Search engine optimization (SEO) is pretty essential for anyone who is creating and publishing content online. After all, if you want your content to be discovered by your target audience, you need to do a little optimization. That’s why SEO was the focus of our most recent #ContentWritingChat. We talked all about the fundamentals of SEO, a great way to get back to the basics.
#ContentWritingChat Recap: Fundamentals of SEO (Doing it The Right Way) with Nicholas Coriano
Join us for #ContentWritingChat on Tuesday, November 22nd at 10 AM Central Time with @NicholasCoriano! pic.twitter.com/sjjn5zpY2c
— Express Writers (@ExpWriters) November 15, 2016
For this week’s chat, Nicholas Coriano popped in to be our guest host. He’s an entrepreneur, motivator, and the CEO of Homescape LLC. He joined the chat to talk all about the fundamentals of doing SEO the right way and shared plenty of great tips with everyone.
Q1: What is SEO?
To kick off the chat, we asked the all-important question… What is SEO? It’s important to know what exactly what SEO is before you dive in and start implementing the strategies you’ve learned about. Here’s how some of our chat participants defined SEO:
A1: SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/APImUTNGnW
— Nicholas Coriano (@NicholasCoriano) November 22, 2016
A1b: It’s the process of getting traffic from “free”/ “organic”/“editorial” /“natural” search results on search engines #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/APImUU5hfu
— Nicholas Coriano (@NicholasCoriano) November 22, 2016
As Nick said, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It’s the process of getting traffic from organic search results via search engines like Google.
A1: SEO is the means in which you can acquire the attention and action of search engine users thru ranking & attraction. #contentwritingchat
— Annaliese Henwood (@MktgInnovator) November 22, 2016
Annaliese defined SEO as how you acquire attention and action of search engines.
A1. Search engine optimization. The process of naturally optimizing your site for organic rankings #ContentWritingChat
— Julia McCoy ? (@JuliaEMcCoy) November 22, 2016
Our CEO, Julia, said SEO is naturally optimizing your site for organic rankings. Something we focus on here at Express Writers!
@writingchat A1: SEO is the process of making your content easily findable and readable by the wonderful google robots! #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/nEZlfSecAr
— Digital Natives Cast (@DgtlNativesCast) November 22, 2016
SEO helps to make your content easily discovered and readable by the Google robots.
A1. SEO is making your content easy for the search engines to find, based on the keywords you want to be known for. #contentwritingchat
— pamelahughes (@pamelahughes) November 22, 2016
By taking the time to optimize your content, it will become easier for search engines to find. As Pamela said, you just need house the keywords you want to be known for.
A1 It’s one of the ways to make sure the content & work you do gets found & is ranked = visible, recognized by every1 #ContentWritingChat
— Zala Bricelj (@ZalkaB) November 22, 2016
Do you want your content to be seen by your audience? You need it to rank highly in search engine results. That’s what a little SEO helps you do!
A1 Today, SEO is working WITH search engines (Google, let’s be real) to deliver the content that users want. #contentwritingchat
— Nate Dame (@seonate) November 22, 2016
Remember that you have to work with the search engines in order to get results. There’s no need for black hat tactics or anything like that!
Q2: Why is SEO important?
Now that you know what SEO is, you need to understand why it’s so important. These reasons are all great examples of why SEO is crucial for online content creators:
A2: People start looking for things on search engines. If you can be found there you are off to a good start! #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/U5HU8ahgOU
— Nicholas Coriano (@NicholasCoriano) November 22, 2016
As Nick said, people turn to search engines to look for things. If you want your content to show up in those search results (and to rank high), you need to take the time to implement some SEO tactics.
A2: SEO helps Google understand what ur page is about & why it will help users. It’s the backbone of digital marketing. #contentwritingchat
— Ryan Clutter (@Ryan1SEO) November 22, 2016
Ryan said SEO helps Google understand what your web page is about and why it will help users.
A2. It ensures that search engines can crawl & assess content accurately to serve your webpages in relevant queries #contentwritingchat
— Trinity Insight (@TrinityInsight) November 22, 2016
SEO ensures search engines can craw and assess the content on your website, then present it for relevant search queries.
a2 #SEO is very important in order to have your website crawled, indexed & rank in the search engines! #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/GcT0QO1QiJ
— Debi Norton (@BRAVOMedia1) November 22, 2016
Do you want your website to be crawled, indexed, and then highly ranked? Of course! Debi said this is why SEO is a must.
A2: #SEO helps your content get to your audience. Content that isn’t reaching them isn’t helping you. #ContentWritingChat
— Jessica Lynn (@JessTheWriter33) November 22, 2016
Jessica knows SEO is important because it helps your content get to your audience.
A2: SEO is an essential element of marketing because search ranking affects whether your digital efforts are found. #contentwritingchat
— Annaliese Henwood (@MktgInnovator) November 22, 2016
Your ranking in the search engines will determine whether or not your content is found. And you want it to be found, right?
A2) Increases the likelihood that audiences will find you through content, keywords, and links! #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/oTCspuPZSe
— HeyOrca! (@HeyOrca) November 22, 2016
SEO increases the likelihood your audience will find you through content, keywords, and links.
A2. Without SEO, expecting your content to be ‘discovered’ is as good as expecting to find a needle in a haystack. #ContentWritingChat
— Cheryl Joy (@CherylJoy2) November 22, 2016
Cheryl’s answer is a great way to look at it. If you want your content to be easier to find, SEO is very worthwhile.
Q3: What are keywords?
One of the fundamentals of doing SEO is choosing the keywords you want to rank for. They need to be relevant to your content and your audience so the right people find your work. Here’s how our chat participants defined keywords:
A3: Keywords are how the search engines know what you’re all about and who they should send to your blog/website. #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/rr617nfQKr
— Nicholas Coriano (@NicholasCoriano) November 22, 2016
Keywords are how search engines what your content is about and who they should direct to your blog or website.
A3 Keywords are exact search term used by ppl to find relevant content on #Google or any other search engine #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/RSGPh8BV12
— Varun Kumar (@varunkr842) November 22, 2016
Varuna said keywords are the search teams people use to find content via Google and other search engines.
A3: Keywords are honing in on what your target audience is searching for & using them naturally to improve rankings. #contentwritingchat
— Ryan Clutter (@Ryan1SEO) November 22, 2016
Keywords hone in on what your target audience is searching for. Ryan said you should use them naturally to improve your rankings.
A3: Keywords are the words/phrases that people use to search and which you target to draw them to your site @writingchat #ContentWritingChat
— Writer Leah Ingram (@theleahingram) November 22, 2016
Leah said keyword are the words and phrases people use to search. You then need to use these keywords to target the right people and draw them to your website.
A3: Keywords are commonly searched words/phrases that draw traffic to your site based on relevance, intent + purpose. #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/oP4vcp0IG3
— Web Themes Plus (@webthemesplus) November 22, 2016
Keywords are commonly search words and phrases that bring traffic to your site. The Web Themes Plus team said keywords are based on relevance, intent, and purpose.
Q4: What tools and tactics do you use to find keywords?
The goods news is, there are plenty of tools today that help you find the right keywords for your content. Check out this advice from people in Tuesday’s chat:
A4: Google Adwords, SEO Moz, and reverse engineering (based on what has worked already for my blogs). #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/mplxS7kUmn
— Nicholas Coriano (@NicholasCoriano) November 22, 2016
Google Adwords, Moz, and reverse engineering are the tools and tactics Nick relies on.
@writingchat A4: Google gives great ones. Keyword planner, Google Trends, and just basic searches. Or Moz, Moz is cool. #ContentWritingCHat pic.twitter.com/rK7ONqY8xF
— Digital Natives Cast (@DgtlNativesCast) November 22, 2016
Google has plenty of great tools to help you find the right keywords. You can use their Keyword Planner, Google Trends, or just do a few searches. Moz is great as well!
A4: I’ve used @SEMrush and @Google to find the keywords that both my audience is using and my content can focus on. #contentwritingchat
— Annaliese Henwood (@MktgInnovator) November 22, 2016
Annaliese relies on SEMrush and Google to find the right keywords for her content and her audience.
A4: My most frequently used tool is the suggestions offered in the engine. When you start typing, it gives you a list. #ContentWritingChat
— Maureen Jann (@MaureenOnPoint) November 22, 2016
Maureen takes advantage of the handy list of suggestions that come up when you type something into a search engine.
@ExpWriters A4: @BuzzSumo, plus the keyword planning tool. And look to see what users are searching to get to your site #ContentWritingChat
— Jacob Rouser (@J_Rouser) November 22, 2016
For Jacob, BuzzSumo is a must. It’s a great tool to find out what your audience is interested in and what they’re sharing online.
A4 @Moz ‘s Keyword Explorer is a favorite at @propecta, especially since Google started hoarding more data. #ContentWritingChat
— Nate Dame (@seonate) November 22, 2016
Nate said Moz’s Keyword Explorer is a must!
A4: @semrush and @ahrefs are my favourite keyword tools.
Study your competitors. #ContentWritingChat— Omi Sido (@OmiSido) November 22, 2016
One great tip is to study your competitors. You can learn a lot from them!
A4: I try to put myself in my buyers’ shoes. What am I looking for? Checking for common searches. That’s step 1 for me #ContentWritingChat
— Rebecca Bretana (@rbretana) November 22, 2016
Rebecca likes to put herself in the shoes of her buyer. Think about what your audience is looking for. That’s a great place to start.
Q5: What can I do on my website to improve SEO?
There are plenty of tactics you can implement ON your website to improve SEO. Here are some tips you can try out:
A5: Review, revise and provide value to your readers. Don’t be spammy. Become an authority in your field. #ContentWritingChat #SEO https://t.co/6Fh2yXqOYO
— Nicholas Coriano (@NicholasCoriano) November 22, 2016
Great advice from Nick! Review, review, and provide value to your readers. You should never be spammy. Focus on becoming an authority in your field by consistently sharing great content.
A5: Answer questions. Be relevant. Provide right information & add value. Saw KW skyrocket just from updated content. #contentwritingchat
— Ryan Clutter (@Ryan1SEO) November 22, 2016
Ryan said to answer the questions your audience has. Be relevant and add value to them.
A5: Use keywords (in moderation) within your website’s content. Don’t overdo it but rather make it strategic – be human. #contentwritingchat
— Annaliese Henwood (@MktgInnovator) November 22, 2016
Use keywords within your website’s content, but don’t overdo it. Keywords should be used strategically and in a way that is natural and human.
A5: Sprinkle in keywords but make sure your website copy’s readability is high. Keyword stuffing kills your SEO. #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/4nzQj69N2m
— Web Themes Plus (@webthemesplus) November 22, 2016
Sprinkle keywords throughout your copy, but make sure readability is high. No keyword stuffing!
A5: Super simple: keep writing. Keep putting out content that isn’t crappy. Offer something of value – answer their Qs. #ContentWritingChat
— Rebecca Bretana (@rbretana) November 22, 2016
Crappy content is a huge don’t! Focus on producing content of value that answers the questions your audience has.
A5. Something that’s helped on our website is using simple language (like it’s searched) rather than loaded with jargon. #ContentWritingChat
— Epictions (@epictions) November 22, 2016
Skip the jargon and use simple language that your audience is searching for. They’re more likely to find it this way.
@writingchat A5: One way to improve SEO that’s almost always overlooked is by adding alt tags on your images. #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/0b1vsYHJut
— Digital Natives Cast (@DgtlNativesCast) November 22, 2016
Don’t forget to add those alt tags on your images! It’s a great way to boost your rankings.
A5: @yoast really helps us optimize our content. But making sure our SEO sounds human & conversational is also huge #contentwritingchat
— Meg Prater (@Meg_Prater) November 22, 2016
Yoast is a great tool to use on your website!
Q6: What can I do off my website to improve SEO?
Just as you can do things on your website to improve SEO, you can do things OFF your site as well. Try implementing these tips in order to see results:
A6: Links or Mention on other Media; Twitter, YouTube, FB, Other blogs & websites #ContentWritingChat (1/2) https://t.co/v9KlcoI3nM
— Nicholas Coriano (@NicholasCoriano) November 22, 2016
Gain links or mentions on other platforms such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and other blogs and websites.
A6: Guest blogging is a great way to build brand awareness and position yourself as an authority in your field. #ContentWritingChat
— Rachel (@redheadrachel) November 22, 2016
Guest blogging is perfect for building brand awareness and positioning yourself as an authority. It also helps you generate links back to your website.
A6: Guest blog on other blogs w/ website link in your bio. Same with podcast interviews, video interviews + beyond! #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/VUC2owHcbs
— Web Themes Plus (@webthemesplus) November 22, 2016
You can even go beyond guest blogging by doing podcast interviews, video interviews, and more.
A6 Serve your customers well, build offline word-of-mouth trust. This reflects hugely to your online trust & ranking #ContentWritingChat
— Julia McCoy ? (@JuliaEMcCoy) November 22, 2016
Julia said to serve your customers well. Building offline word-of-mouth is a great way to grow your brand and to establish trust and increase your rankings online.
A6: Share, share, share on social media. Use hashtags. @writingchat #ContentWritingChat
— Writer Leah Ingram (@theleahingram) November 22, 2016
Make sure you’re sharing your content on social media. It’s a great way to send traffic back to your site.
Q7: How do I test to see if SEO is working?
Testing is one of the fundamentals of doing SEO. Once you have started optimizing your content, you need to do some tests to see if it’s actually working for you. Here’s how to do that:
A7b: ALSO, Check analytics daily/hourly; most platforms have good analytics. Measure the traffic & shoot to convert 1% #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/MsnZXHsNjU
— Nicholas Coriano (@NicholasCoriano) November 22, 2016
Check your analytics regularly to see how things are going.
A7 Are you hitting your goals? Bc of course no one would start an SEO campaign w/o setting up clear goals/metrics first. #contentwritingchat
— Nate Dame (@seonate) November 22, 2016
You need to start by setting goals for your SEO campaign. Without goals, you won’t have an idea of which metrics to track.
A7: Set up Google Analytics, monitor traffic and see what’s coming from organic. Use any # of tools to see rankings. #contentwritingchat
— Ryan Clutter (@Ryan1SEO) November 22, 2016
Ryan recommends setting up Google Analytics, then monitoring your traffic to see how much is organic. You can also use various tools to see your rankings.
A7 Have detailed reports that measure activity WELL BEFORE changes to strategy. Monthly breakdowns, top content, etc. #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/nuxy7odGlj
— Cristy (@lacristysalinas) November 22, 2016
Cristy’s advice is to have detailed reports of your activity before implementing any changes. This will give you something to compare new results to.
Q8: How does different content impact SEO?
So, how does different content impact your SEO? Here’s what some of our chat participants said:
A8a: U must be authentic & everywhere! Its ALL content; video, pictures, text, code, etc. #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/qZfLbNU9Ux
— Nicholas Coriano (@NicholasCoriano) November 22, 2016
Incorporate a variety of content formats, but make sure you are authentic in everything you create.
A8: By creating a value-rich content variety, you help a larger audience, which in turn improves your search ranking. #contentwritingchat
— Annaliese Henwood (@MktgInnovator) November 22, 2016
Annaliese said creating a value-rich content variety will help you reach large audience. This can ten improve your search rankings.
@ExpWriters A8: Well written/relevant content leads to good SEO. By learning about SEO, you can write better content #ContentWritingChat
— Jacob Rouser (@J_Rouser) November 22, 2016
As Jacob said, well-written and relevant content leads to good SEO. Focus on providing value to your audience with everything you write. Learn about SEO so you can write better content.
A8. Tap into audiences you didn’t know you had! But don’t stray too far, or you risk alienating your core following. #contentwritingchat
— Kristen Dunleavy (@KristenWritesIt) November 22, 2016
Kristen recommends tapping into audiences you didn’t realize you had. Just make sure you still focus on your core audience.
A8 : Evergreen, long form, social media..each may contribute to different campaigns separately, but ALL influence SEO #contentwritingchat https://t.co/IRERd3HR92
— HeyOrca! (@HeyOrca) November 22, 2016
Evergreen and long-form content are essential! Social media is also great to be using to improve SEO.
We look forward to seeing you at the next #ContentWritingChat! Mark your calendars weekly for Tuesday at 10 AM Central Time for great chats centered around content writing and marketing. Follow @ExpWriters to stay updated on our new topics and guests!