Guess who’s back, back again? John is back…tell a friend.
I know that I have not posted a blog for a while, but rest assured I am back and better than ever.
One of my favourite topics, as you may or may not know, is SEO – so for my much-awaited return, I am going to share some insight with you all that will help you get your SEO on track.
For the record SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, just wanted to clear that up.
SEO is all about content. To provide value, you have to create content that people will want to read. So, what you need is text! Not pictures, not videos – text! The only way Google can identify what your content is about is through text.
Now – that being said I want to make is clear that there are some parameters.
Your text has to be unique! Writing unique text means it cannot exist anywhere else on earth (or the Internet). You need to have original ideas because the credit only goes to the one who made it first.
Side note: If you are wondering about how Google measures this, they gauge the amount of four-word phrases that match other published content. If you are copying content – they will mark your content as duplicated, and you will not see results from that post.
Your goal here should be 100% unique content if you want Google to like you. A big part of this is writing conversationally. Write at the fifth-grade level!! Did you know when we speak to each other, we are talking at the fifth-grade level? The reason this is so effective is that it is the most understood and comprehended form of communication. The problem is that we are conditioned to write to impress people, so we use big words and get way too technical. Stay away from industry terms because chances are the “average Joe” visiting your site has no idea what you are ; he.
In other words…Google hates that. HATES!
So let me guess, you’re thinking – “John, I can’t write good SEO content.” Here’s the deal. You should never be trying to rank well. Ever! The chances are that if you do that you will end up putting in keywords way too much, and if that happens Google will think you are trying to spam them and rank you poorly. Google wants to give people the most relevant content so if you want to rank for a phrase you need write about that concept.
Another important thing is consistency! You need to make sure that you are updating your website on a regular basis because Google is looking at how often you update your site. If you’re only updating your site once a month or are posting content that is not relevant to your industry, the content will have no benefit. So, in other words – post content regularly! Write on a regular basis! You can write tips/tricks blogs, or about fresh new industry news – anything related to your business! The bottom line is that people want to do business with people, not companies.
Another thing you can do is publish videos! People get more engaged when watching videos. If you can connect with individuals in a video, they might think, “Hey, this guy in genuine, this guy in honest, he seems to know what he is talking about. Let’s give him a call!”
We spoke earlier about writing content at the fifth-grade level. This same concept applies to how you should create YouTube videos. You might think that a video is completely different right? Wrong. Google still wants content paired with your video. How do you do this? Transcribe your videos! You are speaking in a conversational tone, so why not create some unique content to share that is in your words? Use it to help you rank online! Sure – it may not be perfect grammar, in may not be technical, but who cares? The best part about transcribing videos is….you guessed it – it is unique content!
The bottom line is that the way you speak is not identical to someone’s blog post online. That content will not exist anywhere else online, because…it is what YOU said!
Let’s backtrack a little bit now, and talk about the YouTube videos themselves. All videos that you create should go on YouTube, and they should also be embed on your website. This is so that each video loads correctly on a mobile phone. Also when you create a YouTube, there is a description that needs to be filled out – do it. This will help rank your video within the YouTube engine.
What’s in a successful video you might ask? Well, I can tell you what is not in a successful video. A script! Using a script will make you come across as fake, and people can sense these things. Will you make a mistake? Yes! But who cares? Just be yourself! Believe what you are saying!! When people watch videos they will believe what you say if you believe what you say!
And that concludes my epic return to blogging for Like A Voss Social Media. If you need help with inbound marketing, social media, or online strategy give us a call – we would love to talk to you.
