Isn’t it funny how SEO is so much like camping?
I’m guessing that you’re looking at your screen a little bit like you look at a stranger that suddenly starts to sing on the train. You’re probably thinking that SEO is nothing like camping but it is. I promise you.
I’ll show you why in a little while, but before we find out how to do SEO I think we should probably go over why it’s so important for you, me and anyone else who wants to successfully market their business online.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Search Engine Optimization makes it easier for customers or potential clients to find your website.
For example:
If you go to Google and search the phrase “add likes to your Facebook page” my article about how to get more likes on your Facebook page it’s the listing. (yes that is pride that you can detect 🙂 )
Why do you Need It?
So now you know what SEO is, why should you bother? Well, how many times do you search on the internet and scroll down past the first three or four page listings….? Exactly!
A report has shown that even on the first page of Google, results that aren’t in the top 4 spots only have a combined click rate of 30.4%. If you want that organic traffic (which you do by the way) then you need to get among those top four spots.
Here’s how to do it.
How to do SEO
At the beginning of this, I told you that SEO was a lot like camping. That’s because in camping there are a lot of decisions that you make that could drastically alter your holiday. When you look at how to do SEO, you’ll see that the devil is in the details just like with camping.
#1 Choosing Your Tent/ Choosing your Keywords
When it comes to choosing your tent, there are really only two choices: small or large. Smaller ones tend to be used by a lot of people but the larger ones attract people with more specific needs – like large families who want separate rooms.
With keywords there is a similar choice to make: short or long tail keywords. Average keywords such as “SEO” are used often by many people. But the long tail keyword helps people who have something specific in mind e.g. “how to do SEO on web pages”. If somebody finds you because they have something specific in mind then the chances of you making a sale are a lot higher.
Most experts agree that combining short and long-tail keywords for your website will bring the best results.
#2 Choosing a Campsite/ Choosing the Content
There are millions of campsites to choose from all over the world. But the final decision will always be made on the basis of the following three factors:
Does it have good (clean) amenities?
Is it suitable for the whole group or family?
Have you had a good previous experience there?
The truth of the matter is that SEO is all about making sure that the search engines send people to the right place. If your content is useful to all your readers and they feel as though they’ve got something valuable from reading it then you’ve provided a good service.
If you do this with every piece of content that you put on your site then you’ll become known as an expert that people can trust. Your readers and the search engines will love this and you’ll get lots of lovely SEO juice for it.
#3 Pitching your Tent/ Keyword Placement
Anyone who has ever been camping will tell you that there are certain places that you can pitch a tent… and certain places you can’t. For instance, if you don’t want to wake up on your camp bed floating down a hill, then it’s a good idea not to set up camp on a hillside where there is an obvious place for the water to run in bad weather. The general rule is to pitch your tent on flat, even ground.
With keyword placement, the same rule applies. Keywords should be spread out evenly around the article. You need to make sure you have the keyword at the beginning, middle and end of your content and there are Brownie points if you can manage to incorporate the keywords into the title and sub headings of the post.
Try to put your targeted keywords:
- In the first paragraph once.
- In the main body of the text.
- In the last paragraph of once.
#4 Packing/ Keyword Density
There is always one person that tries to take 3 suitcases full of clothes for a four day camping trip. This is NOT useful to anybody. Especially those who have to carry the bags!
SEO isn’t about shoving as many phrases and words into one article as possible. There should be just enough to let the search engines realize that the words and phrases are important. No more and no less. Once you start stuffing “how to do SEO” in every other sentence, it just gets plain uncomfortable.
#5 Have Fun/ Make the Content Engaging
Do you like to go on a boring holiday? No. Nobody likes to read a boring web page either.
The biggest way to achieve on page SEO is to write for the person reading it. They’re the person that you are talking to at that moment in time. Not the search engine robots. Make your content entertaining and informative. Keep the reader reading.
Bonus Tip:
There are some great SEO plugins that help you to keep on eye on your on-page SEO. Scribe is a great example of this.
Conclusion
So… now it’s time to sit back and wait for your millions of new visitors to show up to your website! Um, well… no. This isn’t a get rich quick scheme. It will take time for you to see results and you’ll have to use the tips above on all future content to build up your website’s reputation. But…
If you want to increase the number of new visitors to your website then you should take SEO seriously.
[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”lifted-both” width=”450px” height=”” background_color=”#7D6DEB” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]You could decide to ignore SEO all together. You could also set fire to all of your money... Tweet This[/dropshadowbox]
Over to You
So that’s why camping is actually a lot like SEO.
But what about you, do you have any SEO tips of your own to share? Have you used or heard of any great SEO plugins lately?
I’d love to know how easy or difficult you find it to research, use and write your content around keywords. I always enjoy hearing about your experiences so share them in the comments below.
As always, thank you for reading the post. Here’s to your new, fully SEO optimized website that bring in tons of fresh new readers and clients. Don’t forget, if you like this post then you’ll love my email newsletters.
Florentina