Trust me SEO is easy!
No. Search Engine Optimization is hard.
What am I even saying ? You got me confused 😉
The real thing is “SEO is easy” but you are making it hard. You are the reason your SEO is difficult. Just give me a few minutes to explain. I will also show you how to start ranking and celebrating search traffic.
If you are new, take a look at this post on SEO for starters
Very quickly, the best source of traffic I have had is search engine. I have experimented with Email list traffic, social media traffic, referral traffic, etc.
And please note I’m talking about free traffic and SEO is the king when it comes to:
- Conversion
- Dwell Time
- Bounce Rate
That’s because visitors from Search Engines are folks looking for the exact same thing you have on that page. Maybe an eCommerce page, problem solving blog post or some page promoting something.
They run a keyword on Google and are shown your entry as most appropriate and intent-fulfilling. Then they click the link and you grab their attention with your overall welcoming, eye candy design, straight-to-the-point intro, etc.
And they want to spend more time on the site because this is what they are looking for. Then they click to order. Yes it’s the perfect item they want.
They are pulled to your web page by the presence of that same thing they want. So don’t worry. They won’t quickly click away. They found it.
That’s different from someone who found your entry on social media or your email in his mailbox. He wants to like ok let me see more about this stuff. He just feels to get something good. Not excatly anything he was looking for.
Watch this: Here is how to make your SEO links stronger
See why I’m of the opinion that SEO traffic is the soft spot?
But Why is SEO traffic difficult?
Here are three main reasons SEO traffic is perceived difficult (or very difficult) by you:
- You compete with the big guns
- Or, you are not informed
- Someone made you think it’s hard
1 – You are facing big guns
The other day, my son returned home rejoicing and shouted ‘daddy I have won’
What did you win, boy?
‘I the football match. My friend and I were just two of us and I scored the goal’.
Sounds interesting. He has just become the hero. But.
Ok let me tell you why:
He didn’t choose to compete with Ronaldinho, or some big football names you can think of. He chose someone of his level. With a little effort, he came out victorious.
That’s like the same thing in SEO. It’s difficult because you have chosen to fight the big guys. You want to rank for tough keywords.
If you have to be on Google page #1 for the keyword “SEO”, be ready for a real fight:
See, it’s not going to be chocolate to kick those guys off that position. You’ve got to really think before getting into the competition game.
So how do I make it easy here?
Simple!
Like my son, don’t fight against the big guys. Don’t try to compete with competitors who are tougher than you. If you have what it takes, then it shouldn’t be hard.
Otherwise, if you find it difficult to rank on position 1 of page 1 for the ‘SEO’ keyword, it means your competitors are stronger.
Stretch the keyword and make it longer. Make it more targeted. Do more keyword research. Use SEMrush or any other SEO tool of your choice to discover related keyword with low competition and easy to rank:
You’ll find out it’s going to be easier. The weaker the competition, the more your chances to rank.
Look at the second (long tail) example above. We went from ‘SEO’ to ‘SEO Companies in dallas tx’ and according to Ubersuggest of Neil Patel, this keyword is easy to rank for. There is 100% chance you can rank in the top 20.
At this point, I won’t be competing with moz, wikipedia, Google and those other tough guys. The traffic may drop but I’ll be getting supper targeted readers.
2 – You are still on holidays
Some SEO marketers don’t even know what’s happening in the industry. I think they are still on holidays.
Google updates are announced here and there. Some minor updates even go unnoticed. But this is happening regularly. And each time there is an algorithm update, there are changes in ranking.
Many of us are losing ranking positions to competitors simply because we do not update. Once there are changes, we’ve got to follow the direction of change. But if you are stagnant, your rankings will drop and traffic will vanish.
Most often, we have ranking changes not as a result of any algo change. Your competitors might have been fighting stronger. You just find out you’ve moved from page 1 to page 2. But if you do not monitor your position, you will never know.
So what do I do?
I recommend you use backlink and rank position checkers. Many of the tools out there will help you with this. SEMrush is the king of SEO tools.
Signup to SEO news sites and be alerted each time there is an update. Another cool idea is to use Google Alerts.
3 – You were told it’s hard
The worst piece of advice I ever had was that blogging is hard. And my humble adviser told me to stay away from the activity.
This actually was to plant a seed of discouragement and false believe in me. But I gave this a deaf ear. That’s why I enjoy blogging. The freedom and the money, the connections and knowledge, etc. You can count the advantages.
SEO firms, experts and consultants have told marketers that SEO is hard. This are lies in broad day light. Your mind has to be reprogrammed. You have believed the wrong thing. SEO is easy and you’ve got to have this stuck at the back of your mind to continue.
How do I quit this stigma?
Start by believing you can make it. You can be on Google page #1 and drive traffic. Then follow the steps I have listed above:
- Stop competing against big guys
- Be active in the business
SEO is easy and here are some tips to help you rank on Search Engines
Ok now we’ve dealt with the point of you thinking SEO is hard. Let me add some quick points to help you rank on top and pull more natural traffic.
1 – Have a Blog SEO Checklist
Earlier today, I got an excellent report from my friends over at Einsteinmarketer.com. This is a well-thought SEO checklist for marketers at all levels.
This is not a rank guarantee factor however, but it helps you create highly rankable content.
2 – Think Semantic SEO and content for readers
Create content to meet the need of searchers. Optimize your articles for topics not just keywords. Of course you need to do your keyword research but get semantically relevant phrases and points in your content.
3 – Build Backlinks
Backlinks are still a strong ranking factor. But getting these links isn’t easy until you create linkable content.
If you pour out value in your content, you will find links to it growing, sometimes without you asking for them.
Avoid buying links from link sellers on micro job sites like Fiverr. You may want to work with well researched guest posting services or SEO firms instead.
Alternatively, submit guest articles on related blogs. This is the easiest way to build relevant links from good DA blogs.
4 – Create and maintain healthy relationships
This is one way to earn (not create) backlinks but it’s a shock many of us do not know about it. The more healthy relationships you have in your blogging career, they more links you attract from your ‘happy’ readers.
I link out to blog posts on my friends’ blogs for two main reasons:
- They are my friends and I’d like to give them a lift.
- They have linkable content.
This works. Networking works.
5 – Promote others
Ryan Biddulph said it in this post. If you are generous in giving out and promoting others, you point your touch light to the mirror. The mirror will certainly give back to you what gave it.
It’s as simple as that. I like telling my audience about great resources I find online. Make it a rule of thumb not to publish your next articles without promoting a friend’s stuff. You are opening channels to receiving more.
6 – Link to others
This is closely related to point #5 above but I want to set it aside because it’s another unique way to push your friends ahead.
Don’t be selfish with links. We have great stuffs our friends have published. link out to those great posts. Of course don’t just link for the purpose of it. Link to add value to your posts and this action will attract more links to you, boosting your SEO
Rounding up!
Rome was not built in a day. So I will end here for now. Watch out for more.
I’ll highly appreciate you sharing and dropping a comment.