I’ll admit. I’m new to SEO. I’d been seeing the term around, but had no idea what it was. Being a writer (and a woman), I had to know. I did a little investigating and learned great tools that will make a world of difference for us writers.
If at all like me, then you’re probably wondering…
WTF is SEO?
Let’s skip the scenic route and take the freeway, shall we? SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It means that you want your website to pop up when people visit Google, Bing, and Yahoo. And you don’t want them to have to click over to the third or fourth page either. Dammit, you wanna be amongst the top three on the first page!
But, how in the hell do you make that happen when the top three are always the MayoClinic, Huffington Post, NYT, About.Com, and the other Fancy Pants?
Well, you learn their language. How does the saying go? When you’re in Rome, then you walk as the Romans do? (Or, is it talk as the Romans do?) (Whatever) Point is, when you’re on the web amongst other webbers, then in order to be seen as they are seen, then you have to walk (and talk) as they do.
It’s like one of those 1000-piece puzzle shits that will drive you straight through a brick wall. But stick with it! It’s worth it. I promise and the more that you practice, the easier it becomes.
Now’s let’s take a dive!
The Fancy Pants have high PR (page ranks). That’s how and why they are the first sites that search engines spit out. Because they’ve mastered SEO, they have high PR.
The meat of SEO, which also happens to be four things that you can work on today, regards your website’s:
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Content
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Social media connections
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Links
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Design
Content is, hands down, the most important. Your quality of writing must be up to par, meaning that you write on relevant and engaging topics. I promise you that your topic isn’t 100% original. Do a quick web-scan of the topic and jot down some of the keywords that the Fancy Pants use. Add those keywords in your article. That’s important. Whenever possible, word your titles or headliners as a surfer would when trying to find your stuff. Be sure not to skip on quantity; update your content (new blog) as often as possible.
Your social media connections have a significant impact as well. Do you share your articles on FB, Twitter, Google+, etc? How many of your followers/fans actually click the links? Since we’re on the subject of your followers/fans, how many do you have? The goal is more! All of these factors showcase how popular you are, and the most popular are the highest ranked on search engines.
My SEO research journey began on a website entitled Search Engine Land. Now, by hyperlinking that website, I just boosted their ranking in search engines. That’s one way that links work with SEO. Whenever one of your articles (or whatever it is that you want highly publicized) is linked from another webpage, then your star shines a little brighter.
This also works the other way around. By linking other webpages to your own, then you boost your stars. You become a virtual one-stop shop for whatever your niche happens to be. Share and be shared and climb a little higher.
Design is another biggie. Make sure that your site is aesthetically appealing, but not too difficult to navigate. A site map is always a plus and is something that I’m actually working on myself. Make sure that your About page is easy to find and relevant [Don’t forget those SEO keywords]; the same goes for your products/services, contact info, and blogs. It should be a fully functional, easy navigatable, beautiful site! Note: don’t forget to include an image.
