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
“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.
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.
Algorithmschangebutpeople…notsomuch
SearchEngineusesalgorithmtodeterminewebsite’sranking,andGooglehasonecalled“Hummingbird”.So,whatisalgorithmtoGoogle?
“Youwanttheanswer,nottrillionofwebpages.Algorithmsarecomputerprogramsthatlookforcluestogiveyoubackexactlywhatyouwant.”
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:
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.”
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.