How to Boost SEO’s Efficiency (Part 2)

In part 1, I discussed the ways on how to make a website’s content comprehensible to the different search engines. So, our websites can gain organic traffic and better ranking as well.

two women discussing and browsing a website

In the previous article, I talked about enhancing the Title Tag, Meta Description, and Bread Crumbs. Now, we can continue to talk about building up SEO’s efficiency.

Subheads

  • The fact is, busyness takes away the time for people to read.
  • Since they have no time, they swiftly go over a page. If it’s not something that catches their attention, then, they skip.
  • This is where subheads are important. Because it permits reader to immediately proceed to the content they want, it’s a pretty convenient website feature.
  • Aside from that, subheads cuts the text into bite-size and rational parts, which gives every user a stress-free reading experience.

Lists

  • By now, we all know that the important thing here is to make it simpler for our users. We should also consider another strategy aside from subheads and that is making a list, systematic or not. Then, try doing the details in an orderly way to catch your user’s attention. Do you want to know why?
    1. Our mental ability is used to seeing patterns that is why we see them right away.
    2. The same goes for bullets and numbers. They always catch our attention.
    3. A minimal formatting round the content will definitely get noticed right away.
  • On par with the subheads, the list is a fantastic way to get noticed by the user and allows them to have a wonderful reading experience.

Images

  • A picture paints a thousand word, and that is why images can give you more data and text cannot do. What is important is that your images should have value. So, here a generic photo of people in a meeting or simply talking will not work. Here are your possible choices:
    1. Pictures of your product/s or parts.
    2. Photos of people or an individual using your product.
    3. Graphics and drawings.
    4. Images that shows maps or coverage places.
    5. Data and diagrams.
    6. Pictures of carrying out a definite action or doing a certain work.

HOW DO WE VERIFY IF SEARCH ENGINES COMPREHEND YOUR PHOTOS?

Simply putting photos on your page says nothing at all!

  • Through the addition of alt attributes and captions, you need to give the search engines what the photo is all about. Write something that briefly describes your photos and do not stuff unnecessary keywords. Use three or five words as image descriptions.
  • Also, try to give your images the right names. Don’t just say camera.jpg. Instead, be specific in saying that the image is girl_holding_a_camera.jpg!
  • With regards to alt attribute, do not forget the purpose of this. Alt attribute is there to assist people that are using screen readers. Likewise, people with visual impairment find alt attribute useful. So, please it in your site optimization plans.If an image has a clickable link, you should be able to tell the visitor that they will redirect to another page.
  • One last thing, optimize your images to ensure a fast website speed.

How to Boost SEO’s Efficiency (Part 1)

SEO relies on search engines to grasp a website’s content.

It is indeed up to us, the content providers, to make sure that we produce contents that can attract viewers.

So, there are two important things you should ask, “Is how to you get good ranking?” and “By what means do we ensure that the search engines can fully comprehend your website?”

Man browsing a website on a MacBook Air

For some, they use the trial and error approach to test the waters. Of course there are many ways of doing it, but the trial and error could be shaky and unpredictable. Plus, you will end up wasting time if it does not work.

Developing the on-page essentials will lead you to better outcome:

Title Tag

  • It is an on-page essential because it does provide important context to your content. With the right title, you are sure that search engines better understand the meaning and purpose of the page. It is shown in the search results. That is the reason why it is vital to write your title tags not just for search engines, but for web visitors, too.
  • To be safe, write title tags within the 60 characters limit. More than 60 could mean that the title could be edited out. It is vital that you utilize keyword phrase if you want to rank better. Just make sure you sound appealing and very natural.
  • Remember that a title that is dull or spammy will gain no clicks. This means, no visitor coming to your site.
  • Never put in a lot of keywords in just one title like Roof Repair, Roof Reconstruction, or Roof Paint. These titles will never gain a good ranking.

Meta Description

  • Despite the fact that meta descriptions has directly nothing to do with the rankings, it can still have an effect on your click through rates.
  • Generally, Google allows 160 characters of the meta description. So, it is smart for you not to provide more characters than the required number.
  • It is essential to have keyword phrases that you feel could really give you a push in your ranking. Again, make these engaging and natural. Make sure everybody will notice the meta description you wrote.

Bread Crumbs

  • It is a small text path which you can find at the topmost page and implies the URL. This permits users to remember their path, where they are at the present time and where is the way back to the main page.
  • Yes, Bread crumbs are very vital to the users. It creates an easier navigation for users in their entire stay in your site.
  • Also, they aid search engines to examine your content from hierarchical point of view. By presenting how the pages in your site are connected with each other, you aid in establishing that the right pages rank for the right topics.

Table of Contents

  • When a visitor goes to your page from search, that visitor is searching for a specific detail. If it is a struggle to find their concern, then, expect them to leave right away and go to your competitor’s site. Now, how do you manage to make is simple for your visitors? Making a table of contents and then linking it to your subheadings. That should give your user a simpler navigation.

A NEW Beginning for Google Search (Part 2)

In Part 1, I discussed a good deal of important changes that happened to Google Search and how these changes will influence SEO. The tools presented were Google Discover and Google Assistant. There’s more so let us start discussing them.

Magnifying glass focused on the Google search screen

It is a New Direction for Google

 Around the time of Google’s 20th anniversary, Google announced that the past search product will be replaced by a new one that has vital fresh driving principles added into it. This will make search easier and this will pave the way to a fresher and a newer internet experience for the users.

Despite the changes, Google intends to use the old principles and it is important for you to know what they are. These are the following:

  1. Furnishing several pertinent, excellent data to the users as swiftly as possible.
  2. Employing an algorithmic strategy.
  3. Centering on the user’s data needs.
  4. Thoroughly testing each and every change and is made up of the usage of the rating criteria to describe search goals.

This tells you to go on the following:

  1. That the user comes first.
  2. A little understanding of algorithms.
  3. Being exact and current.
  4. Following Google’s rating principles with regards to quality.

Those are the old principles so here are the new ones that will represent the extremely fresh way for Google Search:

Focus on the Journeys.

  • Google is highly progressing and adding most current essentials. This will permit the users to resume from where they had previously stopped. It is not just answering that Google is concerned about. It wants the users to have the capability of continuing where they stopped to make it easy for them to continue the journey.
  • Nowadays, Google will give suggestions in accordance to the person’s search history. Content suggestion will be dependent on each user’s likes and dislikes.

No Questions Needed.

  •  Shifting to a no question journey.
  • The biggest change to happen is Google’s constant ways to be of aid to the user. These people need not to ask questions. Even before they do, the help is already available through content suggestion.
  • Moving from texts to images.
    • Google is doing significant changes in the manner of which data is shown.
    • Image search  is now a priority. For websites that give importance to images and add  relevant images, they will receive a more favorable ranking.
    • Google Lens can now let you make visual search. Google’s AI can distinguish pictures so you can scan objects. In fact, users can scan and interpret the texts in real-time. No translator needed!

So, What Will Happen to SEO?

A new era has come for search. We should re-evaluate SEO as the landscape of technology that has changed and people need to cope up. Modify new approaches and use to your advantage and adjust to the many changes using the following ways:

  • Do not zero in on quantity of queries. Instead, focus on the context.
  • What are the ways to build a content that users would prefer to bookmark?
  • What sort of content will consistently center on this kind of the era of content suggestion?
  • In what way will content marketing function? What will become of SEO when Google will just suggest content to its users?

 

A NEW Beginning for Google Search (Part 1)

Google has many changes that are continually advancing which are unnoticed by users. They were quietly doing the changes. Time will come that there will be lesser searches that will transpire. And there will be more essential changes in the future.

Google home screen on a tablet

Here are the changes that can influence SEO:

GOOGLE DISCOVER

 It is a content suggestion engine that advice content right through the web which was established on a user’s search conduct and history. We are referring to the new and developed Google Feed. This will show contents that could interest you without searching. It could be your preferred sports group or news site. The individualized feed of Google Discover comes from the scanning in the past.

For the record, Google Discover started in 2016. It progressed impressively in the past year and more than 800 million users look at its feed every month. Google is an ever progressing community, it has done significant modification since October 2018.  Having said that, let us now go over the vital features it now has:

  1. Additional images and contents.
  2. Usage of topic headers to classify feed results.
  3. Utilize toggle to inform Google to give you more content which is like the suggestion.
  4. Evergreen content different to new content.
  5. Google affirms the suggestions are individualized.

 The truth is, Google Discover is really not the first of this type. Look at the social media feeds, they are giving suggestions to their users. Go to YouTube and you will see the different video recommendations that you can choose from. And it works because 70% of the users watches the suggested videos.

We cannot be sure if Google Discover will have the same effect as YouTube’s content suggestion.  If it reaches at least 10% of YouTube’s 70%, then, it will be lucky. For now, we have SEO and it focus on gaining traffic. In the future, how do you think Google Discover will alter the world of search?

GOOGLE ASSISTANT

 For a lot of users, it is a silent but chiefly inconspicuous innovation since 2017.  Its initiation to Android devices made people think it is just something that is better than Google Now. Having said that, it really is.

As Google Assistant progresses, it will impact how users communication with the web and lessen the dependence on the actual search. Now, Google Assistant can do the following:

  • Change the device settings.
  • Display Google’s account details.
  • Search the whole World Wide Web.
  • Can program events and alarms.

Nevertheless, the critical development is its capacity to participate in a two-way exchanges, enabling the users to have the important results from the system even if the user is not actually looking at the results of the search.  Google Assistant will be the one to give the finest possible result to its users.

The fantastic necessary change was an introduction of Google Express that has the ability to add products to the shopping cart of users and purchasing through the help of Google Assistant.

That is not all, Google Assistant can likewise support the utilization of Google Duplex that  will allow Google Assistant to call companies to do the organizing of the appointments. This will be done in the user’s behalf.

There are more changes posted on: A NEW Beginning for Google Search (Part 2).

A List Yoast SEO Alternatives

Are you a blogger? A business owner? Do you have an online presence? If your answer is yes, then, you understand something about SEO. There are lots of WordPress plugins that will help you change your site for the better.

Even if you only know little about SEO, these WordPress plugins will make it easier. In fact, Yoast SEO, a well-known SEO plugin that has both a paid and free version, is very popular to the WordPress users.

a list of wordpress plugins

However, there are other selections too that can do the job well. So, let’s see what they are:

  1. Rank Math

  • This WordPress plugin has facets to boost your online presence.Rank Math is user-friendly that you can easily optimize your website. This platform can get up to 5 keywords unlike Yoast that can only feature one.
  • Furthermore, it can accomplish an exhaustive SEO audit of your website, and has particular facet to choose local SEO. This platform can definitely make your audience acknowledge your site. So, don’t forget to try Rank Math and see its benefits.
  1. SEOPress

  • This plugin has everything in just one platform that will assist your site to be recognized as a top search result very quickly. SEOPress has a free version and a paid version at $39.00 a year.
  • This is how SEOPress works:
    • Examining your content with limitless keywords.
    • Boosting through sharing on social media sites.
    • Imparting sitemap to Google to swiftly enhance your SEO efforts.
    • Taking care of the titles, meta descriptions, and snippets.
  • No wonder, SEOPress was appraised by WordPress.
  1. All in One SEO Pack

  • This was made in 2007 and is known to be the topmost downloaded plugins of WordPress. The good part about All in One SEO Pack is that the settings are split up in accordance to its features. This make it so simple to click whenever you want to do your website’s title, homepage, display and a lot more.
  • In short, this too of an option to just pass up! Do consider All in One SEO Pack if you want  a great Yoast SEO alternative.
  1. SEOPressor

  • An astonishing 23 million WordPress sites are utilizing SEOPressor! The dashboard can deliver SEO information in one place that makes it a breeze to rectify any mistake.
  • SEOPressor has the ability to optimize a maximum of three keywords.
  • The downside is that: there is no free version. The paid version is only $9.00 a month and that is very affordable. Go, try it!
  1. WP Meta SEO

  • This plugin is done for people who have almost no knowledge or none at all about SEO. The very first task WP Meta SEO is to jot down all the issues that are present in your site. Just link your WordPress to your Google Analytics account. It will further examine your focus keywords, content, and descriptions.
  • This is not only cool not just for beginners but SEO specialist as well. WP Meta SEO should be the first plugins you to check out!
  1. The SEO Framework

  • SEO Framework is an amazing plugin that optimizes your website without much clicking. It creates page titles and descriptions that will surely catch the attention of Google.
  • Most importantly, SEO Framework leaves no trace, and no brand will appear on your site. Its free version can integrate with other extensions.
  1. Premium SEO Pack

  • Similar to other plugins, it has both a paid and free versions. Of course the later will have more features and add-on compared to the free one. Nonetheless, the free version can still do optimization of keywords, titles, posts, and descriptions.
  • Now, you can choose your options among the list given to you. For sure, it is worth checking all of them out.

4 Tips on Selecting the Right SEO Company

The rise or the fall of your Google rankings depends on your choice of an SEO expert. If you get a good SEO partner, then,  your sales will go up and inevitably. Moreover, the advertising costs will surely go down. Aside from that, your customer’s journey becomes more efficient and enjoyable as well.

2 gentlemen shaking hands and discussing a contract

But don’t make a final decision just yet. Before you sign any contract with your new SEO company, you might want to read this article first.

  1. Get an SEO company that speaks about SEO honestly.

  • Never go for a company that will suggest the shorter alternative routes by keyword stuffing, buying links, and other bad linking habits.
  • It will only prompt search engines to downgrade your website. These approaches are considered Black Hat SEO and go against the guidelines of search engines. So if you are caught practicing this, it will give you a lower ranking and therefore lessens your organic traffic. To be honest, that is such a high price to pay!
  1. Be precise on your goals and hire an SEO Company that can help you reach your goals.

  • Do not get an SEO company that does not have a clear understanding of how to increase the organic traffic. In reality, there are many types of organic traffic and it does not equate to revenues.
  • You and your team should sit down and discuss on what to achieve in SEO. Ask yourselves, do you want a rise in your sale utilizing particular keywords? Are you having a difficult time to lessen your bounce rate or do you want to up your conversion rate? Or do you want to develop a huge social media following to have sponsors on your content?
  • Surely, there are more questions you would want to ask. Whatever you pick, just make sure on the kind of outcome you want.
  1. Rely on yourself in looking for the list of the finest SEO companies.

  • Ask around and find out from other people. Remember that “word of mouth” is the most reliable source because it comes from a direct experience of someone you know. Besides, the finest of the finest are too busy with their clients’ needs that they don’t really need to advertise.
  • Furthermore, the “lists” that you will find online are not really that upright. Remember that the more respectable SEO firm having a lot of clients does not need to pay anything just to be on the list.
  • If a client is not contended with the outcome of their SEO, surely, there will be a negative review spreading around.
  1. Search for the SEO company that has the same standards as you.

  • Just before you make your decision, it is important that you observe your progress from the very start. Be certain that you and your SEO firm are looking at the same page of KPI or Key Performance Indicator. The following are SOME of the vital KPIs you need to know:
    • Page load time: The speed of loading your page determines the number of people who will stay on your site. If it is too slow, then people will look for another website.
    • Organic sessions: How much of your visitors came from organic search? How many of them reached your website searching on Google?
    • Conversion rate: What percentage of users are purchasing your brand? How many are your email subscribers? Or how many engages in the content of your site?

4 SEO Tips That Will Help Improve Any Company

Today, you do not need to have a physical store because everything seems to follow the more modern digital platform. To have a good amount of site traffic, it is vital to develop a website that is concerned with search engines and web visitors.

Nowadays, we all know SEO! For a start-up company, this is such a big help because SEO can up your traffic by means of organic search whereas other businesses need to PAY for advertisements. Know that 32% of the users will always trust Google’s top search results. That is why SEO is really essential to your brand.

business plans written on paper

Nevertheless, optimization is not a piece of cake especially if you are in a situation wherein you are doing a lot of things for your business. So, here are some great SEO suggestions that you might want to know to assist your company:

  1. Track down the changes.
  • Optimizing can be discouraging for small companies who have a lot on their plate.
  • When you have chosen to use SEO strategies, make sure you track down the changes. And if you trust that you can do it alone, then, it is important for you to know these things first.
    • First step is to decide on a benchmark tool you want to use to track down your traffic. Decide whether you want to use keywords, newsletters, or transaction history.
    • Start with applying one. Because if you apply everything at once, you will never discover which is the most effective.
  • Utilize a reliable SEO tool that can assist you in your ranking and know your progress.
  1. Build a clear site structure.
  • Do not use SEO tips if your website itself has no clear structure.
  • If this has not been established, both users and the search engine crawlers will have a difficult time to navigate your site.
  • If your business is just starting, go ahead and optimize the following.
    • Pages
    • Categories
    • Internal linking
    • Headings
  • Hierarchy is important not just for people but for web crawlers, too. If the website structure is apparent, Google crawlers will comprehend your content easily and give it a better rank. Also, people will find what they are looking for and stay on your site longer.
  1. The first concern should be content.
  • Writing top caliber content is SEO’s 2019 marketing trend, regardless of the size of your business. Read below some information you should remember:
    • Googles algorithms prefers brilliant content before and it is still true today. This is equivalent to building your contents that supplement your keywords, meta descriptions and headlines.
    • Remember that content is not mere texts. Videos can be engaging to visitors as well as pictures.
    • While it is true that Google algorithms uses keywords for ranking, it does not mean you can stuff keywords unless you want to be penalized.
  • Do not forget to experiment on different ways. Analyze your traffic and know what the people need from your site. That will guide you in writing your next content.
  1. Put your focus on making internal and external links.
  • Maintain your links continually and make sure to interlink the pages of your website. This way, users will hang around your site longer. It should also help crawlers to understand your content better and rank you accordingly. If they can’t find you, then, expect a low ranking.

Why SEO Is Important to People who Want to Start a Small Business?

For business-minded people, SEO is a fundamental part of producing a prosperous business idea. Of course, not everybody will agree. But one thing is for sure, using an SEO approach is effective for any company, and it is also inexpensive.

growing money

There are many reasons why you should make optimization your top concern. Here are some wonderful SEO pointers:

  1. SEO presents the facts to start-up.

  • SEO could reveal vital data that are needed for you to know what your potential customers may be looking for. Since you have just started handling your company, you obviously do not know a thing about your audience. SEO could do that for you.
  • You don’t have to spend a thing to reach your objectives. Take advantage of the free trial period of SEO tools. With these helping hands, it will be easier for you to know the words that your audience like to use when they search.
  1. SEO can result to great traffic and conversion to your brand/service.

  • SEO can assist your traffic and conversion. These means revenues for you.
  • Utilize the more current Google’s SEO trends. Work smart, do not use the famous keywords because that is what everybody are using. Why compete with them? There are other keywords that can work with only less effort.
  1. SEO is free!

    • Google Analytics can tell you what users are doing what on a specific site or platform.  Meanwhile, Google Search Console can present what the users were looking for and  how they got there.
    •  There are different site builders you can utilize like Magento, Shopify, WordPress, and many others.
  1. SEO aids the business in terms of key company decisions.

  • When you have the statistics, it is simpler to think of ways and means on how to call the attention of your audience.
  • Given this factor, you have a chance to turn visitors of your site to real customers.
  • SEO can definitely aid the whole business strategy to shape it into something tangible.
  • That can likewise be used for the whole business to ensure the growth of the company. The minute you understand your audience, you can now think of ways for them to purchase your brand or service.
  1. SEO invigorates your client’s merit and trust.

  • SEO can assists those who just started their business and it will be the start of a good connection with your audience.
  • When your site goes quite high on the search results, it builds up trust in your brand.
  • With that, you can forward a little bit more in building their reliability. In this digital sphere, credibility and integrity are the assets you need to gain sales and success. 
  1. SEO assist you in gaining enthusiastic readers and loyal customers.

  •  To accomplish this, develop a content that will be liked by your customers. Then, the other respectable sites will think of your site as trustworthy. Google will notice that too, and it will give you a better ranking that you have been dreaming of.

7 Pointers to Consider when Looking for an SEO Writer

An SEO writer should know how to increase the traffic of your website. In short, an SEO writer should be able to optimize content for search engines. Certainly, the objective of the search engines is to provide the first-rate and the best result to the users.

Now, if your content was created for the purpose of falsely increasing your rank, then, Google and the other search engines will surely would not want to show your site at the top of the search results.

Girl writing her thoughts

Now, you know the importance of having a dependable SEO writer or you might just waste your time and effort. It could also just harm your site. To help you, here are helpful pointers you need to know:

  1. Good grasp of grammar, spelling and sentence structure.
  • Basic knowledge on the use punctuation marks, relative pronouns such as “which”, “who” , “what”, etc.
  • Should your SEO writer fall short of knowledge, then, you are just wasting good money for nothing. Mistakes will only lessen the credibility and power of your content.
  • If you post an inferior content, then, your audience will think that they cannot rely on your service or brand because that too is unreliable.
  1. Recognizes the importance of working well with the SEO expert.
  • Preferably, both the SEO writer and SEO expert can organize their actions towards your objectives.
  • If they are oblivious to the each other’s point, then, there will be no coordination.  If you don’t, be prepared to fail.
  1. Write for people and then for search engines.
  • Google does not care about content intended for SEO. They care for the content you provide your audience.
  • If the people like it, then, Google will rank it higher.
  • After, your next concern should be the keywords.
  1. Fully understands your audience.
  • If it is clear that you are writing for people, then, know who they are.
  • Take time to know what they like and don’t like. What type of topics will be applicable to their daily lives?
  • Give your audience what they want. Otherwise, they are not going to read it.
  1. Understands the list of SEO writing do’s and don’ts.
  • The SEO writer should be able to produce fantastic heading tags, titles, introductory sentences, etc.
  • A responsible writer never stuff keywords. If he/she could not do this, then, you just depleted your finances for nothing.
  1. Writes briefly but comprehensibly.
  • After you have gained their interest, you must give them a content that is briefly as you could manage. Long content could bore them, and it could lessen the chance of conversions.
  • Write comprehensibly that everyone could understand. Do not use high-sounding words and jargons that only a few people know.
  1. Knows how to deliver a good story.
  • A brilliant writer should make the journey and experience wonderful. You are not going after the sale. You should be after their loyalty to your brand or service.
  • Write interesting description of your brand. It will lead to purchase. A great content can convert your visitor to a customer if he/she can weave a story that could evoke emotions. All you need is knowing the right words.

The Major Issues That Worry the SEO Newbies

Not just hundreds of thousands but millions of founders and marketers avoid utilizing SEO despite the numerous advocates that vows for its efficiency and probable ROI.

man sitting on the couch and worrying

The explanation for this is that many people, especially that newbies, have issues concerning SEO.

  1. ROI
  • Every businessman, most especially the newbies will always think of their return of investment or ROI. Expanding your search presence is a good move, but you should know in advance that it will take some time;
  • So, be prepared to be patient and wait for your ranking to rise. Aside from that, there is not assurance that you get more traffic. Over and above these concerns, there is the conversion rates that you should deal with.
  • These concerns are real, but only to a certain degree. You must not forget that SEO is an approach that is adjustable and intentionally for a long period. If it seemed that there is no good result after a few months, then think of another strategy and/or boost your SEO approach. Who knows, you might be surprise get a favorable outcome.
  1. Time Investment
  • It was previously acknowledged that SEO is a long term approach. There is no telling on how many months it takes to see results. Having said that, there is a need for optimization and or that effort could mean a lot of money should you consider of working with an SEO company. Remember, you can be short of people and that will mean you need to do most of the work that you will find it impossible to learn much more practice SEO.
  1. Technical SEO
  •  If you are doubtful of SEO, then sure, you have no experience neither you have the knowledge of it technically. Not knowing alone can make a person afraid but, you could always learn it one day at a time just by researching. That is the only way that you will not feel so terrified.
  1. Fines
  • Fines are horrifying not just for newbies but for experts as well. The arrival of Penguin, which takes care of the high standard links and Panda, whose role is to analyse the content and monitor different matters concerning the content makes the newbies all the more scared in using SEO.
  • Google surely does manual actions but only if the website is habitually manipulating the ranking. It is Google’s means of downgrading if not, taking away web pages or even the whole websites to punish the wrong doing of a site. But if you have no intention of doing such things, then there is nothing to be scared of.
  1. Public View
  • New business owners start to worry once their customers learn that they utilized SEO to gain traffic. In that scenario, they feel that it might seem as a cheap ploy that may earn distrust and could result to losing their audience.
  • This could be the climate way back 1999. Today, it is much too different, SEO sells value, and not gimmickry. SEO has indeed created a more credible image because it is now focused on brilliant content that they can offer their chosen market.
  1. The Keywords
  • You might be anxious about many things like your target audience or keywords. Remember, there are thousands of keywords that you will never run out of it. Your selection can bring you success if you do your keyword research well.