secure your website and protect against potential threats for successful SEO efforts.

If your website isn’t secure, Google will demote your rankings within its index and display a warning to users before they visit your site – not exactly the message you want to convey to potential customers. Implement HTTPS, use secure passwords, and continually monitor for security threats to ensure your website is safe and protected

14. Ignoring user experience

User experience plays a major role in SEO success. From page speed to compelling content and easy navigation, all factors contribute to the overall user experience on your website.

Focus on creating a positive user experience – not only will this improve SEO performance and increase conversions, but it could also result in increased brand loyalty and customer satisfaction. Consider the user’s perspective and continually work towards improving their experience on your website.

15. Internal linking mistakes

Developing internal links is one of the most important SEO tasks, as it helps search engines crawl and index your website effectively. However, too many unnecessary or poorly executed internal links can harm SEO performance.

Ensure internal links are relevant and useful to users, avoid using the same anchor text for multiple links, and consider the overall structure of your website’s linking hierarchy for successful SEO efforts.

You might miss out on SEO benefits and potential website traffic if you ignore internal links. Take the time to plan and implement internal links for improved SEO performance properly.

16. Keyword stuffing

Keywords continue to be an important SEO aspect, but overuse or irrelevant use of keywords can harm SEO efforts. Keyword stuffing – forcefully inserting excessive keywords in content – not only hurts readability but also can result in penalties from search engines.

Focus on creating valuable and informative content, and incorporate keywords naturally and appropriately. And remember to diversify your keyword usage – don’t rely on just one or two keywords, but use a combination of primary, secondary, and long-tail keywords for successful SEO results.

17. Not regularly updating content

Regularly updating and refreshing website content can improve SEO and keep users engaged. Producing fresh, valuable content helps search engines crawl your website more frequently and can increase the likelihood of improved rankings.

Don’t neglect your website’s content – regularly update old posts, add new blog entries, refresh product descriptions, and continually work towards improving the content on your website. The effort will pay off with improved SEO and overall user experience.

18. Ignoring metrics and analytics

Tracking SEO metrics and analyzing data is crucial to understand SEO efforts’ effectiveness and making necessary improvements. Without tracking and analyzing metrics, it’s difficult to determine what areas are performing well and what might need improvement.

Utilize SEO tools and analytics to track and monitor SEO performance and regularly review the data to make changes and adjustments for successful SEO results. Ignoring metrics and analytics can result in ineffective SEO strategies and missed opportunities for improvement.

Conclusion

It’s not uncommon for small businesses to get into an SEO horror story, but there are steps you can take to avoid SEO disasters. Implement secure practices, focus on user experience, properly execute internal linking, avoid keyword stuffing, regularly update content, and track SEO metrics and analytics for successful SEO efforts. Stay vigilant and continually work towards improving SEO performance to avoid common SEO horror stories.

We understand this side of marketing requires a lot of attention to detail and energy, which most busy business owners don’t have. If you find yourself in this situation, consider reaching out to Sachs Marketing Group for help – as an agency, we provide everything from content development, social media development, SEO, reputation management, and end PPC management.

The technical health of your website can profoundly impact your rankings and traffic. Here are seven technical SEO issues to know.

There’s more to good search engine optimization (SEO) than clean copy and getting your backlinks sorted. No matter how much effort you put into improving your organic SEO and building up your traffic if your website isn’t up to the technical tasks that search engines like Google expect it to perform, you might heavily stunt your growth and waste your time. 

Technical SEO can be difficult. While many CMS platforms like WordPress try to keep things as simple and efficient as possible, you can’t expect everything to work out of the box. And some of the challenges of technical SEO only become apparent over time – as you build up a larger sitemap, more and more permalinks, and a greater host of potential backlinks. 

Keeping an eye on your website’s technical SEO can be the difference between ranking high on the search engine results pages and not ranking at all. 

Here are some of the most common technical SEO issues that sink rankings.

If you want my team at Sachs Marketing Group to help you with your technical SEO issues, click here.

Defining Technical SEO (And Technical SEO Issues)

Technical SEO refers to the mechanics of your website and how it performs when people visit. Is it slow to load? Is it secure to visit? Is mobile-friendly?

While it’s important to create a digital content strategy, find the best keywords, and attract high-quality backlinks, it’s also important to improve the technical SEO of your website.

Today, we’re focusing on the following technical SEO issues – many of which are common SEO mistakes.

• Page layout
• Page loading speeds
• SSL certification
• Visitor usability
• Mobile compatibility
• Sitemaps
• Optimized meta descriptions

The best places to discover these issues are Google Search Console, Semrush, and ahrefs.

Sufficient technical know-how is needed to optimize your website properly. That means knowing how to deal with server errors, why your website might need SSL encryption if you have a login function or any password inputs, image compression in HTML5, and how to disavow unwanted backlinks. 

Many websites fail to prioritize technical SEO, which destroys keyword rankings, website traffic, and visibility around your products, services, and brand. For this reason, you must prioritize your website’s technical SEO health. This will ensure your website passes Google’s various tests that help determine how your content is (or isn’t) indexed.

If you ignore technical issues, there’s no point in optimizing your traffic or dialing in on what kind of audience you’re drawing to your web pages. if a potential lead’s first impression of your content is a sluggish and uninviting mess. It doesn’t matter if you fix that over time; people will remember your site and avoid it. Let’s examine some of the most common problems killing your site today. 

[smgquote author=”Chris Rice, Senior SEO Strategist”]
Nurturing the health of your technical SEO is just as important as keyword research, content development, and backlink development.
[/smgquote]

If you want to ensure your website is healthy, be sure to partner with an SEO company that offers technical SEO services. In most cases, SEO services include technical SEO.

1. Duplicated Links and Content

Is your content unintentionally spread thin? Depending on how you have your website set up, you may be unintentionally indexing multiple different permalinks with the same content. 

If you have a single page with about three or four different yet similar URLs, then search engines like Google may treat these as separate web pages, spreading your traffic thin. Furthermore, duplicate content – even on your own page – can spell disaster for your rankings. 

Thankfully, there are a few ways to identify and remedy the problem. Some webmaster tools, like Google Webmaster, even have an automated function to avoid duplicate content

While duplicate content may not be a penalty any more in Google’s eyes, it still creates confusion. It may negatively impact the capability of your web page content to rank effectively. 

2. Nonindexed Content 

Nonindexed or “noindex” content is anything search engines like Google or Bing haven’t added to their search results. You can think of it as content that might still be up on your website but is cut off from being found online. 

And suppose you successfully eliminate all links to it. In that case, it’s impossible to find without looking through an outdated sitemap (don’t keep nonindexed content on your sitemap!) or entering the correct URL. 

Sometimes, nonindexed content includes content that search engines haven’t crawled yet. Sometimes, it includes content you want search engines to crawl, but for some reason – usually a quality or security issue – it isn’t being picked up. And sometimes, you can explicitly tag web pages as nonindexed if you want to slowly remove them from your website. 

If you have pages that search engines haven’t indexed yet, then don’t dawdle – find out why. 

3. Using Old AJAX Iframes

Iframes or inline frames are separate instances of a website being loaded inside another website. Think of it as a window added to your page that loads its own URL. While they used to have a use, these are largely outdated in modern HTML and won’t favor your search rankings. 

Search engines don’t recognize the content being loaded inside of the page, and it won’t count towards the page’s total content, which can be frustrating if the rest of the page is relatively bare-bones and not worth ranking. Furthermore, these iframes can be resource-intensive for your page and any browsing devices, which means slower loading speeds. Speed is key. 

[smgquote author=”Eric Sachs, CEO”]
Anything that takes more than three or four seconds to load is too slow.
[/smgquote]

Related: Factors That Affect Website Speed

4. Using Adobe Flash 

Let’s face it, Flash is dead. Not only will anything that still tries to use Flash fail to load, but it’s retired from all modern browsers worth mentioning. Replace any and all Flash files on your website if you haven’t already! 

5. Lacking Mobile Optimization 

The majority of internet users browse the web on their phones. Mobile traffic took over web traffic a few years ago, and the ratio continues to grow. 

If you haven’t optimized your website with a specific focus on mobile usability, you will be severely hurting your page at this point. Most website themes and templates are developed with mobile responsiveness, but it’s always good to check. Use Google’s mobile-friendly test to determine if your website is mobile-friendly.

6. Broken Links

As a website grows and its content begins to age, some of the links you may be linking to in blog posts, articles, news releases, and product descriptions may die. As you might imagine, broken links are less useful and less liked by search engines. 

Thankfully, there are multiple different tools that you can use to crawl your own web pages and identify broken links that are going nowhere. 

7. Unidentified Server and Page Errors

Error 404? Error 500? Error 403? Error 503? Websites throw up different errors depending on what’s plaguing them, and depending on the error in question, not dealing with them (as a webmaster) can severely penalize your content. 

These error codes work because each corresponds to a different problem, as per the format dictated by the Internet Engineering Task Force. Each of these errors results from a miscommunication or issue between your browser, the server hosting the content, and the content itself. 

Codes that start with Error 4xx are usually client-side, meaning something is wrong with the content on the page (for example, it’s missing). Codes that start with Error 5xx are server-side, meaning something is wrong with the server the content is hosted on (for example, something is preventing the request from being fulfilled). These errors aren’t just problems for potential visitors but also affect search engine crawlers. 

Pay close attention to technical errors, and fix them quickly. 

[smgquote author=”Chris Rice, SEO Manager”]
Investing in SEO can provide valuable organic traffic month after month, year after year.
[/smgquote]

Conclusion

Technical SEO is a treasure trove of issues and problems. On a positive note, it means that there are always ways for you to improve your website and stay ahead of the competition. On a negative note, it means the work is never really done – not when engines like Google continue to update and make changes to the way they crawl the web daily. 

Ensure your technical SEO is up to snuff by working with an experienced SEO team, rather than trying to take it on yourself – and distracting yourself from other important issues. 

What technical SEO issues are struggling with currently? I’d love to hear how things are going in the comments section below.

Finding the best keywords for your website isn’t as simple as throwing a dart at a list of potential keywords and picking the one that sticks. To ensure that your website is visible to people searching for the products or services you offer, you need to know how to find (and select) the best keyword for your goals.

In this article, you will discover the importance of keyword research and how to find the best keywords for SEO.

I hope you enjoy reading this blog post. If you want my team at Sachs Marketing Group to help you with your SEO, click here.

The Importance of Keyword Research

Keywords might not carry as much weight as they did during the early days of search engine optimization, but it’s essential that you understand how to perform keyword research and select your target keywords. After all, skipping keyword research is one of the most common SEO mistakes companies make.

Target keywords are the words and phrases you want your website to rank in search engine results pages (SERPs). Selecting your target keywords requires research and careful consideration regarding their relevance to your website, estimated search volume, competitive level, and, perhaps most importantly these days, the search intent behind the keyword.

What is search intent?

Search intent describes why someone is typing a particular keyword into the search engine. There are four main types of search intent:

• Navigational: The searcher is looking for a specific website or page. For example, if someone types in “Facebook,” they are likely looking to be taken directly to the Facebook homepage.
• Informational: The searcher wants to learn more about a particular topic. For example, if someone types in “how to install a garage door,” they are looking for information on DIY garage door installation advice.
• Transactional: The searcher is looking to buy something. For example, if someone types in “buy running shoes,” they are likely interested in purchasing a pair of running shoes.
• Commercial: The searcher is looking for a particular business or service. For example, if someone types in “treatment centers near me,” they are likely looking for a list of treatment centers in their area.

To find the best keywords for SEO, you need to identify the search intent behind the keyword before you select it as a target keyword. This will help you track the best keywords for your digital marketing campaign.

Most SEO services include keyword research, so most companies opt to partner with an SEO company so they can focus on other aspects of their business.

How to Find the Best Keywords for SEO

Keywords are one of the core essentials of good search engine optimization – the right effort and planning directed at the wrong keywords will net a poor return on investment, and awful lead generation for your business, meaning money down the drain. 

Before investing in paid clicks, high-quality copy, and customized ad campaigns, it’s important to get your keywords sorted. Step one in this process is to do your keyword research. There are countless ways to get started, but any SEO expert will tell you to use a program to get the job done. 

Whether starting with a free tool to figure out your niche as a blogger or investing in an enterprise-level keyword analysis tool like Ahrefs, figuring out the most competitive, popular, and cost-effective keywords for your business or specialization is important. 

But beyond simply setting up a list of potential keywords to focus on, you need to get better at selecting the right keyword for your needs. Keyword selection is an entirely separate process from keyword research and analysis. It will require an in-depth look at a keyword’s respective relevance to your content and product, its competitiveness, bid rates, click-through potential, and much, much more. 

Do Your Research

Before we get started, you will want an idea of what keywords to compare with each other. Free tools like Google Keyword Planner can give you a greater insight into related search terms and popular search terms for topics closest to your business or niche and provide some basic insights into those terms and their recent performance. More in-depth tools like Semrush or Ahrefs Keywords Explorer are popular alternatives. Some are free or with limited early uses, while others are paid. 

Related: What are the Best SEO Tools for Keyword Research?

Start by working backward. Who are you selling to? What do you provide? What kind of audience are you trying to foster? What kind of customer do you want to cater to? Understanding your buyer – and creating an accurate profile – is important. Ask yourself what they might be looking for and what search terms you should optimize for first. 

For example, if you are a fledging personal trainer looking to coach clients online, you know you’ll be up against challenging competition. But if you can refine your niche based on the profiles of your current and existing clients, you might be able to identify keywords that are less popular, and more cost-effective; keywords you can home in on with a relatively high search volume to capture a potentially huge list of interested clients, such as those interested in beginner calisthenics, or setting up a home gym.

[smgquote author=”Eric Sachs, CEO”]
You need to understand what your competitors are doing in order to rise above them.
[/smgquote]

Learning to differentiate between different kinds of search intent is important because commercial search terms tend to be more competitive, with a higher sales potential. However, informational search terms such as the home gym equipment guide can still pull in a lot of potential leads, whether you’re selling the equipment yourself or simply collecting referrals and affiliate cash through your free guide. 

Once you’ve broadly identified useful niches and search terms, it’s time to analyze your results and optimize your selection. 

Identify Low-Competition Keywords

High-competition keywords are tougher to rank for because they require greater authority, which usually means more backlinks and more established content. To cater to home gym owners, you might have to contend with popular websites like Men’s Health for certain general, highly competitive terms. 

More specific search terms tend to be lower in competition, meaning it’s easier to rank for these. The downside is that these terms might not attract as much sheer search volume – but there’s no point in gunning for a high search volume keyword when you have no chance of reaching the top of the first page with your current budget and existing page authority. 

Consider Keyword Difficulty

Keyword difficulty is another abstract term that some keyword planning tools use to sort search terms based on how difficult it would be to rank for them. These difficulty scores utilize backlinks to measure how many backlinks you might need to rank for a respective keyword. 

However, because these scores rely on a single factor, they might not always be an accurate reflection of a keyword’s actual difficulty – that being said, it’s an easy way to sift through a long list of high-value search terms and narrow down the few keywords that might net you your best return on investment. This can help lower your choices when selecting the right keywords for your campaign or the next lineup of copy. 

Identify Search Volume

Search volume is another important metric for identifying the value of any given search term. Even without a sophisticated keyword planner, you can use Google’s own Keyword Planner to figure out the search volume of any given term. 

Search volume is not to be mistaken for search results – search volume refers to the number of people looking up a specific keyword or term, while Google’s search results estimate the number of websites that rank for that term. 

Higher search volume may not necessarily mean that a keyword is more competitive. You can find keywords with higher search volumes than other, similar keywords, but with less competition. Either way, you want to find search terms with high volume versus other search terms in your niche or industry. 

There is no right or wrong number in this case. Something like “spinning classes near me” will have a much higher search volume than “peaking program for powerlifting competition”, but if your niche is to provide training programs for lifters, rather than offer spinning classes at a local gym, the comparison will be useless.  

The Relevance of a Page Bid

Some keyword planning tools help sort potential keywords by their respective value for advertisers. Search engines like Google are ad agencies first and foremost, meaning they rely on money from advertisers to build revenue. As such, these search engines are also extremely adept at sorting through keywords to determine the relative value of each given search term to any respective advertiser. These “page bids” give you a good idea of the relative value of each keyword and can be a useful way to sort through potential keywords. 

The higher the value, the more valuable it would be for you to rank on that term. However, don’t forget to take into account factors such as competitiveness and keyword difficulty, and relevance. Is it relevant for you to rank for a high-bid search term when none of your services or products relate to that term, or when the average user searching for that term won’t be interested in anything you have to offer? 

How Visible Would Your Result Be?

So, let’s say you’ve gotten a shortlist of high-value target keywords for your blog content, landing pages, and product or sales pages. Have you given any of them a search yet? If you have, you might have noticed that certain keywords – especially high competition keywords and informative search phrases tend to be more difficult to rank for, because the search results on these terms are cluttered with sponsored results, YouTube video thumbnails, information snippets, and more.

[smgquote author=”Chris Rice, Senior SEO Strategist”]
Optimizing your website can help increase your visibility and attract new customers to your products, services, and brand.
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Part of Google’s growing changes to the way search works include taking snippets of content from popular pages and injecting them into the top of the search result, so many users don’t even end up clicking on anything to get their answer. Competitive search terms with low click-through-rates will not yield as much of a return on investment in terms of traffic and leads as a less competitive term with better CTR. 

Keep Up to Date with Changing Trends

It’s difficult to keep up with the way search changes, whether it’s the users’ own interests, or Google’s prioritization and ranking factors. Keeping track of it all can be dizzying and can detract from your actual work. Thankfully, you’re in good hands with us. Let us help you set up a robust SEO plan that adapts to your requirements and is tailored to your audience. 

Hire a Professional SEO

If you want to find the best keywords for your website but find keyword research overwhelming, consider working with a professional SEO or full-service digital marketing agency that provides SEO services.

Professionals have access to premium keyword research tools, the expertise needed to accurately target the best keywords for your goals, and keep their finger on the pulse of the SEO world. It’s an investment, but it’s well worth the money to ensure you have a solid SEO foundation on which you can build your website.

Need Help Finding Keywords?

Are you struggling to identify the right keywords that could propel your website to the top of search rankings?

Sachs Marketing Group has the expertise and tools to help you discover those valuable, traffic-driving keywords you might be missing. Our SEO team dives deep into understanding your business, your competition, and your target audience.

Imagine your website content perfectly aligned with the search queries of your ideal customers, leading to higher visibility, increased traffic, and more conversions.

Contact Sachs Marketing Group today and let us help unlock your website’s full potential with our keyword research expertise. We’re ready to help your business shine in the crowded digital landscape.

Keyword Research FAQs

How do I choose keywords for SEO?

Choosing keywords for SEO involves understanding your audience and what they are searching for, researching keyword volume and competition, and considering the relevance and intent behind the keywords. You want to choose keywords that your audience is using and that are relevant to your content, with a balance of competitiveness and search volume.

How do I find the best keywords for Google Search?

To find the best keywords for Google search, you’ll want to use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs. Consider your audience’s search intent, look at what keywords your competitors are ranking for, and also consider long-tail keywords which can be less competitive and highly specific.

How do I find the best SEO keywords for free?

You can find the best SEO keywords for free using tools such as Google Trends, Google’s “People also ask” and “Related searches” sections, or the free tier of keyword research tools like Ubersuggest. These tools will show you popular search terms related to your topic and can give you ideas for new keywords.

What is the best keyword research tool?

The best keyword research tool depends on your needs and budget. Google Keyword Planner is a free tool that provides keyword ideas and data straight from Google itself. Paid tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Moz offer more advanced features, like keyword difficulty scores and competitive analysis.

How many keywords should I use for SEO?

The number of keywords you should use for SEO varies depending on the length and depth of your content. A good rule of thumb is to focus on one primary keyword per page, along with several secondary keywords that support the main topic. Remember, it’s not about keyword stuffing, but rather providing valuable content around your chosen keyword theme.

Conclusion

Keyword research is still an important part of SEO, but it’s more important than ever to select target keywords that align with your website’s content and the search intent behind those keywords. By understanding the four types of search intent and how to find the best keywords for SEO, you can better select target keywords that will help you achieve your desired results in SERPs.

What helps you find the best keywords for your SEO? Do you use any tools we haven’t mentioned here?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website on search engines. The higher your website rankings, the more likely your website will attract customers to your business. However, many business owners make common mistakes that negatively impact rankings, traffic, and profits.

In this article, we’re taking a closer look at 10 of the most common SEO mistakes made by business owners.

I hope you enjoy reading this blog post. If you want my team at Sachs Marketing Group to help you with your SEO, click here.

Common SEO Mistakes to Avoid

SEO is constantly changing, so it’s no wonder so many business owners make common mistakes. The best way to avoid these common SEO pitfalls is to keep up with the latest trends and developments or turn to a professional digital marketing agency that offers SEO services.

Like all aspects of digital marketing, SEO requires ongoing time and attention in order to stay up to date with the modern technological landscape.

Google constantly makes changes to its algorithms to improve the user experience. As a result, common SEO practices that may have worked in the past no longer work today. This can be frustrating for business owners trying to do everything themselves or working with a search engine optimization agency that isn’t keeping up with the latest trends.

Here are 10 common SEO mistakes that cost small businesses customers.

1. Not Optimizing for Mobile Devices

Let’s start with the first SEO mistake.

With over 60% of web traffic now coming from mobile devices, it’s more important than ever to make sure your website is optimized for mobile. Mobile-friendly websites load quickly and are easy to use on a small screen. If your website isn’t optimized for mobile, you’re likely losing out on a lot of potential customers.

Mobile optimization can make all the difference between attracting customers to your website and missing out. If your website doesn’t perform well on mobile devices, like phones and tablets, search engines might not rank you as prominently as your competitors’ websites. This is especially important if your target customers tend to use mobile devices when searching for information, help, or services.

2. Not Doing Any Keyword Research

Before optimizing your website, you need to know which keywords to target. This SEO mistake is one of the most common. Keyword research helps you identify which keywords are most relevant to your business and have the highest search volume. Without research, you could be wasting a lot of time and effort optimizing for keywords that nobody searches for.

For the best results, it’s important to look at your competition and discover which keywords are working for them. At that point, you can create a digital content strategy that supports your SEO strategy and goals as a business and attracts customers to your website. This step is critical as it provides you with a digital marketing path to follow as you pursue your business goals.

A few tools that you can use during the research process to discover the best SEO keywords for your goals include the following:

• Ahrefs
• Semrush
• Ubbersuggest
• Answer the Public

Related: What are the best SEO tools for keyword research?

3. Not Optimizing Title Tags and Meta Descriptions

Title tags and meta descriptions are two of the most important elements of on-page SEO. This SEO mistake is one of the most common because title tags are the first things people see when your website appears in a search engine, so it’s important to ensure they’re optimized. Include your target keyword in your title tag and meta description to improve your click-through rate and attract more customers to your website.

While Google has been known to change titles and descriptions based on the search query and relevance, it’s still important to pay attention here. Ignoring it could result in less appealing titles and descriptions that don’t attract clicks from your future customers. This is why it’s important to understand why Google makes the changes it makes and strives to align with its goals to provide a great user experience for its users. At the end of the day, the goal is to create an SEO strategy that acts as a safe bridge people can use to cross from the search engine to your website.

4. Not Creating High-Quality Content

Content is king for search engine optimization – we’ve been saying that for decades. Creating high-quality, relevant, and informative content is the best way to improve your website’s ranking and attract more visitors. If your content is poorly written or irrelevant to your target audience, you will not rank well in search engines or you will rank for the wrong keywords.

Google is constantly trying to hone its search results to provide the best experience for its users. If you’re not careful, your website might be hit by certain algorithm updates, such as the Helpful Content update. You may experience a sudden decrease in rankings, traffic, and customers.

5. Not Optimizing Images

Images can be a great addition to your digital marketing campaign and help improve organic website traffic. However, if you don’t optimize your images properly, they can hurt your SEO. To avoid this SEO mistake, include relevant keywords in your image file names and alt tags to help Google find and index your images.

Google has become exceptional at image recognition. In most cases, they can tell what an image is without you having to optimize it. However, there are occasions when optimizing your images can give you an edge over competitors who haven’t done it. This is especially true if you have a lot of images on a page and/or if the file names and alt tags are very generic.

Optimizing images is important – not just for search engines but for people with various abilities. This is where ADA compliance comes into play and why you should consult with a professional web designer. Describe your images clearly when necessary and try to create context.

6. Not Building Backlinks and Internal Links

Backlinks are one of the most important ranking factors for SEO. Backlinks are links from other websites that link back to your website. The more high-quality backlinks you have, the higher your website will rank. There are several ways to build backlinks, such as guest blogging, directory submissions, and more.

To build your website’s authority, trust, and rankings, you need to build your backlink profile. This means reaching out to relevant websites and asking the webmaster or business owner to include a link. This is often one of the most time-consuming tasks with SEO and requires 3rd-party support and delivery.

Fortunately, a professional SEO will usually have a database of categorized websites and relationships with webmasters in an effort to streamline this process.

[smgquote author=”Eric Sachs, CEO”]
Create content that others can use and link to as a resource for their audience.
[/smgquote]

It’s important to understand it’s not about how many backlinks you generate. It’s all about the quality. Many SEOs will promise hundreds or thousands of backlinks for a low cost, but this simply isn’t effective. Moreover, it may even trigger a manual penalty from Google, which could result in your website being de-indexed from Google. In addition, if you do explore lower-quality backlinks, you will likely end up with broken links that hurt your rankings. This is an easy SEO mistake to avoid.

For the best results, trust an SEO professional regarding backlink development.

In addition, you must build internal links.

Internal links provide crawlers paths to discover related content on your site. Every new blog post you publish is an opportunity to build more internal links that point to relevant content. This helps human visitors learn more about your site and allows crawlers to discover more, learn how it relates, and possibly rank content higher. Search engine bots use these links to make connections between point A and point B, which factors into your capability to rank for your target keywords. The search engine is just trying to make connections and understand how content relates … the more you can help, the better.

Be sure to keep a close eye on your links, as these might become broken links over time and need repair. You can use several tools to monitor broken links, including several WordPress plugins and 3rd-party platform features. Suppose you’re not ready to invest in the higher-end tools most SEO teams use to monitor this activity. In that case, you can evaluate the index coverage status report in Google Search Console to discover 404 pages. This approach requires time and energy, but it’s free.

Search engine bots are hungry to learn, so feed them with these types of links.

7. Not Using Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a free tool that allows you to track your website’s traffic and performance. Without Google Analytics, you won’t be able to see how your website is performing in search engines or where your traffic is coming from. Google Analytics is essential for any business owner serious about SEO.

If you’re not measuring your progress, you won’t be able to improve your results. Google Analytics allows you to see how well your website is doing in search engines, what keywords you’re ranking for, where your traffic is coming from, and more.

Make sure to set up Google Analytics on your website and check it regularly to see how you’re progressing. This tool is provided by the Google search engine, which provides you the opportunity to analyze the same metrics and activity Google sees. It may be a fraction of what the search engine analyzes, but it’s always nice to be on the same page.

If you’re not sure how to do this, hire an SEO professional to help you.

8. Not Tracking Your Rankings

If you’re not tracking your website’s rankings in search engines, you won’t be able to see how your SEO efforts are paying off. There are a number of free and paid tools that allow you to track your rankings for specific keywords. Tracking your rankings is the only way to see how well your website is performing in search engines.

It’s important to track both your target keywords and overall keywords. In addition, you should track the progress of your competitors so you can strategize. This allows you to create a content strategy and might reveal what your competitors are doing well that you’re not.

[smgquote author=”Chris Rice, SEO Manager”]
Reverse-engineering your competition’s search results can help accelerate your own results.
[/smgquote]

9. Not Doing Regular SEO Audits

An SEO audit is an analysis of your website to identify any potential issues that could be holding back your ranking in search engines. SEO audits can be performed manually or with the help of specialized software. Regular SEO audits help you keep your website up-to-date and improve your ranking over time.

This is a technical SEO aspect of managing an SEO campaign that requires ongoing time and attention. Issues surface month after month, so it’s important you keep a close eye on this and audit your website regularly.

If you ignore this, technical SEO issues can negatively impact the user experience of your website and result in decreased rankings and traffic.

10. Not Staying Up-To-Date With Google’s Algorithm Updates

Google’s algorithm is constantly changing, and it’s important to stay up-to-date with the latest updates. Google makes hundreds of algorithm changes every year, and some of these can have a big impact on your website’s ranking.

Here are four websites that provide excellent, up-to-date information about SEO news.

• Google Search Central Blog
• Search Engine Land
• Search Engine Journal
• Search Engine Roundtable

Bonus – Not Managing Your Google Business Profile

Your Google Business Profile is one of the most important aspects of local SEO. If you’re not managing your Google Business Profile, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to improve your ranking in search engines.

Make sure to claim your Google Business Profile and fill it out completely. Include high-quality images, accurate business information, and regular updates. You should also encourage customers to leave reviews.

Managing your Google Business Profile is essential for any business that wants to rank higher in local search results. If you’re not sure how to do this, hire an SEO professional to help you.

[smgquote author=”Chris Rice, SEO Manager”]
Optimizing your Google Business Profile can dramatically boost the visibility of your brand and services to local customers.
[/smgquote]

Conclusion

SEO is an ever-evolving field, and it’s important to stay up-to-date with the latest changes in order to maintain your website’s ranking. Google makes hundreds of algorithm changes every year, and some of these can have a big impact on your website’s SEO.

Keep an eye on industry news sources and Google’s Webmaster Central Blog to stay up-to-date with the latest algorithm changes. You also need to be aware of the common SEO mistakes that can hurt your website’s ranking. Make sure you’re optimizing your title tags, meta descriptions, images, content, and backlinks for maximum search engine visibility. Regular SEO audits will help you identify any potential issues that could be holding back your ranking. By following these tips, you can make sure your website is performing at its best in search engines.

Have you made any of these common SEO mistakes in the past? How were you able to overcome them? What impact did it have on your business?

Understanding why local SEO is important for small businesses can mean all the difference between your local customers finding you or finding your competitors.

If you own a small business within your local community, it’s important that you understand why local search engine optimization (SEO) is important for your business.

Local SEO is a service that can help improve the visibility of your brand and services to your local customer base. The more visibility your business has, the more likely you are to attract new customers. This can make all the difference between a thriving business and one that struggles to stay afloat.

In this article, we’re exploring why local SEO is important for small businesses interested in expanding their customer base.

If you find this content helpful, please share it with your team or join the discussion by adding a comment below.

Why Local SEO is Important for Small Businesses

Search engines have become far more sophisticated over the years, to the point that they have been capable of offering personalized results for years now and are becoming better and better at matching those results with any given user’s data. 

This is frightening to a degree – Google, for example, can adapt its results to your location, time, previous search history, and so on. It might know to suggest niche pages or websites to you because of your previous consistent interest in a certain topic. For advertisers and businesses, however, this is good news – personalization means more relevant results, and relevance is key in turning potential traffic into real leads. 

One of the earliest and most consistent personalization factors Google and other search engines use when personalizing results is location. This has led to the growth of local SEO, an increasingly important subset of SEO tips and tricks built to boost your business’ rankings in a given subset of potential search users near your target area. 

If you run a home services business, it’s critical that you claim and optimize your Google business profile. This ensures people in your community or service area will find you when they need your help. Today, customers can connect with you directly through your Google business profile, whether they’re interested in calling you, sending you a message, or finding directions.

[smgquote author=”Chris Rice, SEO Manager”]
Optimizing your Google Business Profile can dramatically boost the visibility of your brand and services to local customers.
[/smgquote]

Someone making the same query 2,000 miles away, however, likely won’t find your website in any of the first page results, nor the second, third, or even fourth. 

Related: 7 Home Services Marketing Tips to Get More Customers

Personalized results are just one part of the greater topic of SEO, and the many thousands of individual factors affecting the search algorithms of tech giants like Microsoft and Google. 

User data is precious, and leveraging it effectively gives you, the business, the opportunity to improve your return on investment on any level of search marketing by ensuring that the subset of customers referred to your website through search engines like Google are truly interested in your services or products and haven’t just stumbled upon you by chance. 

How Does Local SEO Work?

Whether you’re looking something up on your phone or your home computer, websites like Google can find out roughly where you are based on the information provided to the company by your browser.

The internet itself, while virtual, is very much still a physical network existing on Earth, and things like web communication protocols, DNS, and IP addresses are used to figure out where on Earth you’re accessing a website from. This information can be spoofed, of course. But most people don’t bother to do so, which means companies like Google can reliably use these metrics as a way to personalize search results, and further improve the relevance of their suggested results. Other, more specific data is gathered and pooled through the various services Google offers. 

For example, the average Internet user looking for a bike repair shop might be inconvenienced if they had to specify exactly where that bike shop has to be – and if they don’t specify anything at all, they might be annoyed to have the search engine interpret their query as a general inquiry on what a bike shop even is. 

The way modern search engines solve this problem allows users to greatly simplify their search terms, and organically discover the nearest solution for their respective needs. Meanwhile, local businesses profit – if they improve their local SEO. 

Can You Prioritize Local SEO?

The big question is this: can you adequately prioritize local SEO, and get Google to recognize you above other competitors? In a way, yes.

Local SEO is just like regular SEO in most ways. Google and other search engines still rely on the same metrics to score and rank relevant links: topic relevance, domain authority, content quality, and website user experience.

The main difference is that you need to ensure search engines like Google know where you are. You can improve Google’s sense of your business’ location by setting up a Google Business Profile, setting up your business on Google Maps, and making sure your website references your location – not just on your About page, but on the rest of your copy too, such as emphasizing that you are a “Birmingham, Alabama-based family business”. Using both the city and state names is important. This format is what lends itself best to the web crawlers that help gather data for local search results. 

The Impact of Local SEO Optimization

If you sell shoes, you have little hope of competing with Amazon or Walmart, whether online or in physical retail. However, you can carve out a niche for your respective region by catering specifically to clients in your area and using something unique about your business – such as your generational cobbler skills, or specialization in dress shoes – as a further selling point to clarify uniqueness. 

Local SEO is one way for smaller, local businesses to advertise directly to their customers without getting immediately squashed by the larger national- or international-level Big Box stores and their search engine optimization. 

It’s the same way you shouldn’t try to optimize solely for the keywords with the most search engine hits – because those are the ones with the stiffest, most powerful competition – but for long-tail keyword phrases that may be less popular, but more relevant and specific to your business niche, allowing you to carve out a larger audience and customer base. 

Related: Local SEO Tactics for Brick and Mortar Businesses

How to Get Positive Reviews

When it comes to online reviews, Google is the be-all and end-all. If you want to make your business shine, you need to have positive reviews on Google. But how do you go about getting them? Check out our tips!

1. Make it easy for your customers to leave reviews.

The first step is to make it easy for your customers to leave reviews. You can do this by sending them follow-up emails after they make a purchase, or by providing links on your website. People appreciate the convenience, so the easier you make it for them to leave a review, the more likely they are to do so. People also appreciate excellent customer service, which can mean the difference between a positive review and a negative review.

2. Provide excellent customer service.

If you provide excellent customer service, your customers will be more likely to leave positive reviews. So make sure you’re giving them the best possible experience! The key is to go above and beyond! The more people experience your service as above and beyond, the more likely they are to reciprocate with a positive review.

3. Respond to negative reviews.

If you do get a negative review, don’t ignore it – respond to it! This shows that you care about your customers and their experience. Responding to negative reviews is perhaps the most important when it comes to managing your online reputation management – listening goes a long way with consumers. As much as it hurts to receive a negative review, it’s an opportunity to show your customer – and potential customers – that you care about their experience.

4. Encourage happy customers to leave reviews.

Finally, don’t be afraid to ask your happy customers to leave reviews. If they’ve had a positive experience with your business, they’ll be more than happy to leave a review. All you have to do is ask!

Following these tips will help you get more positive reviews, which will in turn help your business shine online. So what are you waiting for? Start working on those reviews!

How to Get Rid of Bad Reviews on Google

It’s no secret that online reviews can make or break a business. A single bad review can dissuade potential customers from doing business with a company, and can even lead to the closure of a business. While it’s impossible to please everyone, it’s important to do everything possible to make sure that negative reviews don’t hurt your business. Here are a few tips for getting rid of bad reviews on Google:

1. Respond quickly and professionally.

When you see a negative review, respond quickly and professionally. Thank the customer for their feedback, and apologize for any inconvenience they may have experienced. If you can, try to resolve the issue that led to the bad review.

2. Address the issue head-on.

If you can’t resolve the issue that led to the bad review, address it head-on. Explain what happened, and how you’re going to make things right. This shows potential customers that you’re willing to take responsibility for your mistakes, and that you’re working hard to fix them.

3. Ask your satisfied customers to leave positive reviews.

One of the best ways to offset any negative reviews is by having more positive reviews. Ask your satisfied customers to leave positive reviews on Google and other review platforms. This will help bury any negative reviews, and will show potential customers that you have a good track record.

4. Keep an eye on your reviews.

Finally, it’s important to keep an eye on your reviews. This way, you can catch any negative reviews early, and address them before they cause too much damage. You can use Google Alerts to track mentions of your business online, including reviews.

By following these tips, you can minimize the damage caused by negative reviews, and protect your business from future harm.

Why the Data Matters

Whether you are focused on local SEO specifically or need an overhaul of your digital marketing plan, the most important thing is to look at the data. Free resources like Ask the People and Google Trends help you identify popular search terms and up-and-coming search phrases, as well as successful content ideas. 

But it’s also important to gather and react to your own data. How well are people responding to your ad campaigns? What type of content does best for you? What pages are people sticking around on the longest, and which pages have the highest bounce rates? How can you improve your website design – and which of your most recent changes made the biggest impact in retention levels and leads?

Good SEO, whether local or otherwise, is about gathering information and acting on it, rather than a set-and-forget plan. You want an actively managed digital marketing plan, one run by professionals who know what they’re doing and are passionate about doing it. Give us a call to get started today. 

 

Want to know how to increase organic traffic? Website growth is still determined by the number of people who visit your website, also known as your traffic. More traffic means more views on your content, which potentially translates into more leads, more sales, and better profits. 

More traffic isn’t always a good thing. Non-human traffic can inflate your numbers artificially with no real value half of the time. Poor search optimization can bring in a lot of traffic but very little lead generation (meaning, very few visitors stick around to think about buying what you’re selling). Intelligent search engine optimization provides relevant, lead-heavy, organic traffic. And to no one’s surprise, that’s the most challenging kind of traffic to generate and grow. 

In this article, we’re exploring how to increase organic traffic to your website.

If you find this content helpful, please share it with your team or join the discussion by adding a question or comment below.

How to Increase Organic Traffic to Your Website

Organic traffic comes to a website from unpaid, natural search engine results. This type of traffic is highly sought after because it does not require advertising. Unlike advertising, organic traffic flows to your website because people have searched for terms related to your brand, product, or service.

The key to increasing organic traffic is understanding how search engines work and how people use them. Once you understand how these two things work together, you can make changes to your website that will help you rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).

Attracting organic traffic to your website can be a challenge, but there are several things you can do to improve your chances of success.

As a business owner, you’re probably interested in increasing the amount of organic traffic month-over-month. Search engine optimization (SEO) makes this possible, as SEO strives to increase a website’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs).

Many factors contribute to how well your website ranks in the SERPs. Search engines consider these factors when determining whether to show your website in the SERP listings.

You can think of SEO as improving the visibility and ranking of your website in the search engine results pages (SERPs). SEO aims to make your website appear as high up in the SERPs as possible.

Here’s how to increase organic traffic to your website.

Defining Organic Traffic

Organic traffic refers to your content from search engines like Google and Bing through actual search queries. 

For example, if you head to Google and look up “basketball shoes for men size 14” and click on the first result, you’ve contributed organic traffic to that website – likely an online shoe store. Because you’re interested in a specific product they’re offering, your organic traffic is most valuable, making you a potential lead. If you go through with your purchase from that first click, you’ve become a successful sale. 

What makes organic traffic “organic”? Borrowing from the term’s use in agriculture and grocery markets, anything “organic” in the context of search engine optimization (SEO) refers to something that is naturally generated – i.e., no use of “pesticides” and “commercial fertilizers” (paid traffic, inflated click-through-rates, bots, etc.)

Organic traffic is important because SEO is more than just a numbers game – you’re trying to get the attention of real people, sitting behind their screens, looking for a product or service, or informing themselves on a product or service in your niche. The more real and interested people you attract to your content, the higher your chances of seeing a return on your SEO investment. 

The Importance of SEO

If organic traffic is defined as all traffic directed towards a page through a search engine, it’s only natural that your priority should be search engine optimization. 

SEO has been around since the early days of DMOZ, the Yahoo Directory, and Go.com and essentially comprises a set of tools, rules, and doctrines that help websites become more likely to be picked as the top results for any given relevant search query. At the time, search engines were essential lookup functions for directories that effectively served as the Yellow Pages of the early internet. 

But as the world wide web began to grow exponentially, the systems behind looking up and recommending specific kinds of content became equally sophisticated. Today, there are 200 ranking factors behind any given Google query, and the Google algorithm alone goes through over a thousand changes every year. 

Keeping up with these SEO changes yourself can be a daunting prospect. Ideal SEO campaigns involve UX troubleshooting, crawlability and indexing, keyword optimization, competition and data research, social media work, digital content creation and scheduling, backlinking, studying customer search intent, developing online trustworthiness, and improving a website’s domain authority, and much more. 

The good news is that not a lot of content on the web is properly optimized. This means that taking the time to invest in your SEO seriously can massively improve your ranking and get you much more organic traffic quickly. 

[smgquote author=”Chris Rice, SEO Manager”]
Investing in SEO can provide valuable organic traffic month after month, year after year.
[/smgquote]

But the stiffer the competition, the harder it is to make a dent. It’s easier to rank for users in your neighborhood looking for a restaurant with your specific niche or cuisine than it is to compete with Nike, big box department stores, and Amazon every time someone looks up “basketball shoes”. Let’s go over some of the ways you can make the biggest difference to your organic traffic. 

Do Competition Research

It helps to know what you’re dealing with in terms of competition for a number of reasons: 

First, determining how far your competition is ahead in terms of SEO can indicate whether it’s worth trying to compete with them on the same search terms, or whether your resources are better spent trying to invest in another niche for now.

Second, competition research is vital for discovering those untapped niches. By determining where the weak spots are in your competitor’s strategy, you can grow alongside them and bide your time. 

Third, competition research of a successful competitor can give you a blueprint for your own early SEO campaigns. SEO tactics aren’t trademarked – rather than reinvent the wheel, why not learn from the successes and failures of those who came before you? 

Untapped Target Keywords

Many companies can get ahead through free SEO tools, but the best keyword research and data analysis tools for SEO cost a pretty penny. They’re worth it, however, for the wealth of information they can provide to guide your SEO tactics and help you maintain a healthy head start.  

In the hands of an experienced team, these premium SEO tools let you target keywords that have a great potential for lead generation, but are criminally underutilized among your niche or competitors, letting you pull ahead by some metrics, even if you can’t rank for the most popular search terms. 

Optimize Your Best Performers

Any given website is made of different webpages, not all of which are available to the public. Those that are, are crawled and indexed by major search engines and added to their “list” of available addresses for search users to discover. This means that every individual piece of content you’ve uploaded and indexed for the world to see can rank and grow at an individual pace – a blog from three years ago might be your best performer by far, pulling far ahead of your home page, landing page, or any of your other content, for example. 

These best performers offer critical pieces of information for determining just why they became such a hit, what kind of audience you’re attracting with this content, and how you can translate this growth into growth for other parts of your website.

Furthermore, because this is the content with the highest concentration of traffic on your website, it’s important to continue to optimize it over time, by improving the quality of the content, adding onto it, updating it with new information, adding affiliate links to related products or inbound links to your own products and services, creating a better call-to-action towards the middle or end, and so on.

Leveraging Backlinks Successfully

Backlinks are a powerful yet complex tool to use in SEO. There’s not much you can do to grow backlinks “organically” – if your content is interesting, unique, and original, there is going to be a higher chance that other websites link to it, especially ones for whom your content (and by extension, your product and/or service) is relevant. 

These are the best kinds of backlinks because they lead to more traffic, and they signal to search engines that your content is to be trusted, carries weight and authority, and is more relevant within your niche than other posts like it. 

However, you can also “create” backlinks, although you must be careful when doing so. Backlinks can be purchased or negotiated through guest posts and careful collaboration. But misusing these avenues can lead to hefty penalization. 

Track Your Progress

Whatever you end up doing to improve your SEO, it’s critical to continuously track your progress, and review your traffic for every minor change. It’s not enough to operate on a gut feeling in SEO – optimization is key, which means gathering evidence that your changes or new methods are leading to a marked improvement in growth and other metrics (such as lead generation and sales). 

SEO is complicated, and it gets a little more complicated each year. 

If you have little or no experience with modern SEO, your best bet is to work with a professional team. An SEO audit can give you a better idea of what’s missing from your current strategy, but it helps to build a new one from the ground up with a team of digital marketers that know what they’re doing. 

If you find this content helpful, please share it with your team or join the discussion by adding a question or comment below.

Backlinks remain a key part of any website’s long-term SEO strategy, even though good backlinking is both unreliable, and difficult to achieve.

While search engines have come a long way since the days of Netscape, the basic principle behind any good search engine remains the same: all data ultimately serves to help the algorithm better sort new and existing information and provide users with relevant, experienced, and authoritative content.

Note that authoritative does not necessarily mean good. Google and other search engines are not the arbiters of truth and quality – popularity and authority weigh much more heavily into how Google ranks a page than the veracity of its content, or even its quality.

News organizations, established companies, large foundations, global organizations, research institutes and online magazines are all much more likely to rank fresh content than a company’s new domain with little to no web presence, because these organizations are more likely to share backlinks throughout the web, and because they have a real-world authority that carries over into the Internet.

Establishing the same level of authority from scratch is almost impossible. But through clever and careful SEO, you can leverage backlinks and other factors to rank for less competitive, yet still relevant long-tail keywords, and carve out your own niche for potential customers and search engine users doing research in your industry.

What is a Backlink?

A backlink, or an inbound link, is a hyperlink on any other website pointing to one of your pages. It is not the same as an internal link, which would be a link within one of your pages pointing to another one of your pages. Backlinks can be both valuable and harmful – if your website has a lot of backlinks from major news organizations, the value of these backlinks will heavily propel your website in the eyes of most search engines, as that positive reputation “rubs off” on your own.

But if your website has a lot of inbound links from well-known spam sites, click farming websites, or black-hat SEO sources, this becomes a red flag that search engines like Google might take to mean that you likely tried to use dubious methods to inflate your ranking, such as buying links from cheap sources. This is why many websites utilize the no-follow attribute to eliminate any association between their content and poor-quality websites linking to it.

It’s not all doom-and-gloom, though. You can get good quality backlinks without receiving a major reference for an article in the Los Angeles Times or featuring in a university’s report on new research. However, this is a long-term process. Just like there are no true get-rich-quick schemes, there are no true get-good-backlinks-quick schemes.

Natural vs. “Artificial” Backlinking

When it comes down to it, the best way to earn backlinks is to produce content that other qualitative websites link to.

The Internet is a huge community, and only a fraction of it consists of elite, established brands. There may be dozens of smaller content producers, blogs, industry insiders, review channels, and other sources of content that may have an interest in hosting a link to your stuff.

Posting good content isn’t enough. You need to make sure that content is seen. Your chances of being linked to increase exponentially if other content creators see your pages. That, in turn, leads to better ranking, which increases your backlink potential, which increases your ranking – a true snowball effect.

In contrast, artificial backlinks are backlinks you paid for without going through the trouble of making them relevant. The problem with these is that Google and other search engines are getting better and better at recognizing and flagging paid backlinks

Examples of artificial backlinks include posting a smaller, tangentially related blog a nominal fee to link back to your product or website or creating a completely irrelevant guest post on an influencer’s page to improve your domain authority.

Backlinks can be paid for and incorporated effectively into your SEO if their inclusion makes sense, is relevant to all parties, and feels “natural”.

For example, it makes sense for a review channel to link to your product. It makes sense for a commentator in your industry to link to a press release on your website. It makes sense for a business insider to use data you provided in a blog post as a source for their report.

Let’s go over some key pointers to making backlinks work for you.

Produce Original Content

The greatest indicator of whether a piece of content will be worth linking to outside of the context of a mutual agreement is its value to the community. Does your content provide new information? Is it helping visitors in ways other similar websites wouldn’t?

Even if you are simply recontextualizing existing information in a way that is more digestible and cohesive than other pages, you’re succeeding in creating original content.

[smgquote author=”Eric Sachs, CEO”]
Create content that others can use and link to as a resource for their audience.
[/smgquote]

It’s essential to create a plan before you start producing content. For the best results, you should spend time researching what’s already out there, what’s popular, and what to avoid. Once you have a good idea of who your target audience is, what they want, and what type of content tends to do well, you can create a digital content strategy that has the best chance of attracting high-quality backlinks.

Improve On Existing Posts

A great way to try and produce quality content without going out of your way to creating something completely new is to look for popular posts in your industry and think of ways you could improve them.

What are they missing? Could you do better with the visual data representation? Do you think the post is outdated? Do you have better sources? Can you combine the information presented in two or three posts in a single, informative guide?

Utilize Influencer Collaboration

Paid backlinks are one thing, but it’s another to consider a mutual collaboration with an influencer in your sphere, such as a product reviewer or guest interviewee.

These collaborations can be mutually beneficial, while going beyond simply exchanging links – in these instances, both parties benefit from the creation of new content on both channels. This might not be applicable to certain industries, but many companies can benefit from identifying the loudest and largest voices in their industry and working with them.

Quality Over Quantity

You don’t need to be producing content on a daily basis to reap the benefits of fresh content in an SEO context. Consider taking some time every now and again to analyze and improve on your existing posts instead. Google likes content that has stuck around for a while, especially if it is “evergreen” (i.e., relevant across time).

If you have a particular blog post or article that is more popular or successful, revisit it and expand upon it. You’d be surprised to see how your metrics can improve on older content – which can help you net more backlinks and jump up in relevant search term rankings.

Outside of producing better content, collaborating with other voices in the industry, and being careful about the way you’re incorporating paid backlinks, there are other important factors to consider when updating your SEO tactics for backlinking in 2022.

A professional SEO firm can help you identify your weaknesses and improve your website’s search performance across the board.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility and ranking of a website or web page in search engine results pages (SERPs). SEO involves optimizing a website’s content, HTML tags, and associated coding to improve its relevance to specific keywords and phrases people use when searching for information online.

The main aim of SEO is to improve the visibility of a website so that it appears higher in the search engine results pages (SERPs) for relevant keywords or phrases. In other words, SEO helps get more website visitors by improving the site’s ranking in search engine results.

As a business owner, you want to invest your time and money toward digital marketing strategies that work. One of the most common questions from curious business owners interested in exploring digital marketing is, “how long does SEO take to work?”

So, how long does SEO take to work?

How Long Does SEO Take to Work?

The answer to this question depends on several factors, including how competitive the keyword or phrase is, how well the website is optimized, and how much competition the website faces from other websites.

Generally speaking, SEO can take a few weeks to months to start working correctly. However, in some cases, it may take longer for the effects of SEO to be seen.

One of the main reasons it can take a while for SEO to work is that it takes time for search engines to index and rank a website. This is especially true if the website is new or has not been updated regularly.

Another reason SEO may take a while to work because it can take time for the changes made to the website to be reflected in the SERPs. This is because search engines periodically crawl and index websites, and it can take a while for them to pick up on the changes that have been made.

So, how long does SEO take to work?

It Depends on the Effort and Scope of Your Strategy

The answer to how long SEO takes to “work” depends on your definition of working – search engines may begin crawling and indexing websites as soon as their URLs go live, yet it can take weeks, months, or years for a page to rank well if it ever does. 

Good SEO makes the difference between years and weeks, but even the best SEO might not be enough to help you rank for specific ultra-competitive keywords. If you set your sights lower, you can rank in as fast as a few days and even find yourself in the top five for a long-tail keyword you’ve discovered has gone relatively unused by the competition yet remains relevant for your clientele. 

The root problem is those specific keywords are much harder to rank than others, and specific SEO techniques take time to work. Backlinks aren’t organically established in a day, and neither is authority. Older pages with a more significant history of editorialization and frequent updates will often rank better for evergreen search queries than the freshest, newest pages. 

If you’ve come here expecting a concrete answer on how long you should be investing in your SEO before you begin to see benefits from it, the answer is that it’s complicated.

A good SEO-oriented team can begin making changes to your existing and future content in ways that draw in leads in as little as a few weeks, with noticeable changes in traffic within the same time frame. Understanding what factors speed things along can help you figure out where you should invest more time and money. 

What Is Your Competition Up To?

First, let’s get the immutable fact out of the way – your success in any given field may dramatically depend on how competitive that field is online. It will be unbelievably expensive and difficult to pierce specific industries versus others. You will have a better time ranking as a niche restaurant in your city than as a tech company servicing a global audience. 

By reducing your scope – focusing on a niche online or a regional audience – you can see more immediate gains at a smaller budget. There’s not much to be done about what your competitors are doing – but you can use that to your advantage, determining where their strategy has holes and exploiting these for an audience they haven’t tapped into. 

[smgquote author=”Chris Rice, SEO Manager”]
Reverse-engineering your competition’s results can help accelerate your own results.
[/smgquote]

How Much Are You Investing In SEO?

Money doesn’t solve everything, but it is still a versatile tool. Research-based pay-per-click campaigns, high-quality content, and professional SEO services can raise a serious bill. A bigger budget for your SEO will usually net you better, faster results. 

Yet even a willingness to pay top dollar does not guarantee quality – you can throw every dime at a pay-per-click campaign, but if your parameters are wrong or if you’re working off bad data, you will be wasting that money pulling in leads that barely convert. It’s essential to pair your investment with your goals. SEO consultants and industry experts are worth the additional cost to ensure that your campaign dollars aren’t wasted. 

What Connections Can You Leverage?

Organic SEO growth comes from orienting your webpage design philosophy around what search engines like Google call a good user experience. That usually means little to no intrusive content (such as pop-up ads or auto-play video), legible and clear formatting, blistering loading speeds, and no annoying UI bugs, such as clickable objects that shift as a page loads. These factors are what Google calls your Core Web Vitals. 

But outside of organic SEO is an entire world of digital networking to help push your business ahead through collaborations, influencer events, sponsorships, guest posts, and more. Even a mention on a major news site (hopefully a positive mention) can be great for your online brand, as well as your offline brand.  Short of mass-buying low-quality backlinks – which search engines like Google can heavily penalize you for – there are many ways to leverage online networking to speed up your search ranking growth and web presence. 

Are You Targeting the Right Keywords?

We’ve mentioned the importance of paying attention to what your competition does – especially where they are directing their greatest efforts. If the competition is larger, has been around for longer, and has invested more in SEO, then chances are that throwing your money at trying to compete in the exact same keywords might be a difficult task. 

Keyword research tools have come a long way in recent years, offering a wealth of data on effective and relevant search terms for your industry or business, tracking which keywords offer you the best leads and allowing you to do competitive research to identify untapped audiences. 

Of course, suppose the competition isn’t utilizing their current ranking advantage to the fullest. In that case, there’s no problem in trying to utilize that to your advantage by outranking them with better, more efficient, more modern SEO strategies. 

Is Your Website Up to Snuff?

We’ve mentioned the Core Web Vitals, but various ranking factors are hidden in every website. The way your website is formatted for mobile devices and various screen resolutions, the weight and size of your image and video content, how well your website is organized, and the various different elements in your backend – whether it’s a CMS like WordPress or an eCommerce platform – can affect your ranking. These factors change in importance and relevance over time, as Google makes thousands of amendments to its sorting and ranking algorithm every year. 

Keeping up with how you should be doing SEO on any given day can be dizzying. If you want your company to excel at SEO and outrank the competition, you need help. Let us help you figure out the best action plan for your website and existing content. 

 

Keyword research tools are a dime a dozen, ranging in cost from free to a hefty monthly premium. Knowing what separates paid applications and programs from free ones and understanding how the differences between these SEO tools can individually help your business achieve a complete understanding of current and rising trends can help set you apart from the competition. 

However, it’s also important to separate the forest from the trees. Tools are tools, and you likely won’t need a dozen of them solely for keyword research. Here are some of our top recommendations for getting different things done. 

Does Keyword Research Still Matter?

Despite changes in the way SEO works over the decades, one thing remains true: keywords are important. Search engines are largely text-based, and keywords are one of the simplest ways to scan text for contextual relevance and help bring users relevant results. 

Ignoring keyword research is a common SEO mistake that will cost you rankings, traffic, and customers over time.

However, keywords aren’t everything. Keyword research must remain a part of your complete SEO campaign, page experience, quality writing, video content, product optimization, and more. 

It’s one thing to intuit keywords – if you’re in the business of selling pool products, you’ll have a general awareness of what your customers are looking for, and what kind of keywords you should include – but it’s another to gather, analyze, and use actionable data to reach efficient conclusions that can help drive your SEO efforts, turn traffic into leads, leads into sales, and wring much greater ROI out of your marketing efforts. 

Keyword research tools help you identify and take advantage of growing trends, find holes in your competitor’s strategy to pull untapped traffic, and differentiate between useful and useless data. 

[smgquote author=”Eric Sachs, CEO”]
You need to understand what your competitors are doing in order to rise above them.
[/smgquote]

SEMrush

SEMrush often shares the top spot in most lists for the most effective search engine optimization tool. It also carries a relatively hefty price tag. 

More than just a keyword research tool, SEMrush offers a long list of features – but perhaps its greatest selling point is the lengths it will go through to provide you with detailed data on what keywords your competition is falling behind on, identifying clear gaps you could take advantage of for maximum gain. Furthermore, SEMrush provides analysis on long-tail keywords and semantically relevant keywords as well. It’s a lot of data, so it helps to sift through it with a veteran. 

SEMrush costs $99/month for the Pro suite, and $399/month for the Business suite. The first 10 uses are free for all visitors. 

Google Keyword Planner

While SEMrush is a heavy-duty SEO suite, Google Keyword Planner is a straightforward and beginner-friendly keyword research tool. This is Google’s classic SEO tool and comes for free with your login at Google Ads. 

However, it may no longer be quite as precise as it used to be – merging search volumes for similar, yet not exactly the same search terms – and misses a lot of critical analysis features present in more expensive keyword research tools. However, it is still a good tool for getting a basic idea of the keyword volume and most popular keywords in a given local or regional industry. 

Google Keyword Planner is free. 

Ahrefs Keyword Explorer

Ahrefs Keyword Explorer is another all-purpose SEO tool with a useful keyword generator, matched only in the sheer volume of results with SEMrush. 

The main difference between the two is the price point. Smaller agencies and businesses with needs that outstrip the feature list of the Lite suite might not be able to stomach the $999 a month cost per account. This means only one user can access Ahrefs at a time if an entire company is sharing the login. 

In addition to a host of keyword research tools, Keyword Explorer conjures a long list of relevant data points for every query, including total search volume, clicks, volume distribution, keyword difficulty, parent topics, SERP, volume-difficulty distribution, and more. Ahrefs also offers a free keyword generator.

Ahrefs Keyword Explorer costs $99/month for the Lite suite and $999/month for the Agency suite. 

Ubersuggest

Offered for free by industry giant Neil Patel, Ubersuggest is a useful and recommended keyword research tool that provides you with a general overview of the top 100 queries related to your keyword, estimated visits, backlinks, domain scores, and social shares. This can help you gauge the difficulty of ranking for any given keyword, and it also comes with alternative keyword suggestions. 

Ubersuggest is free. 

Moz Keyword Explorer

The third in our line of premium recommendations, Moz Keyword Explorer is not usually touted as being quite as expansive as SEMrush or Ahrefs (with a much lower volume of keyword suggestions per query), but may be easier to use due to its simplified UI and user-friendliness. Moz is also an industry name, offering a host of free resources to beginners in the field of SEO, as well as relevant industry findings and research data for long-standing experts. 

Moz Keyword Explorer costs 99$/month for the Standard package, and $599/month for the Premium package.  

Google Trends

More of a content mine than a keyword research tool, Google Trends helps you discover and understand the relevance of given keywords in comparison to one another, as well as adjacent keywords, and commonly searched keyword combinations. 

It is an insight by Google itself into any given keyword, helping you gauge not just total short-term interest, but long-term trends, and how keywords rise and fall in popularity relative to specific dates (and potential world or local events). 

[smgquote author=”Eric Sachs, CEO”]
If you want to get ahead, check Google Trends for seasonal content ideas.
[/smgquote]

Google updates Google Trends’ main page with frequently relevant and seasonal topics of discussion – checking it out during Christmas will net you insights on what kind of gift ideas people are looking up the most, and better understand local as well as regional and international shopping trends, for example. 

To an SEO marketer, Google Trends’ most valuable assets are the “related topics” and “related queries” sections. These queries and topics can be sorted by rising popularity and relative top popularity. 

Google Trends is free. 

AnswerThePublic

While most of these keyword research tools specialize in identifying valuable keywords and providing you with the data to reject or consider different keyword combinations, AnswerThePublic is a tool built by the aforementioned Ubersuggest to research adjacent trends and discover topics of conversation and generate content ideas, more than it is a tool about keywords. As the website itself explains, AnswerThePublic helps marketers discover what questions people are asking about any given topic of choice. 

It’s incredibly easy to use and doesn’t require an account or any kind of financial commitment – simply input your topic of choice and watch AnswerThePublic determine what questions and related ideas people tend to search from relevant datasets. 

Furthermore, rather than using lists, AnswerThePublic neatly organizes adjacent questions and potential topics of discussion through different adverbs, such as what, who, why, when, which, where, will, as well as are, can, and how. These visually pleasing results can be downloaded in a .csv format. 

AnswerThePublic is free. 

Organizing Your Research Results

Gathering data is one thing and acting on it is another. Each of these tools serves a different purpose and using them efficiently can mean the difference between doing competitive analysis and wasting your time. 

An experienced SEO firm can help you identify what toolkit best serves your business and industry – and help you dominate the competition.

Starting January 18, 2022, Yoast SEO will be integrated into the Shopify platform as an app. In short, this means retailers on Shopify will be able to utilize Yoast to improve the “findability and readability of your pages”.

As per their blog post on the topic, Yoast SEO for Shopify: “outputs all the needed SEO meta data and a complete Schema graph for your site,” which is essential for search engines to better understand your page.

The catch? It won’t be free. While the original Yoast SEO for WordPress is already offered as a freemium product, Yoast SEO for Shopify offers a 14-day free trial but will cost $29 per 30 days. Let’s explore what this new integration means – especially for people in the eCommerce sector.

What is Yoast SEO?

If you have ever built, managed, or worked with WordPress for your business in the past, you may be familiar with Yoast SEO. As one of the oldest and best search engine optimization plug-ins for WordPress, Yoast has an immense reputation for helping contextualize many of the core tenets of good SEO in a way that helps countless content managers and producers create high quality pages.

Established in 2007, Yoast SEO is best known for its simple three bullet, color-coded SEO quality indicator.

Based on countless different SEO metrics, Yoast scores individual pieces of content on your site as either red (needs improvement), orange (OK), or green (good), and creates an in-depth checklist of items for you to improve on to boost your rating.

Yoast SEO for WordPress, the original product, guides you through the process of improving your web content by giving you suggestions on various elements of your texts, including your title width, key phrase location and frequency, text length, outbound links, and meta description quality.

Yoast also provides automated feedback on other site elements, ranging from readability to user experience. One of its most important features is the fact that it automatically adds structured data to your posts, boosting visibility by search engines without intrusively altering the way your content shows up for users – essentially leaving data breadcrumbs for the search engine bots that crawl websites to rate and rank them.

While available for free, many of Yoast SEO’s strongest features are offered through its Premium package. Yoast SEO for Shopify will only be available in its Premium form.

Yoast is useful. It helps many sites greatly improve their SEO with just a little bit of input, and while not as effective as a dedicated team, it is by far the most popular SEO plugin for WordPress, and by extension, millions of different sites.

But why integrate with Shopify? Why now? And why do we care?

The Importance of SEO in eCommerce

Yoast’s move to work with Shopify and create the equivalent of their popular app for the largest eCommerce platform can be attributed to one simple thing: the meteoric rise of eCommerce, especially in the wake of the pandemic.

While online retail has been growing significantly for years, it has picked up steam considerably in the last two, and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.

This move is an effort by both Shopify and Yoast to capitalize on the growth of eCommerce especially among SMBs, alongside Shopify’s aggressive tactic of expanding in other directions, such as its new integration with both Google and Bing.

Yoast made this explicitly clear in their post explaining why they’ve created a new app for Shopify, even going so far as to point out that this breaks their tradition of only releasing Yoast SEO software for open-source platforms. Expanding into Shopify means no longer having all eggs in one basket, while simultaneously offering one of the best beginner tools for generalized SEO on the fastest growing eCommerce platform on the web.

And yes, SEO still matters for storefronts and product pages, just as much as it would for other kinds of content on the web. With search engines investing more heavily than ever in online shopping, small-to-medium retailers especially are best served working on their SEO to improve visibility for their products, grow and solidify their customer base, and cash in on massive growth.

As for product features, Yoast SEO will work just as it does for WordPress, offering the very same features as Yoast SEO Premium, at a different price point.

We’ve mentioned that both Google and Bing have launched their own expanded Shopify integration apps earlier last year, signaling the growing importance placed upon eCommerce in the past year, and the commitment made by both search engines to make it even easier for retailers to get their listings seen online.

Yoast SEO’s app isn’t quite the same thing, however. Rather than promote visibility in product results alone, it will also help product listings show up organically in non-shopping search results across the web.

The rapid digitalization of retail has made it even harder for smaller businesses to get their foot in the door. These tools are tremendously helpful because they finetune product listings and pages, helping SMBs set their products apart from the ever-growing, ever-evolving competition.

What Does This Mean?

In summary, Yoast SEO is breaking its own established mold by expanding its famous app to Shopify as well, signaling the emerging importance of SEO in digital retail, alongside last year’s Shopify + search engine integrations by both Google and Bing.

This move seems to benefit small-to-medium online retailers the most, bringing a host of important search engine optimization tools to organically improve visibility and traffic on product listings and product pages through shopping search and traditional search results, while helping both Yoast and Shopify capitalize on the booming eCommerce market.

If your business is in online retail, then this is another sign to start working on your SEO for not just on-site content, but product pages and listings as well.

Need help getting your SEO off the ground? Give us a call and get started on improving your search rankings today.

How many times have you been inside WordPress and had to go into another window to take a closer look at your Google analytics or search console data to create a plan of action for your website? Do you find yourself easily frustrated by the fact that you can’t just access the data you need all in one place? If you said yes, then Google has answered your prayers with the Google Site Kit plugin they released at the end of October.

Installing this plugin gives you access to data and reports from Google directly in your WordPress dashboard. Though six Google products are included at this time, you aren’t required to install all of them. This allows you to customize your experience further and streamline your reporting.

It’s especially helpful to you as SEOs who want to be able to show their clients essential data about their website visitors and traffic but who have clients that don’t want to delve into the data themselves on Google.

What’s Included in the Google Site Kit Plugin?

When you install the plugin, you’ll have the option of activating any or all of the following Google products.

Google Search Console

The Google Search Console helps you see how many people saw and clicked on your website in Google search, what queries showed your site in search, and your average search position. You’ll also be able to see Impressions, click-through rate, and position for your site as well as the various query strings that users were searching for. Search Console is automatically enabled for all sites using site kit.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics allows you to see how people navigate your website once they arrived on it. You can see what pages are popular, how many people saw each page, the length of time they’re spending on each page, as well as the page they are on when they leave your site.

PageSpeed Insights

The PageSpeed Insights module is most useful for developers. It helps you understand the real-world performance of your site as experienced by Chrome users. It makes it easy to get recommendations for optimizing your site speed.

Optimize

The Optimize module is most useful for marketers and small businesses that want to test variations of your pages. With Site Kit, you can set up optimize without any coding required.

Tag Manager

If you’re using Tag Manager to manage your marketing campaigns, you can use the site kit to set up the tag manager without any code editing required. Then, you can easily manage your tags in the tag manager.

AdSense

Google AdSense is useful for websites that are using the platform to monetize their content. Enabling this module allows you to track ad performance across your site.

How to Install and Set up Google Site Kit

To get started, all you have to do is log into your WordPress website and click “Plugins” in the left navigation menu. Click add new. Enter “Site Kit” in the search bar, and you should see the site kit plugin display on the search results page. Click to install and then activate the Google site kit plugin, just like you would any other WordPress plugin. After activation, you’ll be prompted to complete the setup.

Click the “Start Setup” button.

You’ll be prompted to give access to your website’s Google Search Console profile. This means you’ll need to sign in to the Gmail account that has access to your site’s search console profile.

After you logged in, you must give permission for Google to access the data in the Search Console profile.

After you’ve granted all the necessary permissions, you will get a completion notification, and then you will be able to click on “Go to my Dashboard.”

Once you arrive in the dashboard, you’ll be presented with options to connect to other Google services, including AdSense, Analytics, and PageSpeed insights. You can choose to link to those services if you want to.

To connect to the Tag Manager and Optimize, you’ll need to visit the settings of the plugin.

The Google site kit plugin allows you to dive into your reporting with navigation options on the left to drill down. You can also enable the admin bar feature to see individual page stats.

Will Installing Google Site Kit Negatively Affect Page Speed?

Google Site Kit is a plugin that is developed and maintained by Google, so you know it is coded with speed and SEO in mind. Ultimately, it should have little to no effect on your overall page speed. However, if your website is bogged down with numerous WordPress plugins, you may see a slight change.

Google Site Kit is still young, so we expect to see several features added in future updates of the plugin. In the meantime, it’s a good idea to review your main dashboard every week and look for significant changes in how people are finding your site. Keep track of how your recent posts are doing by checking the individual page reports.

Take time to compare the top-performing pages and look at how people found them. Is a particular topic or product attracting more visitors from social channels? If so, you can add more about that topic or similar products to see if the trend continues. If you haven’t already, enable Pagespeed Insights and analytics to see whether or not page load time affects your bounce rate.

Have you, or are you going to, install this on your WordPress site? Have you been impressed with the results so far? Share your thoughts in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you.