How SEO affects your business?

If you're a business, there are some very real and specific benefits to having a consistent, ongoing search engine optimization strategy.

Users leading SEO:

For the first time in the history of marketing, users are offering up their actual intent through the words that they type and speak into search engines.

And more than ever before, you can measure the results of your SEO efforts as a marketing channel.

SEO Free or Paid?

While search engines don't charge you for listing your web pages, planning and implementing SEO in your organization is certainly not free.

You'll need to spend the time, the money, and the resources to do this the right way.

The good news is that this can help you reach a tremendously large audience, attract more targeted visitors, and measure the impact of your efforts in terms of a return on your investment.

More and more content appears on the web every second of every day. And your customers need search engines to help make sense of it all.

Why SEO good for people?

People search to find answers to their questions, to buy products, to find a place to eat, to book travel, to get news. Just about everything we do online starts with a search. We call the motivation behind a given search intent. And it's not just done around the family PC anymore. The explosion of connected mobile devices and voice assistants means that we have access to search just about anywhere in the world with just a few keystrokes or voice commands. 

What people search for and the words they choose when making their query says a lot about their intent, or what actions they want to take at a specific moment in time. And this has traditionally been the Holy Grail of marketing research.

If somebody searches for Diving in Dahab or where to buy a digital camera, it's very easy, as a marketer, to understand what they're looking for. The role of search engines is to match those user search queries to pages that match that topic. And if you sell cameras, well, what that means to you is that you can create relevant content that meets the needs of the searcher at exactly the right moment.

Good SEO can essentially provide you a stream of some of the most targeted, intent-driven traffic that you could possibly ask for. But more than that, one of the biggest benefits of search engine optimization is the ability to actually measure your results. You can use your website analytics data to find out exactly how successful you are in acquiring search engine users. And you can see if those users' actions are in line with your business goals.

 

Evaluate your business:

You can evaluate the effectiveness of your content in attracting and advancing the user through your sales file. And you can measure what they do and what they don't do on your website and beyond. By attaching real dollars and cents to those actions that began with a simple search, you'll be able to truly measure return on investment from your SEO channel.

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How to apply keywords to optimize your website

Before we start implementing keywords, there is an important feature that is sometimes overlooked, yet It is the most viewed feature in all search engine optimization. Go back to the search engine and do a search for your company. Find your result and let's take a look at it as there is a wealth of information to be learned here.

Next, open the page that the result links to in another browser window or tab. The first thing to notice is the heading of the search result, "Page Title" This is typically the big blue text link in the search results. 

If you've clicked on it, it's a different color. Now, this is what will be seen and read by almost anyone who sees your link in the search results. The words in that link come from the content on your page, specifically the title tag. 

If you look at the tab or window with your website, the page title appears in the tab. Now the page title is under your control. You can most likely edit it in your website management program. Or, to get even geekier, here's the code of the page. And we'll use that to see the other elements as well. 

As you can see, the page title is in the title tag. Tags are the instructions in the brackets. Now, just looking at the overall context, this tells us that the page title is fairly high in importance to the content and the rest of the page. 

Why? 

Because the page title is used in the big blue text in the search results. It is the first marketing message a searcher will read about your company and your content. This is where you present your company and its relevance to the searcher. Now there are several ways to approach writing a good page title.

Many people say to use as many keywords in the page title as possible. 

Others recommend being highly descriptive.

There's a lot of advice out there and the key is to see what works for you. I'm going to give you a few of the guidelines and observations that I've found over the years. 

First, 

Some recommend simply list keywords. One right after another, using a comma or a bar between the words. And I don't recommend that strategy.

You'll see it employed often in search results and the reason I don't like it is because of readability. It is harder to read a series of words to read a structured sentence. 

We process sentences faster than series of words because of the context. And I believe that context makes a sentence faster to read and actually, communicates more information than a series of words. 

Next, 

The length of the page title. While you can write a page title almost as long as you want, it's going to cut off around 50 to 60 characters. Visibility and again, readability are important.

Sometimes, I found that shorter titles are better in terms of rankings and clicks. 

Finally, 

Use your primary keyword as the first or second word. Think about how fast you can scan a search result page. Most attention anyone gives to the page is scanning the first word or two in each page title. If you look at what you're competitors are doing, you'll see a variety of tactics. 

But remember, just because you see tactics being used in the result does not mean they're effective in getting the click or ultimately, getting the sale.

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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.

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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.

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Keywords research shows intent

If you are getting ready to buy a car, simply search for the word car, I'm not telling you much. 

It's a very general term and it could mean thousands of things. You don't know if I'm interested in new or used, buying or leasing, and even the search results are all over the place. 

This is why looking at individual words or very general words can be deceiving. While the word cars are searched on the most of any word in the car category, it offers very little in terms of relevance. 

We honestly don't know what the searcher means with this single-word search. 

• It could be a BMW. 
• It could be a local dealer. 
• It could be a kid looking for a poster for their room. 

The only way to get intent is to look for more words, so when someone searches for low-mileage used BMW in Springfield, now we get the intent. We get the where, what, and the brand, and know that we can work with. The more words used in a search phrase, the more intent that it communicates. 

When you know the intent, you can use those words to optimize, label, and integrate into your content. It starts by making a seed list of search terms. A seed list is oh, about 10 to 15 words or phrases that describe your business. 

Let's use the example site of explore Sant Catreen, and I'm going to start my seed list simply by describing the tours, products, and services that they offer. It's mainly hiking, backpacking, and nature tours. Think about these words from the standpoint of the searcher. 

What are they looking for? Then look at your list and see how the searches progress from simple to lengthy. 

• The progression shows us how searchers may modify or adapt their search and refine their terms to get the results they need. 
• The progression will also show you the stages of a searcher's thinking. 
• Start by asking, what non-branded searches 
• bring people to my site? 
• Then, do those searches lead to other searches? 

In my list, I'm starting with a general search, Sant Catreen, and it can lead to many other detailed searches. 

Now I call this the Disney effect. You see, people start by searching for a Disney vacation and that leads to searches about flights, hotels, restaurants, what to do, what to see, what's nearby, and other recommendations. 

One search triggers dozens of other searches throughout the life cycle of that search phrase. 

In this way, work through the needs of your prospect. 

• What need triggers their initial search? 
• Is your product that search or is it the result of other searches? 
• Are there other triggers that start their progression and how they work their way to your product? 

Here's your assignment. Come up with a seed list of 15 to 20 non-branded keywords that you think people use to find your website. This is based on their need. How would people find you?

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