Simple SEO Tips You Can Use Right Now
If you’re like most small business owners, you understand the importance of SEO. But when it comes to implementing this important strategy, it can be hard to know where to turn.
After all, you’re an entrepreneur— not a technology wizard. The rules seem to change more often than you change your socks. And if you’re not quite ready to hire an expert to figure it out for you, you may be struggling to figure out on your own.
So, what are some easy strategies you can implement today to improve your search engine ranking and gain more business?
Optimize Keywords for RankBrain
When it comes to SEO, most are well aware that using the right keywords is essential. Every piece of content on your website should begin with keyword research to determine the common phrases your potential customers are searching for.
RankBrain has changed the game a bit. Google uses this artificial intelligence algorithm to deliver search results based on search intent and user feedback. And because RankBrain can understand what words mean, it’s more in tune with what users are looking for when completing an online search.
This algorithm strongly ranks content based on Latent Semantic Indexing, or LSI, keywords. These include any words or phrases that are strongly associated with your chosen topic. This might sound complicated, but never fear. Finding such keywords to include in your content is as easy as a simple Google search.
For example, if your topic is home décor, simply type “home decor” into Google and scroll to the bottom of the page to the related searches. This section reveals common search phrases associated with home decor, giving you examples of LSI keywords:
Another useful tool for finding RankBrain-friendly keywords is LSI Graph, a free online keyword generator. Let’s see what happens when we type “home decor” into it:
By using both Google and LSI Graph, you can create an excellent list of keywords to include in your content.
Improve Your Click-Through Rate
Another important function to know about RankBrain is that it heavily accounts for a link’s click-through rate - or CTR - to rank search results. The more a link is clicked on, the more likely it is to rank highly in a Google search.
So, what are some easy things you can do to get people clicking through to your website? It all starts with a great headline.
CoSchedule has a handy, free headline analyzer to help you do just that. Just type in an idea for a headline and it will give you a score for how likely it is to connect with your audience. Let’s try it out with home decor.
Short, sweet, and to the point, “5 Home Decor Ideas” may seem like a good start. But according to CoSchedule’s analysis, this headline doesn’t do much to get people interested:
Luckily, it also gives you tips to improve upon your idea and make it more SEO-friendly:
Now, we can take those suggestions and tweak our headline to be longer and more interesting. Let’s try it again with “5 Easy Upgrades for Unique Home Decor:”