CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Quote

PREFACE

Whythisbook?

ChapterOne|THESEOMINDSET

Ifyoubuilditandtheywillcome…ornot

OrganicSearchvs.PaidSearch

ToknowSEO,istoknowGoogle

Don’tbelieveeverythingGoogletellsyou

ChapterTwo|HOWGOOGLEWORKS

Algorithmschangebutpeople…notsomuch

HowGooglefindsyoursite

GetfoundonGooglein1minute

ChapterThree|THERANKINGFACTORS

Rankingfactorsoverview

C1:Credibility

C1.1Time

C1.2Backlinks

C1.3Domainname’shistory

C2:Content

C2.1Contentquality

C2.2On-pageoptimisation

R.RankBrain

ChapterFour|STEP1:KEYWORDRESEARCH

Youhaveonly10competitors

Stepstofindthebestkeyword

KRexample1:anewsite

KRexample2:anoldsite

KRexample3:ashoestore

IsKeywordResearchDying?

ChapterFive|STEP2:CONTENT&ON-PAGE

ContentthatGooglelovessomuch

Howtodoon-pageoptimisation

WhatthehellisGoogleSnippet?

On-page1:DomainnameandURL

On-page2:Headerorheadline(H1)

On-page3:MetaTags&Snippet

On-page4:Bodytext

Userfriendly

ChapterSix|STEP3:LINKBUILDING

Stealingbacklinks

Creatingprofilesanywhere

Socialpostsandyoutubelink

Guestblogging

Stealingranking

ChapterSeven|STEP4:MEASUREYOURSUCCESS

ThethingaboutRankingchecker

GoogleSearchConsole

Queriesreporttoboosttraffic

GoogleAnalytics

Finalwords

ChapterEight|Bonuschapters

ChapterNine|1-HELLOWORDPRESS

RoadtoWordPress

ChapterTen|2-HOWWORDPRESSWORKS

AnatomyofWordPress

INTRODUCTION

“Bigideasinbusinessareoftenveryobvious,butit’sveryhardtomaintainafirmgraspoftheobviousatalltimes.

–JeffBezosofAmazon.com

PREFACE

About10yearsagomybookeditoraskedmeifIcouldIwriteaboutSEO.WhattheheckisSEO?Ithought.BeforethatIwaswritingaboutGoogleAdSenseandsoonrealisedthatbehindeverywebsite’ssuccessprettymuchhastodowithSEO.ThatwasthestartofmyjourneytotheSEOuniverse.10yearshavepassedby,IhavemadeandsavedupafewmillionsfromSEOconsultingandinvestedinotherbusinessesforpassiveincome(Idon’tknowwhyI’mtellingyouthis).

Fastforwardtopresenttime,IamaretiredSEOconsultant,trytomakeanewchapterinmylifeasafulltimewriterbecausesinceIhavebeendoingSEO,Irealisedthere’snothingmakesmewanttogetupinthemorningmorethanthecontentproject.Also,itwouldbeabigwastetoletmy10yearsexperienceinthisfieldwashaway.Sohereitis,mylegacyforanyonewhowantstolearnSEO.IhopeyouenjoyitasmuchaswhenIwroteit.

Thankyou

–JoeAnucha

WHYTHISBOOK?

There’sgiganticamountofinformationoninternetincluding1,203booksonAmazonaboutSEO,sowhythisbook?

Ifeelyourpain.Toomuchinformationconfusesyou.Thisbookwillstopyoufromgoingnutsfrominformationoverload.

Thisbookwillbasicallypackeverythinginanicesmallboxandsumitallupforyouasastep-by-stepguide,youwillknowateverystepofwhattofocuswithoutoverwhelmingyouwithtoomuchinformation.Everythingisexplainedfromtherealworldpointofviewfromthebigpictureintothedetails.Briefandeasytounderstand.

Thisbookisdifferentbecauseitwaswrittenbyaguywhocaresaboutwriting.Well,ImaynotbethebestwriterbutIamnotwritingthisbookbecauseIknowSEO.MyjobistomakesureIexplaineverysubjectinthebestwayIcan.Ijustcan’thelpit.

Convinced?Maybenot.

Justreadingthesampleofthiskindlebookfirstbeforeyoudecidetobuy.Afterall,itmightnotbeforyou.

Let’sbegin.

CHAPTERONETHESEOMINDSET

Ifyoubuilditandtheywillcome…ornot

“Ifyoubuildit,theywillcome”,amottothata30+agepersonmightrecallfromthemovie“FieldofDreams”.Andforsomereasonthislinegotoutintotheonlinemarketingworldandmademanypeopletoperceiveso.

Websiteisamarketingtoolthatneedsmarketinginitself.Nothingwillhappenunlessyoumakeithappens.Imean,nobodywillcometoyourwebsiteunlessyoudosomethingaboutit.Andthatsomething,cannotbebuyingadsallthetimebecauseit’stoocostly.ThisiswherethewhitehorseSEO(SearchEngineOptimisation)comestotherescue.

SEOistheprocesstoboostawebsite’srankingsothatyoucangainasmuchtrafficandprofitfromthesearchenginesforfree.That’sitwithmystraightface.Nothingmore.

Youknowit,Iknowit.EverybodywantshighrankingonGooglewhichonlySEOcanprovide.That’swhyyoudownloadedthisbook.

OrmaybeyouhavenotrealisedthefullpotentialofSEO.Readon.

TheworldisalloverSEObecausetheyknowwhatrankinghighonasearchenginelikeGooglecouldbring.Googleisthegoldmineforqualitytraffic,it’soneofafewplacesinthewholeonlineworldwhereyoufindbigtrafficwhoarealreadyinterestedinbuyingproductsoralreadywantedtofindyou.Whereelsecouldyoufindsuchlove?TheyarealreadyinterestedinYOU.AllyouneedtodoisSHOWUP!

SEOisbyfarthebestlongtermmethodtodrivequalitytraffictoyourwebsite,ideallyfromGoogle,themostpopularsearchenginerightnow.OnceyourankedhighonGoogle,it’slikewinningalottery.Qualitytrafficwillkeepcomingyourwayforyearstocomeforfree!

Youmayhavethebestcontent,thebestproductorthebestserviceintheworldbutallthatwouldmeannothingifnobodycanfindyouonsearchengines,andlet’sacceptit,thesearchengineoftodayisGoogle.

Sono,ifyoubuildit,theywilldefinitelynotcome…notuntilyoubuyadsor…notbuyadsanddoingwellinSEO.

OrganicSearchvs.PaidSearch

Oneafternoon,Iwasinasellpitchforawell-knownhairlosscompany.Thebossandafewemployeeswerethere.Thiswasmyfirstkeynoteslide:

Thebossstoppedandstaredatthisslideforsolong,theroomwassoquiteIcouldhearairconditioning.“Whatthehellisshelookingat?”Ithought…“Verystrange,Ihavenevernoticedthedifferencebefore.”Shesaid.Andthensheturnedtoheremployeesandasked“Haveyounoticedthedifferencebetweenthesesearchresults?Andwhichonedoyouclickthemost?”

Everyoneansweredinharmony,“Below”.(Theorganicsearchresult)

Whenyougoogle,someofyoumayhavenoticedthe2searchresulttypesandsomeofyoumaynot.So,beforewegoanyfurther,weneedtobeclearedonwhatispaidandwhatisnon-paidsearchresult.

Ontopresultsthateachhasasmallicon“ad”indicated.ThoseareadsfromGoogleAdWords,it’scalled“PaidSearchResult”andtrafficthatcomefromthisispaidtraffic.

Belowresults,arethenon-paidresultcalled“OrganicSearchResult”.Since80%ofGoogleusersareclickingontheorganicresult,that’swhereweallwanttobe,that’swherethefreetrafficpartyhappening.

Keepthisinmind:SEOtakestimeunlikethepaidads.

Evenifittakestime,SEOisstillworththeeffort,asIsaidonceyourankedhigh,youwillbearoundthereforyearstocome,untilyoumessedupyourownsite.

AgenciesandbusinessesuseGoogleAdWordsadallthetimetoboosttrafficorboostvisibilityfornewbornwebsitesandstrategiccampaignsbuttrafficfromorganicresultiswhateverybodywants,it’salongterminvestment.Theinvestmentinwhichyoucanbuildityourselfforfreeorhireotherpeopletodoitforyou.It’sreallyuptoyouandyourbudget.

ToknowSEO,istoknowGoogle

ForSEOpeople(whoevermakingalivingwithSEO),ourlivesandourcareersarealwayshangingonastring.Awobblestringofchangeofthemostpopularandmostadvancedsearchenginetodate,youknowwho–Google.

InSEO,sometimesyoumighthavequestionsthatnobodycananswerandothertimesyouwouldreadfromsomewheresayingthingsthatmadeyouevenmoreconfused.Justknowthis:ToknowSEOistoknowGoogle.(Atleastintheyear2000-2030..)Inotherwords,themoreyouthinklikeGoogle,themoreyouunderstandSEO.

WhyGoogle?Otherthanbeingthemostusesearchengine(60%marketshareinUSAandmuchmoreinotherpartsoftheworld),ifyoureadfromauthoritativeSEOblogs,theyalltalkaboutGoogleandnotmuchanythingelse.Moreover,ifyourankhighonGoogle,youaremorelikelytorankhighonothersearchenginestoo.IreadmanySEObooks,theyallsaysearchenginesthatsearchenginesthisbutfailedtomentionthissimpletruth:

Googleistheshit!

YourSEOgoalisclear.It’stodominateGoogleinyourmarket.

WhatGooglewantsiswhat’sbestforitsusers.Notyou,notme.Notwebsiteowners.Butitsusers.

Ultimately,whatGooglewantsiswhat’sbestforusersandwhatuserswantistofindthebestanswersforthequerytheysearchonGoogle.

ImagineGooglefailedtoprovideforthissimpledemand,Icanguaranteeyou,therewillbenomoreusersforGoogleandnomoreGoogleinjustfewmonthsandwewouldhavetopackourbagsanddoSEOsomewhereelselikeBingorFacebook,perhaps.Butthat’snotgoingtohappenanytimesoon.Googleseemstobedoingbetterandbetter.

Moreover,oneofthemaindutyofGooglesearchteamistocatchthespammersorlowqualitysitesinordertoboostvisibilityofhighqualitysitesandtokeepusershappywiththesearchresult.It’snosurprisingthatGooglehasawebsitespamteamdedicatedtotheSEOindustry.

So,ifyouwanttomasterSEO,nowit’stimetostartthinkinglikeGoogle,keepingupwithwhatGoogleisdoing,readitsannouncement,addsearchengineblog’snewstoyourRSSreaderapp,andyouwillalwaysbeontherightmindsetinunderstandingSEOnomatterhowmuchGooglehaschangedandimproved(justlikewalkingaroundinajunglewithacompass).

Googlealwaysprovideupdateusefulknowledgeonhowitssearchengineworks,allyouneedtodoisjustgoreaditfromtimetotime:

https://support.google.com/webmasters/

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35291

GoogleevenhasitsownSEOstarterguideinaPDFfileforeveryonewhichIrecommendanyonetoreadhere.

Don’tbelieveeverythingGoogletellsyou

IknowIjusttoldyouthatyouneedtothinklikeGooglebutIdidn’tsayyouhavetobelieveeverythingGoogletellsyou.

Forexample,Googlewouldtellyouthatputtingyourlinkonfacebookwouldnothelpyourpagetorankanyhigher,Iamsureifitwastrue,theyarenotgoingtotellus.Iftheydid,Googlewouldbefullofwebpagesthathasnovalue.

SEOisartandsciencecombinedtogether.Sowiththeartpart,youneedtosometimesthinkoutsidetheboxtoincreasethechanceofbeingaunicornamongthecrowdofmonkeys.Youneedtofilterwhatyouhaveheardandstartimplementingandexperimentingforyourselftofindthetruth.

Iliketoshareyoupartofthisarticle:searchenginejournal.comthattalkaboutthereasonwhyGoogleisafraidtosharewiththeworldofwhataretherealrankingfactors:

“TellingtheworldthatlinksleadtobetterrankingsinsearchresultseventuallyhelpedcreateblackhatlinkbuildingandGooglehavingtocrackdownonlinkschemes.Thishasledtomajorpenaltiesagainstsitessuspectedofbuyingandsellinglinks,linkexchanges,large-scalearticlemarketingandguestpostingwithkeyword-richanchortext,automatedlinkbuilding,optimizedanchortextusedinpressreleases,low-qualitydirectorylinks,etc.

Tellingtheworldthaton-sitekeywordoptimizationofwebpageswouldleadtobetterrankingsinsearchresultshelpedcreatespammyon-siteoptimizationandGooglehavingtocrackdownonkeywordstuffing,hiddentext,etc.TellingtheworldthathavingmorecontentontheirwebsiteswouldleadtobetterrankingsinsearchresultshelpedcreatedemandforcontentscrapersandGooglehavingtocrackdownonscrapedcontentandautomatedrepublishingofcontentfromone-sitetoanother.”

Nowyouareintherightmindset.ThemindsetofSEO.

Let’smoveonthethechapter2tostartlearningthebasicofSEO.

CHAPTERTWOHOWGOOGLEWORKS

Algorithmschangebutpeople…notsomuch

SearchEngineusesalgorithmtodeterminewebsite’sranking,andGooglehasonecalled“Hummingbird”.So,whatisalgorithmtoGoogle?

“Youwanttheanswer,nottrillionofwebpages.Algorithmsarecomputerprogramsthatlookforcluestogiveyoubackexactlywhatyouwant.”

–Google

ToSEOs,algorithmisbasicallytheanswertotherankingfactors.

Onlineworldisnotsodifferenttotherealworld.Largeamountofpeopleandinformationarebeingbornandbeingkilledeverysecond,goodandbad,oldandnewandallthechangesanddifferences.It’s30trillionwebpagesbeingonlinesofarandincreasingeverysecond.It’schaos.SoforGoogletokeepup,theyneedsomesortofautomaticalgorithms.AlgorithmsallowGoogletokeepwebpagesingoodorder(theproperranking)atalltime.ThechallengingpartofGooglealgorithmsforusisthechanges.

Tokeepupwiththechaos,Googlealgorithmsneedtoalwayslearningandimproving.That’swhyitusesA.I.forthis.

Andwhenalgorithmchange,rankingchangetoo.That’swhyweallhateSEOsometimes.

BeingontheGooglesearchresult(Google’sindex)islikeridingarollercoaster,yourpagecangoupanddownanyday.EverytimeGoogleannouncedabigalgorithmchange,webpagesgetkilled,outrankedwhileothersgetpromotedtohigherrank.Therewillbepeoplelosingtheirjobswhileothergainmoneyandjobsoverthis.

ToSEOs,Google’salgorithmiswhatweneedtokeepupandstrictlyfollowastheSEObibleinordertokeeptherankinghealth.Buteverybodyknows,therearepossibilitiesthatevenyoudoeverythingalgorithm’swayandstillfail.Ihavelearntitthehardway.So,thisismylessonpassingontoyou..

Keepthealgorithmclosebutkeepyourusercloser.Becausepeoplearenotgoingtochangemuch.Followyourusersandyouwillalwaysbeontherighttrackinunderstandingwhatalgorithmistryingtoachieve.

Ifyouwanttolearnmoreaboutalgorithms,readhere:

https://www.google.com/insidesearch/howsearchworks/algorithms.html

HowGooglefindsyoursite

NotrankinghighonGoogleisnowherenearasbadasyoursitecannotbefoundonGoogle.It’sembarrassing!Youshouldbeashamed!Itcan’tbeallowed!(Sorryaboutthat,IthoughtIwastalkingtomynewclients)So,beforeyoucanrankhighonGoogle,youneedtobefoundorgetindexedfirst.Atleastwhenpeoplesearchforyourunique“brandname”,youshouldbefoundattop10rankofGoogle.

Solet’stalkaboutthefactorsofhowGoogleindexyoursiteshallwe?

Googlefindsyoursiteandincludeyoursitetoitsindexthroughlinks:clickablelinkthatlookjustlikethis:Ilovethissite.LinksareroadsforGoogletotravelfromsitetositeandwebpagetowebpage.OnceyournewsiteisconnectedwithanewlinkfromthesitethatwasalreadyinGoogle’sindex,Googlecansendthecomputerprogramcalled“Googlebot”toyourwebpages.

GooglebotisaspiderbotprogramwhichcrawlyoursitetogatherinformationandkeeptheminGoogle’sindexwaitingtoberankedwiththerankingfactorsofthealgorithms.(HoweasyGooglebotcancrawlthroughyourpagesisoneoftherankingfactorstoo).

Ofcourse,ifyousitewasbornyesterday,thereisnowayyoucanhavelinkcomingin,becausenowebsitesknowyourexistentyet.Sodon’tworry,thereareotherwaystogetindexedwithoutthemercyoflinks.Followme.

GetfoundonGooglein1minute

TobefoundonGoogle,itmeansyouareinGoogle’sindex.TherearewaysyoucanincludeyourbusinessorsiteintoGoogle’sindexquicklywithoutputtinglinkstoothersitesandprayforittowork.

Whichwaydependsonthetypeofcontentyouhave:mobileapp,websiteandbusinesslocation.Becausetodaywhenyougoogleyouseedifferencetypeofsearchresultlikeforapps,mapsandimageetc.It’snotjustwebsitesanymore.

Forexample,ifyouhavejustcreatedanewwebsiteandreadyfortheworldtofindyourbrandonGoogle,justaddyourdomainnameto:

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/submit-url?continue=/addurl

Afteryousubmittedyoursite,waitforafewdays,thenyouchecktheindexbytypingonGoogle:site:[yourdomainname]e.g.site:superslickyman.com.AndyoushouldseeallyourwebpagesappearonGooglelikeso…

Opps…sorryaboutthat.IforgotthatthisisjustamadeupdomainnameforthisexamplesoGooglehasnowebpagesthatbelongtothisdomainnameintheindex.Butifyousearchwiththis“site:”commandforothersitesyoushouldseeallthewebpagesbelongtoitsdomainnamelikethis:

Ifyoursite’snameisuniquelikesuperstickyman.com,youshouldberankedwithinthetop#5inaweekforthatnamebecausethereisnocompetitionforyourbrandkeyword.However,ifyourbrandhavenotrankedquickly,thereareworkstobedone-readonandseecontentsection,on-pageoptimisation.

Forfacebookfanpageoryoutubeetc.youdon’tneedtodothis.Googlecanindexpagesunderpopularsitesveryfastandverywellwithoutyourhelp.So,thanksbutnothanks.

WhatifyouhaveopenanewrestaurantorastoreinyourhometownandyouwanttobefoundonGooglesearchresultandmapwhenpeoplesearchforyourbusiness’snameorbrandname,justsubmityourbusinessinformationto:

https://business.google.com/add

Onceyouaddedyourbusinessinformation,Googlewillletyoutopinyouraddressonitsmaps,andthenGooglewillsendyouapostcardwithpinnumbertoverifytheaddressownershipanddone.Afterthat,youwillbefoundon1stpageofGoogle,niceandbigontherightsideofsearchresultaswhensearchforthetermlikethis:

Andlikebelowifyouarealocalstore:

Forothercontenttypes,seethefulllisthere:

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/6259634?hl=en

Yes,foryournametobefoundonGoogle,it’sassimpleasthat.Nomoreguilt,nomoreembarrassmentwhenpeoplesay“Ican’tfindyouonGoogle”.

Ifyoustillcan’tbefoundon1stpageGoogleprobablybecauseyournameisn’tuniqueenough,youcancombineyournamewithyourproductandservicetomakeitmoreunique.Otherthanthat,it’sSEOworkthatyouneedtodolater.

Afteryourbusinessoryoursite’sbrandnamecanbefoundonGoogle,itgetsmoreinteresting.Now,youdonotjustwanttofoundwithyourbrandnametermsbutyouwanttobefoundbygenerictermspeopleuseindailylifetofindinformationlike“howtobuyshoes”or“cheapplainticket”.Becausethisiswherebigqualitytrafficcomefrom.Thisis

whereyouneedtodoSEO.

Sowithoutfurtherado,it’stimetounderstandwhatmakesyourankhigh.

CHAPTERTHREETHERANKINGFACTORS

Rankingfactorsoverview

OurlifeasSEOsusedtobesoeasy.Just10yearsagowecouldjuststuffkeywords(searchterms)alloverourwebpagesandgetto1stpageofGoogle.cominjustaweek.Allofthatendedwheneverybodydidthesamething.AndnextthingweknewGooglewasfullofspammywebpages.Lotsofworthlesspieceofcrapwebsites.Ithinkthiswaslikein2005orsomething.Surelynosearchengineswiththerightmindwouldletthisgoontoolongbecauseit’sbadfortheirbusiness.Theyhadtodosomethingaboutit.

ThenthebigalgorithmchangescamealongandeverybodyintheSEOindustryhadtoeitherstepuporpacktheirbagsandgohome.Ifyouarenotinterestedinpackingyourbags,thisiswhatyouneedtofollowtostepupinthisgame:

1.Creategreatcontent

2.followthelatestrankingfactors

(TokeepupwiththeSEOworldevenintheyear2030,youonlyneedtogooglefor“rankingfactors[numberofyear]”).

NomatterwhatanybodyelsesayaboutSEO,these2thingsareallthereistoit:Creategreatcontentandfollowthelatestrankingfactors.Youmayalsohaveheardthatthereareabout200factorsthatGoogle’salgorithmusetorankawebpagewithallthechangesyouneedtokeepup,don’tgetcrossedeyesbecause…

Thosefactorscomedowntojust3C:

C1:Credibility,C2:ContentandC3:Crawlability(obsolete)

C1andC2area-musthave,theycan’tbewithouteachother.YoumayhavethebestcontentbutifGoogledoesn’ttrustyoursite,you’redoomedtofailure.

AsfortheC3:astheyearsrollonandGooglegetssmarteratfindingandgatheryourwebpagesinformation,itmakesC3lessimportanteveryday.SotodayIthinkit’soktosaythatC3isout,obsolete!andshouldbereplacedwiththenew3rdrankingfactorofGoogle’salgorithms….

RANKBRAIN

RankBrainisthebrandnewrankingfactorannouncedbyGooglein2015,andit’snow3rdimportantrankingfactor.IthasmuchtodowithGoogle’sA.I.Oritsmachinelearning.Itcanlearnuser’sbehaviouronGoogletodeterminethebestresultforsearchtermanditwillkeepimprovingitselfuntilitcaneventuallytakeovertheworld….justkiddingonthelastpart…ornot.Later,I’llshowyouhowtobeatthesystem.

Now,letmesumitupforyouthe3mostimportantfactorsinrankinghighonGoogletodate:

C1:Credibility

C2:Content

R:RankBrain(NEW)

Itusedtobethe3Cbutnowit’smorelike2C+R.These3mainfactorseachwillhavemanymoresubfactorsbutdon’tfreakout.Justdoitstep-by-stepstartingwiththe

informationinthisbookfirst.Leavethelittlethingsforlater.

Pleasealsokeepinmindthatthesefactorsareconcludedfromvarioustrustedsources:GoogleitselfandincludingwellknownSEOexpertteamswhohavetestedwithprovenresults.IhavealsotrieditwithgreatresultsandIamheretoshareandsumitupforyou.

However,thesearenotwhatGoogletellsusexactly.Becausetheydon’ttellusexactly,that’swhy.Iftheydid,thennobookswillbeneeded.Butrestassurethatevenalgorithmchangesbigtimeagainwithinthese3-4years(2016-2020),torankhighonGoogleitwouldstillhangingaroundthese3mainfactors.

Next,letseeeachoneofthem.

C1:Credibility

DoesGoogletrustyoursite?

Ifthere’sareasonwhyintheSEOworldusetheterms“natural”or“organic”somuch,thenthismustbeit.Becausetrustcanonlybegainnaturallythroughtime,linkandwordofmouth(atleastit’swhatGoogleexpectustobehave).AnythingelsethatmakesGoogletrustyouisconsideredtobetechnicallyunnatural(that’stheSEO’stasktomakeitlooksnatural).

Tobeintheorganicsearchresult,youaresupposedtobeorganic,remember?

Whatyouneedtoknowisthatyourwebsite’screditisno.1priorityingaininghighrankingonGoogle.ThisiswhyyoucanstillfindstupidcontentwebpagerankinghighonGooglethatisbecauseGooglealreadytrustedthatwebsite.It’sliketellingalietoapersonwhotrustyou,heorsheisgoingtotrustyounomatterwhat.

CredibilityiswhatmakesSEOsomuchchallengingbecauseitishardtolieaboutit.

SoletseewhatmakesGoogletrustyou.

C1.1Time

Firstthingforthecredibilityfactor,yourwebsiteneedstogetold.

It’snosecret,Googledoesnottrustnewwebsites.Inthecrowdedonlineworldwherenewsitesarebeingborneverysecond,onlyahandfulcontinuetoraisebutsomanyjustquit,thereisnowayGooglewouldrankyournewsiteaweeksorafewmonths.Youneedtoprovethatyouareseriousaboutbuildingyoursite,andtimeneverlies.Also,astheyearsrollon,themoretimeittakesforGoogletotrustnewsites.

HowoldyoursiteneedstobeforGoogletotrustyou?Inmyexperience,it’susuallytakeatleast6+monthtoseesomeranking(50-100).Mylatestclienttookabout8monthstoseeheroverallrankingsto#30withalltheSEOtechniquesapplied.

Howlongyouneedtowaitdependsonthecompetitivelevelofyourindustry.Themoredemandthemorecompetitors.ThemorecompetitorstheharderforGoogletotrustyou.Andsorry,thereisnoshortcuttothisfactor.Timeistrustandyoucan’tbuyorbuildtrustwithouttime.

C1.2Backlinks

BacklinkhasbeenthemostimportantrankingfactorsinceGoogle’sdayone.Youcanhavethebestcontentbutifyoudon’thavebacklinkyoumightnotsurviveatall.Basically,Googlelooksatyourbacklinkstodetermineyoursite’scredibility.

Googletreatseachincominglink(backlink)asavote.Letsay,youwroteanarticleonyoursiteandlinksomeofthewordstootherwebsiteslikeso:stupidcartoonandthismeanyouhavevotedforthatpageandthatpagethenwouldgainabitmoretrustfromGoogleandthemorelinklikethis,thehigherrankthatpagewouldgain.Likewiseforyourpagewhenotherslinktoyou.Therefore,themoreincominglinksyouhavefromotherwebsitesthemoretrustyougainfromGoogle.Butwaitaminute.There’smore.

Sureitusedtobelikethemorelinkthebetterbutallofthatendedonceagain,wheneverybodyrushedoutanddidthesamething(dejavu)theyspamthehelloutofbuildingbacklinks.Theydidn’tcarewherethelinkscamefromaslongastheyarelinkse.g.Pornsites,lowqualityforums,freeblogsanybodycancreatein1minuteetc.

ThenGooglegottiredofthiskindofscamcampaignsandchangedalgorithmbigtime,nowallthelinksmustbehighquality:linksmustcomefromrelevantcontentwebsitestoyoursandlinksmustcomefromhighcredibilitysitesinordertogainfulltrustfromGoogle.

It’snolongeranumber’sgame.

It’squalityoverquantity.

Today,youcanhavejustonequalitybacklinkandbeattheshitoutofasitewith1,000oflowqualitybacklinks.What’sworse,themorebadqualitybacklinksyouhave,themoredamagetoyoursite’soverallranking.

Remember.Themorebacklinksyouhavefromdifferentdomainnamesarebetterthanlinksyouhavefromawebsite.

It’scalled“referringdomainnames”,whichyouneedmanyof.Forexample,it’susuallybettertohave2backlinkseachcomingfromengadget.comandbbc.co.ththanhaving10linksfromjustonesite,fromengadget.com.YoucancheckyourownbacklinksusingbacklinkcheckertoolwhichItalkaboutlaterhere.

Sowhattodoaboutbacklink?

Writegreatcontentandprayforthegodofbacklinksopeoplewouldlinkbacktoyourcontentnaturally?It’sveryrare.That’sforpeoplewholiveinheaven–peoplearesonicetoeachother!Notonearth.Andifit’sgoingtohappen,itwouldtakeyearstogainjustafewgoodqualitylinks.Also,toleavethingstohappennaturally,aren’tactuallySEOswayoflife.That’swhySEOsneedtogooutandputourURLstoothersitesfromtimetotime.Seehowtolaterinthebook.

C1.3Domainname’shistory

Thisoneisonyoupal!

Didyoubuyanewdomainnameorsecondhand?Ifnew,that’sgood,gonextbutolddomainname?YoubettercheckifitwaspanelizedbyGoogleinthepassornot.Ifitwas,eventheSEOgodstillcan’thelpyou.YouneedtogotellGoogleyourselfthatyouareanewownerandpromisetobehave.Yes,likeaskingGoogleforforgivenessforthecrimeyoudidn’tdo.

Googlehasablacklistofspammywebsitesasdomainnames.YoucaneasilycheckbygotoGoogleandtypesite:[yourdomainname]andseeifitshowsyourpages,ifnot,yourdomainnamemighthavebeenpanelized.

Butbecareful!

Beingpanelizedcompletelyfromindexisveryrare,sitethathasbeenpanelizedmustofpissedGoogleoffsobadly.SoyoursitecouldjustbetoonewandGoogledoesn’tknowyouyet.DosubmityoursitetoGoogleandwaititoutforafewweeksandcheckyoursitefortechnicalissuefirstbeforefollowthisstepstoregaintrustfromGoogle:

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35843

Needmoreinfo?Readthis:

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/10-ways-to-diagnose-a-google-penalty/10566/

Andifyouarecuriousaboutyourdomainname’sinfo:

http://whois.domaintools.com

C2:Content

Now,let’stalkaboutthe2ndmostimportantrankingfactor:Thecontent.Incontent,Iincludeeverythingthathastodowithtextonyoursite.

ContentisKing!

Kindleisdeadwithoutbooks.Smartphoneisdeadwithoutapps.PCisdeadwithoutsoftware.iPodisdeadwithoutsongs.Googleisdeadwithoutwebsitestosearchfor.Yougettheidea.Withoutthegreatnessofyourcontent,allthetechnology,alltheworkyouhaveputintoyourwebsitecouldbecomeuseless.Mostpeoplespendyearsdesigningandbuildinguptheirwebsitecausingtime,moneyandtearsbutbythetimetheygetaroundtobuildthecontenttheyranoutofenergy,that’swheneverythingstarttofellapart.Itshouldbetheotherwayround.

Contentmustcomesfirstandtechnologysecond.

Andit’smorethiswaynowthanever.Googleisgettingmoreseriousaboutthecontenteveryday.InSEO,thereare2subfactorsyouneedtocareaboutinmakingagreatcontentwiththehighrankingpotential:

1.Contentquality

2.On-pageoptimisation

C2.1Contentquality

Yourcontentmustbeathighquality.Iknowit’shardtopinpointwhichishighwhichislowbutyouknowitwhenyouseeone.Thisiseasiersaidthandone.Butitiswhatitis.So,letmedefineitforyou.

Yourcontentcreationmustaimforthebestandcompleteanswertothatsearchtermyouwanttorankfor.Tomethatisqualitycontent.

Howwouldyouknowifyourcontentisgoodenough?Comparingyourcontenttotop10ranksonGoogleandyouwouldseeit.Theusefulness,completeanswer,rightanswer,moredetails,longerlength,moreimages,addvideosetc.Doanythingnecessarytomakeyourcontentasusefulasitcanbeoratleastbetterthanyourcompetitorswhoalreadyintop10rankonGoogle.

Forexample,Ifmyblogwasabout“buyinghome”andImightwanttorankforthewordthathassearchdemandlike“howtobuyahomeinDallas”.Then,beforeIcreatemyarticleonthistopic,Iwouldgoogletochecktop10or20rankstoseewhatcontentisthere.Isitincomplete?Aretherequestionslefttobeanswered?Isthereanythingwrongwithit?Notenoughinfo?Confusing?Canyouexplainitbetter?Needmoreimages,videos?Yousimplyneedtoaskyourself:howcanIaddvaluetothis?

Asthepreviousimageshow,thereisnowebpageprovidedirectanswertothisquestion,sothechanceofwinningisveryhighformetobethebesttoanswerthisandrankhighonGoogle.

Remember,Googlealreadytrustedthosetop10-20contenttobethebestanswerson“howtobuyahomeinDallas”,soforanewfacelikeyourstohaveyourwebpagereplaceoneoftopranks,youhavegottoaddmorevaluetothetopic.Makeitdifferent,moreinteresting,moreentertaining,easiertoread,makeitmorecomplete,longerlength,

anythingthatyoudon’tseeadozentimesonGoogle.DoyoureallythinkGooglewouldwantitssearchresulttobethatboringbylettingyourepeatwhateverybodyelsealreadydid?Idon’tthinkso.

Bethebestanswerandbewhatpeoplewanttoshare.Dothebestyoucandoforeachcontentlikeitisthelastcontentyouhavetodoonthisearth,leavenodoubt,nomorequestionsbehind,that’showyouknowyouhaveavaluablecontent.

Andremember,morenumberofcontentwebpagesdoesn’tmeanbetteroverallranking.

Thisisalsonotanumbergame.

Contentisalsoaboutqualityoverquantity!

C2.2On-pageoptimisation

IfyoueversearchfororsellstuffoneBayyoualreadyknowon-pageoptimisation.It’sallaboutrelevancyofyourwebpagetothesearchers.OneBayyoucanchoosetofilteryoursearchbymanyoptionslikelowestprice,highestprice,endsoonest..andrelevancy.Whichproducttitleanddescriptioncontainthemostrelevantwordstowhatthebuyerissearchingforwillrankthehighest.It’sthesameconceptofhowGooglesortoutthemostrelevantwebpages.

InorderforGoogletoapprovethatyourwebpageisworthtorankhighonasearchterm(keyword),apartfromhavinghighqualitycontent,it’sallaboutrelevancy.

Whatmakesyourwebpagemostrelevant?

It’sallaboutthekeywordtextonyourwebpageandthecontextofthecontent(highqualitycontent).

Thisisthedutyofon-pageoptimisation.

ThisistheeasiestthingyoucandointheSEOwork.Evenmymomknowsthis.Youhavetomakeyourwebpagerelevanttothekeywordthatpeoplearesearchfor.Thisisaboutinsertingkeywordstoyourwebpage(includinganypagethatcanberankedevenafacebookfanpage).

Itisallaboutthetextonyourwebpage’selements.Eachwebpageneedstoshowthatit’saimingforspecifictopicwithtargetkeywordinserted.It’sanSEOjobtohelpGoogleunderstandyourwebpagethebestyoucanbutwithouttryingtoohard.Inotherwords,toomanykeywordsonawebpagewouldpissoffGoogle.Forthewholeon-pagefactor,theideaistoberelevantandnaturaltoo.

R.RankBrain

OnOctober2015,Googleannounceditsbrandnewalgorithm,RankBrain.andinMarch2016AndreyLipattsev,aSearchQualitySeniorStrategistatGooglehasconfirmedthatitisnowGoogle’s3rdmostimportantrankingfactorfromthecontentfactorandcredibilityfactor.ThismaybehowGooglekeepsitspromiseofhowtheywanttofocusontheuseranditstartedtopayoffwelltoo.Sincethen,confirmedbywellknownSEOexperts,googlesearchresultshavegottenbetterandbetter.

Sohowitworks?

Youknowhowitis.Yougoogleforsomethingandclickonaresultandafterlookingatthepagefor1second,regretit,clickanotherresult,regretit,changethekeywordandthegroundhogdaybegins.Keepclickingresultafterresulttofindtherightanswerisn’tfun.It’sannoying!Whycan’twejustfindtherightanswerthefirsttime?Googlefeelsourpain.

ThatisthekindofuserbehaviourthatRankBrainistryingtolearnfrom.RankBrainisthetoolforGoogletoknowifyourcontentgoodorbad.Themorebehaviourlikesohappeningonyourwebpage,cancausethatpageofyoursabigdropinranking.

Laterwewilllearnhowtofightthesystem.Staytune.

That’sitfortheoverviewofrankingfactors.Next,it’stimetogotowork.Startingwiththestep1:findingyourgoalkeywordtorank.

CHAPTERFOURSTEP1:KEYWORDRESEARCH

Youhaveonly10competitors

Acoupleiswalkingthroughaforest…

Suddenly,theyseeabigbearinthedistance,walkingtowardsthem.While,thehusbandisgettingreadytorun…“Whatareyoudoing?”thewifewhispers.“Doyoureallythinkyoucanrunfasterthanthebear?”“Ohnono,?”hewhispersback“Ijusthavetorunfasterthanyou..”Offheran.

Tome,thisstoryprettymuchsummeditupaboutrankingcompetitors.

Youdon’thavetocompetewiththetotalof579,489websitesinthesearchresultsbutyouonlyhavetocompetewiththetop10-30ranksonGoogle.(Ifyoufindittoohardtooutrankthetop10justtrytooutrankthetop20firstortop30firstdependsonthedifficultylevelofthekeyword,thiswillmakebeingonthetop10mucheasier).Thesetopranksareyourtrueenemies.Therestofthesitesaremosquitos,theyarenotimportanttocareaboutsince,theyaresoeasytobeatanyway.ThosetopranksareyourfocustheyarethesitesthatGoogletruststhemost,youonlyneedtoknowthesetopranks’weaknessesandstrengthsinordertobeatthem.Soalwayskeepthisinmind.

Nomatterwhatmarketingorindustryyouarein,youonlyhave10-30competitorstoworryaboutonGoogle.

Stepstofindthebestkeyword

Tohaveakeywordistohaveagoal.Yoursiteoreveneachofyourwebpagemusthasitsgoal.Sameasanythingelse,beforeyoucanworkefficiently,youmusthavesomekindofgoalfirst.ThisiswhykeywordresearchisthefirstprocessofSEO.

WhatmarketyouwanttodominateonGoogle?Doyouwanttobethegodof“sellingshoes”ordoyouwanttobethegodof“howtorideahorse”?Thisisalotlikechoosingacareer.What’stheonethingyouwanttobegoodat?What’stheonethingyouwantpeopletoturntoyouwhentheyhavequestions?Businesswise,what’stheonethingyouhavethemostchanceofsuccessinthisworld?What’swrongyouwanttomakeitright?ThisisthekindofquestionyoumustaskfirstbeforeyoustartSEOorstartthebestcontentblogthatrankhighonGoogle.

Iwillsumitupin2steps.Allofwhichyoucanusethetoolcalled“KeywordPlanner”fromGoogleAdWordstofindthatkeyword.It’sfree.

1.Findoutthesearchvolume

Thisisaboutknowingexactlywhatyourcustomerswant.Supposeyoursiteissellingtrainingshoes,soyouthinkyouwanttoyoursitetorank#1withthekeyword“trainingshoes”.Notsofast,becausethiskeywordmightnotbewhatyourcustomersliterarytypetosearchonGoogleorthiskeywordmighthaslowernumberofsearchesonGooglethanotherkeywordslike“runningshoes”.

Soafter,youcameupwiththetheonekeywordidea.YouneedtofindouttheexactwordthatbeingsearchedonGooglebylookingatitssearchvolumepermonthusingGoogleKeywordPlanner.

2.Findouttheopportunity

Everybodywantsbigtraffic,soalways,everybodywantstorankhighonthehighestdemandkeywordsright?Well–notaways.

Not,ifyouarenewintown,youdon’twanttocompetewithagiantbrandlikeNikewhohasthebestwebpagefor”runningshoes”adecadebeforeyou.Nono,youneedtoearnyourtrustintime.Andno,ifthehighestdemandkeywordmeanbroaderorshorterkeywords,eventhoughbroadkeywordsprovidebigtrafficbuttheyareusuallytoo

difficulttorankandtheyusuallyhavenobuyingintension.Ithasbeenproventimeandtimeagain,broadkeywordisbadforbusiness.

Broaderkeyword(orshorter)=morescarycompetitorsandlesssale

Forexample,asuperbroadkeywordlike“iphone”definitelyhasmoresearchesthanalongerkeywordlike“iPhone6case”.(Idon’tknowwhy,mosthumansjusthasaknackforbroadsearchIguess).ButifyouselliPhonecase,rankingforthehightraffic“iphone”keywordisn’tgoingtohelpyousellatall.Becauseithasnobuyingintension.It’stoobroad,it’slikecallingouttoyourfriendinabigcrowdofpeople“Hey!Hey!”.Whatyougoingtogetiseveryoneturningtoyou,notjustyourfriend.It’sirrelevanttargeting.

Sowhatyouneedtodotohavethebestchanceofsuccess?

2.1Gofornichekeywords(ideally3+wordslong).

2.2Checkcompetitors’weaknesses

(Seeexampleslater)

Ialsowantyoutoreadthis,it’sfromoneofthemostauthoritativesitesinthebusinesstalkingaboutkeywordresearch.

“Keywordresearchisoneofthemostimportant,valuable,andhighreturnactivitiesinthesearchmarketingfield.Rankingfortherightkeywordscanmakeorbreakyourwebsite.Byresearchingyourmarket’skeyworddemand,youcannotonlylearnwhichtermsandphrasestotargetwithSEO,butalsolearnmoreaboutyourcustomersasawhole.

It’snotalwaysaboutgettingvisitorstoyoursite,butaboutgettingtherightkindofvisitors.Theusefulnessofthisintelligencecannotbeoverstated;withkeywordresearchyoucanpredictshiftsindemand,respondtochangingmarketconditions,andproducetheproducts,services,andcontentthatwebsearchersareactivelyseeking.Inthehistoryofmarketing,therehasneverbeensuchalowbarriertoentryinunderstandingthemotivationsofconsumersinvirtuallyanyniche.”

–Moz.com

Beforeweproceed.Pleaseunderstandthatthisisnottheonlywaytofindgoodkeywords.Ifyougoogle“keywordresearchseo”youwillfindmanymoremethods,somearetoodifficulttoocomplextofollow,sometoobasicanduseless,someareverygood,butthisishowIdiditandfoundgreatresult.Thiswillhelpyoutoseethebigpictureandabletoapplythemforfurtheruse.

Inaddition,thereareprobablyabout10-20keywordresearchsoftwaresthatcanprovideyougreatnicheswithopportunityinfoin10seconds,butwithoutalittleknow-how,youwouldnotknowthevalue.Solet’slearnthemanualworkbeforebuyinganytools,OK?Good!

Nowyouunderstandtheoverview.Let’sseesomeexamples.

KRexample1:anewsite

Thisisthefirstexample,themostcommoncase,acasestudyofhowIandmanySEOsdobasickeywordresearchforanewwebsite.

Story:IwokeuponedayandIdecidedthatIamgoingtobuildablogabout“iPhone”soIwanttodominateGooglewithsomethingthathastodowith“iPhone”.Ialsorealisedthatrankingfortheword“iPhone”isn’tgoingtobepossible,sincetherearemanyscarycompetitorslikeApple.comandmanybigauthorityblogs.Ihavetofindothernichesinstead.

Step1:Ientertheseedkeyword“iPhone”intoGoogleKeywordPlanner.Ifoundmanymorekeywordsrelatetoit.Eachnichekeywordwith3+wordsandhasatleast10,000avg.searchespermonth,Iaddthemtomylist.SometimesIevenpeekatmycompetitorsitesandseewhatkeywordstheyoptimiseforandputthemintoKeywordPlannertoknowmoreaboutthem.

InGoogleKeywordPlanner,youwouldseethatthere’stheCompetiioncolumnnexttotheavg.MonthlySearches(searchvolume),thistoshowyouhowcompetitiveinthepaidsearchresult,notorganic.Ifitsays“High”itmeanstherearehighnumberofpeoplepayingadwordsforthiskeyword.ForSEOopportunity,IwouldjustignorethisandmanualcheckmyselfonGoogle.

Becareful!Trafficgainisonlyhalfofsearchvolume!

Keepinmindthatthenichekeyword’ssearchvolumeisrelativetotheindustrydemand.Inabigdemandindustrylike“iPhone”,surely,therearemanykeywordswith10,000searchvolume.Butforlowerdemandindustry,eachnichecouldgoaslowas30searchespermonth,totallynotworthdoingSEOatall.Sohowtoknowwhatisthesearchvolumeyouwant?

Thinkaboutthis,youareranked#1onGoogleonthekeywordwith10,000searches

permonth,whatyougainwouldbejust50%orlesstothatnumber.Basically,10,000searcheswouldyieldabout5,000visitspermonthforyouifyouranked#1.Whysolow?Becauseranking#1doesn’tmeaneveryonewillclickonit.Lateraboutthattoo.

Step2:OnceIhavemylist,lstartingcheckingeachkeyword’sopportunity.Taking“iPhone7case”andgoogleittoseewhatarethetop10-30ranks.WhatkindofenemiesIamupagainst?

Fortheenemieschecking,thesearewhatIwatchoutfor:

Sitecredibility:arealltop10ranksareallbigbrandslikeapple.comoramazon.com?Ifyes,Iskipthiskeywordfornowanddotheeasieronesfirst.

Metatags:doallthosesitesaddthisexactkeywordsintotheirmetatags?Ifyes,Iskipthiskeywordfornow.BecauseitmeanseveryoneisdoingSEOforthiskeywordalready.

Content:doyoufindanyofyourcompetitor’scontentarewellwrittenwithnothingtoaddvalueto?Ifyes,IskipthiskeyworduntilIcanthinkofsomethingtoaddvalueto.

If“no”istheanswertoallabove,thenIwouldbuildablogaroundthatnichekeyword.Iwillaimingtodobetterthanthosethatfailedtoprovidethebestanswerstothemostobviousquestionsinmyindustry.

IfallyouseearetoughcompetitorsontopranksonGoogle,thenstartyourblogwiththeeasiestkeywordsyoucanfindfirst.Startwithjustonenichekeyword,buildyourcontentaroundit.Create10-50articlesaroundthatoneniche.Justonenichekeywordatfirstuntilyoursitestartingtorankedintop100.Fromthenon,itwillbeeasiertostartdoingthemorecompetitivekeywordsbecauseonceyouareintop100,itmeansGoogleisstartingtoshowingthetrusttoyoursite.

Inotherwords,foranewsiteoranewcontentcampaign,justaimforthenichethatyouhavethemostchanceofwinninginshorttimefirst.Leaveyouregoathome!

KRexample2:anoldsite

Whatifyoualreadystartedawebsitelongtimeagowith100sofarticlesalreadywrittenandwanttodoSEO.Whatthen?Whatyouneedtodointhekeywordresearchprocess?

IwouldsuggestyoutofindthewebpagesthatalreadyrankonGoogleandimproveuponthosewebpagesfirst.WhatyouneedtodoisthefindoutwhichwebpagesarealreadyrankingonGoogle.Ideally,youwanttogatherallthewebpagesthatalreadyrankaround#11-50ranks.

Butfirstyouneedtoknowyourkeywords.Sogobacktoexampleoneandgetyourkeywordlistfirst.Then,youmatchthekeywordsyoufoundfromtheexampleonetothosewebpages.Let’sseeacasestudy.

Story:Idecidedthatenoughisenough!Ihaveawebsitecontains100sofarticlesaboutdogbutitsrankingsucksobadonGoogle.Iusuallyrankaround5thto10thpageofGoogleforallmypages.Iwantthemtorankbetter.

Step1:Ididsomekeywordresearch(asinexample1)andfound50keywordsthatlookrelevanttomywebpagearticles.Allofthemhaveatleast5,000searchespermonthaccordingtoGoogleKeywordPlanner.

Step2:IaddedallthetargetkeywordsIgatheredfromGoogleKeywordPlannertomyrankcheckertooltoseeifanyofmywebpagesareonwhatrankonGoogle.(Iwilltalkaboutthetoolshere).

Outofallthe50keywords,therankcheckertoolshowsmethatonly10keywordsmywebpagesarealreadyintop100rank.Theyarenotrankhighbuttheyrankandthat’sgoodenoughfornow.

Nowyouknowthatakeyword“howtofeedadog”isthekeywordGooglethinkyourwebpagetitled“HowIhatefeedingmydogsometimes”shouldberankingfor.Andthispageisranked#73onGoogleforthatkeyword.

Now,youhavematchedthekeyword“howtofeedadog”tothewebpage“HowIhatefeedingmydogsometimes”.Now,thiswebpagehaspurpose.Thepurposeofimprovingtherankingforthekeyword“howtofeedadog”onGoogletothehighestpossible.

Step3:IdoSEO:buildlinks,doon-pageoptimiseandimprovethiswebpagecontentqualityandwatchtherankingprogresstothe1stpageofGoogleandhigher.

Repeatthestepsforeachofthewebpage.Done.

Youneedtodothisforallyourwebpages.Createanexcelandmatcheachwebpageanditsurlwithitskeywordsoeachpagehasagoal.Thisiscalled“keywordmapping”process.

Andyoukeepdoingthatforallthepagesthatyouneedtoimproveinranking,theyarethewebpagesalreadyrankedonthetop20to100ranks.

Pleasenotethat,thismethodwillletyouknow2things:

1.WhatkeywordGooglethinksyourwebpageshouldberankingfor.

2.Whichwebpagesofyourshasthehighestpotentialingoingtop10rankrealsoon.(Ifyoursiteisnewyouwillnotrankatallingenerickeywords,youalsoneedtime).Youdon’twanttostartbuildrankingfromwebpagesthathasnorankatall.Youwanttogaintrustlittlebylittlestartingwiththeeasiestonesfirstandtheharderlater.Thiswayyouhavemorechanceofsuccess.

InGoogleranking,it’salwayseasiertoimprovewhatyoualreadyhavethanstartnew.

However,Googlemightberankingsomeofyourwebpagesforthewrongkeywords,thisisforyoutofixlater.Fixthatwebpagewiththekeywordyouwantittorankinsteadwithon-pageoptimisation:improvethewebpage’scontentaroundtherightkeyword,removethewrongkeywordfromthepageandaddtherightonetoit….youknowonceyoureadinthe“Content”sectionnext.

Nowletseethelastexampleforkeywordresearch.

KRexample3:ashoestore

Whatifyoualreadyhaveanonlinestore,sellinghighdemandproductsandyouhavenochoicebuttorankforthehighlycompetitivekeywords.Whatthen?Youranswer:nichekeywords(longtailkeywords).

Story:Youhaveanonlinestoreselling“runningshoes”,yourtrafficfromGoogleisverylowandyouknowit’snotpossibletocompetetherankwiththebigbrandslikeNike,Adidasetc.Inordertocheatyourwaytotherank#5to#1youwanttogotodifferentroadsfromthebigbrands,thesmallerroadsthatbigbrandshavenotoptimisedfor.

YoumustpickoneofyourproductcategoriesandbuildGoogletrafficfrom.Justonefornow.Whichcategoryistheeasiesttodo?Let’sfindout.

Step1:FromGoogleKeywordPlanner,youhaveenteredtheseedkeyword“runningshoes”.AndsinceyouareintheUS,youchoseyourtargetinglocationas‘UnitedStates’.Now,asyouarealreadysellingwomenshoes,youareveryhappytoseearelevantnichekeywordlike“womenrunningshoes”withveryhigh200,000searchespermonth.Seethisimage:

Sincethemorenichesandthelongerthewordsthelesscompetitive,don’tsettlejustyet.YouaregoingtoneedmorenichesincaseitisstillverycompetitiveonGoogle,sodigdeeperbyenterthenicheyoufoundbackintotheKeywordPlanneragaininthenextstep.

Step2:Startoveragain.FromGoogleKeywordPlanner,youentered“womenrunningshoes”withUSAtargetingalreadyset.Now,youhavefoundsynonymbutevenmorenichewithlongerwordslike“runningshoesforwomen”with20ksearchesand“bestrunningshoesforwomen”with18ksearches.

Thesemightbenicheenoughtodo,buttomakesurethatit’snottoocompetitiveyougocheckwhatareyourcompetitorsonGooglewiththesenichekeywords.

Step3:Yougooglethekeyword“runningshoesforwomen”youhavefoundthatthetop10ranksarestillbigbrandsandallofthemoptimisedfullyforthiskeyword.However,“bestrunningshoesforwomen”youhavemorechance.

Yousettledonthekeyword“bestrunningshoesforwomen”tobuildcontentaroundthis.Seecontentsection.

Youcanalsoapplythismethodtoyournewproductorcontentyoumightwanttohaveinthefuturetoexpandcustomerbasetoo.

Repeatstep2orusebelowmethodtodigevendeeperintoaniche.

Whatifnichesyoufoundallstillhavehighandscarycompetitors?Youneedtofindmoreniches,bylookingforalternativewaystofindthemlike:Googlerelatedsearch,Googleautofillsearch,trykeywordsoftwarelikeWordStreametc.

IsKeywordResearchDying?

InordertofindthekeywordtodominateonGoogle,youhavetofindthekeywordthathastherightbalancebetweenthesearchvolumeandtheamount+strengthofcompetitorsand…that’sit?Mostofthetimeyesandthere’ssomethingelsetoo.

AsGooglegettingmoreadvancedinunderstandingcontextandlanguageandstoppedshowingusthenichekeywordspeoplesearchfor,moreandmoreyouwillstarttohearpeoplesayingthatkeywordresearchmightbedying,likethisarticle.

GooglehatesSEO.Theydon’twantustocontroltheirsearchresult.Theywantittobeunpredictablesowewouldbuymoreads.That’swhyGoogleKeywordPlannerandGoogleAnalyticsdon’tshowuseverythingliketheyusedto.Therefore,it’shardereverydaytoknowwhatkeywordpeoplearesearchingonGoogle.WhatyouseefromtheKeywordPlannertoolsareonlyabout40%ofwhatpeopleactuallysearching.

Consequently,thisforcesallofustobemorecreativeinbuildingcontent.Verysoon,itwillbemorelikecontentmarketingthankeywordresearch.So,myadvicetoyouis:dokeywordresearchtohaveaclearandaworthygoal(possibletorankhighandhavepotentialinbringingqualitytraffic),andkeepcreategreatcontenttoyourcustomers.

Andremember,beforeusingtools,useyourownimagination,pictureinyourheadofwhatcontentyourcustomer’sneedthatallyourcompetitorsfailedtoprovide.

That’sitforkeywordresearch.Ifyouareconfused,Isuggestyoustartdoingitrightaway,youshouldhavemoreunderstandingalongtheway.

Nowyouhavethekeywords.Youknowwhatyouwantinlife.

NextistimetooptimiseyoursitewiththosekeywordsintheStep2oftheSEOprocess.

CHAPTERFIVESTEP2:CONTENT&ON-PAGE

ContentthatGooglelovessomuch

Now,youhaveyournichekeywordsreadytodosomeseriousSEOwork.Fromcreatinggreatcontenttoinsertingkeywordsintoyourwebpage.Let’sstartwiththecontentfirst.

WhenSEOssayingaboutcontent,theymostlikelytalkingabouttextarticles.YoumayplantohaveimageandvideogalleryonyoursitebuttodowellonGooglewithoutbeingfamous(liketheoatmeal.comwhoisknownbydrawingfunnycartoon),youneedtextarticles.

So,firstthingyouneedtodoinwinningGoogle’sheartisaddingnewqualityarticlestoyoursite.Youshouldthinkaboutcontentevenbeforeyoursitewasborn.Formanyofmyclientswhostartedanewsite,Ialwayssuggestthemtoplanaheadthecontentbeforetheyevenstartdesigningthewebsite.Becauseonceyoulaunchyoursiteitislikeopenarestaurant,youcan’tcrapouthalfwayranoutoffood.Youneedabigsupplyofcontent.

Sohereyougo,thesearethequalitiesinanarticleyoushouldaimfor,inordertopleaseyourusersandforGoogletorewardyouwellinthesearchresult:

1.1,000+words

Since2016,thelengthofanarticlebecomesveryimportanttorankhighonGoogle.Ifyouhavebeengoogledandreadarticlesfromtop30ranksyoushouldnoticed,it’sveryraretoseethinarticles(likelessthan500words)rankinghighthesedays.So,lengthmatters.Haveyourusersscrolldownlikethere’snotomorrow.Longerarticle,addmoresubheaders(H2)withmoreusefulinformationisalwaysbetterbutdon’tmakeitlongjustthesakeofit.Howlongexactlyyouask?AsItoldyou,lookatthetopranks,theyareyourcompetitors,justcheckfortheirweaknesses.Thisisoneofthem.Ifallthetop10rankswithhighqualitycontenthave1,000words,yourjobistodo1,500wordsormore.

Thisisanarticlepostthathasminimumlength.(Dothisinanordinaryday)

Thisisanarticlepostthathaslonglength.(Dothiswhenyoufeelcompetitive)

2.Beoriginal

It’snosecretthatGooglehatesduplicatecontent.Copyingcontentfromothersitesisbadforranking.ItalsocanmakeGooglelookbadtoitsusers.Yourcontentmustbeoriginalandunique,youmustwriteyourownorhireyourowncontentwriter.Donotevencopyalineortwofromothersitesexactly(exceptforquotes).Waitthere’smore.Notbeingaduplicatorisonething,andnotwritingwithyourvoiceisanotherthing.Havingyourownvoiceisthesimplestwaytobeoriginal.Beyourself!Addyouownopinions,yourownthoughts,yourownstoriesfromtimetotime,behuman,don’tbearobotanduserswillloveyouforit.Whenusersloveyou,Googlewillalsoloveyou.

3.Greatheadline

AlthoughGoogledoesn’tsaythisisneededbutformoderndaySEOs,thisishowweindirectlypleasethealgorithm“RankBrain”.Youneedtomakesurethatyoursheadlinesarebetterthanallthetopranks.Createquestionmarksinuser’shead,makethemcuriousorwritecontroversialtitle,whatevertomakeitthemostinteresting.Gostudyabouthowtomakegreatheadline.

4.Befresh

SEOwebsitesneedoxygenjustlikeusanditsoxygenisfreshcontent.Ifyoustopfeedingitwithnewcontent,itwillslowlydieoutonGoogle.Iusedtohavesomanyblogslefttodielikethat.Lostpassion.Bored.Nonewcontentaddedformonths,thenalltheranksweredroppinglikeflies.Googleneedsfreshcontent.ItmakesGooglelookgoodinsearchresult.Googlegivescredittowebsitesthatupdatemoreregularly.Howoftenyoushouldupdateyourcontent?Justlookatthemostpopularsitesinyourindustryandyouchecktheircontentdates.Isay,usually,adecentblogwouldupdateatleast1-3newpostseveryday.Butforanewsblog,itshoulddoevenmore.Youcan’tjustupdateyourblogonceaweekandexpectGoogletogiveyoursitegreatranking.Googleisatoughspace.Ifyoudon’tdoit,therewillalwaysbeothersiteswhoupdatemore,readytoreplaceyouanyday.

5.Bethebestanswer

Peoplesaythisandthataboutcreatingqualitycontentbutnobodyevermentionedthatqualitycontentmostofthetimeisnodifferenttohavingthebestanswer.Lookingfromuser’sperspective,whensearchingonGoogle,alltheyneedisthebestanswer.Onlythebestanswerwillhaveusersstopsearching.Onceyouhaveyourkeyword,lookatyourtoprankcompetitorsandask,isyourcontentthebestresultoutofthemall?Ifnot,whatareyougoingtodoaboutit?Whatdotheylack?Whatpointsdotheymiss?Doesitneedmorepicturestoexplainoravideo?Morelength?MoreSubheaders?Justbethegoddamnbestansweryoucanbeinanywayyoucanineverycontent,bewhatsupposetorankhighandGooglewillrewardyoumucheasier.

Inaddition,thelinebetweengreatcontenttousersandgreatcontenttoGoogleisgettingthinnereveryday.Ifyouarecurioustoknowhowtopleaseyouruserincreatinggreatcontent,readmoreherekissmatrics.Andifyoulovewritinggreatcontentandwanttokeepimproving?Thisistheblogtoread.

Googlealsohasashortguideoncreatinggreatcontenthere.

Onceyouhavegreatcontent,nowit’stimetohaveGoogleunderstanditwithon-pageoptimisation.Next!

Howtodoon-pageoptimisation

Qualitycontentisnotenough.

Just5-6yearsago,qualityofcontentwasnotevenincludedinthemainrankingfactors.Googlerecommendedsobutitcouldn’tdifferentiatebetweengoodandbadcontent.Youcouldjustwritecrapandrankhighifyoursitehasgoodbacklinks.Today,Googleisgettingsmarter,itspotsagreatcontentfromamileawayor…doesit?

Itdoesn’talways.

Googlemaybesmarterbutnotthatsmart(yet).Sometimes,it’sdownrightstupid.EvenwiththebrandnewA.I.,itstillrankssomanykeywordsforthewrongpages.Itstillhavingproblemunderstandingwebpage’scontextandwebsite’scredibilitycanblindGooglefromthetruth.That’swhywestillseeworseanswersbeingrankedhigherthanthebestanswers.So,justwritequalitycontentaloneandpray,couldresultinlowrankingorworst,rankingforthewrongpage.Youneedtomakeyourwebpagemorerelevant.

That’swhereon-pageoptimisationcomesin.

On-pageisaboutmakingyourwebpagesmorerelevanttotheirtargetkeywords.It’sabouthelpingGoogleunderstandsyourwebpagemore,soitcanrankyoubetter.Thiscanbeeasilydonebyinsertingyourtargetkeywordsintothe4elementsofyourwebpage:

1.DomainnameandURL

2.Headerorheadline(H1includingsubheadersH2,H3..)

3.Metatags

4.Bodytext

Iknowtherearemoreelementsinawebpagebutonlythese4arewhatGooglecaresabout.Googlelooksatthese4elementstolearnwhatyourpageisallabout.Yourjobastheon-pageoptimisationimplementer,youmustmakesuretoinsertyouraimingkeywordintoeachelementandmakethemlookasnaturalasyoucan.

Youdon’tneedtoknowHTMLtodothis,butitwouldhelpalotifyoudid.HTMLisalsoeasierthanyouthink.Butifyouarenotplanningtolosemorehairrightnow,youcanstickwiththeSEOworkandcreateakeywordmappingexcelfieandsendittoyourwebdevelopertodoitforyou.

Asforkeywordmappingfile,youcanusemineifyouwant:

Downloadithere

(Therearemanysheetsinthisfile,pleasecheckouteachone)

WhatthehellisGoogleSnippet?

Beforewegetintotheon-pageoptimisationineachelement,IfeelyouneedtoknowaboutGooglesnippetfirst.What’ssnippetanyway?Well..youhaveseeniteveryday,youjustdon’tknowit.Thisiswhatitlookslike:

Todaymorethanever,moreclicksonGoogleequalhigherrankandasnippetisresponsibleforthis.Apartfrombeingranked#1-#10,whatyoursnippetlookslike,directlyaffectthenumberofclicks.(Ranking#1affectnumberofclicksmorethan#2-#10)

Peopleclickmoreonasearchresult(asnippet)andconsiderittobethebestanswerforthembecausetheysee2thingsinasnippet:

1. Interestingcontext

2. Keywords(they’vejustgoogled)

Whichleaduserstobestanswercontent.Ifyoudon’thavethebestanswer,userwillgobackandgoogleagain.Ifalotofthishappenedonasnippet,itwillsendasignaltoGooglethatthatsnippetdoesn’tdeservethehighrankonGoogle.

Asnippetcombineswith:MetaTitleTag,MetadescriptionTagandURL.Thesearethe3outofthe4elementsthatyouhavetocrafttomakeitlookgoodasasnippet,notjustinsertingkeywordsforthesakeofrelevancyalone.

Tomakeasnippetlookgood,It’saboutengagingsentences.

It’snotjuststuffingabunchofkeywordstogethertopullasmanytargetsaspossible.Ideally,yoursnippethastolookfocusandbebetterthanallthetop10ranksonGoogle.It’sthesameassaying,whohasthebestsnippetwins.Evenrank#3couldwinrank#1withbettersnippet.

Yousnippetmustfocusonacertainanswer,donotbombardyoursnippetwithtoo

manytopics,nobodycanberelevanttoeverything!

Tomakeasnippetclicked,isalsoaboutusingeveryspacesufficiently.

IfyouhavetriedtosellyoursecondhandstuffonlineandtriedtocraftthetitleforitoneBayorclassifiedsitesoryouhavewroteyouradwordstextadbefore,youshouldalreadyfamiliarwiththis.It’severysimilar.

I’lltalkmoreaboutthisinthemetatagsection.

Next,letseehowtodoon-pageoptimisationforeachelement.

On-page1:DomainnameandURL

GodImissthosedayswhen,ifIwantedtorankattop10onGoogleinafewweeksforakeyword“macnotebooks”Iwouldjustbuyabrandnewdomainnamewiththatnamee.g.macnotebooks.netifnotavailableIwouldbuy.orgetc.(thiscalledexactmatchdomainname)ormakeitslightlydifferentaddingmybrandnamebehinditlikemacnotebooksbobo.cometc.Andthetoprankwasmine.Notanymore.Youcanstillusethistechniqueinlowcompetitivemarketsandinnon-uscountriestowinoveryourcompetitorsbyanose.However,incompetitivemarkets,thiscansendsignaltoGooglesayingyouareaspammer.

Ifyouaskedmetoday:doIneedtohavekeywordinmydomainnametodowellonGoogle?No,youdon’t.It’snotimportantanymore.What’smoreimportantisyoursitecredibilityandyourbrand.So,fordomainname,thinkofyourbrandfirstthanSEOsecond.

Andifyouaskedme:whatdomainnameextensiontouse?.comor.tvoretc.Iwouldsayonceagain:lookatGoogle’stopranksandyoushouldseethatmostofthemare.com.However,otherextensionsarebecomingmorepopularthesedays,sokeepyoureyesopen.Also,keepinmindthat,.comisstillthemostrememberableandthemostusedforbigbrands,sostickto.comifyoucan.ToGoogle,domainnameanditsextensionarebecominglessandlessimportant.

However,don’tforgetthatyourdomainnameisanotherthingthatgetdisplayonyoursnippetandeverysnippetofyoursite.JustforgettheSEOanddowhateverthatmakesyourdomainnamelookgoodandappropriateforyourbrand.

Forexample,ifyounameyourdomainnameas,www.seoexpertxxx.tvitwouldsurelygetlowerclickfromyoursnippetthanwww.seoexpertdallas.com.Thefirstonelookslikeaporntvsitethat’swhy!

Whatstillworksgreatforon-pageSEOthoughistheURL.

URListhemostimportantelementinon-pagerankingfactors.

It’salwaysagreatfeelingtohaveanotherelementwhereIcaninsertmorekeywordstohelpGoogleunderstandsmypageevenmore,andURLisoneofthem.EachwebpagehasitsownURLlikesowww.xxxx.com/urllookslikethis.AURLislikeanaddressforeachofyourwebpage.URLsmustbeSEOfriendly(readablehumanlanguage),youdon’twantadynamicurllike/?x8dsub=.

Ifyoudon’tunderstandit,alsoGoogledoesn’tunderstandit.

ThebestcombinationinaURLis:

1.Short

2.Containkeywords

Ifyouwebpage’stargetingakeyword“macnotebooks”youmustinsertthiskeywordintoyourURL,noexcuses.Nomatterofwhatyourheadermightbe,URLmusthaveatargetkeywordinit.

Aboutstopwords

ThelengthofURLisveryimportant,donotusetoolongURLsbecauseforone,theysendspammysignaltoGoogleandtwo,peopleratherclickonasnippetthathasniceandneatURL.UseyourcontentheaderfortheURLisoktoo,aslongasyourheaderisn’ttoolong.Ifyourheaderistoolong(10wordsormore),youmustfilteroutall“stopwords”firstbeforemakingitaURL.Stopwordslike:A,And,The,How,Theyetc.(Seethefulllistonthissite)

Googledoesn’tread“stopwords”.

Soyoudon’tneedtheminyourURL.Forexample:

Header:Howtostopsmokingin10days

URL:/stop-smoking-10days

TheshorterURLthebetterbecauseitwilllooksniceandneatinasnippet.Googlealsolimitsspaceitdisplayyourtextinasnippet,youwantyourtargetkeywordtoappearearlyontheleft(keywordprominentfactor)tohavehigherclicks.

Toseemoreexamples:googleforauthoritySEOsitesandseewhatmostofthemaredoingfortheURLs.

Don’tforgetthatyoumightalsohaveURLswithsubdirectoriesforyourcontentcategories.Forexample,www.xxx.com/category1/mycontent.So,addingexacttargetkeywordtoforyourcategorynamesisalsoagoodideatoo.Forexample,

www.xxx.com/womenshoes/women-running-shoes01

HyphenorUnderscore?

Alwaysuselowercaseandhyphen.UsehyphentoseparateyourwordsinkeywordstomakeiteasierforGoogletounderstandyourkeyword.HyphenistheonlythingthatGoogleknowsasawordseparator.Sodonotuseunderscorelikehow_to_buy_women_shoes.

Becarefulforforeignsitesandstore.

Forforeigncontentsites,ifyourcontentisinChinese,useChineseinURLs,don’tuseenglish.Becauseusingyouruser’slanguagewilldrivemoreclicks.Googleknowseverylanguagenow,don’tworry.

Also,Ifyourwholesitethatcontainsabout500webpagesandalreadydoingwellinSEOwithoutfriendlyURLs,andyouwanttomodifythem.Donotchangeallatonceinonedayoryouwillloseallyourranksandmightnotneverrecoveragain,andtheallorganictrafficwillgodownwithit.Ifyousellstuffonline,youcouldgobankruptinaday.Iwouldadviseyoutochangeafewperdayuntilit’sdoneanddon’tforgettodothe301redirectionforeachonesoyoudon’tloseyourrankingandyourorganictraffic.Thisisveryimportant,Ihavelearntthisthehardwaymyself,soI’mtellingyounottodothesamemistake.

Subdomainnamevs.subdirectory

Ifyouareplanningtocreateamicrositefromyourmothershipsiteandthinkingtousesubdomain,thinkagain.Asubdomain(e.g.subdomain.mymothersite.com)willbeanewsiteforGoogle,youhavetostartthewholecreditbuildingallovergain.Butforsub

directory,Googlewilltreatitasoneofyouoldsite.Anyway,beforeyoudothis.Dosomeresearchaboutitfirst.Becausethedifferencecouldimpactalotofitsranking.

On-page2:Headerorheadline(H1)

Headerorheadlineisthesameascontenttitle.Technically,itshouldbeyourH1tagonyourwebpage,thefirstheaderonapage.Lookslikethis:

ThisisanotherimportantpageelementthatGooglereadstoseewhatyourwebpageisabout.Peoplegetconfusedalotbetweentheheaderandthemetatitletag.Simplyput,HeaderisforusersandmetatitletagisforGoogle.Whatusuallygetdisplayedonthesnippet’stitleisyourmetatitletagandnotthiscontentheader.

Forheaderyoucanbeascreativeasyouwantinwritingyourheadline,tomakeitinterestingormysteriouswithoutcaringaboutSEOfactors(insertingtargetkeywords).Then,youusetitletagandURLasyourtoolstomakeGoogleunderstandyourcontentmore.

Forexample:

Headline:“Fivestepstoreportmarketingresultslikeaboss”

TitleTag:“5stepstoreportonlinemarketingresultslikeabossbyJoeAnucha”

URL:“reporting-online-marketing-results”

Asyoucanseethevariationsabove,theheadlinelookslikeitdoesn’tgiveadamnaboutGooglebutonlyitsusers.It’sgood.Looksverynatural.ButfortitleIaddedthewords“byJoeAnucha”becauseIwanttheworldtoknowandseeinasnippetthatIwrotethis!Nojoke,manybrandsdothis.

AlsoIinsertedtheword“online”because“onlinemarket”isthekeywordIwanttorankforthispage.YesIdidmykeywordresearch.IalsowantGoogletounderstandthiscontentisabout“onlinemarketing”notjustanymarketing.

Now,youshouldseewhat’sthegamehere.SEOexpertisalwaystryingtomakeeachofthewebpageelementservingitspurpose.WeuseheadertopersuadeusersandotherelementstoberelevantforGoogleandtrynottolookrobotic.

Foranewblogwhoconstantlykeepwritingnewposts,soonyourhomepagewillfillwithlotsofheaders,sothinkofyoursitelikeanewspapercoverfullofheadlines,makethemhook!Tocomeupwithagreatheadline,keepthethefollowinginmind:

1.AlwaysuseH1tag

2.Thinkofusersfirstandaskthesequestions:

Beuseful:Doesthistitlelookusefulenough?Makeyourselfuseful!

Beultra-specific:Isthistitletoobroad?Don’tpromisetheworld.Goniche!

Beunique:Doesthistitlestandoutfromthetopranks?Beyourself!Haveavoice!

Learntocraftyouheaderoften,andsoonyouwillbeabletomasteriteverytimewithouteventhinkingaboutit.

WhataboutH2,H3..?

ForCMSlike:Blogger,Joomla,Wordpressetc,yourheaderisalreadyH1.Soyoudon’tneedtodoanythingbutonlythesubheadersthatyouneedtochooseH2andH3yourselflikethisimage:

LongerarticleisalwaysrankbetterthesedaysbutlongerarticlewithoutsubheaderscanbeconfusingtoyourusersandalsoGoogle.SostartusingmoresubheaderstodivideyourstorieswellanduseH2,H3tagsproperly.Iratherstabmyeyewithapencilthanreada1,000+wordsarticlewithoutsubheaders.

MostwebpagewithanarticleusuallyjusthasoneH1andafewH2sassubheadersandthat’sit.Youdon’tneedtogodeepintotheH3andH4subheadersunlessyourcontentreallyneedsto.Don’tthinkSEO,justthinkREADER.

Also,don’tforget,asIhavebeensaying…checkyourtoprankenemies.Seewhattheydoanddoitbetter.

Don’tforgettoinsertakeywordtoeveryheaderorsubheaderifyoucan.Therearealsogoodtipsaboutheaderonthissitehere.

On-page3:MetaTags&Snippet

Metatagsisastrangething.It’severywherebutyetmostpeopledon’tevenknowtheyexist.Italsomeansdifferentthingstodifferentpeople.ToFacebookfanpageowners,itisthepagenameandshortdescription.Toprogrammersitisjustapieceofprofilecode<meta>theycanaddatthetopofawebpageinside<head>.Toordinaryusers,ittellsthemwhateachpageisaboutonthetopofeachtaponthebrowser.ToGooglethough,itistolearnwhatthepageisaboutandmakingitintoasnippet.

ForSEOs,metatagistheeasiestandmosteffectivewaytotellGooglewhateachwebpageisallabout.

Metatitletagisthesnippet’stitleandmetadescriptiontagisthesnippet’sdescription.

Hereiswhatitlookslike:

HereisthesamepagelookingfromGooglesearchresult:

Youcanalsohave“richsnippet”togainevenmoreclickslikebelow,withfullmetadata:

(Askyourwebdeveloperforthis,orifyouareusingCMS,googleforrichsnippetplugins)

Afteryouhavemasteredyourwriteskillsforthetitleanddescriptionyouneedtothinkaboutthespaceasnippetallows.Ideally,youwanttomakeeveryspacecount.

Googlelimitsspaceoftextdisplayingonasnippet.Ifit’stoolong,itwillbecutoutandtruncatewithellipseslikethistitle.Macmillan..

Asoflatest,Googlejustmadethesnippetlonger:

Desktopcomputer:

Title=70characters

Description=100perline

Mobilephone:

Title=78characters(600pixels)

Description=100perline

Themostimportantthingtorememberwhencreatingmetatagsforyourwholesiteisthat,youdon’twanttousethesametaganywhereever.Nottitlenordescription.Ever!Itwouldbeawasteofwebpage.Inotherwords,youwanteverywebpagetohaveitsownuniquetitleanddescriptiontag.Period.

Youcancheckthelengthandtheduplicationwithmanytools.GoogleSearchConsolecanhelpyoualso.I’lltellyouaboutitlater.

Anotherthing,asweseeeveryday,Googlesnippetisdynamic.Googlecanmanipulateyoursnippetsasitlikesaslongsit’sbestfortheclicks.Likeinthiscase,ifyourwebpageismissingthedatatodisplayinasnippete.g.Youforgottowritemetadescriptiontagandleftitempty,Googlewillpullanycontentitfindsonyourwebpageatwill,todisplayasthedescriptionsnippetinsteadanditcouldgetveryugly.Andifyourwebpageonlycontainsaflashimage,youcouldseeyoursnippetappearwiththewordslike“termsandcondition”or“contactus”etc.becausewhenGoogledoesn’tfindanytext,itwoulddesperatelypulltheonlytextitfindswhichcouldcomefromnavigatororfootermenutext.

So,wordofadvice:don’tleaveanythingempty.

Alsoanoteonthecharacterlimitfromsearchengineland.com:

“It’simportanttonotethatpixels,notcharacters,arethemeasurementthatGoogleactuallyusesforsearchresultsandtitlelength.Weusecharactersasamorepracticalmeasurement,whichiswhycharacterlimitscanonlybeanapproximation,becausecharacterslike‘w’takeupmuchmorepixelspacethancharacterslike‘i’or‘l’.”

Yup,snippetisaseriousbusinessforadvancedSEOs.Ifeel,it’smoreforpeoplewhoalreadydoingOKinSEOandhasnothingelsetocraft.Youcanwritea200pagesbookonlyaboutsnippetifyoureallydigintoit.Soifyouwanttoknowmore,readwhatGooglehastosayhere.Readanextensiveguideonthissite.

SnippetSimulation

It’smucheasierifyoucanseewhatyoutypeinyoursnippet,likelookinginamirror.Justusethissnippetsimulatortool:https://websiteadvantage.com.au/Google-SERP-EmulatorOrformobileusethisone:http://www.mobileserps.com/

Irecommendyoudocraftallyouimportantpagesorhighrankpagesfirst,togainmoreclicksfromthatpagesyoualreadyhavesometrafficfromGoogle.

Toseeallsnippetdataofallyourwebpagesinalistjustlikebelowimage,useWebAuditorsoftwarefromlink-assistant.com(Freeversionwon’tletyoucopytoclipboardorsaveproject)orIntegrityorScreamingFrogSEO(thelast2areexpensiveifbuy).

Whenyouusethiskindofsoftwareyouwillstarttoseemanyflawsbehindthescenesofyoursite.Usually,youshouldseemanymissingmetatags.90%ofwebsiteshavemissingmetatags,especiallythedescriptiontagandtoolongtooshortmetatagswhichbecomebadlookingsnippets.Startworkingwiththat.

On-page4:Bodytext

InmoderndaySEO,weseemanySEOexpertssay,justwritefortheusersandGooglewillfollow.I’mallforthat,butIalsothinkitwouldn’thurttoinsertsomekeywordstomybodytexthereandthere,aslongasitlooksnatural.Tome,naturalmeansinsertingjustenoughkeywordssoyoureadersdon’tfeelit.Justenoughkeywordswithoutruiningthesmoothnessofyourwrittenconversationsandpointsyouaretryingtogetacross.JustenoughtohelpyourarticleunderstoodbyGooglesoyourarticlewon’tappearlikeamoviefullofadvertisingbrands.

Hereiswhatbodytextlookslike:

Thisisanarticlefromwired.comandIdon’tthinktheygiveashitaboutinsertingkeywordsintheironlinearticlesatall.Theydon’tneedto.Theyarealreadyfamouswithhightrafficandprobablydon’tevencareaboutGoogle.Butformostofus,it’stheopposite.

However,ifyoulookedatthisarticleclosely,youseethekeyword“airbnb”about3-4times.Thisisjusttherightamounttoaddfor3paragraphswithoutfreakingoutGoogle.

Ifyouwriteyourownarticleonyoursite,Iwouldsuggestyoutostopthinkingaboutkeywordsatthebeginningandjustgoforit.Gocheckoutyourcompetitorstoseewhattheyaredoingwiththetopicandaimingtodobetter:

Withindepthinformationandlongerlength(dividethestorywithsubheaders)article.(Moreimagesandvideo)Writelikethere’snotomorrow,untilthere’snoquestionleftonthetopicanddone.Afteryourarticlewasdone,thenthinkaboutyourtargetkeywords.Insertyourtargetkeywordstoyourarticlelikeaddingapinchofsaltintoyoursoup.Itshouldn’ttastetoosalty.Thereisreallynodefinitenumberofkeywordsyoucanorcan’tinsert.Justdoitcarefullythough.Don’tforgetthatbodytextisn’ttheonlyplaceyoucandoitasIalreadyshowyouonotherelements.

Internallinking

Intheimageearlieryouseemanyunderlinewords,mostofthemusuallyareinternallinksthattheauthorhavemadethemselvestorefertootherpages.Seeitbetteratbelowimage,mousehovertoseetheURLthatthelinkleadstointhestatusbar.

Eachoneislinkedtootherarticleonitsownsite.Thison-pagetechniquehasbeendonesincethedawnofSEO,ithelpsSEOalot.It’ssopopularandsoeffective,everybodydoesit.It’snotonlytokeepyouruserstostayonyoursitelongerbutit’slikerankvotingtomyownwebpagesjustlikebacklinkssothewebpagethatgotlinkcanbeunderstoodbetterbyGoogle.Therefore,rankbetter.

Justdon’tcreatelinkusingonewordoronekeywordbutlinkawholesentenceorafewwordslikeinexample,becauselinkingwithakeywordcouldsendspammysignaltoGoogle.

Otherthingstoaddtoyourcontent

Addanythingtomakeyourcontentorarticlepostmoreuseful,morevolume(longerlength),morevarietyofformat(text+images+videosetc.),easiertounderstandandtobetterproveyourpoints.Theyareallgoodforyourranking.Basically,doanythingtomakeyourcontentbetterthanyourcompetitors.Sowhatcanyoudo?

Apartfromskillwriting….

Youcanaddmorevaluetoyourcontentwiththese:

Images(don’tforgettoaddimgalttagbecauseGoogledoesn’tseeimage)

Commentbox(MostCMSprovidethisalready)

Diagram(includinggraphic,drawingetc.)

Bulletpoints

Table

Filedownload

Youtubevideos

Userreviews

andalsodon’tbescaredtolinktoyoursources.Givecredittoothersitesyouhavegatheredinformationfrom.ItmakesyoursitealittlemorerealandmorecredibletoGoogle.

Userfriendly

Iincludethisrankingfactorinthecontentandon-pagesectionbecauseitisaboutwhatyoudoonthepage.

WhatuserfriendlyhasgottodowithSEO?Asyou’vealreadybeentold.What’sbestforuseriswhat’sbestforSEO.Thishasnothingtodowithinsertingkeywordintoyourpagesbutit’saboutmakingyouruserhappy.It’stheeaseofuseofyoursiteandthemostimportanttopicsthesedaysare:responsive(mobilefriendlysite)andpageloadingspeed.

Usersonmobilehasbeenexceedingthedesktopforsometimesnow(Mobile70%andDesktopis30%andmobilenumberkeepsgoingupeveryday)andGoogleranksmobile-friendlysitesonmobilesearchresultthehighest.Checkitout.

Ifyou’reusingaCMSlikeWordPress,it’smorelikelythatyoursiteisalreadyresponsivewhichmeansyoursitecanmorphintovariousparticularlayoutstoservethescreensizeofthedevicesitisbeingopened.Ifyouareondesktop,openyoursiteandtryresizeyourbrowser’swindowandyouseewhatImean,ifnot,tryasitelikeengadget.comtoseewhatImean.Oryoucantestyourwebsiteforresponsivenessat:

http://quirktools.com/screenfly/

Or:

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/

Ifyoudon’thavearesponsivewebsite,don’tfreakout.Slowlygettingintotheworldofresponsive,goaskyourwebdeveloperhowtogoaboutthisthebestway.YoucanswitchyourplatformtomodernCMSlikeWordPress…IknowIknow,it’seasiersaidthandone.

Whatifyouhaveabigoldcorporatesiteandneedtokeepthatbigandolddatabase,thenyoumightnotwanttoswitchplatformbutjusthireaprogrammertoedityourstylesheettoconvertyouroldsiteintoaresponsivedesign.Itwillbeworthitandworthsomuchmoreinthefuturebecausesoontherewillbenobodyleftonthedesktopworldbutabunchofgeeks.

Siteloadingspeed:

Ineverthoughttodoanythingaboutmysitebeingslow,IneverthoughtGooglewouldcarethatmuchandIalsowaslazy.Ijustwanttofocusonthecontent.ThenIfoundoutthatoneofmyoriginalcontentwasoutrankedbyasitethatstolemycontent.Yes,itcanhappentoanyoneiftheirsiteshavetechnicalflaws.NeveragainIwouldbecarelessabouttechnicalsiteofthings,especiallyaboutsiteloadingspeed.

OneofmybigclientsrevampthewholewebsitetoabrandnewCMSbutasitturnedoutthenewsystemis5timesslowthantheoldHTML.Eventhoughit’saresponsivemobilereadyplatform,ranksweredropping.Whileallmyclient’scompetitorssitesloadedaround8-10seconds.Myclient’ssitetookabout15-20secondstoloadperapage.Itwasnotunacceptable.

WhatIdidwasthatIhadtotestthesiteloadingspeedforeachpageandfindoutwhatfileisdraggingthespeed.Startingwiththehomepage.Thespeedtestingtoolclearlyshowthatitwastheimages.Thenewsitehasfullscreensizefeaturepostimageoneverypage,andtheimagefilesizewasalsoveryhuge!1MB-2MBeach.Sowehadtocompressthoseimagesfiletoabout200kusingPhotoshopanditallworkedout.FormyWordPresssites,Iinstalledimagecompresspluginsandcompressthehelloutofmyoldpost’simages.

However,itcouldbesomescripts,flashfilesetc.,youneedtofindoutwithatoolwhatcausetheslownessandfixitonebyone.Ifyouhavenoidea,youneedtocontactyourwebhostingsupporttofindoutwhyyoursiteisunusuallytooslowandaskfortheadvice.

Youcantestyoursitespeedwiththistools:

www.webpagetest.org

https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/

Forthewebpagetest.orgjustenteryourURLandchoosethenearestcountrytotest.Lookforwaterfallgraphic(seeimagebelow),anditwillshowyouwhichfileonyourwebpagetakeloadingtimetoolong,youwillnoticetheanomalyrightaway.Itcanbeanytypeoffilesthatwilltakeunusuallylongcomparetootherfiles.

Trytokeepyourhomepagespeedloadingnotmorethan9secondsatleast.Thefasterthebetterforranking!(GoogleAnalyticsalsohasamenuthatshowyoursitespeedperformance,checkitout)

Mozalsohasotherusefulinfoaboutthis.

DoneforStep2.Icansaythatthefuntakshavebeendone.Herecomesthetediouspart.ThelastSEOprocess–linkbuilding.

CHAPTERSIXSTEP3:LINKBUILDING

Stealingbacklinks

AsIalreadypointedouthowimportantbacklinkistoyourranking.SinceGooglehasbeenfamousinfindinganswers,backlinkisstilloneofthemostimportanttoallrankingfactors.AsGooglepointedoutmanytimes,writequalitycontentandpeoplewilllinktoyounaturally…ornot.No,it’shardlyeverhappened.Notevensendingoutemailto100sitesandbegforlinks.It’slikegivingmoneytoeveryoneyouseeonthestreetandexpectthesamethingback.Sowhatwedo?Webuildourownlinks.

Butwherecanwefindsuchqualitylinks(relevantcontentandgoodcreditsites)intheworldwherepeoplearesouptightaboutgivinglinks?

Youstealit.

No,Idon’tmeanliterarystealthelinksbutkindof..AsIalwayssaid,Iwouldlookatmytop10rankcompetitorsfirstandseewhattheyaredoing.Inthiscase,IcheckoutwheredotheygettheirbacklinksfromandgobuildmyownlinkstothosesiteswhereIcan.How?

Youneedabacklinkcheckingtoolforthis.JustchooseonetoolthatyoufindeasytouseandenteryourcompetitorsdomainnameorawebpageURLyouwanttocompetewithoroutrankandallthebacklinksyourcompetitorhaswillberevealedtoyouinnotime.

TherearethetoolsIusemyselfandwouldrecommendtoafriend:

https://ahrefs.com(Clickonthe‘Referringdomains’menutoseewhatsiteshavelinkedtothesiteyouarechecking-toseemorereferringdomainsorsites,youmustsignupfor30daysfreetrial,justdon’tforgettocancelbeforeitchargedyouifyoudon’twanttobeamember)

http://www.link-assistant.com/seo-spyglass/

Justdownloadfreeversion.Enteryourcompetitor’surlandyouwillseeallthebacklinks.Freeversionwon’tallowyoutosaveprojectorcopythedatatoclipboardbutyoucanstillseeallthebacklinksforfree.

Onceyouseeyourcompetitor’sbacklinks,it’slikeknowingyourcompetitor’ssecretofranking.Youjustneedtofindthelinksthatyoucanalsobuildforyourself.

Creatingprofilesanywhere

Anywebsitesthatallowyoutocreateaprofile,itusuallyallowsyoutoputyourlinkthere.Thisiswhatwedoalothereandithelpsboostusbetterranking.It’snotthemostpowerfulbacklinkbutthisistheeasiestwaytobuildyourownsomequalitybacklinks.

Facebookfanpage

JustcreateyourownFanPageevenifyoudon’twanttohaveoneordon’thavetimetomanageit.Createitandkeeppostingyoursite’scontenttoittoo.Promoteyourfanpagefromtimetotimewith20-30bucksamonthtonotbesodesertedlikeagraveyard.Don’tjustopenthefanpageforthesakeofputtingprofilelinkthere.It’sinthe‘About’tap.Makeitnaturalandbelievable!OhIforgot,putyourlinkonyourpersonalprofiletoo.

Googlelocalbusiness

Evenifyoudon’tneedtobuildbacklinksyoustillneedtosubmityourbusinessinformationtothisone.Ican’tstresstheimportanceforthisenough.Anyonewithawebsiteandcaretohaveorganictrafficmustdothis.Gohere:https://business.google.com/create

Andaddyourbusinessinfo,locateyourlocationandverifywiththepostmail,andaddyourwebsitelinkthere.It’sveryeasyandwillappearwhenpeoplesearchforyouruniquebrandname.

Therearemanymoreyoucando:Linkedin,Slideshare.net(therearemanymorepdfsharingsites,gofindthem),Dmoz.org(veryoldbutdoitanyway),Alexa,Pinterest,Instagram,allthesocialsitesoutthereetc.Thissiteshowyoumoreinfo.

Socialpostsandyoutubelink

Eventhoughthesearethelinksthatarenotthatpowerfulbuttheyhelpalotinbringtraffictoyoursiteandanylinksthatbringtraffictoyoursitecanhavesomeimpactontheranking.Onthesocialsitesyoucanalwayspostlinksofyoursite’scontenteveryday.Onceyoupublishedyourcontent,youmustpostitonyourfanpageortwitterpageormoresocialsites.Makesurethelinkiseasytoseelikeso:

Also,youhaveyoutubevideowhichyoucanaddyourlinkbelowinthedescription.

Guestblogging

Backlinkingnowadaysismorelikeacontentmarketing(promotingyourcontent)andthisisthemostpopularwaytodoit.ThisiswhateverySEOsrecommend,reachingouttootherblogsorsitestogainpopularityandofcourse,backlinks.Ifyouareadecentwriterwhowriteyourownblogthisoneisperfectforyou.Thisisthehardwaytogainlinkbuttheresultisworththesweat,it’sthemostpowerfullinkanyonecanbuildthemselves.It’scalled“guestblogging”.It’saboutsendingoutyourcontenttoothersitesinyourindustry(themoreauthoritativethebetter)andleaveyoursite’slinkattheendofthearticle.

Youcanstartwiththeeasiestones,theonesthatwantedyourarticlesalready.

Herearetheblogsyoucanstartwith:

http://www.petersandeen.com/list-of-guest-blogging-sites/

http://webmarketingsaga.com/the-grand-list-of-386-blogs-that-accept-guest-blogging/

Andmore,justgooglefor“listofsitesguestblogging”

Onceyoufeelmoreconfidenceenough,youcanfindmoreauthoritativesitesorthemorefamoussitestoguestpostingtogainevenmorepowerfulbacklinks.Youcanalsogoogleforyourselftofinduntappedblogsforquestposting:

UseGooglesearchqueriestofindblogsacceptingguestcontributors:

[Targetkeywordoryourindustry]+submitanarticle

[Targetkeywordoryourindustry]+wanttowritefor

[Targetkeywordoryourindustry]+contribute

[Targetkeywordoryourindustry]+becomeanauthor

[Targetkeywordoryourindustry]+guestpostby

[Targetkeywordoryourindustry]+nowacceptingguestposts

Forexample,ifIwantedtoguestbloggingforSEOarticlesIwouldgoogleas:

seosubmitanarticle

Stealingranking

Realtrafficisalwaysgoodnomatterwhereitcamefrom.Thismethodissosimpleandyetveryeffectivefordrivingendlesscustomersyourwaywithouthighrankingneeded.It’smorelikestealsomeoneelse’shighranking.Youcaneasilydothisyourselforhiresomeoneelsetodoitifyouwantmore.

Whatyouneedtodoisgofindasmanyblogpostsasyoucanthataretalkingaboutaproblemthatoneofyourproductoroneofyourwebpagecontentcansolveandpostthelinkthere.Forexample,inthiscaseIwaslookingfor“howtosolvethemessymacdesktop”,thenIfoundthisarticle.

http://lifehacker.com/5932527/how-can-i-get-my-messy-desktop-under-control

Whatyoudoisjustgothecommentboxbelowthisblogpostandpostyourlinktherelikeyouwanttomaketheworldabetterplace,don’tjustpostyourlink,saysomethingusefullikethis:

Notjustblogsthough,thereareothertypeofwebsitesyoucandothis:forums,socialsites,classifiedsitesetc.Butletstartwithblogsfirstthough,focusonthis.Especiallytheblogpoststhathavehighranking.

Okay!WehavelearnanddonealltheSEOworks.Welldone!

Sonextlet’sseehowwedowithallthesuccessmeasurementtools.

CHAPTERSEVENSTEP4:MEASUREYOURSUCCESS

ThethingaboutRankingchecker

Nowit’stimetoknowtheresultofyourSEOhardwork.

Youoptimisedyoursiteandyousurewanttoknowwhatrankingyourwebpagesareat.Therearemanytoolsyoucanchoosefromtocheckyourrankings.Formepersonally,Iusethisone:RankTrackerbylink-assistant.com.

Thethingaboutrankcheckertoolthatyouneedtoknowisthat,foranSEOprofessionalyoumayneedtoproduceyourrankingreportregularly.Forexample,soyoucanseetheprogresseverymonthinyourmonthlymeeting,andbeabletokickeachother’sbuttstoimprovemore.Andtomanuallyclickingthebuttontocheckrankforeachkeywordontimeeverymonthistooscaryhere.Ifyoudon’twanttotakethatrisk,youneedarankcheckertoolthatcandothejobautomatically.Inaschedulemannerineveryweek,everymonthetc..Andtheinterfaceofchoices,youmighthateonebutloveanother.OnemightavailableforMacbutnotPCbutifyouuseonlinetoolinyourbrowser,noneedtogotoplatformwar.

SoifyouarelookingfortherankcheckeroranSEOToolforyouragencyorinSEOprofessionalservice,youneedtokeeptheseinmindtoo.Mostoftheonlinetoolscandothisbutnoteverystandalonesoftwarecandoit.

Herearethesoftware:

FREE/PAID:Standalonesoftwareforinstallonyourcomputers:

www.link-assistant.com(RankTrackerMac/PC,italsohason-pageSEOsoftware“WebAuditor”)

www.webceo.com(OnlyforPCanditalsoavailableasonlinetoolaswell)

Forlink-assistantcompany,youcandomostofthestuffbutyoucannotsavetheproject.Paidversionwillupdateregularly,morethanyouwouldlikeitto,youneedtobuythewholesoftwareforafewhundredsandthenpaymonthlyfeeof$10orsomethingwhichIdon’trecommend.Therearemanymorecheaperoptionsoutthere.

FREE:Googlechromeextension:

SEOSERPWorkbench

PAID:Onlinetools,justloginauseitonyourbrowser:

raventools.com

seoeffect.com

moz.com/tools

Googlesearchconsole(thiscanonlycheckyouraveragerankingpositions)

TherearemanymoreSEOtools-seebelowwebpages:

https://moz.com/blog/100-free-seo-tools

http://www.lunametrics.com/blog/2015/06/08/my-15-favorite-free-seo-tools/

https://blog.bufferapp.com/free-seo-tools

Orgooglefor“listofSEOtools”

GoogleSearchConsole

OnceyouhavedonetheSEOworks,it’stimetoseetheresult.Butfirst,youneedtoask…

IsyoursitehavinganyissueswithGoogle?

GoogleSearchConsolecantellyouallabouttheissuesyouhavewithGooglesearchandhowyoucanfixit.That’swhythistoolissofreakinggreatforSEOs.It’stheonlytoolyoucanusetocommunicatewithGooglesearchdirectly,can’tgetbetterthanthat.

ThisGooglefreetoolusedtobecalled“GoogleWebmasterTools”foralongtime.Itjustchangedthenamein2015forsomereason.Thistoolwillallowyoutomonitororcheckuponyoursite’stechnicalhealthrelatedtoGooglesearchengineaswellasrankinghealth.

GoogleSearchConsolewillhelpyouthefollowing:

Warn you with messages about technical issues with Google search e.g. Page notfound,Googlecannotaccessyourwebpages,yourwebmobileversionsucksetc.

You can tellGoogle you have fixed the problemwebpages andmake thewarningmessagesgoaway.

Inthe’Sitesetting’youcantellGooglewhatcountryyoursiteisfrom(whereisthehosting).You should do this accurately too, so it knows the intension of your sitebetterandthenGooglewouldshowandrankyoursitewithlessproblem.

Seewhatwebpages are being indexed.DoesGoogle indexToomany or too few?Doesitindexthepagesthatyoudon’twantpeopletosee?

BlockingGooglefromindexingsomeofyourwebpages.

Seeyourmetatagsissues(thelength,theduplicatesandhowmanymissing)

Seeyourbacklinks,whatwebsitesyouhavebacklinksfrom.

Allowyoutosubmityoursitemap.xmlsoGooglecanupdateitsindexaboutyoursitebetterandhopefully rankbetter.Youdon’thave todo this for thesite thathas lessthan50pages.

SeehowoftenGooglecrawlyoursite(Crawlstats).ThiswilltellyouwhatGoogleisdoingbehindyourbackforthelast90daystoyoursite.Thestatcangoupanddowndepends on your site’s activities.You basicallywant the graph to be stable. To behonest,idon’tlookatthisanymore,itgivesmeheadache.Mylifehasbeenprettydamnfinewithoutit.IfyouwanttoknowmorereadthisfromGooglesupport.

SeewhatkeywordspeoplearesearchingonGoogletofindyourwebpagesandhowmanyclickonthem.(ThisisimportantforSEO,I’lltalkaboutthisinthenexttopic).

AndmanymorethatIdon’tactuallyuse,ifyouarecuriousgohere.Orfindabookaboutit.

Touseit,justsignuptoGoogleSearchConsolethensubmityoursite’sdomainnameandfollowonscreeninstructiontoverifyasanownerofyoursitetotheservice.Mostpopularwaytoverifyareaddingatagtoyourhtmloruploadasmallfiletoyourroot.Ifyoudon’tknowhowtodothis,askforhelpfromyourwebdeveloper.ReadhowtoatGooglesupportsitehere.

Queriesreporttoboosttraffic

AsmanySEObeginnersunderstand,thegoalinallofthisistogainhighranking.Ashighaswecan.However,toSEOprofessionals,rankinghighisnotenough.Youneedtorankhighandalsohaveasmanypeopleclickonyoursearchresulttoo.There’snotmuchpointtohaveyoursnippetsrankhighandnobodyclicksonthem.Ohyeahmaybetherearepoints,showingoffyourfriendsoryourbossandmakeyourbrandlookgood.That’saboutit.

Andnothingfeelsbetterthanbeingabletoimprovewhatyoualreadyhave.Inthiscase,youareimprovingwebpagesthatalreadyhavesomegoodranksonGooglesoyoucansqueezemoreclicksoutofthem.ThiswayismucheasierthantrytofindnewtrafficfromGoogle.

Ifyouhave1+yearoldsite,anddon’tknowwhattodofirsttoimproveyourorganictraffic.Thisisit.Thisistheeasiestwaytostart.

Sohowtosqueezemoreclicksfromyourranking?

YouneedatooltoshowyouthenastytruthabouthowmanyclicksyougainforeachofyourwebpagethatbeingfoundonGoogleforacertainkeyword.YouneedGoogleSearchConsole’s“SearchAnalytics”orthe“SearchQueries”reporttotellyou.

Queriesreporthelpsyouanalyseyourwebpages’performanceonGoogle.Howmuchyourwebpagebeingfoundorshow(impressions),howmuchclickoutofalltheimpressions(CTR%)andinwhatranking(position)foracertainkeywordthatbeingsearch.

Accessthetoolonthismenu“SearchAnalytics”:

Thisisthedashboardforqueriesreport:CTR%(Clickthroughrate%)iswhatyouneedtouseasyourwebpage’sbenchmarktoimproveupon:

Youshouldclickoneachkeyword(thesmalliconnexttoeachkeyword)togotoGooglesearchandseeyoursnippetonebyonecomparewithyourcompetitorsandyoushouldhavesomeideawhyithaslowclicks.

CTR4%andaboveisgreatbutlowerthanthatneedfixingASAP.

Focusononepageatatime.KeepyoureyesoneachCTR%.It’swhatyouneedtoimprove.Reviseyoursnippetandmakeitstandoutmore.Yougoalhereistomakepeopleclickmore!

Justimaginehowmuchtrafficyoucouldgainmore,forthehigh50,000+impressionspage(numberoftimesyourpageappearongoogle)byincreasingjust2-3%oftheCTR%.Doyourmath.Dothisforallyourpagethatalreadyrankon1stpageofGoogle,couldbethegamechanger.

PositioncolumnisyouraveragerankingthatGoogleiskeepingtherecord.

PleasenotethatGooglewon’tletyouseeyourhistorydatalongerthan90daysevenifyousetupyourSearchConsoletoconnectwithGoogleAnalytics(likebelowimage).Don’taskmewhy.

GoogleAnalytics

GAisbasicallythetoolfortrafficreport(notcarsreport).Andit’snotonlythereportaboutSEObutalsothereportforeverythingaboutyourtraffic.Whereyouruserscomingfromandwhataretheydoingonyoursitetoo.Youneedtoknowthissoyoucantreatyournewandreturnuserstherightwaysotheycomebackformoreandalso,soyouknowwhatisworkingandnotworkinginyourallyourcampaigns.

TheultimategoalinusingGAistobeabletoincreaseyourtrafficandmakethemostoutofthetrafficyouhavetomakemoreprofit.

TouseGA,youjustneedsignupanditwillprovideyouapieceofcodetoinstallontoeverypageofyoursiteinthebackendtoverifytheownershipofyoursite.YoucanalsojustinstallGoogleTagManagertoo,GTMissogreat,youonlyneedtoinstallonepieceofcodeandneverhavetoinstallanothercodeinthebackendofyoursiteinyourlifeagain,itactsasahubforallyourtrackingcodes.Findoutaboutthisinyourowntime.Askyourwebdevelopertodothisforyou.IfyouareusingWordPress,justfindthebestGApluginandinstall.

YoucanalsoconnectorsetupGAtoshowthequeriesreportfromtheGoogleSearchConsoletoo.YouonlyneedtobetheadminuserforbothaccountsandgototheSearchConsolemenuandclicksetupandchooseyourwebsiteintheSearchConsoleandthat’sit.

FortheSEOsthough,thesearethemesurementintheGAthatIusesomuch:

1.Organictraffic-thisishowyoumeasureyouroverallSEOsuccess.Youneedtowatchthisreportclosely.Especially,trafficfromGooglesearchengine,youneedtoseethisincreaseeverymonth.Ifitdropped,itcouldmeanyoursiteishavingproblemwithGoogle.Onceyoubrowsetoseethisorganictrafficchannelyoucanseeallsortofuser’sbehaviourinitlike:howmanypeopleconvertedtobuyers(conversions),howmuchtimetheystay,whatwebpagetheyvisitthemostetc.

Foranewsitethatjustbornaweekago,don’tfreakoutifyouseeorganictrafficaslowas5-20visits(sessions)aday.It’sprettynormal.WhenyouaredoingwellinSEO,youshouldsee1,000visitsadayatleasttomakesomeprofit.Manyofmyclient’ssitesstartingfrom0to10,000visitsadayfromorganic,whichtookabout2-3yearstoaccomplish.That’swhenthemoneystartrollingin.Sohangintherefolks,Romewasn’tbuiltinaday.

2.Trafficchannels-afteryouknowtheoveralltotaltrafficyouwouldcertainlywanttoknowwherethecomefrom:organic,direct(typeurlinthebrowser),referrals(comefromotherwebsites),paidadwords,organicsocialandcustomsourcesforyourownchoosingoutsideGoogleenvironment(toseeothercampaigntrafficsourceshowupinGA,youneedtocreateutmtaggingforthosecampaignse.g.Facebookad)

3.Toptrafficwebpages-seethewhichwebpagesofyoursmakingthemosttrafficsoyoucancreatemorecontentlikeittodriveevenmoretraffic.

4.Timespend-howmuchtimeusersspendonyoursiteinonevisit(averagesessionduration)orforeachwebpageatatime(averagetimeonpage).Improvingtimespendwillhelpyouboostrankingalso.Googledoesn’twantpeoplecometoyoursiteandleaverightaway.ThisistheusefulnesscheckerforyourwebpagesthatGooglealsolookat.However,don’texpectaccuracyforthismeasurementthough.BecauseGAhasnowayofknowingthetimespendofvisitswhoonlystayinonepageandleave.Avisitcanstay10hoursbutunlessthatvisitjumpfromthefirstpagetothenextpage,thereisnowayGAwouldknowwhentheyexitsoitshowszerotime(100%bounce).Verystupidindeed.Thenagain,manypeoplestillusethismeasurementtotellifawebpage’scontentbadorgood.

5.Conversion-outofallthepeoplewhovisityoursite(numberofvisits),howmanyhavereachacertaingoalyouhavesete.g.buyyourproduct,becomesubscribemember.YoucanalsosetupGAtoworkwithyoure-commercesitetoo.Thisway,itcangiveyoutheproperreportspecificallyforanonlinestore.

6.Devicese.g.OS,Mobileusers,desktopusers-todayit’snodenyingthattherearemorepeoplespendingtheirtimeonlineontheirsmartphonethandesktop.YoucanuseGAtoanalyseyoursiteperformancelikeamountoftraffic,timespend,conversionetc.foreachdevicessoyouknowwhichonetoimprove.Oneofmyclient’swhodidnotwanttomovetoresponsivesite,wesawitclearlythatvisitsfrommobiledidnotconverttobuyersmuchatall.Weusethisdatatoconvincethemthatyourvisitsfrommobilesuckedsobad.Aftertheymovedtoresponsive,theconversionfrommobilewasincreased100%.

Inaddition,youshouldnoticethe4topmenusintheGAinterface.Reportingisfor…well..report,customisationisforyoutosavetheviewsoyoudon’thavetoclickandclickandclicktofindadataeverytime.AsforADMIN,itisfortheglobalsettingincludingsettingupyourgoalforconversiontracking.

That’sitforallthetoolstomeasureyoursuccess.IusuallydomyreporteverymonthsothatIknowtheprogresssoIwillbeabletotackletheissuesandimprovemysites…notprocrastinate.

Finalwords

That’sitfolks.Thiswasmeanttobeashortbookanditisashortbook.

Onemorethingthough.

Youcaneliminate80%oftheSEOgruntworksbyusingWordPress.WecanallsimplysaythatWordPressisSEOready.SowhatisWordPressanyway?

WordPressisabloggingplatform.Youcancreateallsortsofwebsite:blog,e-commerce,forum,imagegallerysite,socialetc.In5minutes.Ifyouwouldstartanewwebsitetomorrow,anySEOexpertswouldrecommendyouWordPress,nodoubtaboutit.

It’sthebestplugandplayCMSplatform(ContentManagementSystem-it’slikeawordprocessorforwebsite),themostuserfriendlyplatform,soyoucanjustfocusonyourcontentcreation.Ifyouwantittobemoresecuredyouinstallasecurityplugin,ifyouwantittobeeasiertocreateormodifyyoumetatags,youinstallanSEOplugin(MostpopularistheYoastplugin).Ifyouwantittobeane-commercesite,youfindane-commercetemplateforitandsoon.It’sthatsimple.

ThisiswhereIleaveyouwiththisSEObook,gettoknowWordPressandhowtobuildawebsitefromit.Itwillsaveyousomuchworkandtime.

Ihopeyouenjoymybookandfoundituseful.

Ifyoulikethisbook,youmightlikeanother2thatIwrote.IhavewroteanotherbookaboutGoogleAdSenseandSEOandanotheroneaboutWordPress.JustsearchmynameinAmazon.com

Thankyousomuch.

JoeAnucha

CHAPTEREIGHTBonuschapters

CHAPTERNINE1-HELLOWORDPRESS

RoadtoWordPress

Asyoumayknow,WordPressisanopensource(free)CMSplatformwheretheworldofprofessionalDIYwebsitespossible.

Inotherwords,ifyouwanttocreateyourownwebsitelikeaprowithnocodingskills,thisisthebestchoiceintheworldrightnow.

WordPressispowerful,easyandflexible.

With72millionusersworldwideandmarketsharemorethanallotherCMSplatformscombined,makingWordPressthemostwidely-developedcontentmanagementsystemsintheworld.

Thetruthis–ifWordPressdidn’texist,Idon’tknowwhereI’dbetoday.Iprobablydon’tevenbotherhavingawebsiteatall.OrmaybeI’dhavejustsignupwithoneofthosefreeblogserviceandbedoomedwithitslimitations.

TheEndlessPossibility

It’sbeen5years,WordPresshasgivenmetheopportunitytobecomeaprofessionalbloggerwithoutwritingalineofcodeandlovingeverydayofit.

Nomorewaitandrelyonotherpeople.Nomorehiringanddon’tknowwhat’sgoingon.

Nomorepaying$1,000−$10,000ormoreforateamofwebdeveloperstocreateyouaprofessional&beautifulwebsitethatyouhavenofullmanagementcontrol.What’sthepointinthat?

Simplyput.WordPresswillsaveyourtimeandmoneyinbuildingandmaintainingaperfectwebsite,justthewayyouwantit.

Freeresources

Anotherimportantadvantageisitspopularity.Likeallthings,themorepopular,themoreusers.

WordPresscommunityishuge!

There’realwayssomeonesomewherekeepimprovingthispopularWordPressplatformforusforfree.Allyouneedtodoisupgrade.

AsIwritethisbook,WordPressisnowversion3.6andsoonitwillreleasenewupgradeforyoutoupgrade.

WordPressusuallyreleasenewupgradeseveryoncein3-4monthsforbettersecurity,betteruserinterface,controls,minorbugfixesandmanymore.

HowWordPressCametoBe

Incaseyou’recurioustoknowhowWordPresscametobe,letmetellyouabriefhistory.

WordPressstartedoutasano-namefreebloggingplatformin2002andnow,it’sthemostpopularwebplatformorCMSintheworld.

Itissopopular,itmadeitsyoungcreatorasoneofthe50mostimportantpersononlinetodayalongsidewithFacebook&Googlefounders.

HowWordPressisCreated

WordPressisanopensourcesoftwarewhichanyonecoulddownloadanddevelop.Ithastemplatesystemthatcantransformittoanytypeofwebsiteyouwant.

ItiswritteninPHPLanguage,colorandlayoutwithCSSstylesheetanditstoresyourwebcontentandsettingsinadatabasecalledMySQL.

SincetheWordPresscorefiles(LikeanOS)andthedatabase:memberdata,webcontentandallthesettingsareseparated.

Therefore,youcancustomizeyourtemplatefilestomakeyoursitelooksthewayyouwantwithouttouchorharmyourcontentatall.That’sveryneat.

Asthenextimageshown,WordPressistheeasywayandtheDreamweaveristhehardway.

WithWordPressyougetthebestofbothworlds–youcanbeaprogrammerornon-programmer,WordPressletsyoudobothverywell.

SeeingisBelieving

Insteadofwasting100pagestellingyouhowgreatWordPressis,it’sbettertoseeitforyourself–thepowerofWordPressatworkintherealworld.

So,herearesomeofthebigbrandswebsitespoweredbyWordPress:

✓ Engadgets

✓ Gizmodo

✓ People

✓ WallStreetJournal

✓ CNN

✓ SearchEngineWatch

Wanttoseemoreofthose?Goto:WordPressShowcase

2TypesofWordPress

Thisimageillustratesthe2choicesfor99%oftheworldpopulationwhowanttohaveawebsiteintoday’stechnology.

There’snobetterwaysthanthisunlessyou’replanningtobuildasuperhugesitelikeeBayorAmazon,that’sanotherstory.Nextimageillustratesthe2choices:

Beforewegetdownanddirtywiththeinstallationprocess.Let’sgetonething(ortwo)straight.

WordPresshas2majorplatforms(nottalkingaboutWordPressMUhere).Onecanbedownloadedbutanothercannot.

WordPress.comvs.WordPress.org

WordPress.comisaonlineblogservice.Justlikeblogger.comortumblr.com–Theyarenotforseriousbloggers.It’sjustlikerentinganapartmentyoucan’tdecoratemuch.

WhileIthinkofWordPress.comserviceasafree-rentapartment–IthinkofWordPress.orgasgettingafreehouse,youneedtorentaland(sharedwebhostingserver)andaddress(domainname)foritanditwillalwaysbeyoursnomatterwhat.

So,howbig,howcozyorhowbeautifulyouwantyourhousetobeistotallyuptoyou.

Andsinceitbelongstoyou,sellingitisnoproblem.

Inotherwords,forWordPress.org,youdownloaditforyourownuseonyourchoiceofwebhosting,themes,pluginsandeverythingelse.

So,IfyouwantthefullpowerofWordPress,WordPress.orgisclearlyyourchoice.

Whydoyouneedtoknowthis?

SowhenyouGoogle(orBing)tofindhelp,you’dgettherightanswerfortherightplatformyou’reusing.

Trustmetheyarenotthesamewhenitcomestotroubleshooting.

WordPressisAnything

So,isWordPressablogorawebsite?Thelinebetweenthemarenowverythin.Tomostpeoplenowadays,theyarethesamething.

Whetherit’sthecnn.com,gizmodoorengadgetssite?That’sright,websiteorblogsalluseWordPress.

WordPressallowsustobuildacomplexorprofessionalwebsiteinadaywithoutskillsofawebdeveloperlanguage:HTML,PHP,CSSetc.

AndtherealityisyoucanmakeanytypeofwebsitewithWordPresstoo.

WordPresssitecanbetransformedintoanytypeofwebsiteyouwant.YoucanmorphyoursitefromatinyblogtoaprofessionalclassifiedwebsiteinsecondsbyinstallingandactivatingaWordPresstemplatepackagecalled“Theme”.

Ifyouwantane-commercesitebutdon’twanttotakeanotheryeartolearnMagento,Zencart,Joomlaetc.,allittakesisane-commercethemeinWordPress.

JustsearchforaWordPresse-commercetheme(FreeorPaid)withthefunctionalitiesyouneed,installitandactivate.Done.

Ormaybeyouwantamagazineblog?newsblog?oronlinewebdirectory,classified,portfolio,socialnetworksite…younameit.WordPresscantransformintoanysite,it’sjustaquestionfindingtherighttheme.

Moreaboutthemeinchapter6.

TroublewithWordPress

Beforewe’regettingintohowitworks.Youshouldbeawareofafewissuesandpreparetosolvethem.

However,whatI’mabouttotellyoumightbealittletooadvanced.Don’tworry,youcancomebacktoitlater.

Thereare2thingswhichexpandyourWordPresscapability–theyare‘Theme’and‘Plugin’.Thesetwocangiveyougreatbenefitaswellaserrors.Readmoreaboutthemeandplugin.

Inthecustomizationprocess(ifyouwanttodoatall)youwillbespendingmosttimeandthese2thingsthemostthatusuallyruinyoursiteininstantifyou’renotcareful.

Themeandpluginaremadeof.phpfiles.So,itwon’tbethatout-of-this-worldtogeterrorsonceinawhile.

Errorsorbugscouldcausethecompatibilityproblembetweenthemaswellastoyour

WordPresscoresystem.Resultsinyoursitenotloadingproperly.

Therefore,keepyoureyesonnewlyinstalledpluginorthemeandwhenyoumakeanewsettingforanything,sowhenerroroccuryouknowwhichonetoundo,deactivateordelete.

Anyway,herearemostcommonissuesthatyoumayfaceworkingwithWordPress:

MostFrequentlyIssues

1.Themorepluginsyouactivatedthemorechanceoftechnicalproblemyoumayruninto.

Plugincanalsoslowdownyoursiteloadingtime.Sofindthethemethatprovidethefeaturesyouwantisusuallybetterthanaddinganotherplugin.

2.Takeasmuchtimetrytofindthethemethatbestsuityourneeds,don’tsettletooeasily.Trustme,editingtheme’sphpfilesisn’tthatfunfornon-programmer.

Agreatthemeeliminate95%ofthecustomizationworkload.(ReadmoreabouthowtochooseaperfectthemeinPart5)

3.Buyingpaidthemesandpluginsisnotjustaboutthelookandfunctionbutalsoaboutthesupport,buyhighestratingstufffromatrustedcompanyorsiteisyourbestbet.

4.Avoidasmuchcustomizationintothephpfilesaspossibleifyou’renotacoder.Youcouldbringthewholesitedown.

IntermsofGooglerankinganduserexperience,whenthesiteisdownover1-2days,that’swhenallyourbusinesswouldberuinedandmightnotbeabletobringitbackforever.

5.Technologyisuselesswithoutcontent.Findinggreatcontentideasshouldbeyourfirstpriorityalways.Tweakingyourthemeandfindingpluginscanwait.

6.Pressthewrongbuttonandcauseyoursitetonotloadorerror.Iftheyarepluginsorthemesettings,youcanjustclickbackbuttononyourbrowserandre-doit.

Usuallythiswillworkbutifnot,youneedtooverrideitbydeletingrecentlypluginsortheme.Orresetthewholethingifit’sthecoresettingthatbroke.

Readabout‘Reset’,anddeletethethemechapter5andplugininchapter6.

WARNING:Aperfectsitetakestime,it’sbettertotweakasyougoanddon’ttrytoperfectitallatonce.

Remember?

“Ifyousetyourbarat“Amazing,”It’sawfullydifficulttostart.”

CHAPTERTEN2-HOWWORDPRESSWORKS

AnatomyofWordPress

IknowitcanbeconfusinglookingatWordPressasawholethefirsttime.However,ithelpstoknowthatthereareonly2sidesinWordPress:

Back-endvs.Front-end

1.BACK-END

Tomeback-endiseverythingbehindthescenethatmywebvisitordon’tcaremuchtosee.Itiswheretheadminandcontenteditorpublishcontentandmanageorcontrolthesite(That’syou).

Theback-endincludes:

1.WordPressManagementPanel-aslightingswitchesinyourhouse

2.WordPresscorefiles-asthestructureofyourhouse

3.WordPressdatabase-asthecabinetinyourhousetokeepthings

Firstyoulogintoaccessyouradminpanel

TheAdminPanel

Behindtheloginandthefront-end,you’reenteringintotheWordPressmanagementcontrolpanel.Thisiswhereyougettocontroleverythingfromsettingswitchestocontentpublication.Andtohaveagreatsitejustthewayyouwant–controliseverything.

2.FRONT-END

Tome,whatwebvisitorsseeisthefont-end,thetemplateortheme.Therefore,whenyou’relookingatyourWordPresssite,youdon’treallyseeWordPress,butit’smorelikeyou’relookingataWordPresstheme.

Themeismadeupof.phpfiles,eachofwhichcallupspecificelementthatappeareachofyourpage.

Thosethemefilesallstoredinthethemefolder,whichyou’llfindinwp-content/themesinyourWordPressinstalledfolder.Moreaboutthemelater.

TheWordPressinstallerpackagecomesbuilt-inwith2basicfreethemestochoosefrom:

WordPresswithnothemeinstalled,itwouldnotworkingatall.

TheMagicWidgets

Sidebarisveryimportantforuserstonavigateyoursiteaswellasyourmainnavigatormenu.

WidgetisanothercoolfeatureinWordPress.Asdefaultinstallation,youcandecorateyoursidebarelements(Appearance>Widgets)andyournavigatormenu(Appearance>Menus)withadragofamouse.

MENU:Appearance>Widgets

“WordPresswidgets”let’syouadd,moveelementstoyoursidebarvisuallyandeasily.Somethemesandpluginsmayprovideadditionalsidebarelementsforyoursite,thiswidgetsdraganddropfeatureshouldcomeinhandyforyou.

FromwithinyourWordPressblog’sadmincontrolpanel,throughtheuseofclient-sidescriptinglanguages;AjaxandJavaScript,userscan“clickanddrag”certainsidebar

elementsandrearrangethemtomeettheiridealsidebarsetup.

Theseelementsincludetheblogsearchbox,links,pages,meta(containingadminloginlinks,RSSfeedlinks),categories,mostrecentpostsandtext-boxelements.

Add-ons&Widgets

Today,nearlyallup-to-dateWordPressthemesarewidgetready.Andalsomanypluginsaremadetoworkwithwidgetstoo.

Agoodexampleplugin:Flexi-WidgetplugingiveusersmorefreedomtoconfigureandcontrolthepageswidgetonanywidgetreadyWordPresstheme.

Meaning,insteadofhavingtomodifycodelikeinthesidebar.phpfiletoshowsomethingonyoursite–letsay,asidebar,youonlyneedtogotothe‘Widgets’menuunder‘Appearance’togetstarted.

Next,clickonthedesiredelementtoaddittothesidebarorre-arrangetheelementsinanywidgetreadythemeasseeninthepreviousimage.

Good&BadofWidgetizedThemes

Somepaidthemeshavewidgetizedthelook&feelforthewholesitelayout(e.g.Headwaytheme.comandPageLines.com).They’recalled“Drag&Drop”platformthemes.

DragandDropplatformletsyoumovethingsaroundandnotjustthesidebarbutevery

elementyouseeoneverypage.

Butdon’twasteyourtimelookingforwidgetizedthemelikethatunlessyouhaveawebinteriordesignskills.

It’snotalwaysgoodtobeabletomovethingsaroundfreelybecauseifyoudon’thavethedesigner’shead,youwouldendupwithanuglypage.Formostofus,choosingabestlookingthemeandeditjustalittleisasmarterchoice.

Focusonyourcontentandthesimplicityfirst.Nottheamazingfeaturestoimpressyourselfandfriends.

WordpressPackage

WordPress,likeanysoftware,itcomesinapackageconsistsoffilesandmaybesomefolderswithmorefiles.ForWordPress,itspeaksinphplanguagesothefilesaremostly.phpfiles,therestarethecomponentfileslikeimagefilesandsoon.

FilesthatmadeupWordPresssitecanbecategorizedinto2set:

1.Corefiles

WordPress.zipthatyoucandownloadfromWordPress.orghomepage,aftertheinstallationthefileswouldlooklikethis:

Noticethefolderofthedomainname(seoappz.com)istherootfolderofyourWordPressfiles.

YoucaninstallWordPressinanyfolderunderyourdomainname.Sothen,ifthefilesarelocatedindifferentdirectory,youneedtobrowsertothatfoldertobeabletoseeyoursite.Forexample,asubdirectory:seoappz.com/blogorasubdomainblog.seoappz.com

(Ihatesubdomain,it’sjustlameandoldfashionnobodyusesitanymore).

2.Themefiles

Whyisthistemplatesystemfilesimportanttomention?BecauseWordPresscan’tlivewithoutthistemplatesystemfilestoshowupasawebsiteinthefront-end.

Inotherwords,withoutathemepackageinyourWordPresswouldnotworkatall.

Themeisasetof.phpfilescomesinafolderjustlikeWordPress.

Asmentioned,thereare2freethemescomeindefaultwithWordPressinstallerpackage:“Twentyeleven”and“Twentytwelve”.Thesethemefolderscanbefoundin/wp-content/themes/.

Ifyougothedefaultthemefolder(wp-content/themes/default),youshouldseemanyPHPfiles(calledtemplatefile)andastylesheet(style.css)–bothmadeupatheme.

Thefolder/themesiswhereyouaddordeletemultipleorsinglethemedirectly.Youcanalsoinstallthemeindifferentmanner,theeasierway.Moreaboutthemereadchapter6.

WorkingwithFiles

ToworkwithWordPresssometimesyouneedtoactlikeafilemanager.Youneedtoknowtheyaretobeabletomanagethem.

ToaccessyourWordPressfilesyouhave2choices:

1. YourcPanelfilemanager(thisisveryfastwhenuploadanddownloadlargefiles)

2. FTPsoftwarelikeFileZilla–IuseTransmitforMac(thisisveryslowmethodbutallowmoremulti-fileanddesktopdraganddropmanaging)

Somepeopledon’tneedtogetintotheseatallsincetheycandoeverythingunderWordPressadmininterfacelikethemeandplugininstallationandmediafilemanagement.

Butwhenthingsgowrong,that’swhenyou’dneedtoturntothesefilemanagingmethods.

TheWordPressfiles

Thereare3foldersinWordPress.zippackage.Theoneyouneedtokeepaneyeforis/wp-content.

Theother2folders(wp-adminandwp-includes)arepartsofthecoresystemwhichwillbereplacedwhenupgrade,justlikewhenyouupgradeyoursoftware–and/wp-contentislikethe/documentfolderwhereyoukeepsyourownstufflikedocumentsfordownload(likecompanypdf,yourfreesoftware),imagefilesandsoon.

WARNING:Apartfrom/wp-content,DON’TDELETEanyfilesorfoldersundertherootdomainorWordPresswillnotwork.

Youmayask,whycan’tIkeepthedocumentelsewhere?

First,forallmediafilesyouaddtoyourcontent,thedefaultlocationwouldbein/wp-content/upload(itwillcreatethisfolderforyouautomaticallyafteryouhaveaddedamediafile).

Imagineyouhaveranyoursiteforayear,this‘upload’folderwouldfilledwithlotsofmediafiles,imagesandsoon.So,ifyouaccidentallydeletedthisfolder–godhelpsyou.

Secondly–Yes,youcankeepthefileselsewheretoobutaslongasyouremembertobackupandthefolderyoucreatedtokeepyourownstuffresidesinyourdomainnamerootfolder,andyoucancallthefolderwhateveryouwanttoo.

AnythingtomakeiteasierforyouandWordPresstobackupwithintheroot.It’stheeaseforbackingupandmigration.

AllbackuppluginsIknow,backupfromthetop,therootfolderdowntothesubfoldersunderitandnothingoutsidetheroot.

Andtalkingaboutworkingwithfiles,whenyouneedtouploadordeletefilesontoyoursitelikeathemeoraplugin.Thefolderyou’relookingforis:

/wp-content

Thisiswhereyoukeepyourstuff(plugins,imagesandthemes):

5WebVisitorViews

Thisishowyourwebvisitorsseeyoursite.WordPressallowstotal5userviewsforuserstofindthecontentonyoursite.

Thedesignofthelayoutforeachof5followingviews,ofcourse,dependsonthethemeyou’reusingandhowyou’dcustomizeit.

1) TheHomePage-AtypicalWordPressthemeshowsalistofblogpostsandasidebartonavigatethesiteonhomepage.

2) SinglePosts-Asinglepostisthewebpagethatvisitorusuallyfindyouonsearchengineorlandon.It’sadedicatedpageforeachblogpostwhereithaspostpublisheddateindicatorandcommentbox(seenextimage):

3) StaticPages-Thisisthestaticpagelikeinthe90’s.It’stheset-and-forgetcontentsection:Aboutus,Contactus,FAQetc.Itdoesn’thavepublicationdateandthedefaultsettingwon’tdisplaythecommentbox.

Thenagain,whatkindofwebsiteownerwouldwantanyonetocomeandgivecommentsabouttheirFAQorContactUspage?

4) SearchResults-Usersearchinyoursite’ssearchboxandthispageistheresultpagethatdisplaysalistorsummaryofpostsinyoursitethatmatchyourquery.

5) Archive-Showsseriesofpostsbymonthandyear.So,readerscanchoosetogobacktoyouroldpostsquicklyandeasily.Thiscanbeshowinsidebarifyouwantornotatallbyactivatingthewidget.

4StepstoaProSite

I’mnottalkingaboutthecontentjustyet.Thisisaboutgetyoursitereadyforthecontent.AndtocreateaprofessionalsiteusingWordPress,thereareonlythese4steps:

That’sright.That’sallthereistoit,tohaveaWordPresssitereadytopublishyourcontenttotheworld.

Afterthatit’sthecategorizationofyourcontentandstartpublishwhichwewillbecoveronebyoneinthisbookstartingfromthenextchapter.