5 Quick Keys to SEO
SEO is a little bit of a “buzz” word in marketing. (We talked about the dangers of buzz words in marketing on Wednesday – check it out here.) Many people know the acronym, but how many of them actually know what SEO is? And, even if you know the general idea of SEO – search engine optimization – do you really know what that means for your company’s website? What do you do to make SEO work for you?
SEO can be very complicated. Just check out some of the blogs on Moz.com (a great resource, by the way). It doesn’t have to complicated, though. Today, we’re simplifying things. This post is purposefully skimmable, so that you, after a scan of these 5 quick keys to SEO, can go about your afternoon without too much head-pounding.
5 Quick Keys to SEO
The #1 thing you need to know about SEO right now:
SEO isn’t about keyword smashing. It isn’t about link building. It’s about valuable content. It’s about you being valuable to your audience.
See? That’s not that complicated at all! It’s a breath of fresh air, really. Instead of worrying about getting backlinks and the perfect keywords, you just work on being valuable. See more of our philosophy on SEO here. In the meantime, though, here’s how to make your website valuable.
Blog frequently about topics your audience is interested in.
Blog frequently because your audience will come to rely on new posts. Stop providing new information and they’ll stop reading. Not sure what to write about? What information do your customers (or potential customers) want to know? Ask them!
Make your blog easy to find.
How do you search on Google? Usually, you type something like, “How do I change my car’s oil?”
That’s what your clients do, too. Keep that in mind as you write your blog posts and decide on titles.
Link when it makes sense.
Yes, links are still very important, but only when they’re pertinent. Link to your own site when relevant. Link to any site when relevant! And, as you continue to provide quality information, you’ll build up honest back links. It’s a long-term strategy, but it’s the only one that works for today’s SEO. We recently talked in depth about the new ways to build quality links. Read that blog post here.
Include relevant images.
Imagery serves a dual purpose. Images help your SEO and they also make your blog more interesting for the reader. Make sure to include appropriate alt-text. It’s an easy way to state your keyword one more time, while also informing visitors (and, almost more importantly, Google) what the image is about.
Did you notice how many times I’ve mentioned blogging in this post? Blogging is almost vital to great SEO. It’s a great tactic for building up content while simultaneously building up backlinks. While blogging in itself is not necessary, frequently updating your site is. Since blogging is one natural method for updating frequently, it makes perfect sense to have a company blog. If you haven’t yet tried blogging, I highly recommend it.