How to Level Up Your SEO Strategy with Keyword Clusters

posted on January 28, 2022

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Did you know that you can get so much more out of your SEO strategy with simple tweaks, like paying more attention to the way you organize your keywords?

Since the BERT update, Google started getting gradually better at understanding natural language. In other words, it got better at understanding how humans speak.

This means that search engines can now understand synonyms better. And they understand what falls into a broader topic. This is where keyword clusters come into play.

What Are Keyword Clusters?

As the name suggests, keyword clusters are groups of keywords that speak to the same topic and, more importantly, to the same search intent.
For example, “rustic decorations†and “farmhouse decorations†or “rustic home décor ideas†are different keywords but someone looking to change the look of their home might search for any of these phrases.

Why Should You Bother with Keyword Clusters?

A good question! Should you add all the keywords in a cluster to a single piece of content or spread them out on several pages? Modern SEO says to go with the former.

Here’s why:

  • Keyword clusters help search engines make connections between your pages easier.
  • Looking at the example above: if your page only ranks for “rustic decorationsâ€Â, you will be missing out on a good share of searches.
  • Having one page rank for multiple terms in the same clusters consolidates your first spots and can bring you up to 10 times the amount of traffic a single keyword would.
  • Search engines (Google, most notably) reward holistic content, that’s in-depth and covers everything about a topic. I’m talking about the type of content that doesn’t prompt the reader to go back to search results looking to complete the information you offered. Keyword clustering helps your content go in-depth.
  • It’s easier to write: when you use similar terms, your content sounds more natural. It’s easier and more appealing to read.

Topic clusters are a good way to get the best of both worlds: you can have different blog posts for different topics. Then, you can group them on a single pillar page with a neat table of contents and create a mega-guide. Each sub-topic will link to the pillar page, so when one subtopic ranks well, it will lend its “SEO juices†to everyone in the cluster.

Let’s see keyword clusters in action.

How to Build Effective Keyword Clusters

Before you say clusters may limit the keyword opportunities out there, hear me out. You can build keyword clusters around almost any long-tail keyword you’ve identified.

So, to begin with, identify a profitable keyword that matches users’ search intent and your business goals. Let’s say I want to sell SEO courses and, to begin with, I need to establish my expertise and attract SEO newbies. I would begin with “what is SEO?†as my seed keyword.

The cluster may look like this: what is SEO? -> introduction to SEO -> the basics of SEO -> what is SEO and how does it work?

And so on. You got the point.

This is definitely not the only keyword cluster I can create for SEO beginners. Here’s another example: SEO tips and tricks -> SEO best practices -> on-page SEO tips -> off-page SEO tips.

How can you come up with the keywords in your cluster?

Start with a good old Google search. In the “related section†or “people also ask†boxes you’ll find suggestions you can add to your cluster. You can also use Google Ads for this or your favorite paid SEO research tool.

Once your tool of choice comes up with suggested keywords, find the ones that bear some similarities:

  • They have a similar search volume.
  • They have a similar ranking difficulty.
  • They can be grouped around the same search intent.

All these factors are equally important. If you miss the semantic relevance, your topic cluster will not make sense. If you optimize for keywords with widely different difficulty or search volume, you risk some of them not ranking at all.

For example, if I want to create a topic cluster for a company searching for social media marketing tools, I get these suggestions from Google and from my Keyword Surfer plugin:

See all those keywords with a volume of 3600? They can all go into this cluster. But I would definitely skip “social media management†or “best branding tools†– these are great starters for other topic clusters.

Wrapping Things Up

Google and other search engines have spent years (and billions of dollars) getting their solutions to “speak humanâ€Â. And they’re just getting started. This is what the future of SEO looks like – semantic relevance and search intent all wrapped into a nice blanket of high quality content.

Topic and keyword clusters are strategies that keep on giving because you can easily add to them. Spotted a new keyword that works for one of your best pillar pages? Create a blog post around it and add it to the page. It will rank much faster (and better!) than anything your competitors may write from scratch and betting only on that single keyword.

The post How to Level Up Your SEO Strategy with Keyword Clusters appeared first on SiteProNews.

SEO 101: Where Exactly Should You Place Your Keywords in Your Content?

posted on December 8, 2021

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Google handles an average of 6.9 billion searches per day. Every. Single. Day. Before the pandemic, the number was closer to 3 billion, but with most of us spending so much time indoors we’re pretty much googling everything now.

Do note that this is just one search engine. Granted, it’s the biggest one but it still doesn’t account for all the searches in the world.

When people spend more time online, SEO becomes more important…again. With a looming crisis on the horizon, you want every competitive advantage you can get while the getting’s good.

If you’re a regular on SiteProNews, you know I’ve written a lot about SEO intent and choosing the right keywords, so I won’t rehash this. Today, I’d like to talk about something seemingly basic because as it usually happens with basic things, it often gets overlooked.

So, you’ve found the right focus keyword. Now all you have to do is make it shine. Where do you place it for a maximum impact?

Here’s the roadmap my agency uses to get our clients’ content on the first page of Google:

1. The URL

Adding your focus keyword in the URL is probably the first item on the list of overlooked things. If you use WordPress, for instance, you’ll see that the editor automatically creates an URL for you.

Don’t assume that the machine is smarter than you. Double-check it and make sure it has the entire keyword in it, especially if you’re using a long-tail keyword (which I highly recommend).

Having your focus keyword in the URL tells both Google bots and human readers that they’ve landed in the right place for that topic. You’d be surprised at how many human readers analyze the URL before clicking on it.

2. The Title of the Article

Not everyone reads the URL. But everyone reads the title, so this is a key placement for your keyword. If possible, try to use an exact match of your keyword.

However, don’t sacrifice readability or a punchy, sexy title just to fit in an extra-long keyword. You’ll have plenty of other opportunities to use it.

3. The Meta Description

Ideally, start your meta description with your focus keyword. The more prominent its spot is, the more clear it makes the topic of your content. Again, this works wonders for both human readers and search engine bots.

This is what one of our high-ranking articles looks like in SERPs:

The keyword (in bold) is at the very beginning, promising users an in-depth look at exactly what they were looking for. This is one of the factors that attracted a lot of readers to our article and even a lot of new leads that easily converted into clients.

4. The First 100-200 Words of Text

Yes, we’re still in the realm of making things clear as soon as possible. Try adding your focus keyword in the very first paragraph or at least before you hit 200 words.

Not possible? Add a close variation of your keyword.

5. The Last 100-200 Words of Text

Finish strong. Add the keyword in your last paragraph, as close to the end as possible.

For extra points, add it to your final CTA too, but make sure it’s not part of the anchor of a link that leads to another page.

6. The Alt Tags of Images

The relevance of keywords in image alt tags has been quite a controversy in the SEO world. From my experience, it never hurts. At the very least, it will take your image higher in SERPs, if not the entire article.

Additionally, fill in all the fields in the image description. Don’t repeat the same keyword. Add variations of it instead or LSI keywords.

7. Headings and Subheadings

For legibility purposes, your content should always have subheadings, especially if it’s over 300 words long. And these subheadings should have the focus keyword in them.

If you use more than one type of subheading (H2, H3, H4) add your keyword in at least one of each. Again, don’t overdo it – the keyword shouldn’t be everywhere.

8. Throughout the Text

Sprinkle your entire text with your focus keyword. But (and this is very important!) don’t overdo it. Gone are the days when a 5% keyword density was acceptable. Stick to less than 2%, ideally less than 1%.

This is more than enough if you use it in all the other places mentioned above and if you also use variations of it and LSI keywords.

Final Thoughts

As always, my recommendation is to aim for balance and, most of all, readability. If you feel like your keyword doesn’t sound natural in any of these places, ditch it without remorse. Never sacrifice readability and a good flow for SEO purposes. Readers hate it and, ironically enough, so do search engines.

Need help with striking this balance AND ranking high in SERPs? My team of expert SEO writers and I are just a click away. Let’s talk!

The post SEO 101: Where Exactly Should You Place Your Keywords in Your Content? appeared first on SiteProNews.

5 Ways to Refresh Old Content

posted on October 25, 2021

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Sometimes, well-performing posts lose steam. This happens due to the content getting less relevant over time or the declining search volumes for your main keywords.

Other times, you post genuinely good content that doesn’t end up yielding the results you think it deserves. If an otherwise well-researched and well-articulated post isn’t getting enough traffic, then something must have gone wrong with your on-page optimizations and off-page promotions.

Here are a few tips on refreshing old content and boosting them on the SERPs:

1. Replace Old Keywords

You should always do a fresh run of keyword research. This is because keywords can lose popularity over time.

Keyword search volumes are dependent on how frequently users type them into the search bar. Therefore, if people start to change the specific terms they use for their searches, the keyword rankings will also change.

Once you have an updated keyword list, look for outdated keywords and replace them with new ones. This will recalibrate your blog post’s rankings once crawlers pick up on the changes you make.

2. Check for Outdated Posts

Information can get outdated. Depending on technological developments, changes in legislation, or significant socio-political events, the content you write today may not be beneficial in three months.

For content to be beneficial to readers, it needs to be relevant. So, for example, if you wrote a tutorial on troubleshooting a laptop, it shouldn’t feature information on how to do it on defunct operating systems. Likewise, if your post is all about business litigation, it should be updated on current laws and policies.

3. Add More Information

Check for possible thin content. There’s no definite word count that magically gets you a higher ranking in the SERPs, but your blogs need to be both informative and easy-to-understand. Anything that’s too short can be unhelpful, while anything that’s too long can be rambling and hard to digest.

Oftentimes, one-paragraph blog posts don’t offer much value. Likewise, people get disinterested if you keep rambling about one topic, go on unrelated tangents, and take too long to get to your point. Both can be unhelpful to readers.

For blogs that are too short, add FAQs, include examples, and flesh out the tips to be more thorough and easier to follow. For unnecessarily long posts, cut out any irrelevant details and ramblings.

4. Check for Readability

People can find a blog post in the SERPs, click to your blog, and leave seconds later. When users immediately leave, it’s either because they got what they need from those few seconds on your site, didn’t like your content, or found it hard to read.

Take a look at your blog post and see if it’s in any way hard to read or understand. If you don’t know what to look for, here are some helpful tips on readability:

  • Avoid custom and fancy fonts. They’re appealing as titles and headings, but it’s best to avoid using them in your entire blog post.
  • Look for unexplained niche terms and specialized language. Try to avoid the use of niche and complex terms that newbies may not be able to understand. If you have to use them, briefly explain them upon their first mention.
  • Break up long paragraphs. Walls of text are intimidating, crowded, and hard to skim through.
  • Use white spaces. Speaking of breaking up your paragraphs, make sure there’s enough space between them. White spaces make your pages look less cramped.
  • Use heading tags. Another way to break up walls of text is to separate the sections with headings. This makes it even easier for people to find the information they need.

5. Link Older Blogs to Newer Content

Sending more traffic to an old post can help pull it back up the rankings. If you see a post that’s a few years old, promote them on social media posts and newsletters.

You can also add citation links to the text of your newer blogs. However, these links should be organic, so don’t link them to irrelevant keywords and blog posts.

That said, make sure you check for the other items in this list before promoting or linking them. Update the content, change old keywords, add new information, and check for readability. Even if you actively promote an old post, people still won’t read it through if it isn’t valuable.

Bottom-line

You don’t have to delete old content when it’s performing poorly. Doing so might cause you to lose organic links and create error pages. Instead, you can reoptimize, update, and reformat old blogs to make them more appealing to users and search engines.

The post 5 Ways to Refresh Old Content appeared first on SiteProNews.

4 Obsolete SEO Practices You Should Ditch Right Now

posted on October 13, 2021

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How often are you adjusting your SEO strategy – monthly, yearly, never? It’s tempting to say “why fix it if it ain’t broken?”, but with SEO you should never wait until something truly breaks to switch things around. 

SEO evolves because user preferences evolve. However angry you may be at the latest Google algorithm change, keep this in mind: much like yourself, Google also wants to keep users engaged for as long as possible. They definitely have a bigger budget and a bigger database than you do to research and implement the changes users need. So, instead of hating the latest changes, I suggest you look at them as opportunities to keep your users engaged for longer – and buying more.

If you are unsure whether your SEO strategy is up to date, take a look at the things you shouldn’t be doing anymore:

1. Keyword Stuffing

Modern SEO has (thankfully!) moved away from keyword stuffed articles that are illegible by human readers. You can now write naturally, without fearing that you won’t rank high enough.

The advantage is clear: your content can now rank in search engines and convert users because it’s well-written! Check out this case study of how my agency has managed to meet both these goals for a client of ours through naturally-written, high-converting content.

2. Bad Keyword Matches

User intent should be at the very core of any marketing strategy you create and SEO is no exception. In the olden days, SEO specialists would try and optimize their content for generic keywords, like “best coffee”.

Today’s SEO writers (the good ones, at least) know that generic keywords are very hard to match with user intent. For instance, is someone who types “best coffee” into the search bar looking to buy it or are they just looking for information on what the world’s best coffee is?

Moreover, are they looking to buy ready-made coffee or do they want coffee beans for home use? Depending on what your business is, these distinctions are crucial.

A coffee shop would need to optimize for “best coffee in Tampa Bay center” or make sure their profile on Google Maps is up to date so they can pop up when someone looks for “best coffee near me”. A shop selling specialty coffee beans would need to optimize for “best coffee beans delivery Tampa Bay” or, better yet, target a more specialized audience with “best Colombian coffee beans price”. Finally, if you run a website for coffee aficionados and/or use affiliate links, then you can try and optimize for a high-volume, high-competition keyword like “best coffee”.

3. Content Spinning

10 years ago, article spinning was a lucrative industry, whether it involved software that would spin content automatically or humans who would do it manually. The principle was simple: find an article online that matches your goals and spin it so it’s not duplicate content. Then publish it on your website as if it were your own.

This came with several problems: the ethical one (of course!), the fact that automatic spinners simply replaced some words with their synonyms (and not always the best matches), which resulted in illegible content, and the fact that readers catch on when they see “reheated” content.

If you’re still doing that, it’s time you stopped. It’s not just ethically wrong and bad for your brand, but it’s also useless. Today, search engines look beyond individual words to find duplicate content, so you’ll be severely penalized.

4. Link Buying

Yes, links are the lifeblood of SEO. The more links from high authority domains that point to you, the higher your own authority will get and the higher you’ll rank in SERPs. This is why, until a few years ago, buying links was a common practice.

Web directories were major sellers. But search engines caught on to this and now consider these sellers spam domains. When you have a lot of those pointing to your domain, you will be considered a spammer, too.

In other words, buying links will do more harm than good. If you have spammy links pointing to your website (whether you bought them or they just appeared without your involvement), go to your Search Console account and disavow them immediately.

Ready to take your SEO game to where it should be – in 2021 and beyond? Talk to my team and I about SEO content that brings you results with no ethical compromises or obsolete practices.

The post 4 Obsolete SEO Practices You Should Ditch Right Now appeared first on SiteProNews.

How Amazon Backend Keywords Can Boost Product Discoverability

posted on September 26, 2021

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Amazon backend keywords form an important part of any seller’s keyword strategy. They are the keywords that only sellers are privy to which is why they are the hidden keywords. They are pivotal to boosting the discoverability level of a product. 

You can include any keyword that is relevant to the product and its features into your list of backend keywords. Variations in spellings, common spelling mistakes, synonyms, etc. all qualify to be backend keywords.

Optimizing your product listings on Amazon with backend keywords will contribute towards better ranking with the A9 algorithm.

Here are some ways in which backend keyword optimization can boost product discoverability on Amazon.

Reduce redundancy

Your product description copy has to be clear and concise for customers to read. So you must include all the relevant information and keywords without making it seem too text-heavy. But the problem is that there’s always so much more that you will want to include. For this purpose, you are provided with a field to enter backend search terms, and it allows for up to 250 bytes. 

This ensures that your product still ranks for those important keywords without the risk of redundancy and overcrowding of words in your descriptions. This ultimately works towards making your product more easily discoverable. 

Backend search terms – Rules and regulations 

Amazon is very strict about the policies and regulations it has in place for sellers. There are rules for backend search terms as well. They include not using names of brands, ASINs, and expletives or other search terms that Amazon considers prohibited. It is also important that all the terms are relevant to your product because if they’re not, you’ll find it hard to rank your products. 

You have to keep these in mind and abide by them while optimizing your listings with backend keywords. This is because the end result will be an increase in sales and improved rankings on the Amazon SERP.

Competition 

Competition on the Amazon Marketplace is high and this hinders the generation of profits as well as making it difficult to distinguish your brand and products from other competitors. For this purpose, you need to take advantage of every opportunity that you can to make yourself stand out. Now you must be wondering – what other avenues are left to explore? Wouldn’t other sellers have utilized everything to the fullest? 

An interesting fact is that a lot of sellers tend to overlook or undermine the importance of backend keywords. You can be resourceful and take advantage of this fact by first gaining a good understanding of the Amazon A9 algorithm. You can then optimize your listings effectively with backend keywords. This will make your products more easily discoverable over your competitors who are all selling the same product. 

Constant monitoring 

It’s important to know that you need to keep checking and monitoring all aspects of your Amazon selling operations. Whether it is advertising, inventory management, listing optimization, or your keyword strategy, successful selling on Amazon entails consistent monitoring. Sellers can make use of expert tools like SellerApp that help manage all these functions. If you want to optimize your backend keywords regularly, you need SellerApp’s Index Checker to identify if your backend search terms are indexed or not. 

You might come across new keywords now and then and you can’t fit everything in your main descriptions. So you can include all of these in your backend search terms. This process ensures that your product listing has the full potential to boost your ranking which in turn means higher levels of discoverability. It also means that more traffic will be driven to your product listings.

Amazon reports 

Amazon provides Search Term Reports to sellers. These provide valuable insights for sellers into the exact keywords that shoppers use that direct them to your product listings. It helps in identifying how they’re searching and the keywords that they use most frequently that lead them to discover your products. 

With these reports, you will be able to find other high-performing keywords you can include in the backend keywords. This will make your products an exact match for those keywords and you can utilize them to boost your discoverability to remarkable new levels.

Conclusion

As explained above, backend keyword optimization is very important to winning top-ranking positions for all of your listings. It is the most sure-shot way of ensuring that you have a good level of discoverability for all your products. Keep in mind that you first need to ensure that all of the primary keywords used in titles and product descriptions are indexed. All of this ultimately leads to increased profits and sales while also outpacing your competition. Thus, the importance of backend keywords is very evident so ensure that you engage in them effectively.

The post How Amazon Backend Keywords Can Boost Product Discoverability appeared first on SiteProNews.

The 35 Top Free SEO Tools Available Anywhere

posted on September 18, 2021

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SEO tools are a valuable asset to any marketing campaign. They provide insight into what people are searching for and offer information on the best keywords to optimize your website. You must invest in the best SEO tools because they can help boost your company’s search engine ranking, which will lead to more traffic and higher conversions. 

The Best Free Analytics Tools

1. Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a powerful tool that provides an in-depth analysis of your website’s traffic and helps inform what needs to be changed. It contains valuable information like geographical location, demographic data, page views, and conversion rates, allowing marketers to provide their target audience with the best browsing experience possible.

2. Google Trends

Google Trends offers the best SEO tools that allow you to analyze search trends over time. This can provide marketers with insight into what people are searching for when it comes to certain topics and keywords, thus optimizing your website accordingly. You can also filter results by location, category, or time frame, which will help narrow your data.

3. Google Keyword Planner

The Google Keyword Planner is a powerful tool that provides users with information on the most relevant keywords related to their industry. 

It also offers projected traffic volume, competition levels, and suggested bids from competing advertisers, which can be used to determine the profitability of certain keywords. This will help you pinpoint keywords that are most likely to be profitable and help you successfully optimize your website for the best possible results.

4. Google Consumer Surveys

Google Consumer Surveys is a free tool from Google that allows marketers to gain insight into their target audience by asking them questions on the Internet. Questions can include any kind of variable, such as age, gender, geographic location, etc. This is an invaluable resource because it offers marketers a chance to gain insight into their target audience and have them provide feedback on the current marketing campaign to ensure that it’s meeting the needs of your audience.

5. Google Search Console

The Google Search Console, formerly known as Google Webmaster Tools, is a powerful tool that provides users with insight into how their website is being indexed in search engines. It offers information on backlinks, keywords found on your website, crawl errors, and top pages, which are great for optimizing your site’s SEO. You can even submit sitemaps to improve the crawling process and monitor your site’s performance.

6. Bing Webmaster Tools

Bing Webmaster Tools is similar to Google Search Console. However, it was originally intended for a different search engine. It still provides useful information such as backlinks, cached pages, crawl errors, and keywords which are valuable resources when optimizing your site for the best results.

7. Panguin Tool

The Panguin Tool is a free SEO tool that allows marketers to see exactly how the algorithm of Google has changed over time. It also offers keywords, backlinks, and indexed pages, which are important factors when optimizing your website for the best results.

8. MozCast

MozCast is a free SEO tool that provides users with information on the current weather of the Google algorithm. It offers insight into what fluctuations are affecting your website and helps you adjust accordingly to optimize for the most relevant results.

9. SEMrush

SEMrush is an industry leader in providing insightful data on competitors. It contains very valuable information such as estimated traffic, keywords, and backlinks which are all important factors for optimizing your website.

10. Woorank

Woorank is a free tool that provides users with an in-depth analysis of their website’s SEO performance based on several factors, such as keyword optimization and usability. This is a very valuable resource because it helps marketers increase the overall performance of their websites.

The Best Free Keyword Research Tools

If you’re going to do any kind of Search Engine Optimization, you must know the ins & outs of doing keyword research. Keywords are at the heart of SEO and one of the most popular activities in modern search marketing. So if you want a solid foundation for your SEO work, here are the names of the ten best free keyword research tools. 

  1. Google Adwords Keyword Tool
  2. Keyword Eye
  3. KWFinder 
  4. Answer The Public
  5. Word tracker 
  6. Keyword Spy 
  7. Ubersuggest 
  8. Traffic Travis 
  9. SE Ranking 
  10. Keyword Surfer

The Best Free Link Tools

For every site owner out there, you know how important SEO is. You can’t put a price on good link building, and even though there are paid tools that will do it for you, the free ones are just as useful (if not more) than the paid tools. 

  1. Open Site Explorer 
  2. Majestic SEO 
  3. ahrefs 
  4. linkody 
  5. OpenLinkProfiler 
  6. Backlink Watch 
  7. Link Research Tools 

The Best Free Crawling and Indexing Tools

The Internet changes faster than anyone can keep up. Sites go offline every day for all sorts of reasons – they’re hacked, the owner goes out of business or moves to a new host, and sometimes it’s just a mistake. Whatever the reason is, these sites leave behind a broken link on listings that were once good site directories and search engines.

Thankfully, some tools out there will crawl the web for you and notify you when it finds a new broken link on one of your favorite directories or search engines. So, when you’re ready to check for broken links on some of your favorite sites, here are ten free tools that will do the job quickly and easily.

1. Broken Link Checker

This application will crawl three pages on a site of your choice and notify you if any links are broken.

2. Site Mapper

This tool crawls up to 10 sites at a time for free, which is great if you’re going link by link to check for dead sites on any directories you’ve submitted to.

3. Screaming Frog SEO Spider

This crawler is a little more advanced, but the free version can go through up to 500 URLs at a time.

4. Xenu’s Link Sleuth

Another one that’s somewhat old but still works well, this tool crawls a site of your choice and reports all broken links it finds. It also lets you download a list of these sites in plain text format!

5. SEOlyzer

This crawler will look through up to 200 pages of a site of your choice and gives you the option to download the report afterward. 

6. Beam Us Up

This application crawls up to 5 sites a day for free, which should be more than enough if you’re just checking some of your favorite directories.

7. Link Redirect Trace

Another new one we just added to the list. This tool crawls up to 5 pages for free and shows you any redirects it follows. It works exactly like Xenu’s Link Sleuth in that way but can be used to find 301 and 302 redirects.

8. Redirect Path

This is another new one we just added to the list, but this one goes beyond simply crawling a site and finding redirects. Redirect Path opens each page as it crawls them so you can see exactly where it’s going without having to follow each link yourself. It also provides some other nice reports that will help you fix any broken links you find.

The tools you use depend on what you want to check, sites or pages, and how often. As we said, though, all of these tools are great in their way and will make it easy for you to keep up with any changes as they happen.

The post The 35 Top Free SEO Tools Available Anywhere appeared first on SiteProNews.

4 Signs Your Website Copy Needs Updating

posted on September 6, 2021

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A lot of effort and research goes into making website copy.

So it comes as no surprise that so many amateur bloggers don’t give their website copy a do-over when needed. Even if you are writing evergreen content with concepts that don’t change in response to the passage of time, it’s still important to update certain sections with new information.

It’s not simply enough to provide users with a visually good-looking interface and then call it a day. That’s just the hook that buys you a few more seconds with your prospects. The website copy gives them further reasons to not only extend their stay but also follow through with a desirable action (whether it’s signing up for your newsletter or buying a service. 

Without a good copy, you’ll have a hard time trying to convince readers to part with their money. 

So what are the hallmarks of good website copy?

Below is a rough overview that gives you a good idea:

  • It should resonate with the reader’s pain points
  • It should provide in-depth information that keeps up with the times
  • It should provide actionable advice on how to solve a problem
  • It shouldn’t be too sales-y 
  • It shouldn’t be too flashy

The last point needs a bit of clarification. Far too many website creators believe that setting up a flashy website with an eye-catching design is all that it takes to convince readers to stay. That’s just one part of the equation. You must also complement the visuals with accompanying text proving that you’re an authority on the subject.

Speaking of flashy design, if your website is too visually complicated, you run the risk of scaring off visitors (that is, even if your page loads in the first place). 

In this blog, you’ll learn about 4 signs that it’s time to re-evaluate your website copy and give it a spruce up – if need be.

New Trends in Keywords Have Emerged

It is absolutely important for any SEO professional to keep monitoring keyword trends and updating their content accordingly.

This is definitely true in the case of webmasters who haven’t updated their copy in several years. There is a good chance that your niche has evolved to include new keywords that originally didn’t have any interest.

Here’s an example.

The keywords “cherry brown” and “mechanical keyword” were useful back in 2010 for keyword vendors. In 2021, new technology has emerged, and with it new keywords. So if you created a blog that includes keywords covering only Cherry MX switches, it’s probably time to include information about Kalih switches. 

Customers Have Moved On

A savvy marketer knows that their prospective clients are always evolving in terms of the problems they encounter and the solutions they require.

This is why a good website copy should understand the problem, resonate with the reader, and then proceed with a solution. 

Your goal in content isn’t restricted to selling stuff – it’s to demonstrate empathy. To be relatable. 

Suppose you provide data protection services.

Making blanket statements such as, “data protection is complicated” won’t do anything to empathize with the problems your clients are currently facing.

You’ll have to properly address their pain points and understand the issues that they are facing.

In the data protection example, the problems businesses are facing today are a lot different than they looked a few years ago. 

For example, the recent pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns required businesses to transition to the cloud.

In a matter of days, the pain point of most businesses changed to protecting their employees from data breaches.

IT vendors who were savvy sniffed the change in the air and updated their web copy to reflect the new dangers of a data breach now that most people were working from home. 

This is just one example. There are countless others depending on the type of niche you operate in.

Your Competitors Are Getting More Traffic

This one requires quite a bit of introspection – and that may be a bitter pill to swallow. But it’s important to take a step back and go over your web copy to see if it’s lacking somewhere.

It’s a good practice to compare your web copy with that of your competitors.

Evaluate the other copy for the following markers:

  • Does it cover more pain points?
  • Does the author appear more empathetic to your prospects’ needs?
  • Is their brand more credible and trustworthy?
  • Do their products or services cover more ground than yours?
  • Does it read better than yours?

This requires honesty. 

The primary goal of your website copy is to empathize with the reader, present the solution, and give reasons as to why your company is the best provider of that solution. 

If your competitor is doing better than you, chances are, they’ve got better website copy. 

The Original Copy Was Written Without Research

Let’s face it. Not every marketer has all day to devote to writing.

Most entrepreneurs need to get something out and they don’t have the luxury of time. So they prepare something in a matter of hours. The final work looks rushed, plain, and very simple. 

Content marketing in 2021 requires you to play dress-up with your blogs. This requires constant back and forth – and that can take several days. 

Now we’re not asking you to write a Pulitzer award-winning copy – but something that looks like it was written by a professional.

An experienced copywriter will likely spend several hours (and maybe even days) coming up with the required research and text variations to truly wordsmith your content. They probably did several rounds of revisions before proposing the final copy to their client for review.

This kind of research, detail, and wordsmithing requires time and effort. To buy that, you’ll have to cough up more than $10 per page. 

Find a bigger budget than last time – invest in a content writing service that can provide you with a succinct copy and reap the rewards.

The post 4 Signs Your Website Copy Needs Updating appeared first on SiteProNews.

SEO Essentials for Every Long-Form Blog Post

posted on September 2, 2021

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When you read a long-form blog post, you are usually in awe of the knowledge the writer has. Long-form content is not only liked by readers but Google as well. What comes to your mind when we say long-form? It’s not 1500-2000 words. Long-form content can range anything from 3000-6000 words. Yeah, it’s a lot of research and a lot of writing!

To begin with, make sure if you personally write your blogs that it’s not only figures and numbers, there should be solid theory to explain the matter at hand. Secondly, if you’re not a writer, but own a blog then make sure that you give your writer enough information to make the content long enough with substantial knowledge. This will make your readers know that you are an expert in the field. 

Search engine optimization includes a lot of things like keywords, on-site optimization, site speed, mobile-friendliness, crawlability, etc. Amongst these there are a few, that can help you with a better SEO reach for your long-form content.  

Researching the Right Keywords

Well, we all know this is very basic when it comes to SEO. KEYWORDS. Now not only do we have to research the correct keywords, but we also have to make sure that these keywords are not very competitive. 

Before you start writing it is important to be prepared with your list of keywords. Now your question is where can you find this list of keywords?

There are tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs, which help you find keywords. They will be available in all types, from competitive to lower competitive ones. 

Now while we are on the topic of keywords, you can also use related keywords. You know words that are synonyms of your targeted keywords. 

Many search engines use synonyms to comprehend the text at hand. For example, 

when you Google something, and at the end of the page, it shows related searches, well those searches are your keywords. So when you search for a pastry chef, the related keywords are displayed below. These can be used as a reference for your keyword search.

Long-tailed keywords

Many of us forget that long-tailed keywords are how people actually make searches on any search engine. Not only that long-tailed keywords are very important for voice searches. Not only are long-tailed keywords easier to rank, but they also drive a highly specific audience to your website. There are various tools available to find long-tailed keywords. 

https://keywordtool.io/long-tail-keywords

https://papayasearch.com/ppc-keyword-generator/

https://www.wordstream.com/keyword-generator

All you have to do is put in your targeted keyword in the search and they formulate long-tailed keywords for you.

Use the correct H1 tag

By definition, an H1 tag is, “The <H1> HTML tag is the first header tag visible on a page. It is used for the title of a page or post. When viewed in HTML code, the H1 value is enclosed in <h1></h1> tags.â€Â

If you ever write your content in a Google Doc, you will understand easily what an H1 tag is. The sidebar in which the document shows you your various titles and subtitles, well, your title is basically your H1 tag and is used highly in search engines. 

A well-optimized H1 tag will enable the search engines to better index your content. 

Preferably, your H1 tags should:

  • Should be short and to the point.
  • They should provide a clear idea of what the blog post is about.
  • Have a long tail keyword (your target keyword).

Once your headings have these qualities, you’re good to go.

Backlinks are your best friends

Backlinks are links you get from other websites when they link to you or your product. Backlinks are a major part of SEO and so crucial that without any backlinks it’s impossible to rank higher on any search engine. You know how in the real world your goodwill is based on how people talk about you or your business to other people? Well, in the internet world, the goodwill of your website is based on how many people refer to your work and link it to their own work. Building backlinks is a process. You have to begin with generating content that is high quality that people will want to refer to. Once that is done, you can slowly develop backlinks from quality websites in your niche. 

Use shorter URLs

It has been stated that shorter URLs are easier to read by search engines. It lets the search engine know what you are talking about in your post. Also, don’t forget to include your keyword in the URL for a better ranking. 

Link your article

We have already spoken about getting backlinks from other websites, but what about links you incorporate into your blog? 

Well, there are two types of links you can add to your blog, internal and external. 

As their names state, internal linking is when you have in detail written about a certain topic and that topic is included in your new blog. Make sure to link it. 

Secondly, it is important to link to sites that you gather information from or any kind of data, or even if you are just mentioning them. For example, if you have data like how many millionaires are in the world. So, if you pick up this information from Wikipedia, make sure to attach a link to that information. 

SEO friendly Meta description

Meta descriptions are the two lines that appear on a search engine below the H1 tag. 

It’s a 160 character snippet that summarizes your whole page. An optimized meta description should:

  • Have a focused keyword
  • Brief wording 
  • Be clear and descriptive
  • Be captivating to make the reader click on the page

Images

Just like children, even adults enjoy a few multimedia when they are reading. Try to include images, charts, screenshots, etc., to round out your article. This not only reduces bounce rate but also increases time on site. 

Long-form content can look scary in the beginning but with the correct information and properly optimized SEO, it should be a cakewalk. Make sure that people recognize your expertise in your chosen field.

The post SEO Essentials for Every Long-Form Blog Post appeared first on SiteProNews.

What is Semantic Search and Why Does it Matter for Your SEO Strategy?

posted on August 20, 2021

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Remember the not-so-good old days when SEO was all about stuffing keywords into your articles until they became illegible by human readers? SEO has come a long way since then and we have semantic search to thank for this progress.

What Is Semantic Search?

Semantic search refers to search engines’ ability to take the intent and the contextual meaning of search phrases into account when delivering results. In other words, it’s an attempt by machines to understand human language and all its nuances.

Back in the day, search engines only looked at phrases as a collection of words, never looking at the meaning or the possible intention of the user. Today, as we understand that different people speak and write in different ways, search engines try to incorporate their newly-acquired understanding of human speak into the results of all queries.

Some of the factors that semantic search takes into account are:

  • User’s search history
  • User’s location
  • Spelling variations of a phrase

Let’s say two different users search for “chocolate cake”. Based on their history, the search engine will know that one of them is an amateur baker, so it will offer chocolate cake recipes. The other user is a traveler and a foodie, so the search engine will offer lists of the best places nearby to buy a chocolate cake.

If both users are amateur bakers, the search engine will take into account their location to offer recipe results that use either ounces (if the user is US-based) or grams (if the user is based in Australia). Similarly, each user will receive recipes from websites in their own country because, most likely, it will be easier for them to find the ingredients this way.

Semantic search isn’t brand new. It started to take form back in 2013, with Google’s Hummingbird update, the first time NLP was used to help the algorithm understand phrases in their entirety instead of offering results based on the meaning of each individual word. The RankBrain update in 2015 took the understanding of user intent to the next level by using machine learning and a query analysis AI.

How Should Semantic Search Change Your SEO Strategy?

Why should you care about all this? Well, because users care. Here’s how to leverage it:

Focus on Topics Instead of Keywords

Forget about creating content based on the keywords with the highest search volume. In fact, forget about basing your content on keywords altogether.

Instead, focus on topics that are relevant to your audience and build in-depth, authoritative content on those.

This doesn’t mean that you should stop doing keyword research. Keywords are still relevant, but they should be secondary to the topic, not front and center. Their primary purpose is to act as beacons that direct traffic to the relevant pages on your website based on what the user is looking for (more on that below).

Take Voice Search into Account

Almost 40% of internet users in the US rely on voice search. Even those who type in their searches are prone to use longer phrases and full sentences.

As a content creator, your first task is to answer questions simply and effectively. See the first headline of this article – What is semantic search? The question is followed by a quick definition that’s written in the right format: semantic search refers to… This is something that a voice assistant can easily read back to the user. It’s also something that a user who typed in their search expects to find. A quick answer that’s clearly formulated as an answer – otherwise, they will search elsewhere.

Aside from definitions, you can also offer clear lists of tips, items, movies, and so on – something that can be read at a glance. Plan to detail every item on that list? Go for it, but add a separate basic list in the beginning of the article, so it can be indexed easily.

Always Write with User Intent in Mind

Told you we’d be back to keywords! This is where your keyword analysis gets to shine. Use keyword analysis tools to group keywords by search intent and write separate pieces of content for each type of intent.

If you sell snorkeling gear, for instance, you will have to accommodate beginners, experts, and people who are only thinking about trying snorkeling. 

  • “What equipment do I need for snorkeling” is a keyword that you can target the last category with.
  • “Basic snorkeling gear” matches the search intent of a beginner.
  • “Floating valve snorkel” is definitely something an experienced snorkeler would search for.

Feel like the keywords are too long? You shouldn’t! Search intent is best reflected by long-tail keywords. And remember what we said above about people using voice search or typing queries that sound like a conversation? Long-tail keywords are the new normal.

Wrapping Things Up

Semantic search helps users find what they need faster and easier. For content creators, it’s a breath of fresh air – it helps us finally write the way we speak, without forcing a keyword into a phrase it should never be in.

If there’s only one thing you remember from this article, make it this: write the way you’d speak to a friend and you’ll win the hearts of your readers and even the cold hearts of the algorithms.

Need help with winning those hearts over? My team of expert content writers and I can help you rank in SERPs and get excellent ROI from your content. Check out the stories of the companies we’ve already helped meet their goals and let’s talk!

The post What is Semantic Search and Why Does it Matter for Your SEO Strategy? appeared first on SiteProNews.

7 SEO Trends and Changes that will Impact Businesses in 2021

posted on June 29, 2021

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Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a digital marketing strategy that works to improve the quality and quantity of traffic that a website receives by organically boosting the website’s presence on search engines. For example, when users search for a particular item, they usually visit the first few websites on the Search Engine Result Page, which indicates that the search engine ranks the websites high enough to put them on the first page of results. 

Search Engine Optimization is a way to improve a website’s visibility and promote it to higher ranks on the first page of results to attract more customers. 

To ensure that your website keeps appearing in the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) higher ranks, SEO strategies need to be renewed time and again to correspond to Google’s evolving algorithm. 

Here are 7 SEO Trends and Changes that, if used effectively, will impact businesses in 2021

Mobile SEO 

Search engines have seen a mass shift of usage from desktops to mobile phones. Google estimates that about 73% of internet users are visiting websites from the convenience of their mobile phone. Mobile phone SEO has gained stark importance and is now more impactful than ever with Google’s mobile-first indexing, where Google looks primarily at the mobile versions of websites since this has displaced desktop versions of websites to become the primary version. Thus, focusing on Mobile SEO is important, and it is only gaining more momentum day by day. 

Voice Search 

The advent of voice search has transformed how users communicate with search engines. A hands-free, automated voice approach is on the upsurge. Based on recent trends about 55% of the global populace uses voice search to engage with their device; and voice search is only going to gain more popularity with emerging estimates stating that it will become a common sight to see a smart speaker in most households by 2022. To remain on top, businesses must figure out how to make their keywords similar to those used by people in everyday conversation to maximise results.

Keyword Research

Advancements have reached such a stage that people do not even have to type out a full word to get a series of search prompts before them. These instances where the engine attempts to decipher what the user is typing and provide probable search options are called Zero-click Searches. Businesses must devote more efforts to researching keywords that people might commonly use and what the algorithm may commonly interpret to maximise their position on the Search Engine Results Page and benefit from Zero-click Searches. 

Artificial Intelligence 

It is no surprise that Artificial Intelligence finds a mention on this list. AI is set to dominate SEO trends as it keeps changing the way we interact with our smartphones and search engines. AI helps promote and rank your website on the SERP, which obviously, gets more visitors to your website. Businesses should incorporate an understanding of AI and machine learning to help their SEO needs. Besides this, there are traditional ways of catching the attention of the search engine AI such as creating more engaging content, which allows users to spend more time on your page, and this time spent is noted by the AI, which uses it as a factor to boost your website. 

Featured Snippets

Featured Snippets are brief write up that provides you with the key to gaining prominence on the SERP. Featured Snippets appear at the top of the results in a rectangular box that provides brief but engaging content to attract the user. Maximising results from Featured Snippets should also focus on businesses as they help gain a significant amount of traffic through one quick peruse of the information in a well-structured form. 

Video Content

YouTube’s added boost to SEO is set to come to the forefront in 2021 as more users every day are engaging with the video-sharing platform. A business’ SEO strategy could receive an added impetus with video content. A business can optimize video SEO by using the channel name and description to favour and embed keywords within the video content to get a better ranking on the SERP. Moreover, even YouTube assists with providing the right keywords whenever you type something in the description box. The suggestions that are prompted to the user are nothing but keywords that others have been looking for on the video-sharing platform. 

Core Web Vitals 

Google announced that in 2021, Core Web Vitals would play an important part as a ranking factor. Businesses looking to maximise SEO should focus on key aspects of their websites as well. This means that SEO will focus on the experience the user has on the page of a business. The Core Web Vitals that most users seem to be on the hunt for are – Mobile Friendliness, Safe Browsing, HTTPS Security, and Intrusive Interstitial Guidelines. Businesses will now have to make efforts on their website to meet user requirements. Websites should give the user a good experience, quick response and loading time and should be easy to navigate on a mobile device. By focussing on these aspects of the user’s experience, a website can stand a chance to achieve higher ranks on the SERP. 

Conclusion

The above comprise the trends that businesses should follow to garner more customer attention for their websites and maximise their SEO. 

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Alysa Maleske is an online marketing strategist and freelance copywriter. A true tech evangelist, Alysa worked at a website development company where she assisted others in realising their full potential and developed her writing talents in the same industry. She offers customers SEO consultation and SEO coaching.

The post 7 SEO Trends and Changes that will Impact Businesses in 2021 appeared first on SiteProNews.

Local SEO Strategies to Boost Your Business

posted on June 28, 2021

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Local SEO refers to the practice of optimizing a website for it to organically rank in local search results. Most businesses focus on this branch of SEO to promote their products and services to customers and attract virtual and foot traffic to their local stores. This method is advisable if your business has a physical store in certain locations and you are not interested in catching the attention of a global audience.

How Does Local SEO Differ From Organic SEO?

Both SEO and Local SEO aims to increase the quality and quantity of organic traffic that your website receives. However, local SEO is only a subsection of SEO. 

Local SEO mainly focuses on the geographical components of search and provides results that can be found on maps and business directories, such as Google Maps, Facebook, and Yelp. Businesses that want to focus on this subsection of SEO should turn their attention to citations, reviews, links, and keywords.

Why is Local SEO Important?

This subsection of SEO prioritizes optimization for location-specific search queries. By doing this, you will be able to take advantage of the opportunities presented whenever a person in your area searches for a term related to your business.

For example, you run a restaurant in New York. When a user enters the term “restaurants in New York†on a search engine, you will have more chances of getting the top position on the SERP because your website is optimized for local searches. This will allow you to acquire a large part of the local market and beat your competitors that do not practice local SEO.

How to Use Local SEO to Boost Your Business

You can follow various strategies to ensure that your website performs outstandingly on local searches. Here are some things you can do:

Set Up and Optimize Your Google My Business Account

Google My Business is an online tool that you can use to manage your online presence across Google, such as Search and Maps. Through GMB, your customers can find you easily, learn about your story, and view your business details.

Google has provided a set of instructions to allow you to claim or add your business on GMB. Aside from these guidelines, you should also remember to use the best possible category for your GMB listing to make sure that it applies to your business. You should also include your main keywords and area of operation in your business description. Lastly, ensure that the name, address, and contact details you input in your GMB listing matches the information available on your website and other local citations.

Encourage Your Customers to Leave Reviews

Collecting reviews from customers who have patronized your business can help boost your visibility and improve your reputation. One of the best benefits you can enjoy if your customers regularly leave reviews on your listing is an optimized GMB presence. Having this allows you to increase the chances of your GMB listing appearing in SERPs.

Additionally, the more that people see positive reviews on your listings, the more they are likely to patronize your business as well. If they see that other people had a good experience after buying a product or service from your store, they will be more enticed to try it out themselves.

This is why you should always encourage your customers to leave a review on your online listing after buying your product or paying for your service. You can ask them to provide an authentic review on various platforms like Yelp and GMB by doing the following:

  • Ask your customer for a review in person after a sale.
  • Send them a post-purchase email or text and ask them for a review. Make sure to approach them only after an initial survey to ensure you are not asking a dissatisfied customer.

Recalibrate Your Keywords

Since your focus is on attracting local customers, you should recalibrate your keywords to reflect the terms they are searching for on the internet. To do this, you need to conduct a local keyword search using online tools or with the help of an SEO agency. 

You should then choose relevant keywords that you think can help boost your local online presence. After doing so, take your new keywords and integrate them into your site’s metadata, body text, and URL.

Create Locally Relevant Content

Another strategy that can help boost your local SEO is to create content that your local customers can relate to. You can accomplish this by mentioning area-specific landmarks and hotspots on your blog articles and social media posts. Including relevant information based on local news and events in your content will also be helpful.

Additionally, you should edit the content on your About Us page. It is best if your content revolves around location-specific information regarding your business. 

Optimize for Voice Search

Lastly, you can optimize your website for voice search to boost your local SEO. Since voice search is a fairly new technology for most businesses, there are not a lot of players in this arena. This means that by optimizing for voice search, you can get one step ahead of your competitors.

You can optimize your website for voice search by starting with your content. When individuals use this technology, they are more likely to search using whole sentences instead of the phrases they use when typing on a search engine. For example, a person who uses voice search will say “Where is the nearest coffee shop?†instead of “coffee shops near me.â€Â

Because of this, you should use more natural language in your content to cater to the spoken search queries. You should also include more long-tail keywords and traditional question startersâ€â€such as who, what, when, where, why, and howâ€â€to optimize for voice search.

Following these local SEO strategies will help you grab as much share of the local market as possible. Achieving this can help you attract more customers and earn more revenue, ultimately making your business more successful.

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Marc Bartolome is a strategist and enabler of hundreds of successful digital marketing campaigns at SEOServices.au. Always looking out for the little guys, he specialises in helping SMEs create a bigger impact online - which is why he writes blog posts like this.

The post Local SEO Strategies to Boost Your Business appeared first on SiteProNews.

Why SEO Matters for eCommerce Websites

posted on June 25, 2021

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Any small business that doesn’t have a website is at a significant disadvantage. However, even if you do have a website, if you haven’t optimised it for SEO, it will not attract potential customers and clients – unless you develop SEO eCommerce strategies and implement them effectively.

The best way to do this is to hire a team of professionals in the field of eCommerce SEO. However, before you do that, it’s important to understand what SEO is and how it helps your business.

Well-developed SEO strategies for eCommerce sites drive organic traffic to your website. This is a huge benefit as it makes your products and other offers known by your target customers. A great SEO strategy for eCommerce websites will:

  • Bring you closer to your customers and prospective clients 
  • Help you learn about their wants and needs

As a result, you possess vital information which you can use to improve your products and/or services.

This article will help you learn about SEO for an eCommerce website and how it can improve your online business.

What Is SEO, and Why Should You Care?

SEO doesn’t just improve the performance of your website. It also increases your rankings in the organic search of search engines like Google. 

In fact, although there are several search engines available, such as Bing, Yahoo, etc., Google is by far the most influential one. This means that you should adapt your best SEO tools for eCommerce according to its requirements.

SEO activities for an eCommerce website start by filling it with high-quality content. It also should provide an excellent user experience for customers. The more time users spend on your website, the more likely it is for your website to increase its trust, traffic, and credibility.

It is best to avail of eCommerce SEO services from reputable providers. The following are some of the most common SEO tips for eCommerce sites that you need to take into account when optimising your site:

  • Optimise your on-page elements
  • Optimise the content to suit your readers
  • Learn about machine learning signals
  • Learn how to get quality backlink profiles

Keyword Research for eCommerce Sites

To build the right eCommerce SEO strategy, you need to understand keyword research. Keyword research is a method of figuring out which keywords your customers use in searching for the products and/or services you have for sale. A good keyword research tool will help you to optimise your content.

Specifically, Google keyword research is crucial for the success of an eCommerce business. It will help you to write attractive product descriptions and optimise each product page for SEO.

There are two types of eCommerce SEO keywords:

  1. Informational keywords – These keywords will often begin with a modifier such as “how-to†and “what is.†These are phrases that people most often search for when they are looking for more information. They also use these modifiers when they want to make an online purchase.
  2. Transactional keywords – These keywords are direct searches for something that the customer is looking for. For example, “red summer t-shirtâ€Â. When they land on a page for this keyword, they expect to find information about the product. A “Buy Now†button should be available on the page so they can immediately make a purchase.

Although some eCommerce business owners try to do all this on their own, it is a complex process. Everything has to be properly optimised. That’s why you need a team of SEO professionals who will prepare the right strategy for your eCommerce website.

On-Page SEO Strategy for eCommerce Sites

You might ask, what is on-page SEO? On-page SEO, or on-site SEO, helps in the optimisation of your web content for both users and the search engine. This includes your meta title, description, tags, internal links, and page URLs.

In this section, we will give you a breakdown of how to improve and optimise the on-page SEO of your eCommerce website.

1. Keyword Research and Optimization

This involves on-page SEO techniques that help you rank higher for targeted keywords your customers are searching for. These keywords are placed in different locations; some of which are found in the:

  • Titles
  • Meta descriptions
  • Headings
  • Paragraphs
  • Image alt descriptions

2. Excellent Product Pages

Each product page must be optimised for the product that it serves for. It needs to have a clean and simple display, from showing images of the product to its product description. This way, customers can easily and quickly decide on their purchase decisions.

3. Logical Category Pages

Categories help you to improve on-page SEO by making the entire structure of the website connected. Each eCommerce website will have many categories to work with, and they need to all be connected so that visitors can easily browse through them.

4. A Regular Blog

Blog posts are another way to improve on-page SEO. A well-structured blog post provides your website visitors with valuable information about your offers. It is also a great way to lead your website visitors towards your top-selling products.

5. Visible Reviews

Reviews left by other customers help to increase the credibility of your business. If other people have found your products and services valuable, it will encourage new customers to purchase from you.

Local SEO for eCommerce Retailers

What is local SEO? Local business SEO is different from general SEO. This is the practice of optimising your business for a specific geographic location. The goal is to attract customers from this location to quickly find your products without having to travel too far. It also allows you to bring customers to your offline location if you have one.

In simpler terms, it’s one of the best ways to attract customers to your business or your sales locations.

When you start working on local SEO for eCommerce, Google will notice. There are many different signals that will trigger Google’s algorithm to:

  • Place your business in a specific location
  • Rank it according to how well-optimized your website is

The easiest way to get started is to have an official address in the location that you want to rank for. This helps to verify your business and assures Google that everything is legit.

You should also create specific landing pages for your local SEO efforts because they will be easier to rank for specific keywords. For example, if you want to rank for “summer t-shirts, NYC,†the best way to get started is to create a specific page for this keyword. 

However, like general SEO, local SEO efforts are also complex and need to be monitored at all times. No matter what niche you are working in, there will be a lot of competition to beat. Luckily, WebMeridian has specific services for local SEO and an entire team to help make sure that your business is the best one for your location.

Content Marketing and Link Building for Online Retailers

A content marketing strategy includes a detailed analysis of the type of content that your website visitors want to see. But it isn’t just about the content. It’s also about the keywords that the content is connected to and the answers that it needs to provide.

A content marketing plan also takes into account the following:

  • The social media platforms that your business should be present on
  • The target audience that you want to reach
  • Hashtags
  • Posting schedules
  • And much more

Essentially, it is an entire plan, usually created on a monthly cycle, on how to proceed when you start posting content online. If you’d like to find out more about this, check out our content marketing blog to learn more.

SEO link building is another important aspect of content marketing because it links your content across the web. One way to do this is to connect content with anchor text that provides more information on a reputable website. Some other link-building strategies rely on other websites to link to your own website. Building links is complex, and yet it is one of the most important aspects of SEO.

Key Takeaways

SEO is crucial for eCommerce businesses, and it needs to be taken seriously if the business is going to succeed. More and more people are shopping online, especially now.

However, it is also a lot of work, and if you don’t know what you’re doing, you will be wasting hours and hours of your time. Don’t make this mistake.

Here is where eCommerce SEO strategies come in. Developing and implementing these strategies can help you optimise your online store. When done effectively, it will result in increased visibility and higher search engine rankings.

So use your time wisely to work on your business and expand the quality and diversity of your products. And while you do this, lean on WebMeridian to do all the complex work for you. Our satisfied eCommerce customers have seen their business grow to incredible heights. It only takes one free meeting with us to set up your account and learn about your goals and ambitions for your business. 

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Yuri Sulima is an eCommerce expert and CEO of an eCommerce consulting and development company. He helps business owners to grow their brand presence online through digital technologies and marketing tips.

The post Why SEO Matters for eCommerce Websites appeared first on SiteProNews.

A Beginner’s Guide to Increasing Organic Traffic in 2021

posted on June 16, 2021

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Did you know: Google accounts for nearly 87% of the world market share for the global search market.

Google is the leading search engine in the world in 2021 and is predicted to stay in this position for the foreseeable future. For this reason, it’s essential that now more than ever, your business invest in website SEO. 

Even Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, said that Google is a mountain; you can’t move it, but you can certainly climb it to reap the rewards of getting to the top of the peak. 

This blog will serve as your guide to increasing your organic traffic on a massive scale in 2021. 

Let’s start by clearing any misconceptions and defining what SEO is exactly.

What is SEO?

SEO is the practice of optimizing your web presence so that your website can rank higher on Google and other search engines’ pages for your desired keywords. This statement means that if ranking on Google is a game of archery, SEO is a highly fine-tuned bow that allows you to aim your arrow as precisely as possible and launch it accurately to pierce your desired bulls’ eyes.

Website SEO helps your business website rank higher in Google and other search engines, which allows your target customers to see your website more frequently, become familiar with your brand, and enter your sales funnels.

While SEO is the bow, keywords are your bulls’ eyes.

Have Your Websites’ Keyword Strategies Fine-Tuned

Keywords are the words that searchers type into Google and other search engines to find answers and information on what they are searching. If you think of your website’s SEO as an entire building, keywords are the individual bricks that make up the building and need to be strategically cemented in the walls and foundations.

This metaphor indicates that keywords need to be regularly added to your website’s SEO content. This content includes web content, pages, URLs, pictures, videos, titles, source codes, and more.

Keywords can be found manually using Google or through high-end tools that streamline the process when the user has the experience to use them. You can consult a top-notch SEO service for websites to find out the best keywords your website should incorporate to reach your target customers and beat out your competitors effectively.

The strategy that needs to be implemented for your website will vary depending on your website’s current size and reach.

If your website is already established and has a wide-reaching audience, you can have the most competitive keywords targeted, which also tend to have the highest user search volumes. 

If you’re just getting started or are in the middle of fine-tuning your website SEO, it would be in your favor to have lower competition, longer tail keywords targeted.

Low competition, long-tail keywords may not sound worth your time at first, but don’t be deceived. 

This is a powerful combination for small businesses that web SEO services can help you implement. It will be relatively more straightforward for your business to rank on Google compared to higher competition keywords.

Secondly, these keywords will be long-tailed, meaning visitors to your website from these keywords are far more likely to convert to customers.

Why is this?

The visitors from long-tail keyword searches are more likely to convert to customers because they’re searching precise search terms rather than general, short-tail search terms.

For example: if a person searches “pizza,” this is a very short tail keyword that will produce highly generalized results. 

So, even if a person visits your (hypothetical) pizza bagel website in New York after searching only “pizza,” they might not convert. Perhaps, they were seeking pizza recipes, or they live somewhere outside New York.

If, on the other hand, a person searches “pizza bagel places near Brooklyn in New York,” this qualifies as a long-tail keyword. You can easily see that this search term is far more specific than the first one, literally just “pizza.”

When a visitor searching this term visits your website, they’re much more likely to place an order on your website.

So, don’t let the “low” in “low competition” fool you because having these keywords targeted can significantly boost your website’s SEO. 

Once you’ve started ranking for the lower competition keywords, it will be significantly easier for your website to tackle the higher competition ones, winning your website even higher traffic.

You should consult with an experienced SEO service for websites to figure out the right keyword strategy for your business website as it currently is, including an implementation plan.

The website SEO service will create a highly valuable content plan for your business. Why is this content considered “valuable,” though?

Developing the Perfect Content

High-value content is helpful content. 

Content that is well-written and guides your target customers and those in your niche will help your business rise as a reputable authority in your field.

Think about it. When your business is providing consistent value to customers for free through valuable content, they think the following: 

“Dang, if I’m getting this much value from Business Website A without having paid them yet, imagine how much value they’d give me if I hired them!”

When a thought consistently goes through your target customers’ minds, your business will have regular conversions and skyrocketing sales.

That is the power of organic traffic resulting from SEO.

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Dennis Nguyen is an award-winning Senior Account Manager working at Search Bergâ€â€an acclaimed digital marketing company in the United States. He offers top-notch SEO and content marketing services. Aaron has helped several businesses skyrocket their rankings and improve their conversions through actionable SEO strategies. He also contributes to the Search Berg blog regularly.

The post A Beginner’s Guide to Increasing Organic Traffic in 2021 appeared first on SiteProNews.

5 Must-Haves of Excellent SEO Copy

posted on June 13, 2021

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Consensus was never the strong suit of the SEO world. Ask five experts what it takes to rank and you’ll get five different answers. Better yet, the frequent Google algorithm updates complicate things further. Heck, even Google itself, through the voices of its C-suite execs, sometime gives contradictory answers and tips on what works and what doesn’t. 

Here’s the thing: it’s not an exact science. Ranking in search engines is something that happens through a lot of trial and error. Through my agency, my team and I have helped dozens of customers rank their content and copy. Every time, the process was a bit different and it took different things to get each of them ranking.

But there are a few things that must be present in every piece of copy or content you publish – if you want it to rank.

These are five of them:

The Right Keywords

You can’t rank for every keyword you may want. And you shouldn’t, either. Ranking is the first part; your copy also needs to convince and convert. So what good does it do if you rank for short, generic keywords that aren’t correlated with user intent?

Contrary to popular belief, keyword research isn’t the first step of choosing the proper keywords. The first step is looking closely at your customers’ needs and at your business goals.

Let’s say you have a bakery. What do your customers want? Awesome cakes, right? 

What do you want? To sell those cakes as fast as possible.

In this case, ranking for keywords like ‘chocolate cake’ or ‘best chocolate cake’ wouldn’t help too much. People who search for such terms are typically looking for a recipe or for inspiration on perfecting their own.

Keywords like ‘best chocolate cake in Tampa Bay’, ‘anniversary cake shop near me’ are a whole different story. Users who search for these keywords know what they want: to buy the cake you want to sell. A match made in SEO heaven!

Now that you have your keywords, a few thoughts on how to place them. Thankfully, keyword stuffing is no longer a thing, so you can write naturally and produce copy that’s not just readable, but also enjoyable.

You do need to place your main keyword in a few strategic places, though:

  • Title and meta title
  • Meta description
  • First paragraph or first 100 words
  • Last paragraph or last one hundred words
  • At least one of your H2s and H3s
  • Peppered over your copy, but don’t overdo it!

Great Meta Content

Meta content has two major components: the meta title and the meta description. This is what one of our best-ranking articles looks like in search engines:

The keyword it ranks for is, among others, ‘how to hire SEO copywriters’. You can see that this keyword is in both the meta title and the meta description. 

More importantly, the meta title and the meta description are actionable. They are inviting. They give the user a sneak peek that announces they will learn something with practical applicability if they click on this result. 

This is what you want to achieve with your meta content: both rankings and conversions. If a piece of content ranks on the first page of search engines but your meta content detracts users from clicking on it, your ranking will not rank that high for long. Much like you (should), search engines aim for user satisfaction. If the users aren’t clicking on your copy, then they’re not satisfied, which means it’s time to move your content lower. Yikes!

Readability and User-Friendliness

When your content starts ranking you want it to keep its rankings for as long as possible, right? Then readability is one of the most important features you need. 

Even if the piece of content is in-depth, well-researched, and has flawless grammar it will do you no good if it bores the readers out of their skulls. A good headline can only take you so far: the user will click on your article, but go back to search results as soon as they realize that your content is hard to read.

What can you do?

Keep it engaging. Don’t be afraid to throw in a joke or a personal anecdote. 

Create short paragraphs and short phrases that are easy to read at a glance. Like this one.

Briefly put: make the text easily digestible. Long-form pieces are rarely read in their entirety. But a solid three minutes or more on your pages will give search engines all the right signals.

Multimedia Content

Speaking of making the text easy to digest: add relevant photos, videos, and infographics whenever possible or relevant. They make the text look friendlier. Plus, it’s been proven that humans process visual data easier, so you’d be helping your readers retain information faster.

Better yet, photos in your articles give you a great opportunity to add some alt tags and descriptions that help boost your rankings. Make sure that at least one of the alt tags you use has your main keyword!

A CTA: What Are You Selling?

This is an omission I’ve been guilty of myself: the CTA. As content marketers or copywriters we spend so much time making sure that the topic is in-demand, that the piece is written well, and that it aligns with our business goals that we forget the most important thing, the ROI generator.

Yes, I’m talking about the CTA. In the early days of our agency, we were publishing new pieces of content or copy every day. They performed well in search engines, but we got no leads.

Why?

We didn’t bother to say we were selling something – content writing services, in this case. As soon as we got back and added CTAs to the best performing pieces, things shifted. We started getting inquiries and even signing up new customers.

After all, ranking doesn’t mean anything to your bottom line (unless you have ads on your website). If you run a business, excellent SEO is the beginning of the sales funnel. Help your readers advance through that funnel with clear calls-to-action that guide them to the next step. It can be an eBook download, signing up to your newsletter, or even placing an order – it all depends on the type of business you run and your goals. But don’t leave any piece of content without a CTA. How are people supposed to know you’re selling something? 

Speaking of CTAs, if you need help with content or copy that ranks well in search engines, reads well, and converts like a powerhouse, my team of expert writers and I are just a click away. Let’s talk!

avatar

Adriana Tica is an expert marketer and copywriter, with 10 years in the field, most of which were spent marketing tech companies. She is the Owner and Founder of Idunn. In October 2019, she also launched Copywritech, a digital marketing agency that provides copywriting, SEO content writing, and strategy services to companies in the tech industry.

The post 5 Must-Haves of Excellent SEO Copy appeared first on SiteProNews.

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