Ever wondered what a marketer does when they talk about SEO? Here we explain the fundamentals every SEO should know about. As an SEO, it is important to have a solid understanding of several key areas in order to be successful in driving traffic and improving search engine rankings for your website.
Here are six topics that every SEO should know about and why they are important:
- Keyword Research
- SEO Copywriting
- Content Brief Creation
- Cold Email Outreach
- Link-Building Prospecting
- Technical SEO Fundamentals
- Project Management
Keyword research:
This involves identifying the words and phrases that people are using to search for the products or services that your website offers. By understanding the language that your target audience uses, you can create content that is relevant and optimised for search engines, which will help improve your rankings and drive more organic traffic to your site.
There are many tools available for keyword research, including both free and paid options. Some popular tools for keyword research include:
- Google Keyword Planner: This is a free tool provided by Google that allows you to search for keywords and see their search volume and competition level.
- SEMrush: This is a paid tool that offers a range of features for keyword research, including keyword suggestions and analysis of your competitors’ keywords.
- Ahrefs: This is a paid tool that offers a range of features for keyword research, including keyword suggestions and analysis of your competitors’ keywords.
- Keywordtool.io: This is a free tool that allows you to generate keyword suggestions based on a seed keyword.
- Ubersuggest: This is a free tool that allows you to generate keyword suggestions and see their search volume and competition level.
It is important to choose a keyword research tool that fits your needs and budget. You may want to try out a few different tools to see which one works best for you.
SEO copywriting:
One effective way to write compelling and engaging content that is optimised for search engines is to carefully select and incorporate relevant keywords and phrases in your headlines, subheadings, and body text. Additionally, following best practices such as using short, concise sentences and writing in active voice can help improve the readability and clarity of your content. By creating high-quality content that is optimised for search engines, you can improve your search engine rankings and increase traffic to your website. This, in turn, can help establish your expertise and credibility in your field.
Google’s search algorithms are designed to rank content based on factors such as relevance, quality, and user experience. This means that creating helpful, high-quality content that is relevant to your audience and provides a positive user experience can help improve your search engine rankings.
Additionally, Google’s guidelines for webmasters recommend providing unique and valuable content that is not duplicated from other sources, and being transparent about any potential conflicts of interest. Overall, the best way to create helpful content is to focus on providing value to your audience and meeting their needs.
Google’s recommendations for helpful content:
https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2022/08/helpful-content-update
Content brief creation:
A content brief is a document that outlines the goals, objectives, and target audience for a piece of content. It also includes details such as the tone and style of the content, the keywords and phrases to be used, and any formatting or design requirements. By creating a content brief, you can ensure that all of your content is aligned with your overall marketing strategy and is optimised for search engines.
Example of a content brief:
Title: “5 Tips for a Successful Social Media Marketing Campaign”
Goals:
Increase brand awareness
Drive traffic to website
Generate leads and conversions
Target audience: Small business owners
Tone and style: Informative and practical
Keywords: Social media marketing, small business, tips, success
Formatting: Bullet points, images, links to relevant resources
Design requirements: Logo and brand colors to be included in featured image
Deadline: Friday, December 10th
Cold email outreach:
This involves reaching out to potential partners, influencers, or other websites in order to build relationships and secure backlinks to your site. This can be a highly effective way to improve your search engine rankings and drive more traffic to your site.
There are several ways to acquire backlinks to your site from other websites:
- Guest posting: You can reach out to other websites or bloggers in your industry and offer to write a guest post for them. In exchange for publishing your content on their site, they will typically include a backlink to your site.
- Influencer outreach: You can reach out to influencers in your industry and offer to collaborate with them on a project. For example, you could create a piece of content together and include a backlink to your site in the post.
- Broken link building: You can search for broken links on other websites in your industry and offer to replace the broken link with a link to your site.
- Resource page link building: You can search for resource pages on other websites in your industry and offer to add a link to your site to their page.
However, it is important to be strategic and targeted in your outreach efforts, and to provide value and relevance to the people you are contacting.
Example of a cold email outreach:
Subject: Collaboration opportunity for [Your Brand]
Hi [Influencer],
My name is [Your Name] and I am the founder of [Your Brand]. I came across your blog/Instagram/YouTube channel and was really impressed by the content you produce.
I am reaching out to see if you would be interested in collaborating with [Your Brand] on a project. We are currently working on a new product/campaign/initiative and think that your audience would be the perfect fit.
I would love to discuss this further with you and see if there is a way we can work together. Let me know if you are available for a quick call this week and we can discuss the details.
Best,
[Your Name]
Link-building prospecting:
Link-building is the practice of acquiring backlinks to your site from other websites. This can be done through cold email outreach, guest posting, or other methods. In order to be successful in link-building, it is important to identify high-quality websites that are relevant to your industry and have a good reputation with search engines. By acquiring backlinks from these websites, you can improve your search engine rankings and drive more traffic to your site.
Technical SEO fundamentals:
Technical SEO refers to the technical aspects of your website that can affect its search engine rankings, such as its speed, mobile-friendliness, and security. By understanding and implementing technical SEO best practices, you can ensure that your website is optimised for search engines and can attract more organic traffic.
Google’s recommendation on SEO best practices:
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35291?hl=en
This page includes a list of general SEO best practices, such as creating unique, descriptive page titles and using header tags to organise your content. It also includes tips on how to improve your website’s visibility on Google, such as using alt text to describe images and creating a sitemap.
It is important to note that Google’s recommendations on SEO best practices may change over time, so it is always a good idea to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and guidelines in the world of SEO.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, SEO is a complex field that requires a deep understanding of several key areas in order to be successful. By mastering the art of keyword research, SEO copywriting, content brief creation, cold email outreach, link-building prospecting, and technical SEO fundamentals, you can improve your search engine rankings and drive more organic traffic to your site. By staying up-to-date on the latest trends and best practices in the world of SEO, you can stay ahead of the curve and continue to grow your online presence and reach.
