How Google sees the great content you write for SEO
It is Google’s job
to serve up the best content to the person searching for something.
If you have a better understanding of how Google interprets your SEO content and what it uses to serve up that content you can start writing in Google’s language to rank your content higher up in the search results.
Below are some hacks that will help write in "Google speak" and boost your website in the Search Engine Results.
* As a side note, social media uses similar algorithms to serve up content to its users. It might not be the same format as Google, but when you start thinking about how you are writing for SEO purposes you will reach more people…even in your socials.
How Google reads and creates a profile for your page
Google looks through your website, roughly
every two weeks, and sees if you’ve got any new content or updates to your
website. This is called indexing.
How does Google look through your page?
1.
Google sends something called a
crawler to look through every page on your website.
2.
The crawler will read your page
and send information back to your website’s profile on the Google database.
3.
The Google database breaks down
each page and creates a profile of that page including:
a.
Page name
b.
Metadata – that’s the Title and
Description of the page (more on that below)
c.
Headings
d.
Pictures
e.
Videos used
f.
Links used
i.
Links pointing to that page
(internal links)
ii.
Links pointing to other pages on
the internet (external links)
iii.
Backlinks (links pointing to your
page)
g.
How the coding on the page is put
together
h.
The speed of the page
i.
There are over 210 known and
unknown factors that make up your profile.
If you are interested in finding out more
about the Google profile and updates on the Google crawlers visit the Google developers blog for more
information and announcements of crawler updates.
How does Google Rank your page?
Google looks through your Google profile of
each page and categorises each one of them. It then matches up your webpage to
other webpages with the same content as yours.
Google wants to give its users the best
experience so it creates a ranking list of all the pages with the same topic
and displays the best one (in Google’s opinion) to the person searching and
displays the others in descending order.
You can circumvent the Google ranking by
buying Google Ads and you will rank in the top spots on a Google search page,
but that’s only a once off fee and will only show once, every time you pay.
When you build SEO the right way, it will be permanent and last a long time.
Some quick SEO wins
Below are some quick wins that will help you
with writing winning SEO content.
“Quick wins” is used rather loosely and refers
to making quick and easy changes to your page’s SEO.
While you can generally see results take
effect on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) once the webpage has been
crawled and indexed by a search engine, SEO efforts can take months to fully
materialize. Your ranking will improve over time.
However, the long-term benefits of SEO are
well worth the investment of time and resources. By improving your website's
ranking, you can increase your brand's visibility, drive traffic to your site, and
generate leads and sales.
Writing a winning Page name for SEO
It's no secret that Google ranking is
important for any website looking to generate traffic. One way to improve Google
ranking is through the use of keywords, and one of the best places to use
keywords is in the page name.
When Google indexes a website, it will take into account the words used in the
page name when determining where to rank that page. As a result, it's important
to choose a page name that accurately reflects the content of the page. For
example, a page about "SEO Content Tips" should ideally have
"SEO Content Tips" in the page name. Not only will this help Google
to correctly index the page, but it will also help to boost the page's Google
ranking.
The name you choose will be used to generate
the URL for the page, as well (see circled below).
* Important Warning! Once you have published
your page do not change the name of your page because once Google has indexed
your page it counts negatively against your SEO if you remove it without
creating a redirect.
A redirect is process where you, in code, tell
someone that the page has been moved to another location. You can find out more
about how to redirect a page at the following SOPS:
Write a great Metadata Title for SEO
Google's search algorithm is constantly
evolving, but one of the key factors that has remained steady over the years is
the importance of keyword-rich titles. A title that accurately reflects the
content of your page is more likely to rank well in search results than a title
that is generic or filled with lots of keywords. In addition, a title that is
clear and concise is more likely to be clicked on by users than a title that is
vague or confusing. While there are no guarantees when it comes to achieving a
high ranking on Google, crafting keyword-rich titles for your pages is a good
place to start.
What is a title tag?
A title tag describes the name of your webpage
or blog.
An easy way to see your title tag is to Google
a topic, the big heading that appears is your title tag.
You can also see the title of your page at the
top of your browser when you put your mouse over it.
To write the perfect metadata title you need:
1.
Your main keyword of the page,
sometimes 2 or 3.
2.
Keep it under 60 characters
3.
Try not to repeat keywords
4.
Keep it simple
Download a plugin called Yoast (you will only
need the free version).
Go to your plugins page > click on “Add
New” > type Yoast in the search box > click on the “Install Now” button.
Go to your pages tab and click on “Edit”
Scroll down the page to the box that says
Yoast SEO and see the Google preview box.
The SEO title will be generated from your page
title (that you entered for the page when you created it), a separator ( :
) and your site title.
In the admin area of your Shopify store click
on “Online Store” and the “Pages”.
Click on the name of the page
Click on “Edit website SEO” in the Search
Engine Listing Preview section.
Fill in page title
Create a great Metadata Description for SEO
What is a metadata description?
The metadata description is the short text
that appears underneath a website's URL in the search engine results page
(SERP). Although it is often overlooked, the metadata description is actually a
crucial part of SEO. This is because it gives Google a brief overview of what
your website is about, and it also allows you to include important keywords.
When used correctly, keywords can help to improve your website's ranking in the
SERP.
However, it is important to strike a balance
between using too many and too few keywords. If you stuff your metadata
description with keywords, Google will flag your website as spam. On the other
hand, if you don't use enough keywords, you won't be able to improve your
ranking.
The best approach is to use a couple of
relevant keywords throughout your metadata description. This will help Google
to understand what your website is about and it will also give you a better
chance of ranking well in the SERP.
* Hot tip: Meta descriptions should not be more than 160 characters long. Aim to have at least 50 words in your description.
The Meta Description used for this is: “Learn how Google understands the
way you write your content to help you rank higher with SEO and achieve the top
SERP results for your webpage”
See all the great keywords relating to each
other and linking back to the Page and SEO title?
Google, content, rank, rank higher, SEO, SERP,
SERP results, webpage.
If you havn't already, download a plugin called Yoast (you will only
need the free version).
Go to your plugins page > click on “Add
New” > type Yoast in the search box > click on the “Install Now” button.
Go to your pages tab and click on “Edit”
Scroll down the page to the box that says
Yoast SEO and see the Google preview box.
The SEO meta description description is below your SEo title and slug.
In the admin area of your Shopify store click
on “Online Store” and the “Pages”.
Click on the name of the page
Click on “Edit website SEO” in the Search
Engine Listing Preview section.
The page description is below the Page Title.
A hack to improve your metadata description for SEO
Google is looking for the most relevant
content to show it’s clients.
If you use the same keyword in your metadata
description or title you will be penalised.
But, if you use synonyms or different words
with the same meaning, you won’t e.g. SEO Auckland Agency specialising in
ranking strategy campaign services and Search Engine Optimization in New
Zealand.
1.
SEO
2.
Search Engine Optimisation
3.
Ranking
All three of these keyword phrases are telling Google that the page is
about SEO and gives it a good score.
You still want to be able to keep the wording relevant because people
still want to click on your link in the search results, but if it makes sense
to different phrases relating to the same topic, use it.
How do headings on your website work for SEO?
Headings are one of the most important
elements on a website when it comes to SEO.
They help Google understand the structure of
your content and make it easier for users to find what they're looking for.
There are six heading levels, and each has its
own unique purpose and importance.
They are ranked from level 1 <H1> to
level 6 <h6>.
* Hot Tip – keep all your headings under 60
characters long.
Level one headings, referred to as <H1>
tags, are typically reserved for the title of a page and should contain your
main keyword of your page. This helps
Google understand what your page is about.
Always keep it punchy and think of it as a
newspaper headline. There’s a great blog post that talks about how to write headlines
that make people want to read your content.
e.g for the blog post the heading needs to be compelling,
entices people and work great for SEO.
So for my <H1> tag I’m going to be
using:
“Top 9 SEO content hacks for huge ranking
gains”
Level two headings <H2> are used to
break up sections of content and should contain some reference to the keywords
you are trying to target. Think of these as little snippets that Google could
pull as a search result.
Have a look at the big heading I’ve used in
this SOP, those are going to be my <H2> headings.
They all relate to my main keyword phrase.
SEO content.
So far:
Metadata Title
= How Google ranks the content you write for
SEO
– notice “write”, “ranks”
and “Google” they both relate to content and SEO
Blog Title <H1> = Top 9 SEO
content hacks for huge ranking gains
–
notice ranking which relates to SEO
<H2> titles = Writing a winning Page
name for SEO
= Write a great
Metadata Description for SEO
= Create a great
Metadata Description for SEO
= How do headings
on your website work for SEO?
– They all link
back to the titles main key phrase (SEO Content)
Can you see how the picture we are building
for Google to understand what our page and content is about?
Level three headings <H3> are used to
further divide sections and dig deeper into more niche subsection of the SEO
topic: e.g.
<H3> titles = What is a title tag?
= How do I change
my page’s SEO title in Shopify?
<H4> <H5> and <H6> can be used to
further dive deeper into specific niche topics.
Using the correct heading level for each piece
of content helps Google understand the hierarchy of your information and makes
it easier for users to find what they're looking for. In addition, headings
provide a great opportunity to include keywords that can help improve your
website's ranking in search results. When used correctly, headings can be a
powerful tool for SEO.
How to use pictures to improve your page SEO
A good way to improve your SEO ranking is to use pictures. Of course, using pictures just for the sake of it won’t help, you need to use them in the right way.
Here are some tips to help you get the most
out of your images for SEO:
1.
Make sure the file name of your
picture is descriptive and includes your target keyword. For example, if you’re
targeting the keyword “dog food”, a good file name would be “dog-food.jpg”.
This is the title of your image don’t be shy in writing a long image name.
2.
Use pictures that are relevant to
your content and add value for your readers. Google uses Ai to identify what is
being shown in your image, if you have something that is unrelated will just
confuse Google and could even hurt your ranking.
3.
Avoid using generic stock photos
whenever possible. These are often overused and will make your site look unprofessional.
Using stock images don’t affect your SEO and this was confirmed recently by Google’s
Senior Webmaster, John Mueller on Twitter where he was asked about the impact
of using stock images. He said: “It doesn’t matter for
web-search directly.”
He did expand on the topic saying if a lot of people use the same image, which
happens a lot with stock photography, it
will be difficult for Google to decide which to rank above the rest. Mueller
said: “For image search, if it’s the
same image as used in many places, it’ll be harder. (There’s also the potential
impact on users, after search happens, eg: does it affect conversions if your
team photo is obvious stock photography?)”
4.
In the “alt text” field (this is
the text that appears if the picture doesn’t load), include your target keyword
again. This helps Google index your pictures properly.
Go to your Media tab in the back end of your
WordPress site and click on Library.
Click on the image you want to add your
metadata to.
Fill in your Alternative Text and make sure to use your keywords and to make them different.
When you are in your Shopify theme click on the image
that you want add alt text to.
You will see a smaller version of the image
appear on the right-hand side.
Just below the image you will see a clickable
link that says: Image – Edit alt text.
Click on the link, add your alt text and click
on save.
By following these tips, you can use pictures to give your SEO ranking a great boost.
Does video greatly improve your website SEO?
When Google shows search
results, 26% of the time it displays videos as a search result and 68% of consumers prefer watching videos to learn about new products or services.
The thumbnail showing up makes
the Google result into something called a “rich snippet” and greatly increases the click-through-rate of a normal
snippet.
Google wants to serve up the
best content for users and it knows that people love video, so it likes pages
with videos and gives them a ranking boost. Google hasn’t given the official
nod on whether it does, but with our clients we see a drastic SEO benefit to
the pages with videos compared to those without.
YouTube is the second largest
search engine to Google and with your videos hosted there you have the chance
to have your video seen and indirectly bring your more traffic through that
channel.
Two factors that greatly impact
SEO is time spent on a webpage and how many backlinks (these are other webpages
linking to your page) and having a video has shown that videos double the amount of
time spent on pages and if your content is good, people
will link back to your page.
The three types of links to use for Search Engine Optimisation
There are three types of links
that are important for SEO:
1.
Internal links within your webpage.
a.
Internal links are links from one page on your
website to another page on your website.
2.
External links from your website.
a.
External links are links
pointing away from your webpage to other webpages on the internet.
3.
Backlinks to your page.
a.
These are links that other
webpages are referencing a page on your website.
All three types of links are
important for SEO.
Internal links help Google
understand the structure of your website and the relative importance of each
page. They also help visitors navigate your website and find the information
they're looking for. Including relevant keywords in your internal links can
also help improve your website's ranking in search results. When Google pulls
up your Google profile of your page and your website, and you have pages that
relate to each other, it shows that your website is a good authority on the
topic and would be good to serve up to some that it looking for information on
that topic.
External links are when a
website links to another website, it's like giving that website a vote of
confidence. The more votes a website has, the higher it will rank in search
engine results. In addition, external links can help to build relationships
with other websites. If you have a high-quality website with valuable content,
other websites are likely to link to you. This can create a positive feedback
loop that further boosts your ranking and authority. As a result, external
linking is an essential part of any SEO strategy.
Backlinks to your website shows
that your page is a good source of information on a particular topic. If you
have high-quality external links pointing to your website, it will help improve
your ranking in search results.
* Hot tip: when you are links make sure that the words that are used for
links have your keywords in and describe what you are linking to. This is
called your anchor text. In Google language the anchor text is describing what
the page you are linking to is about.
e.g. You want to create a link
for an article you that you have written:
How to write headlines that make
people want to read your content.
Bad way of using anchor text
Read about How to
write headlines that make people want to read your content here: https://noursemen.co.nz/headline-writing-for-seo/
Google will see the anchor text
as https://noursemen.co.nz/headline-writing-for-seo/ and will have no context about why you are linking to that page.
Good way of using anchor text
Read about How to write headlines that make people
want to read your content.
Google will see the anchor text
as ”How to write headlines” and attribute the anchor link as
linking to additional content about headline writing.
What this will do is give the page you are linking to extra
SEO points about headline writing as well as give your current page SEO points.
Does the way your website is designed matter for great SEO?
Coding for SEO is an essential part of optimising
your website (especially for e-commerce website development) for search engines. By including the right code, you can help your
website achieve a higher ranking in search results. In addition, you can help
to improve your website's authority on the subject matter and make it easier
for search engines to find and index your website, which can lead to increased
traffic and higher search engine rankings. It will make it easier for users to
navigate and find the information they need.
There are different types of coding that helps with making it easier for Google to understand what you content is about.
One of the popular languages is called Schema markup.
Schema markup is also known as structured data
and is the language of search engines. It is a certain type of that helps to
better understand what your website is about.
It can get very complicated to understand but is extremely
powerful when it comes to shooting you up the rankings.
Does the speed of your website matter for top SEO ranking?
In the age of the internet, people expect to
be able to find information quickly and easily. As a result, the speed of your
website can have a significant impact on your success.
When it comes to SEO ranking, Google often
sees faster websites as more authoritative and trustworthy. In addition, faster
websites tend to have lower bounce rates, meaning that people are more likely
to stick around and explore your site. Because of this, it's important to ensure
that your website is as fast as possible if you want to achieve a top SEO
ranking.
There are a number of ways to improve website
speed, including optimizing images and using caching techniques. By taking the
time to improve the speed of your site, you can see a real difference in your
SEO ranking.
How fast is your website?
Check the official Google page speed test benchmark tool to
see how good your website does.
It gives you recommendations of what you can do
to improve your site speed.
SEO is a long-term game.
The main benefit of SEO is improved ranking in
search engines, which leads to more traffic and higher visibility for your
website.
But the benefits of SEO go beyond just
improved ranking.
Good SEO can also help to build your brand,
increase your online authority, and drive more organic traffic to your site.
And because SEO is a long-term strategy, the benefits you enjoy today will
continue to pay off for years to come.
So, if you're looking for a way to improve
your website's visibility and attract more visitors, then spending time on your
SEO is definitely worth considering otherwise hire an SEO expert to help you
rank as quickly as possible.
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