SEO Tutorial Re-Cap

SEO Tutorial - Re-Cap

Thanks to Lynn Friedman's 2013 Big Blog Jumpstart Challenge, I decided to review a few of the tutorials in order to be 100% sure that I "did it right" for the local challenge part of the contest.  I always learn something from Bob Stewart’s videos so, I decided he was my go-to guy with writing these Localism posts.  Bob always manages to squeeze in just one more tidbit that I have either missed in the past or have forgotten to implement in my own blogging.  I believe he is the master of doing these video tutorials and ActiveRain is SO fortunate to have him providing this very detailed information to our members!  Regardless of how many times I hear something or practice it, I oftentimes forget one small detail.  That little detail can effect the desired outcome of the post or article that I’ve written. 

I strongly encourage you to watch Bob’s video and attend all of the ARU classes that you can.  Even older members will be surprised at that little tidbit that we knew but, have forgotten to utilize as we write daily.

Your goal is to write posts that are going to GET CLICKS!  Writing about the RIGHT things, will generate a good deal of traffic for you.  How are you targeting YOUR audience?

Four steps to an SEO-focused blog post

1. At the very basic level of SEO optimization is the content quality and accessibility for your readers.
2. Keyword research and targeting is the next step.  What keywords are we focused on?
3. Link building is the third concept that should be addressed.  What can we do to build strong links to our sites?
4. Social/sharing - How are the search engines finding you socially?  (And social sites ARE being brought into the search engines’ indexes!)

Long tail keywords

In any given search demographic, there lies a set of specific and non-specific phrases that are frequently searched by the consumer.  Any 8-10 of those phrases comprise about 30% of the search volume--these are non-specific phrases.  With a long tail keyword (or specific phrase), as people are looking for something more detailed, their searches become more targeted. 

Our goal is to seek the cumulative volume of search traffic - capturing approximately 70% of the traffic.  Confused?  Here’s a generic sample that Bob gave us:  If your keyword term that you’re using is ‘Men's Shoes,’ you will have LOTS of competition and a HIGH cost to advertise (pay-per-click).  As well, you will have a lower probability of conversion (of that traffic.)  Conversely, using “Red Nike Men’s Running Shoes” would be less costly for you to use (if paying for placement) AND provide less competition when the consumer searches this more specific term.  This garners you a higher probability of conversion of this traffic. 

Here are the mechanics of writing a search-engine-friendly post utilizing long tail keywords -

• Write posts 200-500 words:  At 100-200 words, you can get your content to rank.  You don’t however, want to use fewer than 200 words to get the message across to the consumer, that you are the expert. 

• Pick a keyword phrase for your title - What phrase do you want to rank with?  Is the title something that a consumer would actually use in their search?  Be sure to use 1 keyword phrase per blog post - vary that when you write a second post several months later.  Be sure to use a geographic location in your title.  Add your ‘subject.’  Be specific with your geography.
• Repeat that title at the beginning and the end of our content - The page title is what you will see as clickable text in the search engines--and is the first thing that the search engines seek when they are crawling your website.  It’s easy to add it in the end--I sometimes use it in my copyright line for the ‘end-of-post’ requirement.
• Use the targeted keyword phrase 3-5 times within the post.
• Use your title somewhere in the first paragraph of your post, then ‘talk about’ the topic in the body of the post a couple of times, including that keyword phrase (exactly as it is in the page title).

Do NOT overuse your keyword phrase--both Google AND your consumer view this as ‘spammy.’

A few writing-for-SEO tips...

• Write timeless posts (posts about your geographic area)
• Write about subdivisions
• Write about condo complexes
• Remember that Google recognizes condos and condominiums as one-in-the-same
• Add more information over time about the same topic to show the search engines that you are providing quality content on that particular topic.
• Add Google Authorship to your site (both AR and your website)
• Bear in mind that the consumer searching for SPECIFIC terms is closer to buying than those who search ‘general’ terms.

Don't forget - The Devil is in the Details

• Add your photo meta data
• Image description (What the search engines use to identify the photo.)
• Keyword title (What your page title is and the text that is shown when a reader hovers over the photo.)
• Add anchor text link using your keyword phrase
• Be sure that link is ABOVE THE FOLD!
• Also add a link to a high-authority site that relates to your keyword phrase or your geographic location.
• Media-rich content
     - Maps    - Videos    - Professional layout of your post
• Create a list of your main keywords (10 is the recommended number) and finally...

USE this information to create SEO-rich posts for your consumer!  Remember, you WANT TO BE FOUND!

Watch Bob's Video Tutorial Here...