Sarah Kambou

In our digital-first era, SEO is crucial for making sure your content reaches its audience. With vast amounts of information online, optimizing your content helps it stand out and rank well in search results. Technical SEO is essential for ensuring that your content not only reaches its audience but also performs optimally across devices. Technical SEO, content strategy, and link-building strategies all work together to help your pages rank higher in search results. In this post, you’ll learn the fundamentals of technical SEO, from conducting an initial site audit to crafting a targeted optimization plan. Let’s dive in! Content What Is Technical SEO? Technical SEO is essential for enhancing your website’s visibility and usability, making it easier for search engines to find, understand, and index your content. It goes beyond search engine optimization as it creates a smoother user experience by improving mobile accessibility, speeding up page load times, and organizing site architecture. This approach not only boosts visibility but can also make or break your SEO performance. When done right, technical SEO can greatly enhance your search visibility and overall performance. To understand technical SEO better, let’s explore SEO in phases Simplifying Technical SEO Technical SEO can be overwhelming, so it’s helpful to break it down into manageable pieces. There are 5 main categories in Technical SEO that best describe the way to conduct an audit, which are: But, before you begin learning about these, you need to know SEO fundamentals. Technical SEO Fundamentals Audit your Domain Your domain is the web address that users enter to visit your site, like sarahfkambou.com. It significantly influences how easily people can find you in search results and provides a consistent identity for your site. By choosing a preferred domain, you indicate to search engines whether you want the www or non-www version of your site to appear in search results. For example, if you prefer (http://www.yourwebsite.com), search engines will prioritize that version and redirect all users there. If you don’t specify a preference, search engines may see both versions as separate sites, which can dilute your SEO efforts. A study by SE Ranking highlights that many sites still face issues due to a lack of redirects between the www and non-www versions, leading to duplicate content and hindering SEO performance. If you want to set your preferred domain, you can do so through canonical tags (which we’ll discuss soon). No matter what, ensure that all variations, including www, non-www, http, and index.html, redirect to your chosen version. SSL Certificate Have you noticed that some websites use “http” instead of “https”, and some websites say “not secured” with a padlock icon in the address bar? Well, you might have come across the term SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer, before—it’s quite significant! SSL provides a protective layer between the web server (which handles online requests) and the browser, enhancing your site’s security. This means that when users submit sensitive information, like payment or contact details, the risk of that data being intercepted is significantly reduced. Search engines favor secure sites, and Google stated as early as 2014 that SSL would be a ranking factor. Therefore, it’s crucial to set the SSL version of your homepage as your preferred domain. Luckily several hosting platforms offer SSL for free in their plans. But some pages may not be secured so make sure to migrate any non-SSL pages from http to https! Optimize Page Speed Have you ever waited for a page to load for over 5 seconds? Most people do not want to wait for a page to load. In fact, it increases your bounce rate which is awful for rankings. So, use these few tips to improve your page load time: Now that you have those covered, we can move on to he good stuff! Crawlability Optimization Crawling is a crucial aspect of how search engines operate, as it refers to how easily search engine bots can discover and navigate through your website’s pages to discover new content. For instance, when I publish new blog posts, I add them to my main blog page, enabling search engines like Google to find these recently added links during their next crawl. This process of crawlability serves as the foundation of your technical SEO strategy, allowing search bots to gather essential information about your site. If these bots are blocked from accessing your pages, they cannot index or rank your content. Therefore, the first step in implementing a successful technical SEO strategy is to ensure that all your important pages are easily accessible and navigable. Here are some points to focus on: 1. XML Sitemap Creation Create an XML Sitemap which is essential for guiding search bots through your website’s structure, allowing them to easily find and crawl your web pages. Think of it as a roadmap for search engines.Sitemap Types– XML Sitemap: Primarily designed for search engines, this format includes important metadata about your pages, such as the last modified date, priority, and frequency of updates. It helps search engines index your site more effectively.– HTML Sitemap: This type is intended for users, providing a structured view of your website’s content. It can enhance user experience by helping visitors navigate your site easily. Once your XML sitemap is complete, submit it to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools to ensure search engines can efficiently crawl your pages. This submission enhances the discoverability of new content and helps search engines prioritize which pages to index. A well-maintained sitemap also reduces the risk of orphaned pages—those not linked to by other pages—remaining unindexed. 2. Use Robots.txt When a web robot crawls your site, it first checks the robots.txt file, also known as the Robot Exclusion Protocol. This file specifies which web crawlers are allowed or disallowed from accessing certain sections or pages of your site. If you want to prevent specific pages from being indexed, you can use the `noindex` robots meta tag. Key Points: 3. Optimize your Crawl Budget Your crawl budget isn’t infinite, so

Whether you’re new to SEO and trying to learn SEO Copywriting, or looking to sharpen your skills, this comprehensive guide will show you how to create content that not only connects with your audience but also catches the eye of search engines. In this easy-to-follow guide, you’ll uncover strategies to write engaging, high-ranking content. Plus, some bonus tips to keep users hooked, while improving your overall SEO performance. Contents 1. What is SEO Copywriting?2. Find and Use the Right Keywords3. How to Optimize Your Content4. Make Them Click: Essential SEO Copywriting Tips Let’s jump right in: 1. What is SEO Copywriting? You likely already know that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is about helping search engines like Google and Microsoft Edge understand your content better, so it can rank higher. SEO copywriting is about writing content that search engines understand but also appeals strongly to people. The ultimate goal is to influence people to take action. You want the to build an audience that’s willing to take the next step —whether it’s choosing to read your content, sharing it, subscribing to your newsletter, or making a purchase, depending on the call-to-action (CTA) you’ve chosen. How Does Good Copy Help? Well, well-written copy optimized for both users and SEO can significantly impact your search engine rankings. Compelling copy attracts several key ranking signals, including: These factors lead to: Want to achieve both great SEO and effective copywriting? Mastering both skills is the way to go! So where should you start you ask? 2. Find and use the right Keywords Keywords are the words or phrases that people type into search engines to discover information or products. When you’re ready to write content, knowing what people are searching for on that topic can be incredibly helpful. To optimize your content effectively, you should incorporate relevant keywords to improve your search engine rankings. User’s Search Intent Figuring a keyword’s search intent is crucial; it gets to the heart of why someone is searching. Satisfying this intent is vital because search quality is one of Google’s main objectives in delivering what users are looking for. So, what are the different types of user search intent? You can quickly find a keyword’s intent just by typing it into Keyword Overview. Competitor Content An easier way to target certain words is to simply use your competitor’s content. Check what is working for them, and build upon it. Begin by pinpointing the keywords your competitors are ranking for that you haven’t targeted yet. Each of these keywords represents an opportunity for you to attract more traffic. A great way to do this is Semrush’s Keyword Gap tool. Use Keywords That Satisfy Your Audience Needs + Topic Area. Keywords can guide you and give you a clear idea of how to approach your writing. Choosing the right keywords can help you craft content that performs well in Google searches and brings organic traffic to your website. Additionally, Longer keywords, especially those between 10 and 15 words, usually see a boost in click-through rates (CTR). In fact, they can get 1.76 times more clicks than single-word keywords! Begin by focusing on specific keywords that pertain to your niche and have low competition. Consider using a keyword research tool like Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool. But remember, do not just stuff a keyword into your post. Instead use LSI (latent semantic indexing) keywords- terms that are conceptually linked to your main keywords. Simply put, use synonyms and related terms Because, if you were to write content only for Google, your content would most likely sound robotic and awkward.Consider this example: Original:Self-confidence makes you more confident in your abilities, which in turn increases your self-confidence. Here are other ways you can increase your self-confidence. If you rewrite this content to suit both readers and search engines, it might look like this: Revised:The more effort you put into something, the easier it becomes, strengthening your belief in your abilities. This, in turn, enhances your self-confidence. There are other ways to boost it as well… Of course, you could use that sentence without the keyword “self-confidence” and replace it with “self-esteem,” but that wouldn’t optimize your content, which is not your goal. Using LSI keywords helps search engines grasp the overall context of your page. You can find related keywords by searching for your main keyword on Google, scrolling to the bottom of the page, and examining the “related searches.” Plus, there’s the “People Also Ask” block that gives users additional questions related to their search query.Like this: 3. How to Optimize your content Long-Tail Keyword Usually, for smaller sites, ranking can be challenging. Just look at e-commerce sites like Amazon, which dominate Google’s first page. However, it is still possible to achieve a good ranking. How? By focusing on longer-tail keywords that are more specific. What does this look like? For instance, say you sell pet food and try to use “dog food” as your keyword, tools like Semrush’s Keyword Tool indicate that this keyword has a difficulty score of 62%. This score suggests that ranking highly for this keyword would be difficult. So, what should you do instead? Recall our earlier discussion about looking for related words. When you search “dog food for” in a search engine, you’ll see several related options returned: Now, take a long-tail keyword like “dog food for allergies” and compare its competitiveness to “dog food.” As you can see, the keyword is an improvement, but still has a high difficulty score. Let’s try another prompt. Here are the results for “dog for sensitive skin” This long-tail keyword has a keyword difficulty score of 27%. Since it’s more attainable, this is the long-tail keyword you should target! Optimize for HTML Any part of your webpage defined in HTML is considered an HTML element, which is the default code for webpages. Optimizing these HTML elements is a necessary step for search engines to read and understand your content effectively, allowing them to rank you appropriately. By focusing on your chosen long-tail keyword, you should

In today’s tech-driven world, where almost everything can be found with a simple click, it is more crucial than ever to promote your business online. With, an estimated 7.5 billion people projected to own a smartphone by 2026 the potential for increased traffic to your business is substantial. But how do you do it? Well with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – a necessary practice to improve your websites visibility online. Although it may sound simple, SEO involves a range of strategies and techniques to increase organic (non-paid) traffic to your website. Once you dive in, the world of SEO can become gravely complicated, but this brief guide is meant to provide you with beginner’s insight into the fundamental concepts and strategies to get you started. Table of Contents So… 1. What is SEO? Search Engine Optimization, as its name suggests, is about search engines such as Google and Bing better understand your content to rank it in accordance with other content online accordingly. It is crucial for driving traffic to a website by improving its ranking in search engine’s results page (SERP’s). This process helps users find your site and determine whether they should visit it based on their search queries. As mentioned, most people discover content online organically, so using top SEO practices is essential. This increases the likelihood that the content you publish will be found and chosen by consumers, thereby increasing your page’s organic traffic. Understanding and utilizing these tools gives you a significant advantage. While not all changes will have an immediate impact on your website’s search rankings, investing in SEO will be highly beneficial in the long run. 2. How Do Search Engines Work? Before we discuss SEO practices, its helpful to understand how Search engines work. For your websites content to show in the search results, it first needs to be visible to search engines. Here’s a quick rundown of how search engines operate: Here’s an example to illustrate the process: This process helps search engines deliver the most relevant results based on the content and links they discover. When a search engine like Google finds numerous links from a specific type of content pointing to a particular resource, it becomes more confident that the linked resource is suitable for certain search terms. As a result, the search engine will rank that resource higher in response to those search queries. Now that you have a solid understanding of how search engines work, we can finally dive into the exciting world of SEO! 3. What Are the Key Aims of SEO? Search Engine Results When responding to queries, Google presents results based on the following: Organic Results The most common results are traditional organic results. These results consist of links to web pages arranged in a specific sequence determined by Google’s algorithms, which assess the relevance of potential results to a user’s query. Previously, Google would show 10 organic results per query. However, with recent updates, this number can vary because AI may provide an automated answer, along with a selection of links depending on the user’s device (e.g. mobile device or computer). Both Google and Microsoft Edge display similar organic results, which you can see in the image below: SERP Features Beyond traditional links, search engines show unique elements known as SERP features. Here are a few you might be familiar with: These search features provide direct answers, highlight rich visuals, and offer quick access to specific information, all of which enhance the user experience. To further your understanding read What are SERP Features? or What Is A SERP Feature? Common Types And How To Win Them – Moz and discover which SERPs your website might have. 4. What’s the Point of SEO? Investing in SEO, regardless of your unique campaign goals, generally aims to achieve the following: And that’s just scratching the surface! 5. The Most Important Ranking Factors for SEO: So, what factors contribute to SEO rankings? The short answer is many, but let’s focus on a few key players: Now, let’s delve deeper into some of these essential elements! Content Yes, technical requirements are essential, but the most effective way to drive traffic to your website is by *offering engaging compelling, informative, and regularly updated content: Whether it’s blog posts, product descriptions, or multimedia, your content must serve a purpose. Here’s how to enhance your content for SEO, ensuring it aligns with E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness) principles: Link Building Remember the concept of EEAT? Well, in order to gain authority and outrank other sites, effective link building is crucial. Link building is a key factor for Google. When Google crawls, it discovers site pages through links from higher-profile pages. This process helps build your brand and nurture your audience, as trustworthy sites are more likely to link to other reputable sites, while spammy sites do the same. So, what exactly is a link? Let’s cover the basics: What Are Links? External Links (also known as inbound links or backlinks) are connections from other websites that direct users to your site, serving as endorsements of your content’s credibility and authority. Internal Links are hyperlinks within your own website, linking to other pages on the same site. They help users navigate your site and enhance its overall structure and SEO. The value of a link depends on the significance and popularity of the site providing it. Key factors to consider include: You can build links by requesting them (e.g., sending emails to website owners) or earning them through noteworthy content that others naturally want to link to. For strategies and tools on link building, check out Link Building for SEO: The Beginner’s Guide. Remember, quality over quantity is key. Focus on building links from authoritative and relevant sources for the best results. Technical Requirements Now, let’s shift gears to the technical side of SEO. Guess what? Getting your page into search results isn’t as difficult as it might seem, as long as your site meets the essential technical requirements: First,