Update your approach to search traffic with our Search Engine Optimization tutorial! With all of the changes over the past few years with Google, creating an SEO tutorial seemed like a good step to get the search traffic you deserve. Please note that search strategies are changing constantly, so something we discuss today might not necessarily be viable tomorrow. However, these ideas provide a good foundation to receive traffic from Google.
Search Engine Optimization Tutorial
On-Page Search Engine Optimization
- Keywords positioning is huge! Make sure your Page Titles include your keywords. For example, the title of this blog post is: Search Engine Optimization Tutorial. Using Search Engine Optimization Tutorial in the title and about 3-5% throughout the page helps Google understand the importance of the keyword in their search engine. To learn more about keywords, check out Keyword Research & Website Development.
- Schema helps you optimize your site for semantic search. Check out Josh Alexander’s post on WordPress Schema for more information about how to use the free Schema Plugin.
- Unique, quality content matters! While there are a number of different SEO formulas that popped up over the years nothing beats unique, quality traffic. Matt Cutts, Google’s Search Engine Wizard, put on Youtube how the correct grammar & spelling do not completely influence search results. However, they have found the sites with the best editing are the ones that have the highest chances of being ranked higher. This has to deal partly with higher quality content being more relevant to users and partly with it working better in social media. One thing I am doing is using an editor to go through my work after I have published and edited it to have another set of eyes on my posts.
Off-Page Search Engine Optimization
- Backlinks are the foundation of many search engine optimization campaigns over the years. There is a lot of value in finding quality links back to your site. The easiest way to get backlinks is to use quality content to get backlinks. To get quality backlinks, check out our Link Building Strategy post to start getting backlinks to your site.
- Social Search is going to keep getting hotter! You need to combine your social media marketing efforts with your search strategy. Instead of just repeating something that I discussed in detail about a month ago check out Social Search to learn more about how to do this effectively.
- Start focusing on your video marketing strategy. Youtube is owned by Google, which means they will give you more credit for using their internal products to promote your own business. First, it is an opportunity to get additional backlinks in the description line below Youtube’s videos and second you get traffic from the third largest site on the internet. Combining social, video, and search makes for an awesome explosion in traffic. It is why my traffic jumped from 8,000 visits in November to 14,000 visits in December.
Search Engine Tutorial 2012 Summary
While this is a lot to for one go, start implementing two or three of the ideas listed in this post everyday. If all you do is create 10-20 quality backlinks, some tweets and updates, and 2-3 posts per week every week for the next 52 weeks you will be amazed at the results. Search traffic is not instantaneous, but when it comes it comes in waves faster then you can imagine. Now use this search engine tutorial to improve your rankings and traffic.
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Really useful information Andy – good timing for me as well because this week I’m working on my business strategies for the year. Schema sounds a bit overwhelming now , but once we all dig into it a bit more it’ll start to make sense. Personally, I’m totally psyched for the New Year and already have a new project underway. Thanks for the great inspiration!
Marquita,
Thanks! Schema just needs to be a little clearer to use for the everyday blogger who is not a programmer or seo specialist.
Andy
Hi Andy, thanks for sharing this great info! I am in the process of approaching people about doing guest blog posts on my site with a link back to my site and I think it will be really great. I also just got a webcam so I can start doing Youtube videos. I appreciate all your good suggestions.
Shelley,
Let me know if you have something that you would be interested in doing for a guest blog post on this site. I also sent you an email as well.
Andy
Andy,
Great Post on the importance of SEO. I’ve seen it’s value when I focus on it and I’ve seen a dip in traffic when I haven’t.
I think that I, too, am searching to do guest blog posts and allow guest authors as well on my blog.
Schema…. Hmm. That could take some time to figure out for sure.
Thanks for the ideas….
Best,
James
James,
Been getting a lot of great guest bloggers over the last few days. Definitely something to look into.
Andy
Regarding On-Site SEO, does the keyword density 3 to 5% applies only to a 400 word article or it is also applicable to 400+ word article? Or does the keyword density varies as the word count increases?
Candice,
It applies to all articles. There are some variations of it, but somewhere less than 5 and more than 1 for every guiding principle I have heard of. Why do you ask?
Andy
Hello Andy!!
Superb article. I really learnt a lot from this one and feel like I can make the most from it. Thanks very much for sharing.
Really good SEO strategies, Andy.
I was particularly interested in learning how social media is now such a strong part of SEO. I always thought social media was in a separate stream.
Consistency, as you mention, is still the overriding challenge we must always be up to.
David,
Thanks!
Social and Search are definitely merging more and more into one entity. Something to be mindful for your search traffic in the future.
Andy
Great set of optimization strategies… You’ve opened my eyes to many new trends.. I am particularly intrigued with the wordpress schema plugin. It’s the first time I’ve heard of “microdata”. It seems represent a major shift coming in the way search engines provide search results… Good stuff
Thomas,
Thank you very much! Microdata is going to be huge this year.
Andy
Hi Andy,
I hadn’t heard of Schema before, nice tip thank you. Also you’ve made this immoveable feat sound manageable in the summary – thanks, I’m going to get going on it!
Cheers
sian
Thank you very much!
I just started trying to do my own SEO for my new site. I am totally clueless about this stuff. I heaved learned a few things the last couple of weeks, like about back links and quality content, but I did not know about social media and how much it can affect rankings. Looks like it is time for some more reading. SEO is an ongoing education.
Kelly,
Let me know if you have any specific questions about SEO?
Andy