SEO.
Your business needs it, if you’re posting online content you’re probably already doing it – but do you know what it is?
We in the biz get asked about SEO a lot. Should I have SEO? Can you do SEO? Is my content SEO optimised?
For the record, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. If you’ve ever wondered whether your optimisation is optimised, this post is for you.
What is Search Engine Optimisation?
Put simply, it’s the ways in which we ensure that content can be found by the people searching for it. Online content needs to be optimised so that search engines can find it when someone looks for it.
This is done in part by including search terms called ‘keywords’ throughout your content. This is so that when someone types, for example, ‘strategic marketing specialist Brisbane’ or ‘marketing strategy Brisbane’ into a search engine, that search engine can find the same term on this website. That way this website will come up somewhere in the list of results. If the term isn’t anywhere in the website, then the search engine might decide that this website isn’t relevant to that search – and then I’ll show up nowhere!
Keep in mind that keywords can (and should) also be applied to non-text items on your website in the form of alt-tags and meta descriptions. I’m not going to go into this here, just be aware that the copywriting part of your content isn’t the only place you should be optimising.
What are types of keywords?
I’m keeping this simple because this is just an overview, not an in-depth exploration of SEO. At the most basic, there are 2 kinds of keywords – long tail and short tail. There are pros and cons for both of them.
Short tail keywords, like ‘marketing strategy’, are much more general and will usually have a very wide search base (lots of people in lots of places are searching for them). They are also much more frequently used by businesses wanting to take advantage of this. If you use short tail keywords, you’re competing with heaps of other businesses.
Long tail keywords are, well, longer. For example, something like ‘marketing strategy for services club in Brisbane Qld’; that’s a pretty specific search, and not a lot of people will be looking for it, so it doesn’t get as many hits. However, the people who are using that search term are much more qualified customers – if that’s a specific service that you actually offer (and yes, I do).
Am I already doing SEO?
Short answer: yes. If you are posting any content onto the internet, then you are doing SEO. A better question is, am I doing SEO well? You need to do some research into what your target audience is searching for. Then use those specific search terms in your online content.
By using the language that the people you want to engage with are using, you are qualifying your leads. This makes it more likely that the people who see your content actually want what you’re selling. A really good way of making sure someone never buys from you, is to keep showing up when they search for things that you don’t sell.
How many keywords should I include in my online content?
This is a really important point. You couldddddd include as many different keywords in your online content as you like (note inflections). I wouldn’t recommend specifically trying to optimise any individual piece of content to more than, say, 5 keywords. More than that, and your content is going to start sounding like you are really trying to optimise it – and it’s going to read really badly to an actual person. For example:
I am a strategic marketing specialist in Brisbane Queensland who provides marketing and copywriting services in Brisbane. Located in Brisbane, I write marketing strategies for small businesses in Brisbane. I specialise in creative content marketing services, social media campaign strategy small business Brisbane, copywriting Brisbane, and freelance marketing Brisbane Qld.
How do you feel after reading that? Was it as good for you as it was for me? No!! Of course it wasn’t. That’s an example of keyword stuffing, and you shouldn’t do it. That paragraph reads like it was written for an algorithm – which, of course, it was. The thing is, search engine algorithms are only getting smarter, so websites that are written like that ^ can and do get penalised. It’s what is known as a ‘black hat’ strategy (we’re not going into this right now, but they are a big deal), and it’s not good at all. Search engines hate ’em, and your website will get de-ranked. Just… don’t do it, alright?
So when I say optimise for multiple keywords…
What I mean is this: in this 1000+ word blog post, I’ve said ‘SEO’ 12 times, ‘online content’ 7 times, ‘strategic marketing specialist’ 4 times, and ‘marketing strategy for services club in Brisbane Qld’ twice. I’ve probably said ‘content marketing’ a few times as well, and various other terms that relate to my service offering – without even really thinking about it. And that’s the beauty of SEO (13 times):
Just talk about your business.
You will optimise your online content to your business specifically, just by talking honestly about what you do. You don’t need to make things up. If you’re being authentic about your service offering when you describe it, then the people who are looking for you will probably find you.
Of course, there are strategies that you can implement to make this more effective and further qualify your online consumer engagement. Being strategic and targeting a particular market segment is usually more effective. That’s where a strategic marketing specialist (5 times) like me comes in!
Want more? Get in touch to discuss how a content marketing strategy can enhance your consumer engagement!
n00b disclaimer!
There is such a thing as an SEO expert. These are people who have done specific and extensive training, do it all day every day, and are literally geniuses. I am a strategic marketing specialist. I have a pretty thorough understanding of the subject, I can definitely do it for you, and I can and do ensure that all of the online content I write is optimised for search engines to find. However, I am not one of the aforementioned experts in this very specific and always-changing field. What I’m giving you here is a very general overview of what it is and how it is necessary to content marketing.
Image via Imgflip.com
