SEO
Are you optimised?
See our easy to apply tips on boosting your brand’s visibility, understanding trends and best addressing the needs of your audience.
Search Engine Optimisation
One of those ubiquitous terms, frequently banded around yet vaguely understood. SEO translates as how discoverable your brand/content is under the gaze of search engines such as Google, Bing and DuckDuckGo.
When a consumer types their prompt into Google, such as “How to care for my lawn..” or “Best places for winter sun...”, the question you need to ask is, will my content feature on Page 1, in the Top 10 search results? The idea is to “optimise” your copy so that Google ranks it highly, and consumers can readily find your offering.
The world wide web may be a mire of rapidly shifting sands currently, yet there are a few ways of optimising your content to help to set you apart. From researching keywords and search trends, to tagging images and incorporating meta-headings, here are one or two tips to help you along.
Keywords
Search is a two way street. When tweaking its algorithms, Google takes its cue based on what people search for and find useful, and what Google deems to be helpful and credible. Google uses two main reference points for search ranking;
1. On Page Factors (webpage content, correct keyword usage and metadata. Basically content you create, post and curate).; and,
2. Off Page Factors (article and link shares, commenting, blog posting, press and social promotions- basically any cross-web mention of you).
There are two main actions you need to take to optimise your use of keywords and improve your discoverability. 1. Spend 5 minutes researching relevant keywords and phrases and, 2. Include your keywords as headings, sub-headings and/or place keywords near the top of your webpage/article, so that when Google scans your page, it can quickly index topics. Be aware that keywords shown in headings and/or in the first paragraph of body copy, are viewed as more relevant by search engines.
Researching keywords is a breeze. Know that keywords are simply words, or phrases, that people type in when searching the web to buy something or to learn about XYZ. For example “Silver shoes” or keyword phrases such as “Best spa breaks in Thailand”. Try the following tools to identify the best keywords to use on your webpages, or before penning articles or creating content for clients:
You may also research which keywords your peers and competitors are using, simply by entering the URL of the competitor as the prompt, in place of keywords. Try Google Ads Keyword Planner or Uber Suggest for this.
Once you have your keywords, you may cite your keyword/s once more in the course of your article, but refrain from “keyword stuffing”, which search engines dislike and scold you for. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies
Search trends
Another way to quickly identify keywords is to take note of what is listed in the search pop up after entering your prompt. This will give you an idea of common and related search prompts. Further, on Page 1 of search results, note the results shown in the section towards the middle of the page, titled “People Also Ask”, or “Searches related to”.
Extra keywords or phrases can be incorporated as headings in your article of relevant, ensuring you are covering as many bases and areas of interest for your audience as possible.
Another great tool is Google Trends to gain a bird’s eye view of macro, regional or sector trends. Take a peak also at historical search trends and other helpful stats about Google et al, at Statista.com.
The more you understand the world of search, the better you will be at communicating with your audience online.
Image tagging
Did you know that search engines rely on image tags, captions and alt text in order to filter your content? Image tagging is an easy fix, and makes it possible for search engines to “read” the image content and better classify images in terms of relevance. This is key if you have a unique selling point that is best articulated via an image.
Try tagging your images in one or more of the following ways:
File naming. When uploading a beautiful shot of your tableware, or picturesque vista in the South of France, name the file accordingly. The auto-generated file names, IMG-6836, e.t.c. are meaningless for search.
Image descriptions and captions. Add greater detail about the content of the image as a description (SEO description) or a caption. Search engines still rely on descriptions to understand what the image shows. Use keywords if appropriate. Correctly tagged images and relevant content are ranked more highly.
Alt text. Alt text is a small piece of code that can be added to file names to further describe the image. Simply include an alt tag to the <img> tag in the HTML code. An example would be:
Image with an alt tag:
<img src=“cake.jpg” alt=“lemon and pistachio cake”>
Alt tagging further demarks your content and makes it easier for consumers to find you. For further information, see this handy blog.
Collabs and sharing
A growing trend in digital marketing is to collaborate with peers or like-minded brands across disciplines. We note cooks collaborating with luxury houses, and industrial designers with interior designers and so on. This has the potential to enhance and expand your brand equity and/or customer base.
Creating synergistic campaigns and mentions helps build visibility across social platforms, and also across print, press, editorial and other marketing modalities. Gather a wish list of ideal, on-brand collaborators and begin discussing how to create content or offers that are a win-win for you both, in terms of search engine primacy and your bottom line.
The use of hashtags still helps to drive traffic, and be sure to share links to relevant, complementary content, comment and respond to customers comments and otherwise share your work far and wide across social platforms, all of which is taken into account by Google in order to determine search rankings.
More is more
For expert and in-depth content, know that search engines want to see 2,000-2,500 words or more of well-researched and well-referenced copy, in order to deem the piece credible and relevant. If you are an expert wanting to share your valuable know-how and ideas, try publishing longer articles. Break up text with keyword headings and use meta-data to best tailor your piece towards consumer interest. Search is, in theory, about generating value for consumers and the more unique and useful your prose, the more search engines will favour it.
Make it stand out
Try a different approach, consumers value honest-to-goodness products, authenticity, trust and consistency.
Unique content
And finally, say something different. It is tempting to follow the herd when it comes to social media, branding and tone of voice. This has led to a sea of bland, same-y aesthetics and marketing campaigns that can seem contrived, not to mention somewhat boring. In order to stand out for search, and to win your ideal customers over, try something new and unexpected and think in terms of creating a dialogue instead of a one way street. Unique content and authenticity are now more important than ever, so it pays to be different and do something that 90% of brands are not.
Recap
2-minute SEO takeaways:
Research keywords/phrases
Ensure keywords are well positioned within your copy (headings, top of page)
Refrain from keyword stuffing
Tag images, using file names, descriptions and alt text
Longer word count for expert, in-depth pieces
Say something different in order to stand out
We hope this guide is useful and we’d love to hear your comments. Contact us for further tips on SEO best practice and copy to set you apart.
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