I recently joined a friendly and interesting networking meetup group in Dublin. It was organised by Marcin Kilarski, Rodolfo Melogli and Amit Wadhwa. They talked about WordPress Search Engine Optimisation beyond Yoast plug-in.
The presentation was given by Peter Lawless, sales and marketing expert, coach, mentor, trainer, TV & Radio presenter and published author. He is also a business founder.
It was followed by a Q & A by a panel of WordPress Search Engine Optimisation experts with:
- Amit Wadhwa (Founder, Lead developer at xava.ie)
- Rodolfo Melogli (WooCommerce expert at businessbloomer.com)
- Peter Lawless (Search Engine Optimisation and Marketer at 3r.ie).
In summary, the meetup topics were as follow:
• Is WordPress without SEO like a Shop in the middle of a Forest?
• Is an SEO Plugin, such as Yoast the answer to all your problems?
• How to Set SEO Titles in Just Two Steps
• The 3 Cardinal Sins of Black Hat SEO
• 5 SEO DIY Tips beyond Yoast
• “If you had just 15 minutes to SEO a website, how would you spend them?”
• The Financial Case to Hiring an SEO expert – (Our Secret SEO ROI Calculator).
Please find the slideshow presentation below as well as additional information from the Q&A :
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‘Think like a customer’ means that you should use simple everyday language to write/talk to people.
He gave an example of the ‘Green eggs and ham’ children book written by Dr Seuss, which is using 50 words or less. In other terms, do not use over-complicated and sophisticated terms such as ‘refrain from..’.
What are ‘meta tags’?
Meta tags are used in HTML and XHTML documents to provide structured metadata about a Web page. Meta elements can be used to specify page description, keywords and any other metadata. For more information on how meta tags can impact SEO, have a read of this article:
http://www.wordstream.com/meta-tags
Choose wisely your categories in your articles to reflect the content of your posts.
Regarding the 5 Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) DIY tips, keep in mind that you have to give something of value to people. It can be free information to get them interested in our products or services.
For those who work as event organisers, you need to act as a go-to-place like Trip Advisor by helping people looking for your service.
When it comes to the call to action, make sure it’s available on every page. The call to action displayed on the home page shouldn’t be a sales one. Instead, it should be a form to fill in and provide contact information. Ensure you clearly explain to your customers what you want them to do and why.
As you start writing, podcasting, filming, focus mostly on content first and SEO second.
Be aware of cultural differences in terms of languages (eg different slangs in the UK, US and IE). Thinking about the customer language helps to get people to convert more easily. You can also link your .com website to your other sites. Before you start, ask yourself the following questions (find your niche):
What is the main goal for my blog? What kind of information do people look for? Which parts of my service do you like most?
Then, follow these steps:
- Create content suitable for your audience (long for Business to Business and short for Business to Customer. Complex topics generally require longer content)
- Ask customers if they want to buy
- Collect addresses.
Pay attention to the design of your site by UX testing.
For example, avoid heavy high-resolution pictures. Too detailed pictures do not tell the story and add loading time to your website. When designing your website, visualise the customer journey through the following stages: excitement, knowledge and learning.
You also have the option to use advertising to boost the visibility of your blog or website. Keep this option as a cheap and short-time solution.
If you go down that route, you can kick off an Adword campaign for 3-6 months. It will drive more traffic. Remember to do some split tests for your meta description/title. The most clicked ads should become your headlines. Do not ever pay someone to be linked to someone else’s website/blog!
Another better option is affiliate marketing as it’s far more valuable than advertising.
Nonetheless, SEO is your best bet for a more long-term strategy.
For a better SEO optimisation, use a long-tail description with minimum 3-4 words. You can also boost your visibility through a joint press release for example.
When you set up your Google Business account and blog/site, make sure your contact details are consistent with all 3rd party websites: name, address, phone number.
Add a picture that Google will link to google map. You must have as well a table of content (map.xml) with no duplicated content. Make sure to add appropriate tags to the sitemap. Otherwise, you’ll have to have a good navigation menu.
When you monitor your traffic, you can monitor your clicks. You can also check your Google ranking with:
Finally, you can calculate how much your SEO is worth with this tool:
http://www.3r.ie/website-success-calculator/
Do you have any questions? Any tips you’d like to add to this? Let me know by leaving a comment below!
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