Easy and Expert-Approved SEO Tips for Upgrading Your Content
SEO is the must-know, content-boosting tactic for most creators and digital-savvy business owners. It’s also incredibly easy to misinterpret and misuse. With that being said, let’s get back to the SEO basics. In the simplest terms, SEO, or search engine optimization, is a strategy used to increase your content’s visibility in search engines. In other words, it draws more attention (and traffic) to your platform when people are researching topics relevant to your work.
During BlogHer U, Lindsay Valdez further emphasized the importance of upping your SEO game. “SEO is not clickbait or sensationalized headlines,” she said. “It’s about anticipating how readers and potential followers will search for your topic in the search engine they’re using.”
When it comes to search engines, Google reigns supreme. It may not be the only option, but according to fellow panelist Constance Ejuma, “it has 70% of the market.” Still, that doesn’t mean you should chuck the deuces to other search engines (remember Yahoo and Bing?), especially since search engine preference can vary according to the country you’re in.
The good news is that optimizing your content for Google will also count toward those less popular counterparts. Oh, and don’t forget to think outside of the box either since SEO rules apply to sites such as YouTube and Amazon.
Valdez and Ejuma also described how to set up your content for success; specifically, how to apply this tactic to a homepage and single articles. While two of the most important SEO fields for your site are your homepage SEO title and your homepage meta description (use Google Search Console for help with these), Ejuma said to “think of every single post on your page as your homepage” because someone is more likely to find you through an article.
Before publishing your piece of content, optimize:
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SEO Title
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Slug (URL)
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Meta Description
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Internal Links
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Images
Another important factor of SEO is high-quality content. Valdez explained that specificity is key for content creation because Google is looking for an authority on any given topic. The search engine also provides resources like their Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide and Webmaster Blog Post for more guidance on building high-quality sites, both of which Valdez and Ejuma recommend reading. Utilizing video and image strategies on your site are also helpful.
To create your best content:
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Choose a topic
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Do related keyword research
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Pick an angle
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Write the content
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Complete an on-page SEO checklist
The most popular time of year for online searches and advertising demand is traditionally Q4 (October, November, and December), so you’ll want to be especially prepared during these months.
How to prepare for Q4:
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Review content from the previous year during Q4. There are multiple ways to find your old content, but Valdez and Ejuma recommend Google Analytics.
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Refresh top-performing content by updating product links and old images
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Focus on seasonal content! Use Pinterest Trends to see what people are searching for and start posting holiday content weeks in advance to build your authority
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Don’t underestimate the power of e-commerce. Utilize affiliate links and as Ejuma explains, “It’s important to take a step back and think through ‘why would someone come and read this instead of going straight to the place where they can buy it?’ And it’s because of you, your insight.”
Ultimately, SEO is the not-so-secret weapon for getting your content the spotlight it deserves, and thankfully, search engines have steadily advanced with the times, too. According to Valdez, “Google has evolved so much over the last seven years. You can write naturally, use variations and keywords and they’ve built their algorithm to understand that a little better than it used to be at the very least, where it used to be much more robotic.” But in the end, Ejuma said that what matters most can’t be conjured up by an algorithm—” it’s important to depend on the authenticity of your own voice.”