We came across a great Forbes article regarding the frustrations that some business owners have with Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Here’s an overview of what it said.
“When people talk about keyword research or link building, do you want to hide under a rock?”
-John Rampton, Forbes.com contributor
Most business owners are more interested in performing core tasks related to their business than chasing down a list of keywords that SEO “experts” claim will get them a higher ranking in the internet search engine listings. This is not to say they don’t want more search engine traffic, they just don’t want to take time away from their every-day business operations to get it.
Understand The Basics
SEO-haters often misunderstand what SEO actually is. They think it’s all about technical stuff, with some kind of secret formula they have to learn, and they have no time or interest in learning about secret technical stuff. You don’t have to learn “secret stuff”.
Find Your Keywords
The term Keywords sounds technical, and we don’t like technical. But Keywords are not technical. They are the words and phrases that you already know and use on your website. They will give you the high ranking your want to have. Using Keywords is easier than you think.
“SEO is simply letting the search engines know what your content is about. That’s it.” -John Rampton
- Your first and last name, and your business name
- Your geographic region and business category
- Words related to your business or product
- Words related to the topic of your page
Use Keywords in Your Content
Search engines won’t show your content in the search results if your content is not relevant to your subject and its potential users. Your content should follow up on your keywords to establish your area of expertise.
- Give some background on why you chose this line of work: You love animals, so you studied to become a veterinarian
- You’ve lived in Seattle all your life
- You understand that families live on a budget
To create relevant content, you only have to know what you know, and communicate that to others.
Avoid Missteps
We’ve established what you can do. Now let’s look at what you can’t do.
- You can’t have a website that only works on one device. Most people have a “base” device, such as an iPad, Desktop, or Laptop, PLUS a mobile device. Having a mobile-friendly site is an absolute necessity
- Search engines are not great at reading Flash and Javascript. You don’t need it. Get your site up to 2015 standards.
- To make sure you haven’t restricted the search engines from accessing your site, make sure you have a Google Webmaster account. The better they know you, the better their response to what you have to say.
- You can’t set it and forget it. Fresh content keeps people coming to your site. It doesn’t take a lot, just mix it up a little, once a month, and step back and take a review every six months.
You need SEO, but you don’t need to hate it. We hope this blog has shown you how uncomplicated it is. Just apply what you already know to what you want others to know about you and your business.
To get started, contact us today for a free SEO audit: