Research the SERPs

The search engine results pages or SERPS are the proving ground for a successful keyword strategy. 

It is estimated that the number one website in the results will get a 35% share of clicks. This also shows you important areas to consider in your optimization and content tactics. 

Many times it's not just a webpage that you need to optimize for rankings. It can be a product page, a file, a video, or a podcast. Most times you might be up against local results, which takes up a lot of real estate on the page. 

Other times your competition may be Google itself. One of my keywords from my seed list produces a result that looks like this. This is called the knowledge graph. The search engine will attempt to answer your query with content from another source, and present it on the search results page. 

Now, there are two sides to this. For the search engine, especially Google, it gives answers to the searcher immediately. And without clicking the result, the searcher sees the information they need. 

For the site owner, it's a bit more complex. You see, Google can answer the searcher's question without the searcher ever going to my website. So while my content may have answered the searcher's question, I probably didn't get a visit and will have no way of knowing how many people saw. Plus, I didn't get a chance to present my content to the searcher in the context of my website. 

Next, I want to make note of any results that have ads on the page. When businesses are actively bidding on a term that provides ads, it shows you that there is significant competition for that term. 

Additionally, because most searchers are using a mobile device, the first ad will take up most of the screen. They will have to scroll through the ads to get to the organic results, the ones based on the search engine's algorithm. As you can see in this example, my keyword, Dubai visit, has a results page with four ads at the top of the page, and then the organic results. 

This is critical. If someone's on a smartphone, 

they're not going to see my organic result. They're going to see the ads. So make a note in your keyword list of which of your terms results in ads, and which do not. Highlight those that have ads or the Google knowledge graph, as you may have to change tactics in order to gain visibility.

Full course available at Linkedin SEO: Link Building

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Keywords provide context

I travel a lot for business, and search results keep me connected. Many times all I have to do is search for seafood restaurant and I'll immediately see restaurants that are nearby, with ratings, recommendations, maps, pictures, and menus. It makes travel easier when you have all of this information at your fingertips. 

Now, from a business standpoint, it also shows the competition you might have. Since making a seed list, now you check the results to see what shows up for your keywords. It's not the same for everybody. In fact, it could be different for every business, industry, or keyword. A local dry cleaning business, a laser printer, how to tie a tie, how much does an elephant weigh? All of these searches produce very different types of results. 

The search engine results page, or SERP, is your primary focus for rankings. If you're a local business, you'll see local results, listings, pictures, and maps. If you're selling products, you'll see product listings. If someone searches for how to do something, they'll see videos. Or informational searches can show entirely different mixed results. 

As you can see, the results change based on the type of search. This has to be taken into account 

as part of your keyword optimization and marketing plan. It's not just about getting rankings anymore. It's about the visibility in the search results through whatever media may be shown. In this result for hiking in California, I have to compete with the map of California on the right, and other travel companies and destinations offering travel packages. 

If the searcher is using their smartphone, I have to compete in a smaller space that heavily favors the top of the page. That now has to be part of my strategy. So take your seed list and do searches at different destinations. Google, Bing for search. Maybe Amazon or eBay if you compete there as well. 

Take notes of how different words and phrases will change the results. For this, I create a spreadsheet and list the key words I used to search. Then I create columns to note the information that appears on the search results page, knowledge graphs, product listings, maps, images, videos, or ads, anything beyond the typical search results page. 

Then make notes of how you will need to optimize your content and any multimedia or page search campaigns you may need to implement in order to compete and have visibility on the results page.

Full course available at Linkedin SEO: Link Building

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Best 3 tools for link analysis & Backlink Check

There are several online tools available that will help you analyze the current link profile of your website and help you discover new link opportunities. 

I'd like to introduce you to some of the industry-leading tools available, tools that you can use:

The first tool that I'd like to talk about is Link 

Explorer by Moz. 

If you go to moz.com, you'll be introduced to one of the most robust SEO toolsets available. Moz has been around for a long time and they offer a full set of tools, it's called Moz Pro, and it gives you access to the backlink checker, but also several other tools. 

We have this link that says Free SEO tools. And you'll notice that we've got some free tools listed right here. If we click on More SEO tools, we can see their full suite. So I'm just going to scroll down a little bit here and you'll see that they have a Keyword Explorer, a Link Explorer, which is the one that we're going to look specifically at. They have a toolbar that you can use, and they have several other tools that you can use to help increase the SEO of your website. 

Let's go ahead and click on Link Explorer here so we can see what it looks like. And you'll notice that
from within Link Explorer, we can enter a URL to start exploring some information about that page.  

The second tool that I'd like to look at is called 

Site Explorer by Majestic. 

Now, Majestic has also been in the SEO industry for a long time, and the tools that it offers are similar to those that Moz offer, but it is a little bit more affordable. So let's take a look. 

So here I am on majestic.com, and if you take a look up at the top, we have a dropdown menu that shows us all of the different tools that Majestic offers. 

Now, we can go ahead and try it out by entering a website. So we could just hit the search button and take a look at what it says about premierleague.com. Now, this gives us a full link profile, but for a lot of other websites, if you search here on Majestic, you're going to get all of the information because you would need to upgrade to a new plan. 

All right, let's take a look at the last tool. The final link analysis tool that I'd like to talk about 

is:

Backlink Checker by Ahrefs.

    

Some of you may be familiar with Ahrefs. They've been around for a long time. I think they're one of the oldest websites that offers SEO services on the internet. Their tools used to be all free, but they're not anymore. Let's go ahead and take a look at the Backlink Checker. 

Okay, so here I am on ahrefs.com, and like the other sites, we have a toolbar up at the top where it says all of the tools that are available to us. So you can see there's a Site Explorer, a Keywords Explorer, Rank Checker, Content Explorer. There are quite a few options here, but the one that we're most interested in is Site Explorer. So you'll notice that we can start a seven-day trial for Ahrefs to start analyzing the backlink profile of our websites. 

Ahrefs doesn't offer a free trial. So on the other sites, on Majestic and Moz, you can use some of the features for free before you get into a trial or a Pro plan. On Ahrefs, you do need to do this seven-day trial for $7, but I like Ahrefs. They've been in the industry for so long and they've followed all of the updates, the algorithm updates that Google search has done, and it's a very trusted source. 

We covered all three tools, and by the end, you may be able to decide which one you think is best for you. But again, moz.com, majestic.com, and ahrefs.com are going to be the top tools that you'll be able to find for all of your SEO needs, including improving your backlink profile.

Full course available at Linkedin SEO: Link Building

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Why links are important for SEO?

There are several reasons why links are important for a successful web presence. Let's discuss the type of links and why it is important.

What is a Link?

A link (short for hyperlink) is an HTML object that allows you to jump to a new location when you click or tap it. Links are found on almost every webpage and provide a simple means of navigating between pages on the web. Links can be attached to text, images, or other HTML elements.

First of all, links are one of the primary ways that search engines discover the content on your website.

The more links that you have leading to your site, the more often search engine bots will crawl over your site and find and index the content on your website. Every time a new webpage is published, search engines will crawl over that page and follow any links that it has. They will then crawl over the linked content and continue to follow links. 

The more links that you have pointing to your site, the more often search engines will find your site. This also means that internal links are important. Internal links are links on your site that lead to other pages on the same site. A search engine may end up on your site from an external link, but if you have internal links set up properly, it will continue to crawl and index additional pages on your site. 

Links also tell search engines that your content is valuable because other people have linked to it. 

Not all links are the same. Some carry more weight than others. So, buying thousands of useless links will not have as much of a positive effect as receiving a dozen natural links. In this course, we're going to focus on which type of links are the most valuable, and how to gain as many of them as possible. Aside from gaining traction from search engines, links also play an important role in getting human beings to find and consume the content on your site. The more quality links that point to your site, the more visitors you'll likely receive.

Types Of Links That Matter For SEO

These are the 5 types of links that will be discussed below:

1. Internal Links
2. External Links
3. Natural Links
4. Manually Obtained Links
5. Self-Created Links

What is an Internal Link?

Is any link from one page on your website to another page on your website. Both your users and search engines use links to find content on your website. Your users use links to navigate through your site and to find the content they want to find. Search engines also use links to navigate your site. They won’t find a page if there are no links to it.

What is an External Link?

External links are hyperlinks that point at (target) any domain other than the domain the link exists on (source). External links have a greater impact on search engine rankings than internal links because they are valued by search engines as external votes of confidence/popularity in a web page.

What is a natural link?

Natural links happen when other webmasters, bloggers, or website owners link to your content (blogs, images, products, videos, etc) because they think is useful for their readers and adds value to their websites or pages.

What is a manually obtained link?

Manually obtained links are links you obtain through efforts. You have to put in time and energy, contacting other website owners and bloggers to link and feature your page.

These manual links building technique, asking around for links, is common among small businesses where they are still unknown in the industry. One does not simply feature another website as it will affect the quality of another.

What is a self-created link?

Non-editorial links made with the purpose of tricking search engines into thinking your content is good by manufacturing SEO value. Google does NOT consider this type of backlink valid and has even been known in recent years to penalize self-created links.

Full course available at Linkedin SEO: Link Building

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