Getting to the top of search results with SEO best practices

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comes up regularly when we talk with clients. Over the past several months, as we have launched new sites, clients have been concerned with their new site’s SEO and where they land in Google search ranking. 

“Do you guarantee that we will be at the top of Google?”
Um, no.

“Where will our new site rank?”
It depends on what the user is searching for.

“Is P&P going to do SEO for our site?”
Yes, but SEO is still complicated.

I get it. Their concern is valid. A website redesign is a big investment and in many ways a site is only as effective as its search ranking. SEO is a layered, complex topic with many variables that impact it. There is no way to cover all the aspects at one time without everybody glazing over. 

Today, I’ll cover 3 important things that can impact SEO, 2 articles that dive a little deeper into SEO and 1 tool to help with SEO.  But first, let me give a little overview on how Google determines what sites win the search result lottery.

Google’s formula works to verify the credibility of your site as it relates to the search.

Bot Crawlers: Not a movie villain or cocktail name

Google and all other search engines algorithms use bot crawlers to assist in search queries. When a person searches for  “amazing rainbow unicorns” Google sends bot crawlers (think of them as super fast scanners) to rapidly scan every page on the internet for those exact words. Then, Google applies their algorithm – fancy word for formula – to determine which sites are best.

What determines a site’s ranking? Well, a number of things.

• How many people have visited a site after entering a similar search?
• How many times does “amazing rainbow unicorns” show up on that site?
• Is your organization geographically close to the searcher?
• How many times have other people trusted this site enough to link back to it?

There are more details, but in short Google’s formula works to verify the credibility of your site as it relates to the search. Let’s figure out how to improve your ranking.

3 Actions That Can Impact your SEO

1. Complete a Google MyBusiness listing – it’s FREE.
   Don’t just fill in the minimal pieces of information. Add as much information as you can and if someone leaves a review, interact with them. Google will search and display these listings first.
2. Utilize a blog/article feature to add fresh content regularly.
   This helps in search rankings because a site that is not updated regularly is deemed to be less relevant by Google. It also allows you to add content to your website that your audience is likely to be searching for to your website. Don’t forget to use terms your visitors are using in their searches. For example in this blog – SEO is a topic that our clients are interested in. I am using that specific term as often as possible throughout this article because that is the term they will search for.
3. Gain insight with Google Analytics.
   Use Google Analytics website reporting to understand your site user better. This added insight will allow you to deliver content that your audience wants to read and will likely be searching for. Next, take your organization hat off and put your Jane Doe hat on. For example, Jessi the CEO/Creative Director will use a very different set of terminology to search for branding articles than Jane Doe executive director. Where Jessi may use “brand architecture”, Jane Doe will more likely use “logo” or “rebrand.”

2 Articles that dig deeper

1. SEO for Beginners by Flywheel Hosting
   For more details on SEO basics and an introduction to Yoast plugin (all P&P sites get this helpful tool), this article gives a great overview.
2. How to Create an SEO Strategy for 2020
   Are you feeling ready to take on your SEO upgrade yourself? We are coming to the end of 2020, but these tactics will still work well into 2021.

1 Tool to help

1. Google Search Console
   Google Analytics provides insight to users of your website. Search Console provides insight to how users find your site, what search results you show up in and where and your conversion rate on those searches.

BONUS:

The P&P team sets every site we develop up for success by implementing our ‘Top 10 SEO Promise’ – a set of 10 SEO best practice standards. We can help your team develop an SEO strategy, conduct a website audit and help you understand reporting from Google Analytics and Search Console.

Ready to level up your site and SEO strategy
Drop us a line to learn how we can help.