22 December 2020
By Roger Jones
roger@TheCork.ie
Search Engine Optimisation or SEO is an interesting area of business. Like most things in the field of IT it is constantly changing. Many times people think that improving SEO is a quick fix to simply get more visitors to a website, but Google has done great service to planet earth because in improving your SEO you are also improving the content of your site, and its value to the world. The maxim of ‘if you built it they will come’ is true, but only if you build what users want. Every user differs, so having more content is good. You get the idea? Ensure you have lots of content, go in deep, and keep creating more. This will make your website fresh, and over time bigger and bigger.
To give you an idea of the importance of SEO, we are going to tell you 7 key points.
Step #1: Write Compelling Content
Your parents probably told you: If you don’t have anything to say, then don’t say it! That may be true socially but for SEO it will get you nowhere. You need to write, and the more the better. Google wants to provide the most relevant search results to its users. If you can give users what they want you will win.
Step #2: Properly Format Your H2s and H3s for SEO
Google relies on H2 and H3 tags to understand your content and rank it accordingly. H1 is the largest text, H2 is smaller, and so on. We used to make our headings in bold, but now we use H4 and bold.
Step #3: Use Semantic Keywords to Drive Organic Growth
Most people don’t search using a single word, e.g., “VPN.” Since there is a reason behind every search, searchers use more words to help them get the information they are looking for. Instead of entering “VPN” into the search bar, a searcher might use the term “VPN provider” “VPN United States” to help them get specific information on what they need to know. You need to figure out what people search for and give them what they want.
Step #4: Personalize Your Content Through Long-tail Keywords
When you are starting drive organic business growth, it’s tough to successfully compete and rank for informational keywords in your niche right away. In new markets, it is difficult to differentiate.
Step #5: Start a Podcast For Natural Business Growth
Currently, 86 million people in the US listen to podcasts in 2019, and by 2022, the number of listeners will grow to 132 million people. RTE have an interesting page entitled: How to start a podcast?
Step #6: Invest in Link Building to Grow Your Domain Authority
Start by analyzing the sites linking back to your competitors. My favorite tool for this is Ahrefs, using their site explorer tool:
Step #7: Nail Your Calls to Action to Convert Your Traffic to Sales
Having a great call to action (CTA) is critical for growing your business organically and increasing online sales. A good CTA acts as a differentiator, appealing to your target customer in ways they haven’t seen before. To give an example of what not to do we are going to end our article here.
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That felt bad didn’t it?! You see visitors want a Call to Action, what is next, it’s bad to leave people hanging. If we were selling a product we should link to the shopping cart system here.
