To begin, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. The basic idea behind SEO is to raise your post and website rankings higher on Google search results. Based on the words entered into the search console, Google scans billions of webpages for matching and relevant content. The higher your content is on search results, the more views and page clicks your site will get.
In fact, less than 5% of Google traffic will come from the second search page. When performing a Google search, 91% of traffic only visits the first page.
This shows the true importance of getting your website to the top of the list. Successfully using SEO is proven to increase your audience reach and reel in those interested in your topic.
SEO is important because without it, while your content may be exceptional, nobody will be able to find it. It is also important to use SEO in a smart way to make sure what is showing up on Google is relevant and succinct so that it fits in the allotted space. You want viewers to be able to glance at the Google search summary and understand what your content is about and also draw their attention to continue reading.
3 steps to a high SEO ranking:
Sitemap upload
Meta data
SEO rich content
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Sitemap upload
The most prominent way to increase SEO ranking is to input your sitemap on Google through Webmaster Tools. If you were to do one thing and nothing else, this would be it. By uploading your sitemap, Google will “crawl’ all your webpages and content, create search links and save it in its search database. While this will be sufficient for showing up on Google, there are more ways to increase your website’s ranking.
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Meta Data
The second step is to input Meta data for every post. You may be thinking, ‘What in the world is meta data’, but don’t worry it is actually very simple. Meta data is what will appear on the Google search page. The two main Meta components that you should be aware of are Meta titles and Meta descriptions. Be aware that there is a character limit for link titles on Google. It is best to keep titles under 60 characters, with the made idea of the post at the beginning. Using keywords within the title will also benefit your site’s ranking. The Meta description is what comes below the title. It should be succinct, share what the post will provide the reader with and also utilize keywords. If you are having trouble figuring out what keywords to use, we recommend looking at Google AdWords Keyword Planner and CoSchedule Headline Analyzer.
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SEO rich content
The biggest component when Google crawls your website is the content. Using words that are popular and relevant in common searches is one of the best ways to become the number one ranking for multiple searches. However, this does not mean put as mean keywords as you can into one sentence even if it doesn’t belong in the context. In fact, this can be penalized if Google catches it. The best way to combat this is to keep content authentic and analyze what your exact target audience may look up if they needed information that your post would provide. The idea is similar to that of content marketing. While some products or words may be placed in the body of the article on purpose, they still fit the overall theme of the website and provide the readers with useful information.
By making these simple changes while writing and posting articles, your website will continue to rank higher in Google searches. With these tactics, you can multiply your audience reach by 3-4 times more than what it currently is at and grow your brand and business.