Why This Matters
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic to a website or a web page from search engines like Google*. The purpose of SEO is to get your ideal clients, when they are using search engines, to your site organically (unpaid) by showing up prominently in the results.
Search engines use algorithms to determine the best results for peoples searches. These algorithms are often changing and redefining the parameters of what ‘optimization’ requires. Understanding the inner workings of each algorithm is a full-time job in itself, but there are a few key points to keep in mind.
*We use Google as it is the leading search engine
SEM:
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a form of Internet marketing that involves the promotion of websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) primarily through paid advertising.
The main difference between SEO and SEM is that search engine optimization is simply a component of search engine marketing. SEM includes components of paid search, such as PPC (pay per click) and also SMM (social media marketing).
Resources
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide – Google’s SEO starter guide.
Complete SEO Starter Pack: Get Your Website and Blog Ranking – Hubspot’s SEO starter pack.
19 SEO Tips Straight From the Mouths of HubSpot’s SEO Team – Hubspot’s in depth list of top SEO tips.
SEO Training Course: Learn SEO
How to Create an SEO Strategy – Steps and template for planning your SEO strategy.
Introduction to Search Engine Optimization – Another thorough Hubspot resource overviewing SEO.
10 Simple SEO Tips For Ranking Content In Search Engines – Straight forward explanations and tips for optimizing your website content for SEO.
10 Ways to Get Google to Index Your Site – How to get Google to notice your website.
How to Increase your website SEO traffic in 30 days – Tips and tricks to increase your ranking quickly.
Recommendations
Keyword Research Tools:
Ahrefs – An all-in-one SEO tool kit. Audit, explore competitors, see what customers are searching for and see top performing content for your industry.
Answer The Public – AnswerThePublic listens into autocomplete data from search engines like Google then quickly outputs every useful phrase and question people are asking around your keyword.
Google Ads Keyword Planner – Search for words or phrases related to your products or services. This keyword research tool will help you find the keywords that are most relevant for your business.
Google Search Console – Tools and reports to help you measure your site’s search traffic and performance, fix issues, and makes your site shine in Google Search results.
Google Trends – Google’s tool showing current search trends and trends by topic.
Moz – An all-in-one SEO toolset that audits, analyzes, optimizes and tracks your website SEO and keywords
Neil Patel Uber Suggest – Paid software that offers multiple SEO and keyword tools to find profitable keywords, optimize your site and track progress.
SEM Rush – Semrush is an online visibility management and content marketing SaaS platform that helps companies of all sizes and industries to optimize their visibility across key channels and create engaging content for their users.
Soovle – A tool that shows top searches on various platforms based on your keywords.
SEO Auditors:
BDC Website Evaluation – BDC website assessment tool.
Google PageSpeed Insights – Website speed assessment tool.
Google Lighthouse – This tool focuses on speed and ease of use. This is more of a website grader than an SEO tool but still important to SEO. This takes a touch more skill to use but will give you accurate information.
Neil Patel SEO Analyzer – A leader in digital marketing.
Website Grader – Hubspot tool to assess your website.
SEO Optimer – SEO analyzing and reporting with white label option.
Woorank – SEO scoring tool.
Zadroweb SEO Auditor – SEO analyzer.
Various Tools:
Yoast Plugin for WordPress – A plugin that guides you to optimize on-page content.
Schema – Adding schema markup improves the way your page displays in SERPs by enhancing the rich snippets that are displayed beneath the page title.