If you have only recently started your online business or are exploring opportunities in digital spaces, you must have come across to the term “SEO” multiple times. So, what does it really mean?
Short for search engine optimization, SEO has only one goal — to make your online presence more visible and higher on search results. When people search for a product on Google or any other search engine, they get several results one after another. There is a higher chance that a searcher will click on the highest ranking result and follow the link. The more the clicks, the more the traffic and consequently more profitability and success for a website.
Marketers are working tirelessly to make their brands and companies rank higher or at least the first page of search engine results. There are several techniques that you can use to achieve this goal. So, if put in simpler terms, SEO is the endless input of efforts and techniques that bring higher traffic, both in quantity and quality to the web page through search engines.
SEO can be further categorized as on-page and off-page. Here is how each of these are different from one another:
On-page SEO
This is the most basic and obvious kind of SEO, including your main web-page’s copy, such as blog posts and landing pages. This kind of SEO includes tactics like using keywords, meta descriptions, meta tags, HTML codes and URL. It also consists of internal linking, which refers to when one content links up with another page from the same website.
So, all the factors of SEO that you can control on your own web page is on-page SEO.
Off-Page SEO
All the efforts you put for SEO apart from the website such as backlinking and social media promotional ads, are referred to as off-page SEO. Sharing content on social media, getting backlinks from other websites, guest posts, reviews and listings on platforms like Google My Business are all included in the off-page SEO category.
How to write SEO-friendly content
If you want to write your website’s content by yourself, or need to judge a writer’s capabilities, it is important to understand the particular factors that make a content SEO-friendly. There are many ways to achieve a higher rank on search engines, but here are some of the most important and effective ones.
A thorough keyword research
Keywords are essential for SEO. However, do not think that stuffing keywords without any strategic manner will help your content perform better. Starting from the choice of keywords to the placement of keywords in your content, you have to be very careful. With the right keywords, you can make your content rank higher and also add more value to content for your readers.
For your keyword research, make sure to check the volume of searches for a keyword, look for long tail keywords, keywords that are specifically relevant to your content and serve value to whatever intent or purpose a searcher has.
You can use various keyword search tools online. Some of these are AnswerThePublic and Google Keyword planner. Other techniques to find good keywords is to observe Google auto-complete options, since these are usually the ones that users search the most. Google’s “other searches” and questions on Quora (related to the topic) also help find high volume keywords.
A good structure
One reason why we have discouraged keyword stuffing is that it makes your content unpleasant to read. You need to be careful of the following features to make your content more readable, so your readers stay hooked to it.
Paragraphing
Huge, lengthy blocks of text are always problematic. Readers take a quick scan and feel like there is too much to read, and then they skip your blog post. Instead, divide your content into smaller, relevant, and sensible paragraphs.
Sentences
Sentences that are longer than 20-25 words can be difficult to read. It is best to use smaller and simpler sentence structures.
Transition words
Transitions words add a lot of coherence and consistency in your content. Whether you are transiting from one point to another or from one paragraph to another, transition words play a great role in linking it all up.
Keywords placement
Firstly, don’t stuff your content with keywords. Secondly, disperse your keywords all across the content. Don’t saturate it in one paragraph or in one section of an article. Instead, use some high-ranking keywords in your titles and sub headings, use others in your meta descriptions, and the rest all throughout your content.
Length
Ideally, content on web-pages have a length of 1000-1500 words. 2000 words are also considered to be a good length, but these are more suitable for technical posts such as product reviews and how-to guides.
Titles and headings
Don’t underestimate the importance of titles and headings. They must be very catchy. However, they should not give away everything about a blog post in the very first instant. Instead, they should give a quick overview of what an article is about, all the while making audience curious for more. These should not be too lengthy nor too short, and you should use easy-to-read words.
SEO tools
If you really want to up your SEO game, make use of SEO tools. These tools are a one-stop solution for all your SEO needs, ranging from keyword research to mobile optimization of your website to monitoring traffic. Your Mediacom internet packages should make it very easy for you to search for the best SEO analysis tools. Search thoroughly and pick the most cost-effective and high performing tool for yourself.
Social media sharing
Do not forget to make your content shareable on various social media platforms. This feature can generate an outstanding amount of traffic on your website undoubtedly. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, all these platforms allow you to share your articles and blogs with the rest of your followers and friends. This is an unpaid way of social media marketing.
The end note
With all these tips and tactics for making content SEO-friendly, you should be well-prepped to make your web page one of the highest ranking ones on search engine results. Make sure to use writing tools such as Hemmingway app to make sure that your content is all set to be published online.