Ready to be a Google SEO Jedi?
Is technical expertise essential in the pursuit of becoming a Google SEO 101 Jedi Master? While technical prowess isn’t required, it is helpful, especially if you’re shooting for Search Engine Optimization Jedi status. With that said, for purposes of not overwhelming young apprentices, this Google SEO 101 guide will focus on best SEO content practices. By the time you’ve finished, you should have what you need to boost the presence of your business on the web and have a clear-content strategy for SEO.
Google SEO 101 – Are you Speaking Wookie?
SEO may seem like an alien language with terms such as “URL,” “HTML,” and “Meta Tags,” and in some ways it is, but not one that’s beyond grasping. Like any process or language, Google’s relationship to SEO is based on certain steps that build upon one another. If you can speak the language, Google thanks you by boosting content from your website to the top of the search rankings.
- Title Tag – informs search engines and users about your subject matter. Every HTML page – every document that has content – should have one. Google recommends going with something unique, but that’s directly related to your business. Stay within 70 – 90 characters.
- Description Meta Tag – provides your audience and search engines with a taste of what’s being conveyed through your content. It’s important to remember that synchronicity and consistency go a long way when SEO is concerned. If Google and other search engines don’t find cohesion in your meta description, a selection of text may be pulled from a different portion of the content that it deems more relevant. Keep this around 140 – 160 characters.
- URLs – the URL appears under your page title in a Google Search and points the user exactly where to go on your website. A URL should be short and sweet and most importantly, should coincide with the content’s title tag.
- Keywords – These are highly-searched words used within title tags, description meta tags, URL addresses and throughout your content. How do you know what keywords to use? Great question! An easy and free way to evaluate the potency of a keyword, is by testing it in a Google search.
If several “sponsored ads” appear at the top of your search, you can assume you’ve hit a lucrative keyword. There are also Google resources available to do your keyword research for you: Google AdWords Keyword Planner Tool and Google Trends.
Ready to be a Google SEO Jedi?
You have the Google SEO 101 basics to get you started, but there are a few other things to keep in mind when creating SEO content. Near the top of the list, according to Google, in crafting SEO (whether it will be strictly SEO or written for a blog), is to make sure the content – particularly incorporating keywords – reads as organically and natural as possible. Don’t compromise the integrity of your content by inserting extraneous keywords, simply to try to place your content at the top of the rankings’ list. Keep SEO content in the range of 400 – 600 words.
May the SEO Force be with you! If you’d like to consider outsourcing, consider contacting our Jedi Masters of SEO at Farotech.
