Search engine optimization (SEO) is now more important than ever. To do it right, you’ll need to keep an eye on a number of factors, including on-page content optimization, link and image optimization. With all the changes Google keeps imposing, there is more than meets the eye about SEO.

Let’s take a look at how you can step up the process and stay on top of the developments at all times.

Spend Some Time Researching Your Keywords

Keywords are the first thing that comes to mind when SEO is mentioned. There’s a good reason for it – SEO without keywords is poor SEO. It’s that simple.

While quality content is certain to reach people looking for it, keep in mind that quality content featuring the right keywords will reach a larger audience.

It’s not sufficient to just brainstorm the keywords. You’ll also need to place them correctly. Namely, whether you’re looking for keywords to rank for streamlined tax filings or wedding videos, you’ll need to place the chosen keywords in the URL, H1, first and last paragraphs, meta title, and meta description for best results.

If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of keyword mapping, now is the time to learn more about it, and there are many training methods.

Simplified, people turn to Google to get specific answers to whatever it is they are looking for. This is called search intent. If you want your website to reach a wider audience (and who doesn’t?), it will need to satisfy search intent.

Remember that Google ranks websites based on the accuracy and quality of search intent answers, so take your time to brainstorm keyword mapping.

Tip: Don’t use the same keyword for multiple pages (“keyword cannibalization”)as it will only serve to confuse Google. Instead, choose a unique keyword for each and every page.

Give Some Love to Your Featured Image

Many people tend to overlook image SEO optimization. Think about it like this: there are many people out there who use Google image search for their queries. If your images don’t feature keywords, your website will be more difficult to find.

Basically, you should include the main keyword in the alt text so that it can begin to rank on Google Images. Make sure, however, that images aren’t placed at random. They must support the content.

Tip: The keyword cannibalization rule applies to images, too. Choose the right keyword for each image so that it resonates with the content.

Include Internal Links

After keywords, links are the second most important feature of proper SEO. Links also happen to be commonly misused and placed inappropriately because many website owners don’t know how to use them properly.

To get started, keep in mind the two following things:

1. Only evergreen content counts as good Rather than creating multiple blog posts on the same topic, update the existing post with new information.
2. Always link a post to another post within the same content

What exactly is a content silo?

Content siloing is an SEO technique that structures your website in a specific way that optimizes its ranking. All content is organized based on the topics, which are called silos.

This basically means that if your site deals with multiple themes, they should be clearly separated. Websites structured to specifically fit relevant keywords meeting the search intent are those you see on the first page of Google search results.

Stick to this strategy and your content workflows will never get disrupted.

Frequency of Posting

Just like email frequency matters in any email program, so does the frequency in which you post to your blog. With so many ranking factors to consider, it is quite easy to lose track of content strategy, which you must not allow to happen.

Various stats show that quality ranks higher than quantity. That is to say, you should post only the content that adds value, whenever it occurs. For example, you can look at it this way:

• Post about trending topics as soon as possible, making certain to include only relevant and up to date information
• Post about recent events relevant to your brand
• Post about recurring events relevant to your brand
• Update existing content with new information as soon as it becomes available

As for the last item, think about it this way. Let’s say you’re selling mobile phones. Not only do new models appear all the time, but updated information on the existing models also pops up regularly. Make sure to update your existing content to feature this new info.

Conclusion

SEO is, undeniably, hard work. However, if you do it right from day one, you will find out that it’s not really rocket science. The most important thing is – planning. Define your content silos, make

a list of well-researched, good-ranking primary keywords and assign one to each page (and the accompanying featured image).

Over time, your efforts will cumulate to push your website to rank better on Google search results. Once it is on the first page, you only need to continue the practice. Draft a content calendar and go from there.