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February 15, 2024 — No Comments

How To Create A Winning SEO Strategy

In today's digital age, where the online marketplace is saturated with competitors vying for attention, having a solid SEO strategy is paramount for success. Picture this: you've poured countless hours into building your website, crafting compelling content, and perfecting your product or service offerings, yet you need help attracting the traffic and visibility your business deserves. If this scenario sounds familiar, fear not – you're not alone. Many companies face the daunting challenge of standing out in the vast sea of search engine results. However, with the right SEO strategy, you can propel your website to the top of search engine rankings, driving organic traffic and boosting your bottom line.

What Is SEO Strategy?

At its core, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a method used to increase the visibility of a website in search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo. A robust SEO strategy is essential for enhancing your website's rankings, increasing conversions, maximizing profitability, and attracting new customers. However, it's crucial to understand that SEO is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, a successful SEO strategy is tailored to align with the specific search intent of your target audience.

The strategy that works for an e-commerce business won’t necessarily be the same for a B2B company that thrives on leads. We tell you this so you don’t copy/paste strategies from other companies. You have to know what works for you. Here are a few things you’ll need to figure out: 

  • Do you need/want to have a blog? 
  • Will product pages be useful for your business? 
  • Can your website add information that brings value to customers/clients? 

How to Create A Winning SEO Strategy

The first step in crafting a winning SEO strategy is gaining a deep understanding of your target audience and their search behavior. By identifying the keywords and phrases your potential customers use to search for products or services like yours, you can tailor your content to meet their needs effectively. Moreover, in today's ever-evolving digital landscape, staying abreast of the latest SEO trends and search engine algorithms is paramount. Continual adaptation and optimization are key to maintaining a competitive edge in the online marketplace.

Here’s a real-life example of a client we worked with. They were a home services company. We realized in our strategy sessions that the client wouldn’t make an in-roads in search by offering pages that aligned with their services. Where they would have the most important is by creating pages that offered free advice for troubleshooting issues related to their home services. 

We realized that people would have a problem and want to know how to fix it. That would lead them to helpful troubleshooting articles, and then from there, we could create a soft sell around our products and services. 

This is also essential in understanding what the added value of your product is. If you are selling shoes, it might have a value add of being comfortable for all-day walking. You’d want to align your search strategy around that attribute. 

Set Your SEO Goals

Before diving headfirst into SEO implementation, it's essential to establish clear goals for what you want to achieve. Whether your objectives include increasing website traffic, improving conversion rates, enhancing brand visibility, or acquiring new customers, aligning your SEO goals with broader business objectives is crucial. By clearly defining your goals, you can measure the success of your SEO efforts and track progress over time.

Identify Main SEO KPI

Measuring the success of your SEO strategy requires identifying key performance indicators (KPIs) that directly impact your goals. While metrics such as increasing the number of ranking keywords, click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates (CR), and higher rankings are important, it's essential to avoid falling prey to vanity metrics that don't align with your objectives. Instead, focus on KPIs that provide actionable insights into the effectiveness of your SEO efforts.

Sometimes, the goal will be to increase purchases or get email signups. It’s essential to have goals that matter. We encounter businesses all the time that have traffic as a goal when that’s not important to them at all. If we told you that you could increase your traffic to one million visits a month but never purchase your product, leave an email address, or complete a lead form, would that be valuable to most businesses? Probably not. 

Analyze Top 5 SERP Competitors

Understanding who your main competitors are in the search engine results pages (SERPs) is critical for devising a successful SEO strategy. By conducting a thorough competitor analysis, you can gain valuable insights into their tactics, techniques, and areas of opportunity. Whether you use SEO platforms or manual search queries to identify your top competitors, leveraging this knowledge can inform your SEO approach and help you gain a competitive advantage.

While we’ve warned against trying to copy your competitors, we should also point out that you should know what they are doing. Pick out what you like. Pick out what you don’t like. Remember that you won’t know for sure if a strategy for them is working or will work for you but at the very least, you’ll start to piece together things you might want to do for your website. 

Start Mapping Your New Website Structure

One of the foundational elements of a winning SEO strategy is creating a well-structured website that is optimized for search engines and user experience alike. Keyword research and understanding user intent are paramount when mapping out your website's structure. By organizing your content into logical categories and subcategories, you can ensure that users can easily navigate your site and find the information they're seeking.

We cannot stress how important this is for you. Organize your content and your pages in a way that makes sense not only to your users but also to Google. Do your research on what might have the best impact on search and build a structure that works. 

Identify Which Types of Pages Are Most Important

When directing link juice within your website, understanding which pages are most important is critical. For example, for an e-commerce site selling screws, categories may be more important, whereas for a retailer selling smartphones, individual product pages take precedence. By strategically allocating link juice to the most critical pages within your site architecture, you can enhance their visibility and rankings in search engine results.

Start Developing an Internal Linking Strategy

Internal linking plays a crucial role in optimizing your website's structure and distributing link equity effectively. By identifying pages that are performing well and implementing strategic internal linking strategies, you can boost the authority of important pages and improve their rankings in search engine results. Whether you utilize pre-footer links, category text links, menu structure links, or content marketing links, a well-executed internal linking strategy can significantly enhance your site's SEO performance.

Develop Content Marketing Strategy

In today's content-driven digital landscape, creating high-quality, relevant, and engaging content is essential for attracting and retaining customers. Topic clusters, where a pillar piece of content covers a broad topic and is supported by related subtopics, can help establish your website as an authoritative resource in your industry. By leveraging AI tools and following best practices for content optimization, you can create compelling content that resonates with your target audience and drives organic traffic to your website.

Optimize Every Type of Pages

Optimizing key elements of your website's pages is essential for maximizing their visibility and relevance in search engine results. Whether you're optimizing category pages or product pages, paying attention to elements such as title tags, meta descriptions, headers (H1), filters, internal linking, snippets, text, pagination, and URLs can significantly impact your SEO performance. By following best practices and utilizing resources such as beginner's guides and cheat sheets, you can ensure that your pages are optimized to attract and convert organic traffic effectively.

Building high-quality backlinks from authoritative websites is a cornerstone of any successful SEO strategy. By engaging in strategies such as guest blogging, PR efforts, and relationship building with influencers, you can increase your website's authority and improve its rankings in search engine results. However, it's essential to prioritize quality over quantity when it comes to link building and avoid engaging in black hat tactics that could harm your website's reputation.

Local SEO Optimization

For businesses with physical locations, optimizing for local search is essential for attracting customers in your area. Claiming and optimizing your Google My Business listing, gathering positive reviews, and ensuring consistent name, address, and phone number (NAP) information across online directories can help improve your visibility in local search results. By implementing local SEO best practices, you can connect with potential customers in your community and drive foot traffic to your storefront.

In conclusion, creating a winning SEO strategy requires careful planning, ongoing optimization, and a commitment to providing valuable, relevant content to your target audience. By understanding your audience's needs, setting clear goals, analyzing competitors, and implementing best practices for on-page and off-page optimization, you can enhance your website's visibility, attract organic traffic, and ultimately achieve your business objectives in the competitive online marketplace.

Ready to take your SEO strategy to the next level? Contact us today for expert guidance and tailored solutions to elevate your online presence and drive meaningful results.

Published by Michael Cahill in SEO Strategy
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February 13, 2024 — No Comments

The Art of the Headline: Crafting Titles That Drive Clicks and Conversions

In the fast-paced world of content consumption, headlines play a pivotal role in capturing the fleeting attention of audiences. Crafting compelling titles that not only grab attention but also drive clicks and conversions is an art form in itself. In this comprehensive guide, we'll delve into the intricacies of headline creation. We'll explore the elements that make a headline effective and provide actionable strategies to optimize your titles for maximum impact.

What Is an SEO Page Title?

An SEO page title, or meta title, serves as the virtual storefront of your content on search engine results pages (SERPs). It captures the essence of your web page's content concisely and compellingly, enticing users to click through. Let's consider an example:

Suppose you run a digital marketing agency specializing in SEO services. A well-optimized page title for your homepage could be: "Boost Your Online Presence with Expert SEO Services | [Your Brand Name]."

Let’s look at an actual SERP for “Best Dishwashers.”

What you see in the SERP are the headlines. This is especially important because we are looking for a particular query. The New York Times made sure to let the audience know that it was an article coming from the NYT. This is so that those who trust them as a truthful and honest publication will be likelier to click on them. 

If we look further, we can see Forbes does something similar. They let us know that Forbes vets everything in that article:

Every single title gives you exactly what you searched for. Some give you a little more to entice you to click in. 

How fun your title or long it is all depends on the query you are targeting. In this case, it didn’t take much to give us exactly what we sought.

What’s the Optimal Page Title Length?

There's no one-size-fits-all answer to the optimal page title length. Adhering to certain guidelines can enhance readability and visibility on SERPs. Character limits and display constraints impact your title's visibility. Let's illustrate this with an example:

If you're writing a title for a blog post on "The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing," you might aim for a concise and descriptive title. "Mastering Social Media: Your Definitive Guide to Marketing Success"

SEO authorities will tell you a good page title should be 60 characters long. As you can see from the example above the SERPs for best dishwashers all adhere to this rule. 

Keep in mind that this, as with all things SEO, the rule of thumb isn’t a hard and fast rule that is never broken. Take a look at some of the articles from CNN.com

Many of these, including the message in a bottle article, are well over 60 characters. It depends on where your article is displayed. Sometimes, it depends on how much authority you have in the space. 

So why do we make the 60-character rule? In many cases, the page title will cut off in serp. The quicker you get to your point, the easier it will be to convey the article's intent to the reader. 

Let’s use this article itself as an example. Let's say you googled “how to write a headline.” 

And you get these two choices
1. Complete Guide to Writing Incredible SEO Headlines

2. Though It Can Be Tricky, There's A Way To Write Incredibly Engaging Headlines For SEO

Maybe both are interesting to you but let’s consider that they both get cut off after 60 characters, so now you see: 

1. Complete Guide to Writing Incredible SEO Headlines

2. Though It Can Be Tricky, There's A Way To Write Incredibly E

Which one can you be certain conveys the information you are looking for? It’s a reason why character counts matter, especially if you target users through SEO. 

The Importance of Optimizing Page Titles

Optimizing page titles goes beyond mere SEO considerations. It's about crafting titles that resonate and compel them to take action. A well-optimized title can significantly impact click-through rates, conversion rates, and search visibility. Here's a real-world example:

An eco-friendly company could optimize its product page title to appeal to its consumers. "Clean Green: Transform Your Home with Sustainable Cleaning Solutions"

The character count is long, but the title is compelling. Think of your headline as your elevator pitch or the packaging on the shelf at a supermarket. You don’t have the real estate or the time to display every value-add of your product. You have a limited time and space to make your case.

Overview of Baseline Formulas for SEO Title Writing

Crafting compelling page titles often follows a baseline formula that incorporates key elements for maximum impact. Let's explore some tried-and-tested strategies with examples:

Placing Primary Keyword at the Beginning: "Best Italian Restaurants in [City]: Your Guide to Authentic Dining"

Including Brand Name in the Title: "Experience Luxury Travel with [Your Brand Name]: Unforgettable Adventures Await"

Enhancing Titles with Special Characters: "Unleash Your Creativity: The Ultimate Guide to DIY Projects [Free Ebook]"

Creating a Sense of Urgency in Titles: "Last Chance: Save 50% on Select Items This Weekend Only"

Highlighting Unique Selling Proposition (USP) Towards the End: "Discover [Your Brand's USP]: The Secret to Radiant Skin Revealed"

Crafting Titles that Drive Clicks and Conversions Using Formulas

Tailoring your titles to different types of content and pages requires a strategic approach. Let's explore some tailored formulas with examples:

Category Pages: "Shop Now and Save Big: Explore Our Latest Collection of [Product Category]"

Product Pages: "Transform Your Workspace: Introducing the [Product Name] – Order Now and Elevate Your Productivity"

Blog Posts: "Unlock the Power of [Topic]: [Number] Proven Strategies to [Desirable Outcome]"

Monitoring Keyword Rankings

Regularly monitoring keyword rankings is essential for evaluating the effectiveness of your title optimizations. Utilize tools like Google Search Console to track keyword performance and identify opportunities for improvement. Here's how it works:

Using Google Search Console, you can track the performance of targeted keywords over time, identify trends, and measure the impact of title optimizations on search visibility. In addition to your keyword ranking, look at Google Search Console to understand the click-through rate of the keyword as well. That’s going to tell you two things: 

  1. Does the headline you created match the user intent? 
  2. Are people finding the title itself attractive enough to click on it? 

To be clear, data in the Google search console doesn’t give you benchmarks, so it’s impossible to know how your CTR compares to the others in the top spots. You also need to factor in if there are rich snippets or ads above your content, which might affect your overall CTR. 

However, if you are finding that you have a particularly low CTR, then you need to make a plan to correct this. 

Conclusion

Crafting headlines that captivate audiences and drive meaningful engagement is both an art and a science. By understanding the principles of effective title writing and leveraging proven strategies for optimization, you can elevate your content's visibility, attract more clicks, and ultimately drive conversions. Embrace the art of the headline, experiment with different formulas, and watch as your content resonates with audiences and achieves tangible results in the competitive online landscape.

Contact us now for expert guidance on crafting compelling titles and optimizing your SEO strategy for maximum impact.

Published by Michael Cahill in Content Planning, SEO Strategy
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February 5, 2024 — No Comments

Link-Building 101: Strategies for Building High-Quality Backlinks

Link building can be important but it’s certainly not easy. Companies that have been around for decades may have millions of backlinks and so trying to catchup can feel daunting and overwhelming. 

But since you have to start somewhere we’re going to go over the good, bad and ugly of Link Building, how do it and whether or not you should use one of the many backlinking companies out there. 

Link building refers to the practice of acquiring hyperlinks from other websites to your own. These hyperlinks, commonly known as "backlinks," play a crucial role in SEO by enhancing your website's authority and relevance. In essence, it's like building a web of connections across the internet that lead back to your site.

There are two primary types of links to consider:

Internal Links: These links connect different pages within the same website. They help users navigate your site and distribute authority and ranking power throughout your content. Internal links create a cohesive and organized structure within your website.

Backlinks: Also known as inbound or incoming links, these are links from external websites that point to your site. High-quality backlinks from reputable sources can significantly boost your website's SEO performance. Think of backlinks as votes of confidence from other websites in your content.

A Vote of Confidence:

Search engines view high-quality backlinks as a vote of confidence in your website's content. When authoritative and relevant websites link to your pages, it signals to search engines that your content is valuable and trustworthy. It's like respected experts vouching for your knowledge.

Improved Rankings:

Websites with solid backlink profiles tend to rank higher in search engine results. This leads to increased organic traffic, better domain authority, and higher conversion rates for your site. Imagine your website as a well-reputed library that attracts more visitors and scholars because of its rich collection of references.

Not all backlinks are created equal. To build a robust backlink profile, you should focus on acquiring different types of backlinks, including:

Editorial Backlinks: Links earned naturally through high-quality content. These are like endorsements from experts in your field.

Guest Post Backlinks: Links acquired by writing guest posts on relevant websites. It's akin to being invited to speak at a prestigious conference.

Resource Page Backlinks: Links from resource pages that list valuable industry resources. Think of these as your work being included in the best textbooks.

Business Profile Backlinks: Links from business listings and directories. It's like having your business listed in the Yellow Pages.

Social Profile Backlinks: Links from social media profiles. These are like personal recommendations from friends.

Forum and Blog Comment Backlinks: Links earned through engaging in discussions on forums and blogs. It's similar to actively participating in academic debates.

Use tools like Ahrefs, Moz, or SEMrush to discover the number and quality of backlinks pointing to your site. This will help you assess your current backlink profile and identify areas for improvement. It's like conducting an audit of your academic references.

Regularly monitor your backlinks to ensure they remain relevant and high-quality. Disavow toxic or spammy backlinks that can harm your SEO efforts. Think of it as maintaining the quality of your references in a research paper.

I can’t tell you how many companies we’ve seen that don’t pay attention to their backlinks and then they are inundated with thousands of spammy links. That can be a nightmare to clean up and can wreak havoc on your reputation with Google. As a rule of thumb we advise our clients to let us check backlink profiles every 3-6 months depending on the size of the website. 

Think of it like going to the dentist: regular checkups keep big problems at bay. 

Choose the Relevant Industry

Focus on building links from websites and publications relevant to your industry or niche. These links carry more weight in search engine algorithms, just like citing industry-specific research in your academic work.

Define Content Targeting

Create content that naturally attracts backlinks by providing valuable, informative, and unique insights. High-quality content is more likely to be linked to other websites. Think of it as publishing groundbreaking research that others want to reference.

Set Goals and KPIs

Establish specific goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) for your link-building efforts. These could include the number of backlinks acquired, improvements in search rankings, or increased organic traffic. It's like setting research milestones to measure your academic progress.

The goal shouldn’t be quantity. It should be quality. So five high-quality backlinks a month is worth more than 50 low-quality backlinks in a day. 

Monitor and Report

Regularly track your progress and report on the success of your link-building campaign. Adjust your strategy based on the data and insights you gather. Think of it as peer-reviewing your academic work and improving based on feedback.

Guest Posting

Guest posting involves writing content for other websites in your industry. In return, you can include a backlink to your site within the article, establishing your authority and gaining exposure to a broader audience. It's like collaborating with other scholars to co-author research papers.

Let’s be clear here that simply putting an article on another site isn’t a good way to operate. But forming a relationship with another publication where you can add value and serve their audience is a great way to build backlinks. 

Outreaching Influencers

Identify key influencers in your niche and reach out to them for collaboration. Influencers can share your content or provide valuable backlinks from their websites. It's akin to co-authoring with renowned experts in your field.

Find broken or outdated backlinks on other websites and offer to replace them with updated, relevant content from your site. This approach benefits both parties and is similar to updating and expanding existing academic research.

Social Media

Leverage your social media presence to promote your content and encourage sharing. While social media links may not directly impact SEO, they can increase your content's visibility and reach. It's like presenting your academic work at conferences and sharing it with your academic network.

As you embark on your journey to build high-quality backlinks for your website, you might come across various backlink services that promise a quick and easy solution. While these services can be tempting, it's essential to approach them with caution and a critical eye.

Time Efficiency: Backlink services can save you time by taking on the task of acquiring backlinks for you.

Expertise: Some reputable backlink services have experience and knowledge in link building.

Access to Resources: They may have connections and resources that you might not have on your own.

Quality Control: The biggest concern with backlink services is the quality of the backlinks they provide. Low-quality or spammy backlinks can harm your website's SEO rather than help it.

Transparency: Some services may not be transparent about their methods, making it difficult to gauge the legitimacy of the backlinks they acquire.

Risk of Penalties: Search engines like Google constantly update their algorithms to penalize websites using unnatural or manipulative link-building tactics. If a backlink service engages in such practices, your website could face penalties.

Vetting a Backlink Service:

If you decide to use a backlink service, be sure to vet them carefully:

Check Reputation: Look for reviews and testimonials from other users to gauge the service's reputation.

Ask Questions: Inquire about their link-building methods, ensuring they follow ethical and white-hat SEO practices.

Transparency: Ensure the service provides detailed reports on their acquired backlinks, including the source websites.

Quality Assurance: Verify the quality of backlinks they promise by checking the authority and relevance of the linking domains.

Monitor Results: Continuously monitor the impact of the backlinks on your website's SEO performance. If you notice any adverse effects, take swift action.

In conclusion, link building is a vital aspect of SEO that can significantly boost your website's visibility and credibility. By understanding the importance of high-quality backlinks and implementing a proven link-building strategy, you can improve your search engine rankings, increase organic traffic, and enhance your online presence. So, start building those high-quality backlinks today to propel your website to new heights in the digital landscape.

With years of experience in the industry, we understand the importance of quality over quantity when it comes to backlinks. Contact us today to discuss how we can enhance your website's visibility and credibility in the digital landscape. Let's connect!

Published by Michael Cahill in Optimization, SEO Strategy
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February 5, 2024 — No Comments

How to Optimize for Google’s Featured Snippets

Featured snippets are a coveted spot in Google's search results. They provide concise answers to user queries right at the top of the page, often referred to as "position zero." In this comprehensive guide, we will explore what featured snippets are, their value, the various types, and strategies to optimize your content to earn this prime real estate in search results.

Featured snippets are a prominent feature in search results that display a concise answer to a user's query without requiring them to click on a specific search result. These snippets aim to provide quick and relevant information to searchers. There are three main types of featured snippets:

Paragraph Snippets: These snippets provide a brief paragraph that answers a specific question. They often start with phrases like "In short" or "According to."

List Snippets: List snippets display a numbered or bulleted list format to answer questions that require a step-by-step explanation.

Table Snippets: Table snippets present data in a tabular format, often used to compare items, statistics, or prices.

Optimizing for featured snippets offers several compelling advantages for your website:

Increased Organic Traffic: Securing a featured snippet can lead to a significant boost in organic traffic, as your content is prominently displayed at the top of the search results.

Improved Brand Visibility: Featuring in position zero establishes your brand as an authority in your field, enhancing brand visibility and trust.

Establishing Industry Authority: Earning featured snippets demonstrates your expertise, reinforcing your industry authority and credibility.

To delve deeper into local SEO strategies, check out our upcoming blog on Local SEO Services You Need to Know.

Paragraph Snippets

To increase your chances of appearing in paragraph snippets, follow these strategies:

Structured Content: Structure your content with clear headings and subheadings.

Concise Answers: Provide concise and direct answers to commonly asked questions.

Keyword Optimization: Include target keywords in your content, especially in the opening paragraph.

Use of Headers: Properly format your content with relevant headers and subheaders.

List Snippets

For list snippets, consider the following tactics:

Clear Formatting: Use numbered or bulleted lists to present information clearly.

Answer User Questions: Craft content that directly answers frequently asked questions.

Optimize Headers: Ensure your list items are clear and concise.

Formatting Matters: Proper formatting plays a crucial role in list snippets.

Table Snippets

To enhance your chances of getting table snippets, keep these tips in mind:

Structured Data Markup: Implement structured data markup, such as schema.org, for your tables.

Data Presentation: Present data in a tabular format, making it easy for search engines to interpret.Relevance: Ensure your table is relevant to the user's query.

According to a study by Ahrefs, featured snippets can significantly impact click-through rates (CTR). The study found that when a featured snippet appears, the click-through rate for the first organic result drops by an average of 19.6%.

Optimizing Content for Featured Snippets

Research Keywords and Competitors

Effective keyword research and competitor analysis are essential for earning featured snippets. Identify relevant keywords and examine what competitors are doing to target them.

Understand User Intent

To earn featured snippets, align your content with user search intent. Identify the type of information users seek and provide concise answers.

On-Page Optimization

Optimize key on-page elements such as title tags, meta descriptions, headers, and content structure. Learn more about this in our blog on How to Write SEO Titles with Examples (2023) and Your Cheat Sheet for Picking the Right Keywords for Your Business.

Content Formatting

Implement best practices for formatting content, including using relevant headings, subheadings, and bullet points. Position keywords strategically, especially at the beginning of your content.

For a step-by-step guide on optimizing your content for maximum visibility, read our blog on How to Use AI to Effectively Create a Content Strategy.

Answering Common Questions

Identify commonly asked questions related to your content and provide clear and concise answers within your content.

Technical Considerations

Website Speed and Mobile Optimization

Ensure your website loads quickly and is mobile-friendly. Google prioritizes mobile optimization, and site speed affects user experience.

To learn more about the importance of mobile optimization, check out our upcoming blog on Why Mobile Optimization is Crucial for SEO in 2023.

Structured Data Markup

Implement structured data markup using schema.org for different types of featured snippets. This enhances the visibility of your content in search results.

Explore the benefits of schema markup in our upcoming blog on The Benefits of Schema Markup for SEO.

Tracking and Measuring Success

Use various tools and techniques to monitor your content's performance in featured snippets. Measure the impact of featured snippets on organic traffic and user engagement.

Iterative Optimization

Continuously analyze data, identify areas for improvement, and make iterative changes to enhance your content's performance in featured snippets.

In conclusion, optimizing for Google's featured snippets can provide a significant advantage in SEO. By understanding the types of snippets, employing optimization strategies, and keeping up with technical considerations, you can increase your chances of appearing in position zero, driving organic traffic, and establishing authority in your niche. Start optimizing your content for featured snippets today to take your SEO efforts to the next level.

If you’re interested in optimizing your website for SEO and figuring out how to grow organic traffic you can reach out at michael@loupeandblade.com and we can schedule a 30 minute meeting to discuss options for you. No cost/no obligation.

Published by Michael Cahill in SEO Strategy
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January 30, 2024 — No Comments

Optimizing Your Website for Highly Competitive Keywords

You want to rank high for keywords that matter. Welcome to the club. Everyone who owns a website hopes they can rank for high-traffic, high-converting keywords. They want to sell products, get signups or leads at a low organic cost. 

Wanting this is one thing. Realizing this dream is an entirely different thing. 

So what do we do? 

FOCUS IN ON THE RIGHT KEYWORDS TO COMPETE FOR 

Your best bet is to focus on keywords already present on your site but may not living up to your expectations. 

First, know what your target keyword is. People want to compete for high-value keywords but they aren’t always a right fit for the site. Let’s use a scenario of someone who sells vacuum cleaners. You instinctively want to rank for “best pet vacuum cleaner.” You will need to do two things first before you proceed: 

You want to be sure that it makes sense for your business. Assuming you have a vacuum that is great at picking up pet hair and odor, then that makes a lot of sense. 

Make sure you have a claim to the best pet vacuum. Of course, things like “best” are subjective, but do you have great features that make it good for pets? Do you have reviews from satisfied customers who own pets? If you want to make claims like “best” “fastest” or “cheapest” you have to be able to qualify that on your site in some way. Otherwise, it’s false advertising. 

Let’s assume for a second you want to rank for more high-volume keywords but aren’t sure which ones to target. The easiest thing to do is to use a program like Ahrefs or SEMRush. 

SEMRush, in particular, has a good feature called “keyword gap analysis.” here’s how it works: 

You go to SEMRush, enter your website, and then compare it with a top competitor. In this case, it might be Bissel or Amazon. 

From there, SEMRush will let you know where you have overlapping keywords. It will also tell you where they have keywords that you have not optimized for. 

If you aren’t interested in doing a keyword gap analysis you can always look up a domain in Ahrefs or SEMRush. There you can see the keywords that a site ranks for. What has the most traffic potential and what has the most traffic for your competitor? That’s a great place to start. 

YOU FOUND YOUR TARGET KEYWORD. NOW WHAT? 

Good job on the first step. You’ve zeroed in on something that makes sense for you and your business. The next step is to evaluate what to do about it. 

Go into Google Search Console, and you can filter by query in the “Search Results” tab. There you are going to be able to see whether you already have any traffic or impressions from that keyword. Why are you doing this? Well, even though you don’t rank highly for it, it’s important. If you rank for it at all, then that’s a good place to start, and you can zero in on the page it’s present on. If not, then you have a blank slate. 

Let’s assume there is some page on the site that you already rank for “Best pet vacuum cleaners.” Let’s go ahead and assume it’s a very low ranking with little impressions and little traffic. If that’s the case, then your next step is to see what page that ranking shows up on. This is helpful because you'll know whether you should work on improving that page or start a whole new page. More on that in a few minutes. 

If you have no record of that keyword in the Google search console, now we can start from scratch. You should see if there are any pages that bring in a good deal of search traffic. We’re going to want to see if it makes sense to try and build out that page to rank for “Best Pet Vacuum Cleaner.” 

YOU RANK ON AN EXISTING PAGE. WHAT NOW? 

So you going to look at that page. Let’s say it’s this page: bradsvacuums.com/bissel410. That’s a vacuum cleaner with a pet-hair removal function. 

First, evaluate if this page makes sense to rank highly for that query. Just because there’s some traction already doesn’t mean it’s the right decision to turn the focus of that page to pets. Maybe that vacuum already gets a lot of traffic for dirt and crumbs. Changing the focus of that page to put an emphasis on pets could hurt the rankings of other keywords. 

Assuming you have room to grow on that page, emphasizing pets is a smart move. From there it’s about updating the content on that page. How do we do that? By reimagining the page as dedicated to pets, Let’s start from the top and work our way down. 

Page Title. It might make sense to update your page title with the keyword you are looking to target. Always remember that your title is one of the most important elements on the page. So, making sure it reflects your target keyword is ideal. 

Sub-headings. Use subheadings to work in your primary keyword but also in any related keywords. If you notice that “best pet vacuum cleaner” is tied with “vacuum for pet hair,” then add in those keywords as well. 

Subheadings are everything from the H2, H3, and H4 tags. Depending on the layout of your page, you may have a lot of information on the page structured in headings. Make sure to use them. 

Body. The main content is more important than anything. This is where you can get primary and secondary keywords. A word of caution: you need to make each keyword matter for the page. Writing the word “best pet vacuum cleaner” on the page isn’t enough. Anyone can do that. It won’t make your page any better. 

Think about how to incorporate it into the body of the page itself. Is your vacuum is great and you want to highlight its value to a pet owner? Have a bullet list of what it can pick up. Lay out the pets that it’s good for. Explain why the vacuum is so good at picking up pet dirt and debris. The more detail you can give about the vacuum the better off we’ll be. 

You have to make it count. 

There are some other places where you can consider adding the focus keyword. 

Meta Description. This tells Google what the page is about. So feel free to include that. 

Image Alt Text. You can add the focus keyword in there.

A good rule of thumb: if it feels like you're trying too hard to get those keywords in then you are. That will come across in the text. 

YOU NEED TO CREATE A PAGE FROM SCRATCH 

So, let’s say you find the keyword you want to own. You look at your Google Search Console, and realize that you don’t have a page on your website that makes sense. Some of them get good traffic for a completely different keyword. Others don’t match the style and intent. So what do you do? 

You have to start from scratch. The curse is you don’t have an existing page to latch onto. The blessing is that you have a blank canvas to optimize the page. The first thing to do is look at the search engine results page and figure out what is there already. 

Of course, you are making note of the publishers or companies that have space there. What you are looking for is the pages themselves. You want to click into the results that sit in those first 5-10 positions and make a series of evaluations. 

What is the page? Is it an informational page on what a pet vacuum cleaner is? Is it a product page? Is it a listicle that has all the best pet vacuums on the market? 

Pay attention to these results and be sure that you can create a page that is similar in tone and style. You don’t want to copycat, but you don’t want to try and make something that doesn’t fit.  If every result is a listicle, it may be difficult for your single product page to do well. Not that you can’t try, but you should go into it aware of what you are up against. 

How comprehensive is it? Some pages rank at the top with a couple hundred words. Others, especially in academic or medical, will have thousands of words. 

Don’t get too tied to word count. We don’t believe that it’s a factor all by itself. Just because your page has 5000 more words than mine doesn’t mean that you will outrank me. It comes down to content and intent. Still, understand the level of information people give about that product. 

Amazon product listings have thousands of words on their page. You should understand how much information you might want to have on yours. 

Look for special elements on the page. Do they have videos? Infographics? Customer testimonials? What do they have that you can bring over to your page experience? 

What you’re doing here is getting everything together. You’re assessing what it’s going to take in order to get a page you want to create to rank. Understand it’ll take more than a beautiful and thoughtful page to rank. However, this is going to tell you what is generally resonating with the audience. 

REMEMBER THIS WHEN CREATING A PAGE

Don’t add things for the sake of adding them. That page should be valuable to the user and not filled with add-ons because you think it’ll matter. 

Make it useful. Quality pages are helpful from top to bottom. Know what the intent of the page is and deliver that to its fullest. If you can do that, then everything else should work out for you. 

NOW YOU’VE GOT YOUR TARGET PAGE - LINK, LINK, LINK

Perfect. You’ve either updated your existing page, or you’ve created a brand new one from scratch. Now, we want to make that page accessible. Many people will create a beautiful page or update an existing one. They sit back and wait for the magic to happen. 

Let’s make sure you link. It’s important to link to your page. The more your page is signaled to Google and the more the user sees it, the better off you’ll be. Think of it this way: you want Google to think your page is special, right? You want Google to know how much you love your page and think it provides value to the reader. If that’s the case and you can’t find your page anywhere, how special do you think Google should think it is? You can’t claim to be the most popular kid at your school if you don’t talk to anyone. 

Link everywhere. Here are some basic tips for linking that new or existing page. 

Add it to the navigation. This isn’t a must especially if you have a site with a pretty organized site structure. If this page foundational then giving it prime placement will increase its visability. 

Add it to the homepage. There are ways to do this other than through the navigation. You can put this as a link anywhere on the homepage it makes sense. You can add it to the footer of the homepage. The homepage is a very important part of Google’s crawling so you want to make sure it’s added there. 

Highly related pages. Of course, you can put this link anywhere you want but it works best if you put it inside of closely related pages. For instance, if this is a product page make sure it’s on the relevant category page. I

If this is an information page then make sure that you put it inside the product page of the product itself. 

If there are other pages that deal with aspects that you cover on this page then adding it there makes sense as well. 

Add it to any and all pages. If it is an important part of your business strategy then have it available everywhere. The more places it exists, the more places it gets seen. The more places it gets seen, the easier it’s going to be for the people to find it. 

Any partner pages. This is much easier said than done. There’s a whole world out there on backlinks. For now, take the advice that if you have any levers to pull there, then you should do so. If you know a company that is willing to add your link to their site, then it’s a good time to call in that favor. One backlink likely won’t change anything but it won’t hurt anything either. The more external sites of value link to your content the better off you’ll be. 

Finally, you have to give it time. Competitive search keywords weren’t conquered in a day. You need to be patient and give things time so Google can crawl it and figure out what to do. If you expect results in a few days, you’ll be disappointed. 

We can help you rank for those competitive keywords. Email at michael@loupeandblade.com. We’d love to have a free consultation with you and see what options might be best for your business.

Published by Michael Cahill in Content Planning, Optimization
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January 17, 2024 — No Comments

Why Content Quality Matters More Than Ever for SEO

There is no shortage of blog posts and videos talking about Google ranking signals. Backlinks, internal linking keyword placement, and more. All identified factors matter when it comes to seeing results in search. These are all true, by the way. What you do well in the aggregate matters more than any one signal…except for quality. 

We often overlook the idea of quality when it comes to SEO. People care about primary and secondary keywords. They focus on internal linking or old-school tactics to get high placement. People will guest post on blogs or spend a fortune on backlink companies. They often fail to ask themselves the most important and fundamental question for SEO: is it good? 

It’s the most critical metric when it comes to SEO. We'll show you why and how to use it when creating content. 

SHIFTING FROM KEYWORD-FOCUSED to USER-FOCUSED STRATEGIES 

There was a time when it didn’t matter what you said as long as you said it within the right keyword context. Keywords were the password to open doors to higher rankings. Want to rank for “Best Running Shoes?” You better have that in the title. 

Those days are long gone and while keywords matter to some extent, they aren’t what matters most. Google has gone from relying on keywords to surface the best content to focusing on quality. 

In 2014, Google introduced E-A-T. Expertise. Authority. Trust. This was to combat years of black hat SEO tactics. EAT is the cornerstone of any good piece of content. You’re reading this blog because you think I have some credibility to write about SEO and marketing. You wouldn’t read an article from me on cancer prevention or managing diabetes. Even if I thought I knew something about that, I’m not an expert. I have no expertise authority and shouldn't be trusted by anyone as a source worth consulting. 

Since 2014, Google has only doubled down on those metrics as a cornerstone of their algorithm. Look at the Quality Rater Guidelines (actually released in 2013). It's filled with instructions for spotting quality. Everything from verifying the author to spotting things like misspellings and punctuation problems. There are mentions of things like links, but for the most part, it’s all couched in the conversation of quality. 

Future algorithm updates have furthered the quest for quality. They send SEOs like me into a panic, but their intent is good. 

In 2018, Google released the Medic Update. This meant to address pages in the Your Money, Your Life(YMYL) section. This meant financial and health information would be further scrutinized.

This helped address a few things: 

Sites that claimed to be safe were selling products that could compromise safety. 

Sites that have a negative reputation. 

Sites that had negative reviews or no reviews compared to their competitors. 

Fast forward to 2023, and the “helpful content update” went live. This was another significant impact on the world of quality. The aim was at sites that were writing content to rank in Google. They weren’t addressing users' questions. They weren’t providing an experience on-page that left users satisfied. It’s the kind of site we’ve all seen. You type a question into Google, get a page in return that repeats the question or answers it vaguely. 

The goal was to try and aim users toward sites that put thought and care into their answers. Sites that were credible. Sites that provide you with the right information.

With all updates results are hit or miss on the helpful content. SEO experts continue to see some low-quality sites get high-quality rankings. Google is always progressing. Sometimes that progress is not linear.

SO WHAT IS QUALITY? 

This isn’t an easy answer. Quality can vary from topic to topic. The realm of pro wrestling might be a well-put-together slideshow with some rock-solid opinions. Medical information would need citations, studies, and an author or reviewer with a medical background to check the content. With everything else in SEO, the answer is always: it depends.

Simply put, quality is subject-dependent but not completely unique to each subject. While users can differ on which article they like, most users can spot a low-quality article.

Take an article from a financial institution. It contains solid opinions, an understanding of market trends, and case studies. You wouldn’t go to them for information on cancer screenings and treatment. If the institution attempted to do that, it would be substandard.

THE TRIAD OF GOOD CONTENT 

There are three things to consider when we think about quality. 

  1. Relevance. Is the content you are writing relevant for the time you are writing it in? An article that focuses on strategies for overcoming the Panda algorithm change would be outdated. A real estate article touting the interest rates of 2016 would be irrelevant as well. 

Good content contains information that applies to the time and place you're reading it in. This is why updating content is essential, especially for a blog that deals with a topic where information is ever-changing. 

  1. Depth. How much information can you supply on a given topic? People misunderstand the idea of depth in content. It’s not about how many words you can write; it’s about answering someone’s query to the fullest. Did you provide a complete and thorough answer to the question? Did you explain everything? If not, then it lacks depth. 

Say you are a real estate professional writing a blog on applying for a loan. You’d expect that article to have some information about credit scores, factors that affect your credit score, job stability, bank statements, and more. They might also include how interest rates affect loan applications, and how job loss or change can affect your ability to get a mortgage. Then, steps you might need to take to ensure that job loss or change doesn’t impact your ability to get approved.

  1. Uniqueness. There’s no sense in spending any amount of time pumping out the same exact article that is already at the top of Google. Unless your expertise is world-renowned, it won’t make a difference in the rankings. Your job is to create something that conveys similar information but feels different. 

If you’re walking through a loan application or mortgage underwriting process, there will be similar information. 

But there are things you can do. Pull added information from interviews or other relevant articles. Add a timeline or a checklist that a user might find helpful. Add a glossary or an FAQ. There are a lot of ways to differentiate your content, but it should be better or different to stand out. 

FACTORS THAT AFFECT QUALITY 

There is a litany of factors that affect the quality of your content. We’re going to touch on a few things here. You should keep these in mind when you are putting together content for a page on your website.

GRAMMAR and SPELLING

This seems pretty obvious, but we’ve all been to a page where it’s clear the person did not edit it. The spelling is substandard. The grammar is bad. It’s not hard to use a service like Grammarly Premium. This service costs around $90 a year and will help you fix a lot of the mistakes you might encounter. 

We would also recommend the Hemingway Editor. The editor costs $10 a month, and you might be able to buy it outright. It helps deal with long, confusing sentences and lets you know the grade level you are writing at. Your goal is to say less with more and make it simple for any audience to understand.

Editing can be time-consuming. What’s the point of writing content that won’t surface in search because you failed to edit it? 

Feel free to experiment with AI as an editing tool but be mindful. Sometimes A.I. doesn’t understand the nuance and style of human language. Make sure you reread what it edited and save an original version so you can return to it.

STRUCTURE 

Layout is so important. It’s not about subsections and making sure you have H2’s labeled. It’s about the organization of information. If you’ve ever read content that meanders, then you know that it’s so important how we organize information. 

Don’t be afraid to create an outline. Also, this is where AI can be helpful. They can take some context from you and rework it to something that makes more sense for your audience. Some tools help make every aspect of creating compelling content easier. They are all either free or low-cost.

TIPS FOR CREATING HIGH-QUALITY CONTENT

Comprehensive Keyword Research And Analysis- 

This is essential because you have to know who you are talking to. Are you talking to someone on the higher end of your funnel? Are you talking to a person at the lowest point in your funnel? 

How are you reaching them? Are you using a query like “best tips for mortgage” or “mortgage application tips?” 

It might seem so similar that it doesn’t matter. It does. The related keywords, and the type of content that ranks near the top can matter. All these things will play a part in how the content is constructed. So be smart and do in-depth keyword research. We go in-depth on this in another post, so please make sure you check that out. There’s a stiff penalty to pay for not getting the keywords right.

Crafting Engaging and Informative Headlines

Think of this as the packaging when you’re walking through a store. It doesn’t matter if the product is great if the packaging is so bad you become disinterested or don’t notice it at all. 

The headline is your opportunity to grab the attention of your target audience. You can sell them on why a click matters here. You don’t have to resort to insane hyperbole and clickbait, but a vanilla headline isn’t the answer either. Be enticing and honest. Give the reader what they expect but with the most style possible. It’s a difficult needle to thread, but with practice, you will get there.

Update As Needed 

Even the best piece of content can feel outdated after some time. Do yourself a favor and update your articles on a regular basis. The key to providing high-quality content is to make sure you are auditing the information. 

Back to the real estate scenario. Interest rates change. Markets change—the standards for a loan application change. Everything changes. Make sure that content reflects the latest and best information for your audience. 

Is the information changing? 

Are your solutions to help people change? 

Is there more context and information you can add that would improve the experience? 

Are there ways to make the information more digestible? 

Are there new tools available to make your content better?

Our recommendation is to revisit your content every six to twelve months. Give it a read and see if it makes sense to you. Does it hold up? 

Don’t update for the sake of updating. You might take a great piece of content and turn it into a substandard piece of content all in the name of updating. When you feel like your piece can be better, make it better.

HOW TO USE SEO TOOLS AND GOOGLE TO MEASURE QUALITY 

Quality is subjective, but we can use tools to improve our content. SEO tools, search console, and analytics help us understand elements we can improve.

  1. Use Google Search Console to check on queries and search traffic over time. Here’s a screenshot. In the “search results” tab on GSC, you can filter by page:

Paste the URL of the article you have written after a few weeks and see what it’s ranking for. That should inform changes you can make to your content.

  1. Is it ranking for the intended queries? 
  2. What query is getting the most clicks? 
  3. What is the universal position of those queries? 

If something doesn’t fit then ask yourself why. If your intended query isn’t in there, then ask yourself if you optimized for that keyword. The article you wrote might not meet the intent of the user. 

2. Use Google Analytics to Give You Key Article Metrics. If GA4 you can use the “Engagement” and then  “Landing Page” sections to isolate your URL. Again, give GA4 time to process and gather data on your content. But in time, you can see key metrics such as: 

  1. Average engagement time per session. This tells you how long people are engaging with your content. 
  2. Conversions. If your page aims to drive signups or purchases, was it successful at doing that? 
  3. Bounce rate. What percentage of users bounced off the page? 

Make sure that use the date range to look at these over time. Because there’s definitely data and insights to learn as you look at trends over time. 

  • If your engagement rate has fallen in the last three months, why? Did you make changes to your website or the page itself? Was there an algorithm update? Has your site traffic fallen? Is this single-page part of a more significant trend? 

3. Use SEO tools on your website to help you determine if other changes need to be made. Companies like Yoast have all-in-one SEO tools. These tools are good at showing you if you are hitting certain SEO metrics. 

  1. They might tell you if you have included your focus keyword enough. 
  2. They can tell you if your headline is the right length for search. 
  3. It will help you with the right meta-description length as well. 
  4. It can tell you if you’ve included your focus keyword in the introduction.

There’s a host of information out there that these plugins can provide. 

Stop asking yourself if you have the right keywords. Or you’re asking yourself if the H2’s are optimized then take a step back and ask “Is it good?” Because that is what makes good marketing. That is what makes good content for SEO. While there are some very helpful tools to give you a leg up in the details, don’t ignore the heart of the matter. 

If you have questions or just need a quick conversation about your marketing strategy you can book a free 15-minute consultation. We’re always here to help.

Published by Michael Cahill in Content Planning
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January 9, 2024 — No Comments

Proven Strategies To Discovering The Perfect Keywords For Your Content

Let’s paint a picture for you. You’re trying to build your websites SEO. You know that if you can bring customers in the door organically you’ll supercharge sales and lower your customer acquisition cost. This is exactly the right idea. 

You only have one problem? You don’t know how to do that right. You aren’t sure how to pick the right keywords. You aren’t sure how to figure out which keyword is the right keyword to use. 

Please don’t dispair. This happens all the time. Everyone who tells you “SEO is easy” has never had to actually map out an SEO strategy. You make one wrong move and it’s hours of time and money out of your pocket all for a venture with on return on investment. 

We’re going to help you out. Here are strategies you can use to find the right keywords for your business. 

  1. Understand Your Buyers Journey - It doesn’t matter if you sell shoes or lifecoaching services. Every customer has a journey. They have something that they google when  they aren’t sure what they need. They have something to google when the need becomes clearer. They have something to google when the choice becomes obvious to them. It’s your job to figure it out and lay it out there.
  1. What does someone search for when they want to find your business without knowing who you are? This can be something simple like “life coach New York City” or “Mens running shoes under $100 dollars.” It’s your job to know what those keywords look like. 
  2. What does someone search for when they are close to making a decision? What do they search for right before directly searching for your business?  Is it something like “how does a life coach help you?” or “Can a life coach help with my marriage?” It could be “best running shoes that aren’t expensive” or “how much should good running shoes cost?” 
  3. What does someone search for when they first start their buying journey? How about when they are beginning the sales cycle? Do they search for “how to find a mentor to help with my career” or “how to recharge your mindset?” Could also be “when do you know you need new running shoes?” or “How to improve your mile time for a 5k?”

The goal here is to understand how to figure out the funnel. That’s what you’re supposed to be doing. That will be the most important part of building a keyword funnel that matters.

  1. Understand how your target page fits into the buyers journey. "the value of replacing running shoes" or "the advantages of a life coach" are the middle part of the funnel. So loading it up with keywords like “life coach near me” or “running shoes under $100 dollars” might seem out of place.

Where your page sits tells you the kinds of keywords and the mindset of the user you are targeting. It can also help you do other things such as set goals. A page targeted to the bottom funnel user should convert well. Pages for top-funnel users convert poorly. They might do well for a newsletter or PDF that they can download.

2. Understand how your target page fits into the buyers journey. "the value of replacing running shoes" or "the advantages of a life coach" are the middle part of the funnel. So loading it up with keywords like “life coach near me” or “running shoes under $100 dollars” might seem out of place.

  1. If you have a competitor in mind then you can start with their best page that would be like yours. Keep in mind because you like a competitor doesn’t mean they are doing well in search. You should consult a software like SEMRush or Ahrefs before proceeding.
  2. The other option is to google the keyword or phrase you think is most relevant and see the results that come up. From there you can take that exact page and run it through the search software to see the relevant keywords.
  3. You’ll likely see a lot of keywords. If the page has a large amount of traffic it’s not uncommon to see thousands of keywords. Don't get caught up in every keyword. Instead isolate the 3-5 keywords that would make the most sense to copy and reuse.

3. Use the Keyword gap analysis - This is something that is exclusive to Ahrefs. Rather than walk through step-by-step we can let Ahrefs walk you through it themselves.

4. There’s no shortage of SEO software that does keyword research for you. So let’s dive into what that looks like.

  1. You have to know what your general idea is for a keyword. All these software solutions provide very good keyword options. They can’t, however, tell you what keyword is right for your customer. Only you can.
  2. You can use the keyword research tool on any SEO software and it’s going to give you key information. Some platforms may differ but look for signs such as:
    1. Keyword difficulty. This might be the most important. If you have a new website or are beginning to craft SEO then look for keywords that have a low difficulty score. You can win on harder keywords in time but the lift to do so will be enormous. Focus on keywords that rank as “easy” by the software metrics.
    2. Keyword volume. Of course the more volume the harder it is to rank. On the flip side the easiest keywords usually have the least amount of volume. You’re looking for something that is easy with a reasonable amount of traffic. Small traffic on bottom-funnel pages could mean sales for your business. 
    3. SERP results. Most keyword programs will show you SERPs. Be weary of keywords that claim decent traffic and “easy” difficulty. Sometimes, the SERPS suggest otherwise. A few things to keep in mind when looking at the SERPs:
      1. Are there lots of ads? If so then even cracking the top 3 search results might not pay off as you would hope. 
      2. Are the domains that rank highest well known? If a keyword is “easy” but your top results are WebMD and Mayo Clinic, for example, good luck. 
      3. Do the high ranking articles have lots of backlinks? Backlinks aren’t a 1:1 correlation of SEO success. What that should tell you,  though, is these articles are widely circulated and that takes time and/or money.
  3. Look for "related keywords" and “questions.” These are valuable places to see both the keyword you want and keywords that are often related. Make note of everything. Questions are also good. Sometimes a question is what your page should be about. In any regard write down anything you see that looks interesting.
  4. Don't go down the rabbit hole. When you search for a query like “men’s shoes” you’ll get thousands of keywords. Stick to what you know your customer will want. Stick to keywords that sound like something you would use. Stick to keywords you know you can create great content around. You can waste hours, resources and money chasing bad keywords. Kept your interests limited and you’ll be great.

5. Consider Using AI. If AI is the future of marketing then why not put it to work now. We use AI to aid in our keyword research. We find it especially helpful with more complicated search projects. Here’s a quick example we encountered recently.

  1. We were working for a Global Publisher in need of SEO help. They wanted to create search articles around topics that mattered to specific regions. So we asked ChatGPT to give us the top 5-10 issues that the country is struggling with right now. We gut checked the issues (sometimes GPT can be wrong) and then we went to work. We asked ChatGPT to give us 10-20 keywords related to each issue. Then 10-20 questions related to those issues. This gave us a treasure trove of interesting content that we could pass along to the client. 
  2. You might not be dealing with global issues and in that case AI is even easier to use. Here’s how you should think about it:
    1. Ask ChatGPT to create a list of X related keywords to your primary topic 
    2. Ask ChatGPT to create a list of X topics related to your primary keyword (or each keyword depending on how expansive you want to get)
    3. Ask ChatGPT to put them into a table and write the search intent next to each one.

A word of caution on number 3. ChatGPT will sometimes tell you it can’t give you search volume. It can but you might have to ask it a few times and in a few different ways. Be patient. The functionality exists. You might just need to feel it out.

6. Use SEO tools for on-page analyzer.

  1. Tools such as SEOlyze, SEMRush and Ahrefs are helpful aides. They allow you to input a landing page and seeing missing SEO elements. Let’s talk about SEMRush and their “On-Page SEO Checker”
    1. Here you can put in your domain. They add your landing page. For each one they will offer ideas. 
    2. Might be structured data that you need to improve.
    3. Could be keyword cannibalization 
    4. It could tell you when it believes you’ve used a target keyword too often.
    5. It will also let you know when you have keywords you could add the page. 

For instance I put in an article on pool shock and it tells me the following keywords could be added:

  1. Ph levels
  2. Pool chemical 
  3. Chlorine levels
  4. Pool surfaces
  5. Pool parties 
  6. Shocking treatment
  7. Heavy pool
  8. Chlorine free
  9. Organic contaminants 
  10. Pool usage

b. One thing to keep in mind on semantic keywords. Just because they are recommended doesn’t always mean they are right for your page. You have to consider everything in the context of your page, your site and then your customer. But at the very least this should give you an opportunity to see what else you can be doing.

These are some of the proven ways that you can pick great keywords for your content. There’s no completely fool proof way to do it. You have to decide and determine what is right for you.

If you need help on an expert level, please let us know. You can fill out this contact form or email me at michael@loupeandblade.com to schedule a free consultation to discuss what strategies might be right for you. 

Published by Michael Cahill in Content Planning
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December 22, 2023 — No Comments

How to Create a Winning Paid Ads Campaign & Maximize ROI

Creating a successful paid ads campaign can be a daunting task, but when executed correctly, it can yield an impressive return on investment (ROI). In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore the intricacies of paid advertising, offer practical strategies to maximize ROI, and walk you through the steps to create a winning paid ad campaign.

What Is Paid Advertising?

Companies pay for advertising to display ads on various digital platforms to reach their target audience. Unlike organic methods, paid ads can guarantee visibility and are a key paid marketing strategy in digital marketing to drive traffic, generate leads, and increase sales. This form of advertising encompasses several formats, each with unique benefits and applications.

What Are the Types of Paid Ads?

1. Paid Search: These are ads that appear on search engine results pages. Google Ads is a prime example of what is paid media, where advertisers bid on keywords to display their ads to users actively searching for related terms.

2. Social Media Advertising: Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn offer extensive ad services. These paid advertising examples can be highly targeted based on user demographics, interests, and behaviors.

3. Banner Ads: These are visual ads displayed on websites, often at the top or sides of a web page. They're great for brand awareness and can be targeted based on the website's audience.

4. Native Ads: These ads match the look and feel of the content around them. They're less intrusive and can be found in social media feeds or as recommended content on web pages.

6 Tips on How to Maximize ROI on Paid Ads

#1 Stop Looking for New Shiny Things, Just Learn What Works

When trying to stay competitive in digital marketing, it's easy to get caught up in the latest trends and tools. However, the key to creating a winning paid ads campaign often lies in focusing on what has already been proven to work. This is where building a swipe file becomes invaluable.

The Importance of a Swipe File

A swipe file is a collection of successful ad examples that marketers use for inspiration and learning. It’s a tried and true method for understanding what works in the industry. By analyzing these examples, you can uncover patterns, strategies, and techniques that are effective in your niche or market.

Why Focus on Proven Strategies

Chasing new trends can be a gamble. While innovation is important, it's equally crucial to base your strategies on methods that have been tested and proven. This approach saves time and resources and significantly increases the likelihood of your campaign’s success.

Creating and Utilizing a Swipe File

  • Start Collecting: Whenever you come across an ad that catches your attention—whether it’s because of its compelling copy, striking visuals, or overall effectiveness—add it to your swipe file. Tools like Pinterest or a simple folder on your computer can serve as a good starting point.
  • Analyze and Learn: Regularly review the ads in your swipe file. Look for common themes, messaging strategies, design elements, and call-to-actions (CTAs) that resonate with audiences. Take notes on what aspects you find most compelling.
  • Utilize Tools Like FB Ads Library: Facebook Ads Library is a public database where you can view all active and inactive ads across Facebook products. This tool is especially useful for seeing how your competitors and other successful businesses craft ads. You can search by brand, topic, or keywords to find relevant examples.
  • Apply Insights to Your Campaigns: Use the insights gained from your swipe file to inform your ad creation and optimization. If you notice that a certain type of headline or image style is frequently used in successful ads, consider how you can incorporate similar elements in your own campaigns.
  • Keep It Updated: Digital marketing trends can shift quickly, so it’s important to continually update your swipe file with new and successful ads. This ensures that your strategies remain relevant and effective.

Swipe File Best Practices

  1. Diversify Your Collection: Include a variety of ads—different industries, platforms, and formats—to broaden your understanding of what works.
  2. Organize Your Swipe File: Categorize the ads based on different criteria like ad format, platform, or campaign goal to make it easy to find what you’re looking for.
  3. Stay Ethical: Remember, a swipe file is for inspiration and learning, not for direct copying. Always use the insights you gain to create original content.

By focusing on proven strategies and building a comprehensive swipe file, you can create more effective paid ad campaigns that resonate with your audience and maximize your ROI. This methodical approach to ad creation helps you cut through the noise and focus on what truly works in digital advertising.

#2 Utilize Analytics to Track Your Paid Advertising Performance

Consider these benefits of analyzing and tracking paid ads:

  • Informed Decision Making: Analytics provide concrete data that can guide your advertising decisions, helping you to invest more in what works and adjust what doesn’t.
  • Performance Tracking: Real-time tracking lets you see how your ads perform at any given moment, enabling quick adjustments to enhance their effectiveness.
  • ROI Measurement: Understanding your return on investment (ROI) is crucial. Analytics help calculate the ROI, ensuring that your spending translates into tangible results.
  • Audience Insights: Analytics can reveal detailed information about your audience, such as demographics, behaviors, and preferences, helping you to tailor your ads more effectively.

Key Metrics to Monitor

  • Impressions: This metric indicates how many times your ad was displayed. It’s a good measure of the reach of your ad, but it doesn’t indicate engagement.
  • Clicks: The number of clicks your ad receives indicates how engaging your ad is. More clicks usually mean your ad is relevant and appealing to your audience.
  • Conversions: This is perhaps the most critical metric. It measures the number of people who took the desired action after clicking your ad, like making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.
  • Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): ROAS measures the effectiveness of your ad campaign in terms of revenue generated for every dollar spent. It’s calculated by dividing the revenue generated from the ad by the cost of the ad.

Interpreting the Data

When analyzing your advertising metrics, it's crucial to understand the context of the data. For instance, high impressions and low clicks might suggest your ad isn't engaging enough to prompt user interaction. Always benchmark these metrics against the specific goals of your campaign. If brand awareness is your target, high impressions are favorable, but if you aim for sales conversions, the conversion rate becomes your most critical metric.

It's also important to identify trends in your data over time. Analyzing when and on which days your ads perform best can help optimize your ad scheduling for maximum impact. Additionally, segmenting your data by demographics, location, or device type can provide deeper insights into your audience's preferences and behaviors, allowing for more targeted and effective ad strategies.

Using Data to Optimize Campaigns

In optimizing your paid advertising strategy, consider adjusting your targeting to favor demographics or locations with better performance. This may involve reallocating your budget to focus more on these high-performing areas. Further, refine your ad content by using click-through rates as a benchmark to test different ad creatives. Continuously improve your ads by tailoring the style, message, and call-to-action to what resonates most with your audience.

Additionally, evaluate the performance of your ads across different platforms. If certain platforms yield better results than others, consider shifting your budget to these more successful platforms. Lastly, optimize conversion rate by adjusting elements like your landing pages, ad copy, and calls-to-action to better meet your audience’s expectations and needs, ultimately driving more conversions.

#3 Leverage Lookalike Audiences for Targeted Marketing

Leveraging lookalike audiences is a potent strategy in paid advertising, particularly for reaching potential customers who share characteristics similar to your current audience. This approach utilizes existing customer data to find new people likely to be interested in your products or services.

Understanding Lookalike Audiences

A lookalike audience is a group created by advertising platforms like Facebook that mirrors your existing audience’s characteristics. This method uses algorithms to analyze your source audience's traits, including demographics, interests, and behaviors and then finds new users with similar profiles.

Tips for Effective Use of Lookalike Audiences

  • Selecting the Right Source Audience: Your source audience, the group used to create the lookalike audience, should be of high quality. This could be your most loyal customers, highest spenders, or those who frequently engage with your content. The better the source audience, the more effective your lookalike audience will be.
  • Setting Appropriate Audience Size: While creating a lookalike audience, you can choose its size relative to the population of the targeted location. Smaller audiences more closely match your source audience, but larger ones increase your reach. It’s a balance between similarity and scale.
  • Refining Targeting Criteria: Besides lookalike features, incorporate additional targeting criteria such as geographic location or specific interests to fine-tune your audience.

Real-Life Success Stories

Many businesses have seen remarkable results with lookalike audiences. For instance, an e-commerce brand targeting a lookalike audience based on its high-value customers saw a significant increase in conversion rates and a decrease in cost per acquisition. Similarly, a tech company used lookalike audiences to reach users similar to their top app users, resulting in increased app installations and user engagement.

These examples illustrate that when you target people similar to your best customers, your ads become more relevant and effective. The use of lookalike audiences is not just about expanding your reach but doing so in a way that closely aligns with your proven audience segments. This targeted approach leads to better campaign performance and a higher return on your advertising spend.

#4 Capture Your Competitor's Customers through Branded Keywords

One effective strategy is to leverage branded keywords in your paid advertising campaigns. This approach involves bidding on keywords associated with your competitors' brands, enabling you to capture the attention of potential customers searching for similar products or services.

The Importance of Identifying Competitor Brands and Keywords

To successfully implement this strategy, identify your competitors and the keywords associated with their brands. This involves understanding the market and recognizing the terms and phrases customers commonly use when searching for your competitors' products or services. These keywords are valuable as they represent users with a high intent to purchase or engage.

Conducting Keyword Research

  • Use Keyword Research Tools: Tools like Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush can help identify which branded keywords your competitors are ranking for.
  • Analyze Competitor Websites and Ads: Look at the language and keywords your competitors use in their marketing materials and websites.
  • Consider Long-Tail Keywords: These are longer, more specific phrases that may have lower search volumes but higher conversion rates due to their specificity.

Selecting the Right Branded Keywords

Choose highly relevant keywords for your industry and have a significant search volume. However, be mindful of your region's legality and ethical considerations when bidding on competitor brand names.

Creating Compelling Ad Copy

Your ad copy should clearly differentiate your offerings from your competitors. Highlight unique selling points, special offers, or advantages that set your brand apart. The goal is to provide a compelling reason for users to choose your services over your competitors.

Benefits and Strategies for Maximizing Visibility and Conversions

  • Increased Visibility: By appearing in searches for your competitors, you increase your brand's visibility to a highly targeted audience.
  • Higher Conversion Potential: Users searching for specific brands are often further along in the buying process and are more likely to convert.
  • Cost-Effective: Bidding on competitor keywords can be more cost-effective than more generic high-competition keywords.

For instance, a new coffee shop could bid on keywords related to a well-established competitor in the same area. Creating ads that emphasize their unique blends or a cozy environment can attract coffee lovers who initially searched for the competitor but might be enticed by the new options.

#5 Create Targeted Campaigns for Every Stage of Your Marketing Funnel

Tailoring ad messaging and creative content to align with each stage of the customer's journey is crucial in developing effective marketing campaigns. This approach acknowledges that consumers have different needs and mindsets at various marketing funnel stages, from initial awareness to the final decision to purchase.

In the early stages of the customer journey, where awareness is the goal, your ad content should focus on introducing your brand and its values. The messaging at this stage is more about education and engagement rather than pushing for a sale. These ads should be designed to spark interest and curiosity about your brand, possibly addressing a common problem or need but not necessarily promoting a specific product.

Customers actively seek solutions to their needs or problems as they move into the consideration stage. Here, your ads should start to be more specific, showcasing your products or services as potential solutions. This is the stage to highlight unique features, benefits, and any competitive advantages your offerings might have.

Finally, in the decision stage of the funnel, your audience is ready to make a purchase but might need a final nudge. At this point, ads should be highly targeted with clear calls to action (CTAs). This could include special offers, product demos, customer testimonials, or detailed product information to help the consumer make their final decision.

By aligning your ad content with the stage of awareness in your marketing funnel, you ensure that your messaging is relevant and effective, meeting your potential customers exactly where they are in their buying journey. This targeted approach not only increases the chance of converting prospects into customers but also helps in building a more personalized relationship with your audience.

#6 Enhance Results by A/B Testing Every Campaign

A/B testing, also known as split testing, is a methodical process used to optimize various elements of advertising campaigns. It involves comparing two versions of an ad to see which one performs better. This comparison is based on a single varying element, while other factors remain constant, allowing marketers to pinpoint exactly what drives better results.

In A/B testing, 'Version A' might be your current ad, while 'Version B' includes a change in one key element—be it the headline, visual, ad copy, or call to action (CTA). By exposing these two versions to a similar audience segment over the same period, you can gather data on their performance.

How A/B Testing Optimizes Ad Elements

  • Headlines: Testing different headlines can reveal what language or phrasing most appeals to your audience. Does a question work better than a statement? Is a clear value proposition more effective than a creative play on words?
  • Visuals: Changing an image or graphic can significantly impact an ad's engagement. A/B testing helps determine which visuals capture attention and convey your message more effectively.
  • Ad Copy: The body text of your ad is crucial for conveying your message. Testing variations can show whether a concise copy outperforms a more detailed explanation or if certain key phrases resonate more with your audience.
  • CTAs: The call to action is where you prompt your audience to take a step. A/B testing different CTAs can uncover what language or button design leads to more clicks and conversions.

Importance of A/B Testing

A/B testing is essential for improving the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns. It provides empirical data that takes the guesswork out of ad optimization, allowing for more informed decisions. This data-driven approach ensures that every element of your ad is fine-tuned to resonate with your audience, ultimately leading to higher engagement, click-through rates, and conversions.

Moreover, regular A/B testing fosters a culture of continuous improvement in your advertising strategies. By consistently refining your ads based on real user data, you can stay ahead of changing consumer preferences and market trends, keeping your campaigns fresh and relevant.

7 Steps on How to Create a Winning Paid Ad?

1. Set Your Goal and Your KPI

Define clear, measurable objectives for your campaign. Setting specific goals and KPIs helps in tracking progress and measuring success.

2. Clearly Define the Audience You Want to Target

Understanding your audience's demographics, interests, and behaviors is key. A well-defined target audience leads to more effective ad targeting.

3. Choose the Correct Platform for Ads

Selecting the right platform is crucial. Consider your audience and the type of product or service you're offering. Utilize tools like benchmarking and keyword research to make informed decisions.

4. Produce the Copy for Your Ad

Craft compelling ad copy with attention-grabbing headlines, persuasive messaging, and a strong call to action. Your copy should resonate with your target audience and clearly convey your offer.

5. Create a Landing Page According to the Customer's Journey

Your landing page should align with the customer's stage in the buying journey. It should be well-designed, with a clear message and call to action that matches the ad.

6. Set Up the Targeting Options for Your Audience

Utilize the various targeting options available to narrow down your audience. This can include targeting based on demographics, interests, behaviors, and geographic locations.

7. Reuse Your Highly Engaging Content

Leverage your best-performing organic content for paid campaigns. This can enhance engagement and improve campaign performance.

Let Loupe & Blade Help Increase ROI with Paid Ads in Your Business

Paid advertising, when done right, can significantly boost your business's online presence and ROI. Let Loupe & Blade be your guide in the world of paid advertising. With our extensive experience and deep understanding of various ad types, analytics, and lookalike audience strategies, we're perfectly positioned to boost your digital marketing efforts.

Our expertise in SEO is our superpower in helping brands like yours get smarter and more effective in their online strategies. We're committed to long-term partnerships, working closely with you to enhance your SEO and celebrating the successes together. Explore our services and start your journey to greater online success with Loupe & Blade.

Published by Michael Cahill in Google Ads, Uncategorized
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November 29, 2023 — No Comments

Top 5 Most Important On-Page SEO Tips

Understanding and implementing top-notch on-page SEO best practices is crucial for the success of any website. On-page SEO, a fundamental aspect of optimizing web pages, involves a range of strategies and techniques aimed at enhancing a site's visibility and ranking in search engine results.

This comprehensive guide will delve into the essential elements of on-page SEO, providing you with practical SEO tricks and tips to elevate your website's performance. From the basics of what on-page SEO is to advanced tactics, these SEO best tips will serve as your go-to onpage SEO guide, ensuring your site not only ranks higher but also delivers a user experience that keeps visitors coming back.

What Is On-page SEO?

On-page SEO refers to the practice of optimizing individual web pages to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic in search engines. It encompasses both the content and HTML source code of a page that can be optimized, as opposed to off-page SEO, which involves links and other external signals.

By focusing on on-page SEO best practices, you're essentially ensuring that your content is both search engine-friendly and user-friendly. This approach includes techniques such as keyword optimization, quality content creation, and ensuring a seamless user experience.

Now, let's explore the top 5 most important on-page SEO tips that can significantly boost your website's conversions. These tips, rooted in the latest on page SEO best practices, will guide you through essential strategies in the realm of on-page SEO.

Top 5 Most Important On-Page SEO Tips to Boost Your Conversions

From leveraging proven SEO tricks and tips to following a comprehensive on-page SEO guide, these insights will help you optimize your site effectively. Whether you're new to what is on-page SEO or looking to refine your existing strategy, these SEO best tips are invaluable for anyone looking to improve their website's performance and visibility in search engines.

Put the Main Keyword at the Beginning of Your Title Tag and USP at the End

One of the most impactful on page SEO best practices is strategically placing your main keyword at the beginning of your title tag and incorporating your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) at the end. This approach is crucial for optimizing Click-Through Rates (CTR), a key factor that significantly influences your website's ranking, organic traffic, and, ultimately, conversions.

When your main keyword appears early in the title tag, it immediately aligns with the search queries of your target audience, increasing the relevance of your page in the eyes of both users and search engines. This relevance is a cornerstone of SEO best practices, enhancing your visibility in search results.

Furthermore, by adding your USP at the end of the title tag, you differentiate your offering from competitors. This critical SEO trick captures the user's interest, providing them with a compelling reason to choose your page over others. A unique and appealing USP can dramatically increase the CTR of your website [Link: 5 Affordable SEO Strategies to Get Your Biz Indexed and Ranked], as users are more likely to click on a link that promises something beneficial or unique.

High CTRs are often correlated with higher rankings. Search engines interpret a high CTR as a signal that your page is valuable and relevant to search queries, which can lead to improved rankings. Moreover, optimizing for higher CTRs not only increases the quantity of traffic but also the quality. When users find exactly what they're looking for on your page, this not only boosts your conversions but also enhances user satisfaction – a critical component of long-term SEO success.

Incorporating both the main keyword and your USP in the title tag is a strategic move that lies at the heart of effective on-page SEO. It's a balance of adhering to SEO best tips while ensuring your content is enticing and unique to your audience.

This approach is a key aspect of any comprehensive onpage SEO guide, aiming to boost both your site's visibility and its ability to convert visitors into customers [Link: 6 SEO Ideas to Help Businesses Boost Rankings].

Effectively managing your link juice is a critical aspect of on-page SEO, directly impacting your website's ranking, conversion rate (CR), and overall authority. Link juice, a term used to describe the value passed from one page to another through hyperlinks, plays a crucial role in determining how search engines rank pages.

By strategically directing this link juice, you can enhance the visibility and authority of key pages on your website, leading to better rankings and increased conversions. This process involves a deliberate approach to how internal links are distributed throughout your site.

Here's a deeper dive into how this strategy works and its impact:

  • Enhancing Page Visibility: Search engines use links to crawl and index web pages. By strategically placing internal links to key pages, you guide search engine crawlers to prioritize these pages. The more link juice a page receives, the more likely it is to be recognized by search engines as valuable and relevant, thus enhancing its visibility in search results.
  • Boosting Page Authority: Link juice is comparable to a vote of confidence within your website. When a page with high authority (like a well-performing homepage or a popular blog post) links to another page within your site, it essentially passes on some of its authority. This transferred authority can elevate the linked page's importance in the eyes of search engines, improving its ranking potential.
  • Balanced Link Distribution for Better Rankings: The key to effective link juice management is balance. Focusing all your internal linking on a few pages can be counterproductive. Instead, distribute links in a way that all important pages receive attention. This balanced distribution helps in boosting the rankings of multiple pages, thereby improving the overall SEO health of your website.
  • Increased Conversions Through Targeted Traffic: By directing link juice to pages that are optimized for conversions (such as product pages or landing pages), you not only improve their search rankings but also increase the likelihood of targeted traffic. Visitors from these pages are more likely to be interested in your products or services, leading to higher conversion rates.
  • Leveraging Content Silos: Creating content silos or clusters around specific themes or topics is a way to manage link juice effectively. By linking related content within these clusters, you reinforce the relevance and authority of each page within the topic, making them more attractive to search engines and users alike.

Consider Using Category Text to Boost Your Products

One effective strategy is to use category text to boost your products. This involves leveraging the descriptive and keyword-rich text in your category pages to enhance the SEO value of your product pages. By doing so, you can effectively channel more link juice to these product pages.

The benefits of this approach are manifold:

  • Improved Rankings of Product Pages: Lure users into clicking on internal links by giving them relevance. Each product page can link to a related product that the customer may find intriguing.
  • Elevated Conversion Rate: If you already have the shopper on the page, you might as well guide them to explore more on the site. Allow the customer to discover other, lesser-known products that you sell through category links.
  • Increased Site Authority: A popular product may already have excellent conversion rates. By directing the consumer to the full collection or a related product, you can use the power of link juice to land several product sales in one transaction.

This strategy is particularly beneficial for e-commerce websites where category pages often accumulate significant link juice due to their higher visibility and linkage. Enhancing these pages with rich, relevant text can create a powerful conduit of SEO value to the individual product pages, thereby boosting their performance.

Consider Using Pre-footer to Boost Low-hanging Fruits

Utilizing the pre-footer section of a website to boost low-hanging fruits – pages that are on the cusp of ranking high but need an extra push – is a strategic move in on-page SEO. The benefits of this approach are substantial:

  • Targeted Boost for Almost-Ranking Pages: Pages that rank between 11-20 positions in search results, as identified using tools like Ahrefs, are just outside the coveted first-page results. These pages often need only a minor boost to break into top positions. By adding links to these pages in the pre-footer, you are effectively directing additional link juice to them.
  • Leveraging High CR Pages: By using Google Search Console (GSC) reports to identify pages with the highest conversion rates (CR), you can select those that not only have the potential to rank better but also have a proven track record of converting visitors. This ensures that the extra traffic generated by improved rankings is more likely to convert.
  • Optimal Placement for Maximum Impact: The pre-footer is a strategic location on a webpage. It's often on every page of the site and is viewed by users as they engage with your content. Placing links to your almost-ranking pages here ensures they receive attention from users across your site, not just from a single page or section.
  • Enhanced Distribution of Link Juice: Incorporating these links into the pre-footer of pages with substantial link juice (like your homepage or main category pages) ensures that this value is passed on to your targeted pages. This strategic redistribution can make the difference in bumping these pages onto the first page of search results.
  • Focused SEO Effort for Quick Wins: This approach allows you to concentrate your SEO efforts on pages that are most likely to provide quick wins. By moving these pages up in rankings, you can see a more immediate impact on traffic and conversions, making your SEO efforts more efficient and effective.

In summary, using the pre-footer to boost low-hanging fruits combines strategic placement with a data-driven selection of pages. It’s an effective way to distribute link juice to the pages that need it most, ensuring they receive the necessary visibility and traffic to improve rankings and increase conversions.

Remove Any Duplicate Content

Duplicate content on a website can significantly hinder its SEO performance. It's crucial to identify and rectify common issues that lead to such content:

Non-www VS WWW and HTTP VS HTTPs

Problem: Duplicate content issues often arise from the website being accessible through both 'www' and 'non-www' URLs (e.g., http://www.example.com and http://example.com), as well as through both HTTP and HTTPS protocols. This can lead search engines to index both versions of each page, diluting the link equity and potentially impacting rankings.

Solution: To resolve this, implement a 301 redirect strategy. Choose whether 'www' or 'non-www,' and 'HTTP' or 'HTTPS' is the preferred version of your site. Then, set up 301 redirects to guide users and search engines to the preferred version. Additionally, use canonical tags to further clarify the primary version of each page.

For more insights on this and other critical SEO aspects, check out our upcoming blog, "4 SEO Things That Can Destroy Your Business".

Filters

Problem: E-commerce and listing websites often use filters for sorting products or content. Each filter combination can create a new URL, leading to numerous pages with similar or duplicate content. This not only confuses search engines but can also spread your site's authority thin across these pages.

Solution: Implement the "nofollow" attribute on filter links and use the canonical tag to point back to the main category page. This way, search engines can understand the primary page to index and rank, preventing dilution of page authority due to multiple similar URLs.

Hreflang Tag

Problem: For websites that have content in multiple languages or target different regions, incorrect implementation of the hreflang tag can lead to duplicate content issues. Search engines might struggle to identify the correct regional or language version of a page to display in search results.

Solution: Ensure that the hreflang tags are correctly implemented. These tags should accurately reflect the language and geographical targeting of each page. By providing clear signals to search engines about the intended audience of each page version, you can avoid confusion and ensure the right content is served to the right users. This not only resolves duplicate content issues but also improves the user experience for a global audience.

Optimize Your Blogs Using TF*IDF

TFIDF (Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency) has emerged as a sophisticated tool for optimizing blog content. It's a statistical measure used to evaluate the importance of a word in a document relative to a collection of documents or a corpus. By leveraging TFIDF with tools like SEOLyze, you can fine-tune your blog content to align more closely with what search engines deem relevant and valuable for specific topics or keywords.

When Should You Use TF*IDF?

TF*IDF is particularly useful when you're looking to enhance existing blog content or create new informative and SEO-friendly posts. It's ideal for:

  • Content Optimization: To ensure your content covers topics in a way that matches or surpasses competing pages in terms of depth and relevance.
  • Keyword Optimization: To identify and include relevant terms that competitors are using but your content might be missing.
  • Improving Content Relevance: To adjust the frequency of key terms in your content so that it aligns with what's considered standard within your industry or niche.

Using TF*IDF analysis helps in striking the right balance between using important keywords and maintaining natural, reader-friendly content.

How to Update Your Blog Using TF*IDF

To effectively use TF*IDF for updating your blog, follow these steps:

  1. Keyword Analysis: Use a TF*IDF tool, like SEOLyze, to analyze the top-ranking pages for your target keywords. The tool will provide insights into the most relevant terms used by these pages.
  2. Content Evaluation: Compare your content against this analysis. Identify which relevant terms are underrepresented or missing in your blog.
  3. Content Update: Integrate these terms into your blog naturally. The goal is not to stuff keywords but to enrich your content with relevant terms that enhance its depth and topical authority.
  4. Monitoring Performance: After updating your content, monitor changes in rankings and traffic to gauge the effectiveness of the TF*IDF optimization.

Remember, TF*IDF is not just about incorporating keywords; it’s about understanding the context and depth with which topics are covered in your niche and aligning your content to meet these standards. By doing so, you improve your content’s relevance and potential to rank higher in search engine results.

Increase Your On-Page SEO Game

In conclusion, effective on page SEO is a multifaceted approach that involves a range of strategies, from optimizing title tags with main keywords and USPs to managing link juice and utilizing pre-footer sections for boosting low-hanging fruits. Implementing TF*IDF in your content strategy ensures your blogs are not only rich in relevant keywords but also aligned with the depth and context of your niche.

By addressing these key areas - title tag optimization, link juice management, duplicate content removal, and advanced content strategies - you can significantly enhance your website’s visibility, ranking, and overall performance. Remember, the journey to SEO excellence is ongoing. Keep refining your strategies, and don't hesitate to explore tools like SEOLyze for deeper insights.

For more tailored solutions and expert guidance in navigating the complexities of SEO, consider reaching out to our experts at Loupe & Blade. We're here to help elevate your digital presence and drive meaningful results. Contact Loupe & Blade today.

Published by Michael Cahill in SEO Strategy
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November 21, 2023 — No Comments

What You Need To Know Before Investing In SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a crucial element of digital marketing strategies for businesses in order to stay competitive in your industry. 

SEO is the practice of enhancing the quality and quantity of website traffic through organic search engine results. It benefits businesses by boosting visibility among potential customers, improving rankings on search engines like Google, and driving targeted traffic that's more likely to convert into sales. 

By optimizing website content and structure, businesses can attract visitors actively seeking information or products, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates. SEO also supports content marketing by ensuring content reaches the right audience, builds brand trust and authority, and aids in long-term sustainable growth. 

Before you consider starting SEO for your brand, let's look at some telling statistics that underscore the importance of SEO.

SEO Stats You Need to Know Before Continue Reading (Updated for 2023)

These figures don't just represent abstract numbers; they reflect real-world consumer behaviors and competitive outcomes across industries. From the dominance of search engines in beginning user online experiences to the impressive traffic driven by Google's suite of services, these statistics paint a clear picture. SEO is not just important but essential for businesses looking to thrive in the digital arena.

68% of Online Experiences Begin with a Search Engine

This statistic alone demonstrates that the majority of your potential customers are starting their buying journey with a search engine. It indicates the significant role SEO plays in connecting with consumers.

92.96% of Global Traffic Comes from Google Search, Google Images, and Google Maps

Most global online traffic is generated through Google's platforms, highlighting the need for an SEO strategy that targets these channels for maximum visibility.

0.63% of Google Searchers Click on Results from the Second Page

The likelihood of clicks drops dramatically after the first page of Google search results, emphasizing the need for a strong SEO strategy to keep you at the forefront.

SEO Drives 1,000%+ More Traffic Than Organic Social Media

Compared to social media, SEO is a more effective driver of traffic, suggesting that SEO should be a priority in your digital marketing budget.

SEO Leads Have a 14.6% Close Rate

The effectiveness of SEO is evident in its high lead conversion rate, making it a highly rewarding investment for businesses looking to grow.

What Are the Benefits of Investing in SEO?

Investing in SEO offers tangible benefits that can translate into direct business growth and a competitive advantage in your market. Below, we explore the specifics of how SEO can reshape the trajectory of your company's success:

SEO Focuses on Driving Targeted Traffic

Unlike other marketing strategies that cast a wide net, SEO is precise. It improves your website's visibility for specific queries related to your products or services. This targeted approach means that the traffic coming to your site is not just larger in volume but also of higher quality. 

Users arriving from search engines are often in the decision-making phase of their journey, making them more likely to engage with your content, sign up for your services, or make a purchase. By focusing on user intent and search relevance, SEO helps increase the likelihood of conversions, which are actions taken by visitors that fulfill your site's goals.

SEO Generates New Clients and Customers

By targeting keywords specific to your niche, SEO can expose your business to people searching for exactly what you offer. A strategic SEO campaign considers not just search volume but the intent behind the searches. 

This means your content will be optimized to attract traffic and convert this traffic into leads and customers. By expanding your visibility online, you're also expanding the potential customer base to include users who may have never found you through traditional marketing channels.

It Supports Your Content Marketing

Content is king in the digital marketing world, but without an SEO strategy for website, even the best content can remain unseen. SEO practices like using the right keywords, creating quality content, and optimizing meta tags make your content discoverable and easily indexed by search engines. 

This symbiosis between SEO and content marketing means that as you create valuable content for your audience, SEO ensures it ranks well, which drives more traffic to your site and increases the content's reach and impact.

It Builds Trust and Authority

Users often interpret high search rankings as a signal of trustworthiness and authority. By achieving top positions in search results, your business benefits from the perceived endorsement that Google or other search engines provide by ranking your site highly. 

This trust goes a long way in building your brand's reputation and can lead to increased customer loyalty and brand advocacy. Additionally, practices such as earning backlinks from reputable sites boost your SEO and reinforce your site's authority.

SEO Boosts Your Business’s Long-Term Success and Maximize ROI

Is SEO worth it? SEO's return on investment (ROI) can outperform most other forms of digital marketing over time. While SEO requires an upfront investment in time and resources, SEO is a long-term investment with substantial payoffs. Unlike paid advertising, which stops generating traffic the moment you stop paying, a well-ranked SEO site continues to bring in traffic. 

Over time, this can lead to a snowball effect where the benefits continue to grow, which means the ROI from SEO tends to increase the longer you invest in it. By continuously adapting to the evolving algorithms and maintaining best practices, SEO ensures that your online presence remains strong, keeping your business competitive in an ever-changing digital landscape.

Key Questions Before Investing in SEO

SEO has cemented its role as a cornerstone of online marketing, but its complexity can be daunting for many businesses. Before investing in SEO, asking the right questions is crucial to determine if it aligns with your business objectives and industry demands. 

Here, we explore some key questions that should guide your investment decisions in why you need SEO.

Are Customers Relying on Search to Find Providers in Your Industry?

In most industries today, consumers turn to search engines to find, evaluate, and select service providers. For instance, a common search query like "Louisville airport parking guide" may bring up a list of nearby parking services, customer reviews, and tips for airport parking, which presents a valuable opportunity for businesses in this niche to capture customer interest at a critical moment in the decision-making process. 

A law firm specializing in local services can benefit immensely from localized search queries such as "[type of] lawyer near me," where appearing in top search results can directly influence a potential client's decision to engage their services. By identifying how customers are using search in your specific industry, you can tailor your SEO strategy to meet those specific search behaviors and patterns.

Will You Commit to Investing in SEO for a Duration of 6-12 Months?

SEO is not an overnight success story; it requires a consistent and sustained effort to see significant results. For example, a new e-commerce business might not see a top ranking for highly competitive keywords immediately but can achieve substantial visibility for less competitive, niche-specific phrases within a few months. 

This progression towards more competitive terms can take six months or more, depending on various factors like industry saturation and keyword difficulty. Therefore, commitment to a long-term SEO strategy is essential for any business aiming to gain substantial ground in organic search results.

Have You Established Website Tracking?

Before you can measure the success of your SEO investment, you need to have robust tracking in place. Tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console can provide a wealth of data on your website's performance, from which pages attract the most traffic to how visitors interact with your site. 

A real-life application of this would be tracking the performance of a blog post targeting the keyword "best DSLR cameras under $500." By analyzing user behavior data, you can refine your content to better serve visitor interests and search intent, ultimately leading to better conversion rates.

Are You Aware of the SEO Strength of Your Competitors?

Understanding your competitors' SEO strengths is critical to developing a strategy that can compete effectively. For instance, if you're a local bakery, knowing that your competitor ranks first for "fresh gluten-free bread in Portland" means you need to analyze what they're doing right. 

It may be their use of keywords, quality of content, or backlink profile. Then, find opportunities to outperform them. This could involve targeting similar keywords with higher quality content or identifying and targeting gaps in their strategy.

Is SEO Truly Worth It?

The debate about the worth of SEO is ongoing, but the evidence in favor of its efficacy is substantial. SEO's true power shines through its ability to adapt to digital trends, ensuring that a website remains relevant and visible to search engines—and by extension, potential customers. 

Unlike paid advertising, which stops yielding results the moment the campaign ends, SEO stands as a testament to the long game, steadily increasing a site's value over time. This is not just in terms of raw traffic but also in establishing domain authority, a reputation for quality, and user trust.

Businesses leveraging SEO can see a significant uptick in new customers due to improved visibility for key search terms. This, combined with SEO's ability to target users based on their search intent, results in higher conversion rates. 

More than just numbers, these are potential customers actively seeking solutions your business can provide. In essence, SEO aligns business offerings with user needs, creating a matchmaking scenario ripe for increased sales and customer loyalty.

Consider, for instance, a case study from Loupe & Blade.

Inverse, a medium-sized digital publisher brought me on to help grow their SEO from 3 million to 5 million in a year's time. We were able to move them from 3 million to 15 million on search in just 24 months by improving content strategy and optimizing publishing time’s.

What’s the ROI on SEO?

Calculating the return on investment for SEO involves looking at various metrics, including but not limited to organic traffic, ranking improvements, conversion rates, and overall brand visibility. These metrics often show a positive trend following a well-executed SEO strategy. 

For example, improved rankings can lead to an exponential increase in traffic, which can elevate brand visibility and increase conversions. Over time, this doesn't just bring in one-time sales but also cultivates a loyal customer base that will continue to engage with the brand.

Such examples substantiate the belief that SEO is indeed worth the investment. By creating a user-centric SEO strategy, businesses can ensure their digital marketing efforts translate into real-world profits and sustainable success.

Build an SEO Strategy That Garners Results

SEO is more than a marketing strategy; it's an investment in the future of your business. From driving targeted traffic to building a reputable brand and ensuring long-term success, the impact of SEO cannot be overstated. 

With a content SEO strategy and commitment to developing an SEO strategy, you're not just starting SEO; you're paving the way for sustainable growth. If you're ready to see how SEO can benefit your business, Loupe & Blade can help. Visit our services page to get started on your SEO journey.

Published by Michael Cahill in Uncategorized
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