15 Tips to get Instant SEO Credit

by Cathy Tibbles, Boss Lady at WordPress Barista

It’s harder than most realize to write and publish an entire article with the snappy headline, the engaging first paragraph, all the proper grammar, gorgeous photos in just the right size – for every.single.social.network. But then you need to create a pristine white backdrop, clean smushed cheerios off the camera bag, get the cat out of the photo, and do it all while the baby’s napping. So it’s no wonder that we’d really like someone to read it!

Here my friends, are my best tips to getting found in Google search – almost instantly!

Top 5 On-Page optimization tips:

1. Do keyword research – I know this sounds horrible, but when you get used to it, it is seriously a 2 minute job – at least how I do it! 🙂
   1. log into Google Adwords Keyword Planner
   2. Into the first box, type the words that describe your article. I typed “pretty stationary”. Ignore the other boxes.
   3. Scroll through the words until you find one ranked “low” (competition) and has lots of searches. Simply compare the searches to the other words, if it has lots of searches in comparison, AND is low – you’ve found your little nugget.
2. Download the Yoast’s SEO plugin and use the box below the post-edit box.
3. Create an SEO title and enticing description.For instance, if there is a FAQ post every Friday – naming it the “FAQ post” doesn’t tell Google the topic. Take 30 seconds to remedy this by creating a custom SEO title. In the SEO box, create a post title just for the search engines like “Your Custom Order questions answered”.By default the first few sentences of the article are grabbed for the google snippet/ description. Change that snippet in the – you guessed it – SEO box. Make it enticing and get users onto your site to see the fabulous that is there.
4. Other places for the keyword: post title, link and alt tag of one or more images.They should also appear within the first paragraph. If its natural put the word/phrase into a sub-title.**Its extremely important that you write for your visitors first, search engines second.The only reason we use similar keywords and phrases throughout the article is to reinforce to a very analytical engine that the article is indeed about that topic.
5. Put the keyword into the SEO box below the post, and adjust until you get a green light! Note that you do not have to do everything it suggests to get a green light. Just do as much as is natural.

Top 5 Off-page Optimization Tips

Once the post is published, you’ll need links going to the article from inside and outside the blog. These are the easiest and fastest ways to do this:

1. Let all your social networks know about the new post.
2. Let your email list know about the new post.
3. Ask your ‘tribe’ Facebook Group, or other network to share your link.
4. Go to your blog’s dashboard -> post list, and use your keyword again to search for other articles with similar themes. Edit each of those posts to include a link into the new post.
5. Make sure your post is categorized and tagged properly. And that the categories are displayed in a nav or sidebar.

Top 5 Site Optimization

1. Be sure that your site is optimized by using Social Warfare plugin and creating social images for each post. (example above)
2. Use breadcrumbs
3. Use links previous/next on single posts – which are already built in with any Restored316 theme.
4. In the dashboard under the SEO tab, edit the Settings -> Social Media to include links to all your profiles. It is especially important to include Google Plus – even if you don’t use it!
5. Lastly, in your User Profile, complete the Facebook link for your page so that you are recognized as the ‘author’ on social media sites.

It may seem daunting now, but when you get used to it – this takes not more than 5 minutes – a few minutes for keyword research, and a few minutes of editing and link building.

Your Turn

Do you do these already? Were any new to you?

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