If you are a business owner, you want your company to rank near the top of Internet search results. More traffic to your website means more business; you want customers to find you easily on the Internet. But with phrases like “alt text” and “domain authority,” how does one navigate the intimidating world of SEO strategy?
Using focus keywords, and SEO plugins, are helpful in optimizing your SEO strategy, and they are easier to use than you think. A focus keyword is essentially a field where you can add an SEO keyword or search terms, while an SEO plugin, such as Yoast SEO, is a useful tool that simplifies the focus keyword process.
Yoast SEO plugin helps to reduce the potential risk of keyword stuffing – a strategy where you increase your keyword density – which can hurt your ranking. For example, once you have entered the keyword or phrase, the plugin uses a color-coded system to assess your post for best optimization practices. Green indicates the article is good to go, while red means your terms are conflicting with a competitor’s key phrases. These parameters help you avoid using key phrases that may direct your customer to another company’s page.
However, an important thing to remember when using Yoast SEO plugin is that focus keywords aren’t absolutes. Although they are designed to steer you away from using primary keywords that are in heavy rotation, you can avoid these key phrases if you know the terms you want to use are highly relevant to your business, even if the piece is ranked “yellow” in the system. Always keep in mind that multiple search terms can aid your business in reaching a larger target audience.
Google Keyword Planner is another useful tool that can aid you with keyword and SEO optimization. It helps you discover related keywords for your business, their search volume, and how much it costs to use those key phrases in marketing campaigns. You can also be assured this keyword research tool is based on current market conditions, as it is updated every 7-10 days. It’s a great way to research popular key phrases that people are using to find your products, and all you need is a Google account.
Yet using multiple keywords isn’t the only crucial technique for SEO optimization. Keyword placement and utilizing secondary keywords are important in keeping your article or blog post relatable to your audience, not making it appear artificial, and having your business rank on the first page of search results.
For keyword placement, you should ideally include keywords in your title, headings, H1 and H2 tags, and the meta-description. They should also be distributed throughout your content. However, search engines, which trawl your content to discover terms that will help them match users to corresponding websites, will reject content that utilizes excessive keywords as spam. Therefore, using genre-specific and secondary keywords that aren’t heavily employed by established competitors gives you a better chance of increasing the ranking for your brand’s presence on SERP.
Now that we have discussed several SEO tools and strategies, let’s revisit two aforementioned mystifying terms: “alt text” and “domain authority.”
No, “alt text” is not a newfangled shortcut on your keypad. Alternative text is a descriptive word or phrase that can be inserted into the HTML tag of an image. It comes into play when, for whatever reason, the image cannot be displayed on the web page. In this case, the data is still accessible when the user hovers their cursor over the image.
Alt text helps search engines quantify the content of your photos, which can result in more traffic to your site. It also assists visually impaired customers who often use screen readers for better comprehension. Some basic knowledge of HTML coding is helpful in using alt text, and it is easy to learn. Although it can be somewhat time-consuming, it’s better to log in the extra minutes to ensure your photos have alt text and sufficient tags. The payoff results in more customers finding your page through properly indexed images. That can’t hurt when it comes to profit margins!
As for “domain authority,” every business knows how important it is to be the “master of your domain.” Although it sounds grandiose, domain authority is a search engine ranking system that uses an algorithm to determine how high your website will score in its analysis. Ranging from 1 – 100, each site is calibrated accordingly. The average score is between 40 and 50, while a ranking over 60 is considered excellent.
So, how do you maintain a good-to-excellent score? Consistently produce fresh and original content. Do not copy or plagiarize and think search engines won’t notice. They will, and, of course, it will affect your score. Remember, when it comes to content, consistency and originality are key. It’s worth it to invest in an online copywriter if you don’t have the time or inclination to create marketing copy for your site. Trust me, you do not want to cut corners. Marketing copy and focus keywords are like marriage partners that – when used properly – work together to increase your brand’s visibility across multiple channels.
There is one more important attribute that should not be overlooked: long-tail keywords. These are search phrases with longer word counts that potential customers utilize, such as “want silk pantyhose with sandal toe.” Accessing long-tail keywords gives you a greater insight into understanding buyer personas and identifying your potential customers’ desires. You can then incorporate this information when designing marketing campaigns for social media. There are even free plugins available that you can add to your site that track this data. Long-tail keywords are great tools to have and are easy to utilize for optimizing your SEO strategy.
Overall, focus keywords are an important component in the complex world of SEO. Although we have only covered the fundamental aspects of focus keywords, implementing these core practices into your marketing strategy should have you on your way to better search engine rankings.
