You might be familiar with the joke of digital marketing services throwing “SEO” at every problem. But there’s a reason SEO is so coveted. When combined with valuable content and quality writing, SEO is the ticket to ranking high in search engine results. While SEO has multiple moving parts, implementing a basic strategy can make your website appeal to search algorithms.
What it means to be SEO-friendly
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and an SEO-friendly website is designed to be easily crawled—or “read”—by search engine algorithms. When crawling a website, algorithms look for content related to search queries. If somebody searches for “California nonprofit audit,” the search engine will crawl websites for relevant content. The highest ranked websites will have powerful SEO and high authority.
Each search engine has its own algorithm, but one reigns with over 70% of the search market share: Google. Google also captures 85% of mobile traffic, and is the most popular search engine in the world. When you optimize your website, you’ll see the most results on Google search.
How Google determines what to show in search results
When Google crawls websites, it looks for content and authority. It scans the headers (H1, H2, H3, etc.), hyperlinks, text bodies, and more, to determine the content’s quality and value. For example, if “residential plumber” is mentioned in a blog post’s title and body, Google’s algorithm will be inclined to rank the post for search queries including “residential plumber” and other words or phrases related to plumbing.
Other factors play into Google’s algorithm, and most are done right on your website. See below for the steps you can take to elevate your website in the eyes of Google’s algorithm.
Appeal to Google’s Algorithm with These Basic Steps
1. Determine your primary and relevant keywords
If you provide local plumbing services, mentioning “residential plumber” through your website and blog isn’t enough to get a higher search ranking. Too many mentions could actually come off as “keyword stuffing” and harm your ranking. This is because Google doesn’t only focus on keywords. It also looks for related words and phrases. For a local plumber, your keyword bank could include “residential plumbing services,” “plumbing inspections,” and “rooter service.”
To find your keywords, it’s easiest to use a keyword planning tool, such as Google Ads. Keyword tools provide data on search volume, competition levels (how difficult it will be to rank high), and related keywords.
Here is sample keyword research for an independent bookstore:
Your primary keyword should be what your customers search when they look for your offerings, and ideally long-tail keywords, which are three or more words long. While long-tail keywords have lower search volumes, they’re easier to rank for and have higher visitor-to-customer conversion rates. You might have multiple primary keywords, one for each service or product, and a cluster of relevant keywords for each one.
2. Create website content related to your keywords
Once you have your keywords, insert them where appropriate on your website. The primary keywords you’d like to rank for should have their own pages. If you’re a general contractor, your webpages might include “home remodeling contractors,” “skylight contractors,” and “siding contractors.” Optimize your homepage by providing a navigation menu with links to each keyword page.
After your homepage and web pages are optimized, it’s a great idea to create and maintain a blog that posts content related to each keyword. This keeps your website updated, which also appeals to Google’s algorithm. A typical but solid blog strategy is to post once or twice a month, with each post focused on a topic related to one primary keyword. For a general contractor, blog posts could cover how to find a quality home remodeling contractor, the latest trends in siding, and what to expect during a skylight installation.
3. Use header tags appropriately
If your web content is relevant to your primary keywords, you’re already in a better position than before. However, you’ll miss out on a substantial boost in visibility if you don’t format your blog posts with header tags. While headers on their own are necessary for breaking up large bodies of text and allowing readers to skim, header tags rank the importance of each one. Header tags range from the most important, H1 to H6.
H1 is typically reserved for the title. H2 is for the main idea of each major section. H3 and onward are for breaking down H2 topics in further detail, and are commonly used for titling or formatting lists.
Here is a sample outline with header tags:
- H1: How Powerful SEO Opens Doors for Your Business
- H2: To understand how Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can boost your business, think from a customer’s perspective.
- H3: Consider the following scenario
- H2: How Businesses Use SEO
- H2: Here is an overview of what some of the best SEO practices look like and what they can do for your business.
- H3: User-focused content: Does your SEO reflect what your customers need?
- H3: High-quality content: Is your SEO content well-written and informative?
- H3: Readily-visible content: Is your SEO content optimized for zero-click searches?
- H4: Here is a typical zero-click search situation:
- H2: SEO strategies need to adapt with Google’s search features in mind.
- H2: To understand how Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can boost your business, think from a customer’s perspective.
You can use offsite content to appeal to Google’s algorithm
Google’s algorithm will also look for signs of authority, so it doesn’t recommend low-quality information to searchers. A quick way to show authority is by including links to reputable 3rd-party sources, such as expert-affiliated websites, academic journals, and research databases. But the best way to build authority is by having backlinks (or links to your website from other sources).
Building authority offsite only works if the backlinks are high quality. This means the site using your links has high authority and is linking to the appropriate keywords or phrases of their own content, like a blog post. If you don’t own a second website that has high authority, you could spread out your links on social media accounts (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). Additionally, you could work with a digital marketing agency that owns multiple websites for building offsite authority.
Digital marketing services can format your blog to be SEO-friendly
If you’re struggling to create SEO-friendly blog posts, WSI Connect can help. Contact us for a free consultation, and we’ll help you create engaging blog content that’s formatted for search engine algorithms. We’ll also help you develop a content strategy appropriate for your audience, so you can dedicate more time to running your business.
How to Craft Your Professional Bio [Copy-and-Paste Templates]
