Yes, SEO for Dummies is a book. (I love the “for Dummies” books.) I took a look at it when I was at the library the other day for the sake of this blog post… and it’s good! This one, in particular, is NINE books in one.
I’ve learned a lot about SEO from Ashley Faulkes at Mad Lemmings and Brandon Gaille at the Blog Millionaire. Brandon is the one who introduced me to SEMRush which increased the amount of traffic to both of my blogs.
SEO for Dummies is nine books in one, so I can only go over a small fraction of it here. Here are the five biggest takeaways and strategies you can put into action TODAY. (Yes, you can do it on your own. For more on acting as your own SEO consultant, click here.)
1. Search Engine
This is the foundation of everything. The search engine. Google is one. (The biggest one.) YouTube is one. Even Pinterest is one. If you want to be found on a search engine, you need to let it know you are special and worthy of being found.
2. Optimization
If you want a site like Google to find you and tell others about you, you need to tell them what your site is about. You can do this by putting keywords on your page, in the right place. What’s the right place?
- In the URL
- In the headline
- In the description
- In the headings and subheadings
- In the image and file names
3. Linking
So, you think your website and the pages on it are amazing but do other people? This matters! When other people link to your site, that sends a message to Google that you are in demand, so they should show your content to more people… aka, moving you up higher in search results.
My favorite way to get links on other sites is through media relations. This is where I thrive. As a former TV reporter and anchor, I know how the media works – that includes online media. I don’t only earn this kind of exposure for clients, but I do it for myself.
Click here for a FREE 2-week trial of SEMRush
Every time I earn a client or myself exposure, I’m getting better SEO. Even if something is on TV, in print, or on a podcast, nine times out of 10 it will end up online.
4. Local
If you’re a local business and are only focused on getting local leads online, Google will set you up for success via snail mail. Yes, it actually sends you a postcard to a physical address with a code. You put that code into Google and voila – you’re showing up locally!
5. Sitemap and Webmaster
Remember how I said you need other pages to link to yours to make you look good? Well, you need to tell Google how special you are yourself. You can’t only rely on others to do it for it. Sitemap and Webmaster is a little too techy for me to get into, but you need to link your website with these tools. Google will reward you.
Regardless of your SEO knowledge, I suggested checking out SEO for Dummies… or swinging by the library for a skim.
