Rising organic traffic from your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts feel pretty darn good to see–but have you ever asked yourself how many of those visitors actually contribute to the bottom line of your business?

If you’re seeing a surge in traffic, but continue seeing near-zero conversions, you have a big problem on your hands. The good news is that it’s easily solvable by supplementing your SEO efforts with Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) practices. 

Let’s get into how to start using both SEO and CRO for your website.

CRO and SEO: What Are They? 

SEO and CRO are two significant pillars of digital marketing, each with a distinct focus and objective.

SEO is the process of increasing a website’s visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs) by optimizing different elements of a website, including its content, design, and technical aspects. This is all done to draw in more organic traffic in your website’s chosen niche or market.

CRO, on the other hand, is similar in that it’s all about testing and optimizing the elements on your website. However, its goal is not to improve your rankings or draw in more people. Rather, it’s all about converting visitors into customers.

The misconception that many people have is that they have to focus on one or the other. However, I consider both to be crucial for a successful online strategy. When done right, these two practices work in tandem to enhance your overall digital marketing effectiveness.

How is CRO Different from SEO? 

SEO – Casting the Net

Think of SEO as the engine behind your brand’s visibility in the vast ocean of the internet. Using SEO, you can improve your pages’ look, performance, and rankings in the SERPs. The more these improve, the wider net you can cast on organic traffic. 

Think about it: when you search for something on Google, don’t you take a look at the results on the first page at the very least? If you’re ranking at #1 for some pretty good keywords, then you’re going to be getting more traffic than if your website stayed on the 2nd page or lower in Google’s search results. 

Take the search results for “seo rates philippines,” for example. If I were looking for a SEO service with good rates, I wouldn’t look past the first page since they’re already giving me the information I need. 

CRO – Making the Catch

While SEO casts the net wide to increase traffic, CRO is how you persuade these new visitors that have just opened your pages to do something for your business. That might be to make a purchase, fill out a form, or sign up for a newsletter. Here’s some of the things we do for CRO on our other website:

Through techniques like improving user experience, optimizing landing pages, and using compelling call-to-actions (CTAs), CRO is the attempt to answer your user’s intent (i.e., why they even clicked on your page in the first place) and speak to their interests and needs. This influences them to buy your products, message you, or otherwise engage with your website.

What Happens When You Combine CRO and SEO?

When SEO and CRO are approached separately, their impact is limited. Sure, you might be gaining tons of traffic from your SEO, but if the pages they’re seeing aren’t using the best CRO practices, then you might not see any value from these visitors. On the flip side, a site optimized for conversion is pretty meaningless if it’s not found by potential customers on Google. 

Merging SEO and CRO effectively forms a formidable digital marketing powerhouse. SEO strategies become more targeted and purposeful when combined with conversion data, while conversion strategies are much more effective when they build on the strengths of a strong SEO foundation. 

It’s all about ensuring your website isn’t just found, but is also compelling enough to convert those who find it, ensuring that your digital marketing strategy is truly a force to be reckoned with.

How Do You Make SEO and CRO Work Together?

So, how do you make sure your website not only ranks well–but also converts your visitors? 

Here are some key steps to make your SEO and CRO strategies work together effectively:

1. Prioritize User Experience: Always put user experience first in both SEO and CRO. Ease of navigation, site aesthetics, informative content, and site speed are all factors you need to consider for your SEO and CRO strategy. 
2. Be Thorough With Your Keyword Analysis: Make sure to understand the search intent behind the keywords you’re targeting. This information should influence not only the content you create (for SEO) but also the language you use on landing pages, calls to action, and product descriptions (for CRO).
3. Test & Optimize: Regularly run A/B tests on different site elements like headlines, CTAs, content, etc. Use these insights to improve both search ranking (SEO) and user engagement (CRO).
4. Write High-Quality Content: Ensure your content is useful, relevant, and valuable to your users. Good content increases the odds of higher search engine ranking (SEO) and encourages users to stay on your site and convert (CRO).
5. Don’t Forget Mobile Optimization: Since most searches happen on mobile devices, ensure your website is mobile-friendly. Remember this is also an SEO ranking factor, too, so putting this as a priority can improve both your ranking and conversion rates.
6. Create Enticing Meta Descriptions: Although meta descriptions may not directly impact SEO rankings, a well-crafted one can increase click-through rates from the SERP, providing an opportunity to win conversions.
7. Landing Page Optimization: Use your SEO data to understand what users are looking for and tailor your landing pages (CRO) to meet those needs. The congruency between the user’s search intent and your landing page offering can significantly boost conversions.
8. Use Clear, Persuasive Call-to-Actions (CTAs): A great CTA can guide users and encourage them to take desirable actions. This helps in achieving your CRO goals.
9. Avoid Common Mistakes with CRO and SEO: the A/B testing you need to do for these two practices can lead to some pretty costly mistakes if you’re not careful. I covered what to avoid in my guide on how to do CRO without damaging your SEO. 

Key Takeaway

When you pour your resources into just SEO, the organic traffic you gain might not convert into sales or leads, ultimately leading to an inefficient use of resources. If you focus on just CRO, then you might have a site that too few people visit because it’s lost in the depths of the SERPs–wasting your CRO efforts.

One thing is crystal clear–for your business to profit, it’s not enough to merely have an online presence; you need to make that presence work for you. 

That’s why SEO and CRO need to go hand-in-hand. By combining these two strategies, you can make your website all that more visible and engaging for your online audience.

The post How to Maximize Your Online Presence With SEO and CRO appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

“Link juice” is slang in the search engine optimization (SEO) world for how authority and value we get from any external link (also known as backlinks) pointing to our websites. They are essential to ranking your website since they have an impact on your visibility and reach on search engine results pages (SERPs).

Understanding what affects how much link juice you get from every backlink is crucial—this understanding will help you get the most link juice from the least amount of effort. 

In this article, we’ll go in-depth on how to get high-quality link juice for the most important pages on your website. 

What Determines Link Juice?

A website effectively transfers some of its authority, trustworthiness, and ranking power to the connected page when it connects to another one. Search engines use this flow of link equity, also known as link juice, to evaluate the significance and relevance of a webpage.

In short: the more links your pages get, the more Google thinks your page is valuable and worth promoting.

In simpler terms, Google sees any link-back to your website as a vote of confidence. It’s as if other websites are saying, “Hey, this page is pretty informative and useful. Users will benefit from seeing this page.”

But not all links are made the same. If you want links that provide high-quality juice, then you have to know where it comes from. 

Link Relevance

Link relevance is a key element in assessing links. Backlinks that are coming from websites that are in the same industry as yours (or are in some way related to what your website provides) are considered more valuable than any other random website link. 

The more relevant they are, the more Google is pushed to acknowledge your website’s content is reliable and worthwhile. 

So, it is essential to concentrate on building links from sources that are, in some way, relevant to the pages you want to boost. 

You can determine the link’s relevance by the website’s industry, of course. But aside from that, you should look at their domain authority. 

Link-building efforts reap the most rewards when they come from a website that has a high domain authority. 

We use tools like Mozbar from Moz and Backlink profile from Ahrefs to quickly get the domain and page authority of websites. These also show us other backlink data we need to consider in our link-building strategy.

I highly recommend focusing your efforts on websites that have a domain authority of at least 25. Anything less than that won’t give enough link juice, in my experience. The more authoritative the other website is, the more links built will raise the authority of your website. 

Anchor Text

Anchor text is the text that’s clickable and highlighted when you create a hyperlink. The anchor text you use for your links gives context regarding the linked page to both users and search engines.

Striking a balance between optimization and naturalness is crucial, too, when it comes to anchor text. You can learn how to do that in my guide on how to effectively use anchor text for SEO.

But to summarize my points from that guide: the anchor text you use needs to give a crystal-clear explanation of what people will find when they click on your link.

Descriptive and keyword-rich anchor text would show search engines that the information is very, very important to the given topic. But of course, the anchor text you use and the page you’re linking to have to be related.

For example, if I wanted to make a guest post on a gardening website, and link back to my page on organic gardening, I can use anchor text like “best organic gardening tips,” or “organic gardening supplies,” depending on what my guest post is about, and what content my page has. 

However, try to avoid over-optimized anchor text. I don’t recommend keyword stuffing, or being repetitive in your anchor text. Otherwise, it raises red flags with Google—and puts you at risk for penalization. 

Instead, put your focus on making anchor text that offers a seamless and user-friendly experience.

Link Quantity & Quality

When it comes to link building, it’s quality over quantity. Just one backlink from a trustworthy, high domain authority site within your industry will give your website more link juice than 10 spammy backlinks from random websites.

Take this backlink one of our recent articles got from SERoundtable, for example. This provides a ton of link juice. 

Start by locating reputable websites in your niche with high domain authority and a proven track record. The next step is outreach. Approach them with collaborative efforts like guest blogging, expert interviews, or featured pieces to build connections from these sites.

That said, the quantity of backlinks does have some significance in the eyes of Google. I just don’t recommend focusing on quantity alone, as it does not always benefit your page rankings. 

But when it comes down to it, you have to consider: would it be more cost-efficient to focus your outreach towards 10 websites with good domain authority, which are more likely to respond positively—or spend weeks trying to contact a high domain authority website just for a slight chance at one or two backlinks?

You need to be smart with how you approach this. Focus on a balance between quantity and quality to get the best possible ROI. If possible, I recommend hitting a varied backlink profile. In my experience, it’s the most natural-looking to Google and still boosts your rankings.

Lastly, you should always maintain regular monitoring and analysis of the links that are pointing toward your website. This is essential in helping you spot any spammy or low-quality links, which you can quickly disavow before they harm your rankings. 

Why is High-Quality Link Juice Essential?

On-page and technical SEO is foundational to your page’s performance—but off-page SEO (a.k.a, your backlinks) is what sets your page apart from the thousands of other similarly-optimized pages out there. That’s why getting high-quality backlinks to gain the most link juice possible for your pages is essential.

Once you get that, it provides a ton of benefits SEO-wise, such as:

Improved Search Engine Rankings 

No matter what industry you’re in, or niche you’re targeting, there will always be other websites competing for the same keywords. 

If every page competing for the same keyword had all things equal in terms of site speed and usability, content, and on-page optimizations, what would make Google consider your page to be better than the rest?

The answer is your backlinks. It’s the one way you can be competitive in your SEO. The more backlinks that give great link juice to your pages, the more likely they’re going to be ranking high on the SERPs. 

Remember that several factors go into your website’s rank—link juice is just one piece of the puzzle. But it is a very important piece you should not forget.

Increased Organic Traffic

With improved rankings, increased organic traffic tends to follow. This is expected because a majority of people only really look at the first page of the SERPs—maybe the second page, sometimes. So higher rankings equals higher chances that people see your stuff.

But aside from that, good backlinks also serve as another funnel for traffic toward your website. For example, if an article on say, Healthline, links to one of your articles, or links your supplements or other health-related products that you sell, you can bet that many of their readers will click on that link. 

High-quality backlinks overall increase the likelihood that visitors will explore your website, read your content, and engage with your business.

Faster Indexing and Crawling

The visibility and availability of your pages in SERPs are determined by the crawling and indexing activities of search engine crawlers (like Google’s Googlebot).

You can improve how quickly your new pages are indexed, and even how frequently your existing pages are crawled by continuously building links from reputable and authoritative websites.

Crawlers look at all of the content on each page, including the links in them, and where they lead to. So if many websites are pointing towards your pages, then these pages are more likely to start appearing in search results substantially faster than if there were no links at all. 

It’s important to keep in mind that crawlers will scan and index your content more frequently if they keep seeing other websites and pages linking back to you.  

How to Get High Quality Link Juice

It all comes down to the quality of the external links your website has. You can get high-quality link juice if you focus on these three things: your content, how your content is presented, and your outreach strategy.

Content is Key

Focus on producing link-worthy content as the cornerstone of your link-building strategy. The better your content is, the more likely people will read it—and reference it in their writing. 

To make this happen, you need to publish educational, worthwhile, and captivating material that appeals to and answers the needs of your audience. 

Google themselves even makes it a point to only reward content that they consider helpful and valuable to users, which I and my team make it a point to do. I covered how to rank for Google’s Helpful Content update in a different guide if you’re interested in the strategy I use for my articles.

Incorporate Different Formats

There are now a bunch of other materials you can use to pad your articles, such as photos, infographics, report snapshots, videos, and more. 

Consider adding these visual elements in your posts when you can to grab your readers’ attention, and make your pages more visually appealing. 

Do what you can to make your content more engaging. The more engaging it is, the more likely users will read through the whole thing, and potentially link your page to their content or posts. 

Build Connections with Webmasters

I mentioned this point earlier, but I have to emphasize how important it is to do your outreach strategies right and build good connections with other webmasters. I have four backlink outreach strategies that my team uses in our work that you can try in your niche. 

Just as getting external links is important for your SEO, it’s important for others’ SEO as well. Google rewards articles and pages that contain external links, they may help search engines understand its topic and niche. Plus, they are valuable to users as they offer more information and resources. 

So reaching out to other industry leaders and reliable websites can result in a win-win relationship for you both. You get external links, they improve their page’s quality and user experience. 

Key Takeaway

For link building to be effective, high-quality link juice is essential. To generate that almighty link juice for your site, keep the strategies I just shared in mind. With the right balance and effort, you can get more and more link equity to boost the performance of your website. 

The post Link Juice 101: What it is, and How to Get High-Quality Link Juice appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

In today’s digital world, visuals are everything. Captivating images have the potential to convey messages, create a powerful appeal to your audience, and of course, engage users. In SEO, they have an additional benefit: helping you stake a spot in Google’s image results.

But finding the right images to attach to your content is time-consuming–but that’s where the potential of AI (Artificial Intelligence) comes to play.

By leveraging the power of AI, you can effortlessly craft the perfect images, and take your optimization efforts to the next level. Let’s go over the best ways to enrich your images and unlock new possibilities for your SEO.

Understanding AI-generated Images’ Role in SEO

AI images are those created by using AI tools, which analyze massive amounts of content, datasets, and prompts to generate them. It can also understand and extract features from existing images, can recognize objects, and even understand the context or thought of the image itself.

But why is all of this important? Well, it’s because images are becoming just as important as your content when it comes to SEO. Not only are they major visible parts of your website, but they also influence the rankings and visibility of your content in Google.

And similar to content, AI tools make the job of image SEO much easier–and much cheaper in the long run. They allow us to generate relevant images that align with our content with a few prompts and clicks. Other capabilities of these tools also help you optimize your images, with minimal effort.
How to Use AI for Image SEO

Using AI for image SEO can be a game-changer. But how can you use it? Let’s look at how you can use these tools to create or enhance images for your websites:

Create Images with AI Technology

AI algorithms have the remarkable capability to generate images from scratch, incorporating selected data or parameters. And, they can make these images as high-quality and realistic as actual photos can be.

They can even create images of things that don’t technically exist. This is possible because AI models are trained on millions and millions of images, and use this as a basis to generate entirely new and realistic-looking ones. This opens up endless creative possibilities in your content, and enables you to create highly-customized and optimized pictures of various subjects, including objects, people, and scenarios–basically for anything your website needs.  

You won’t have to spend time and money setting up a photo shoot for your next campaign. You’d just have to prepare the right prompt for your tool, laying out all the essential details it needs to include, and let it do its thing. 

Image Enhancement Using AI

Image enhancement is all the edits we have to make to one photo so that it’s perfect for where we want to use it. The good news is that AI tools can also be used for this purpose.

Restoration and Upscaling

You can upscale low-resolution images while preserving and enhancing the important details. This technique is sometimes referred to as Super-Resolution. AI can handle this for you whenever you want to use old or low-quality images that are relevant to your content but aren’t as clear or crisp as you need them to be.

Compression

On the other hand, AI can also be used to reduce your image file size, without damaging their visual quality. Optimized image sizes can speed up your page loading times, which we know affects your page’s ranking. 

Object Tagging and Recognition

AI can also analyze and identify objects, scenarios, and even people in the images. Then, they can use that data to optimize the image’s filename, alt text, and captions for you. It can even insert relevant keywords if you ask it to. 

These tags help Google better understand what your image is showing users, which helps it to categorize your images properly, making sure it shows up in relevant image search results. As a result, this can boost your visibility in the SERPs.

Background Removal

Ever wanted to showcase a specific product or model, but the background of the photo is too distracting and noisy? Or, did you want to make an item your icon, but are having a hard time removing everything else in the photo? AI can help with this, and remove the background for you. 

Image Composition and Cropping

AI algorithms can now also analyze and suggest proper image compositions, sizes, and patterns for the images. They can also suggest visually appealing or well-balanced layouts that are suitable for your website pages.

Benefits of AI-generated images for SEO

Optimizing your images is an essential SEO practice that often gets overlooked. Let me tell you why it’s so crucial.

Improved User Experience

We touched upon it earlier, but things like page speed, visual appeal, and layout composition are improved by using AI. These things affect user experience, which plays a vital role in customer retention, engagement, and traffic. 

Basically, using AI to optimize your images can help your website be more appealing and usable for your audience, which can keep them on your website for longer. 

Increased Visibility in Search Engines

Using unique, properly tagged, and descriptive images–which is easy with AI image tools–you’re optimizing your visual content for Google’s image search. In short, these tools make image SEO a walk in the park. 

From this, you, of course, improve your pages’ visibility. You might even snag a few featured image snippets for your pages. Using AI to enhance all aspects of your images, even their metadata, is a good practice to ensure Google understands the context and relevance of your images, so it’s more likely to show your images to users. 

How to Use AI to Create Images

How to use AI in this scenario really depends on the tool you decide to use, but most use a pretty standard process. I’ll cover each step as well as a few tools you might want to try. 

Image Selection and Creation

If you’re using existing images as a guide or basis for these tools to generate new ones, make sure you’re using the right ones. 

Check that your images are high-quality, original, and relevant to the content you want them to be added to.

Creating AI Prompts

If you’re working from scratch, then you need to know how to craft the perfect prompt for your tool. This will lessen the back and forth with the tool to generate the images you’re looking for.

I recommend following these considerations when writing your prompt:

1. Mention important, specific details.
2. Use brief, easy-to-understand sentences.
3. Include an image reference or artistic style.
4. Decide between creative and realistic.
5. Use photography terms.
6. Use AI to generate prompts.

Let’s get into each step:

Mention important, specific details

Mention everything–and I do mean everything–you want this image to have. Be as detailed as you can get. Be as descriptive as you can be too, since AI can now understand things like emotions and tone. The less the AI needs to infer or interpret, the more accurate the photo will be to your vision. 

Use brief, easy-to-understand sentences

Being descriptive and adding all the details you can think of helps. But remember to keep each sentence short, and to use proper punctuation and grammar, so you can avoid confusing your AI tool.

Include an image reference or artistic style

If you can feed the AI images or visuals as a reference, do so. If not, you can describe the subject, context, and composition you want. This can be the styles of well-known painters, animators, photographers, or other artists you want your generated images to feel like. You can even include cinematography examples if you want it to have the same aesthetic and overall mood. 

Decide between creative and realistic

AI can get really liberal with the stuff it creates, so you have to decide early on whether you want it to do that, or to stick to a more realistic interpretation of your prompt.

Use photography terms

You can also use photography terms and even reference specific camera models if you’re trying to generate realistic photos. Set things like your aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and terms like “candid,” or “award-winning” to create more specific images.

Use AI to generate prompts

You can teach other AI, specifically text-generators like ChatGPT, to learn how to make these kinds of prompts for you. You can further prompt them to create templates specific to the AI image tool you want to use. Priming them can help you generate extremely detailed and precise photo prompts to make the whole process even more time- and effort-efficient for you. 

AI Image Tools

There are a few options for you to choose from, and I rounded up three tools that I personally think work pretty well. I did a quick review of each and included their pros and cons. 

DALL-E 2 by OpenAI

Pros: Quick responses, the user owns the copyright, simple and accurate results, and higher resolution options than the original DALL-E. Can also edit the results in the application itself.

Cons: Not yet very proficient with compositionality. Fails at times with simple prompts. Possible legal issues may arise due to potential infringement of intellectual property laws.

Price: 115 Credits for $15.00

Midjourney AI

Pros: High-quality results. Easily understands provided style and references. Provides multiple versions of your prompt, with the option to refine the selected version to perfection with additional prompts.

Cons: Available only through a discord chatbot. The free trial usually encounters errors. Every image generated is displayed in public chat. Lacks in customer service and privacy.

Price: $8.00-$48.00 per month

Dream Studio

Pros: High-quality results. The user interface is easy to navigate. Lets users customize the prompt result in various ways. Free credits with no interruptions. Can purchase credits on an as-need basis, instead of subscribing to a plan.

Cons: Needs very lengthy and descriptive prompts to generate the right image. At the time of writing, it only uses a beta site.

Price: $10 for 1000 credits

Key Takeaway

AI plays a crucial role in optimizing images for SEO. From image selection to file optimization, alt text and metadata automation, image accessibility, and responsiveness. We SEO Specialists cannot deny that incorporating AI in our image optimization strategy can help us effortlessly improve our website’s appeal, usability, and even our search visibility.

So, don’t overlook the potential of AI in optimizing your images. Embrace these powerful tools, craft compelling visuals, and watch as your website rises in the ranks of search engine results.

The post Elevate Your SEO with AI-Generated and Optimized Images appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

Getting a featured snippet is basically hitting the SEO goldmine, resulting in increased clicks, traffic, and potentially, increased business.

The good news here is you don’t have to work that hard to get more featured snippets of your website. Interested? You should be.

Backed by the years I put into writing and SEO, I’ve put together a guide to help you identify featured snippet opportunities. 

How Do I Find Featured Snippet Opportunities?

Quick Answer: Use tools to look into where your website currently stands with regards to featured snippets. Use manual search and the same tools to find keywords with featured snippets you can aim for, as well as other related keywords you can leverage. From there, find quick-win opportunities based on your website’s authority, the content you can optimize, and the structured data you can apply. After making these changes, keep track of what techniques worked for your website, and what didn’t.

What are Featured Snippets?

This is a type of search engine results page (SERP) feature that answers your questions using a snippet that crawl bots have pulled directly from an article or web page. Often, it’s a summary of the information that Google thinks users are looking for.

Here’s an example from an older article of mine on link optimization:

Google has been rolling out featured snippets for an ever-widening variety of search queries for a while now. That’s because they’re great for serving quick answers to users. 

Why do Featured Snippets Matter in SEO?

Featured snippets are great for your SEO because they rank #0 on the organic search results. It sits on top of the #1 organic search result.

It’s also formatted in a way that makes it much more helpful and accessible to users, compared to organic search results. 

Let’s look at the featured snippet for the query “What is a featured snippet,” versus the first organic result on the same page.

And here’s how short a traditional organic result looks like:

That’s it. If I were the user searching this, I definitely gained a more substantial answer from the first, rather than the second.

And, if I was a curious user, I would be more likely to click on the article that feels more helpful to me—which featured snippets are formatted to be like. 

In short, having your content appear in a featured snippet is important for SEO because it can lead to way more clicks to your website. That means it’s good for your click-through rate and growing your organic traffic.

Types of Featured Snippets:

The most common type of featured snippet is the one I just showed you above, but Google can provide different formats in different spaces. 

As of the time of writing, there are five general types of featured snippets:

1. Paragraph
2. List
3. Table
4. Video
5. Accordion

Of these, we know that paragraph- and list-type featured snippets are the most common. Lists can come in numerical format, or in bullet format. You often see these two types when asking for definitions, instructions, and of course, lists of products. 

Recently, I’ve also noticed that Google is pushing for more table and video-formatted featured snippets. 

Tables are common if your search has to do something with product specifications, such as price. 

Videos, on the other hand, show up if you’re looking for how-to guides or demonstrations, where Google will show a specific section of a video that it thinks provides the most appropriate answer. 

Last are accordions. These I don’t see as often, but they look a lot like the People Also Ask section. When clicked, the accordion expands and almost always shows you additional featured snippets, which is fascinating.

Important Statistics on Featured Snippets

Let’s take a look at some general stats that I found from several studies regarding featured snippets. This data can give SEOs and site owners a better look into how they affect SEO, and how to find opportunities to gain more featured snippets.

19-23% of all SERPs include a Featured Snippet

One study from Moz states that they’re included in about 23% of all SERPs. Another study from SEMRush and Brando said they appear in 19% of all SERPs. Either way, this is up over 150% since 2016—that’s wild. 

Paragraphs and Lists are the most common types of Featured Snippets

According to SEMRush, Paragraphs made up 70% of all featured snippets, followed by lists at 19.1%. This study, made in 2020, might not have the most accurate numbers for 2023, but this shows us a pretty clear picture as to what kind of content format is often pushed as featured snippets in Google. 

Getstat also had the same findings in their own research—showing that Paragraph snippets showed up in 82% of all the featured snippets they saw.

People Also Ask sections are seen on 93.8% of Featured Snippet SERPs

Moz, in the same study, noted that we usually see the PAA section whenever there’s a featured snippet. 

Here’s an example, using the same search query as earlier (what is a featured snippet):

This is pretty interesting to me, as it shows that whenever there’s a featured snippet, there are several other opportunities for your article or page to get on the search results—even if, organically, it might not be ranking well.

If you can’t get the featured snippet spot, you can seed your keyword research, add some of the PAAs that show up to your content, and gain more chances to get put on the SERPs. 

Getstat’s research revealed another interesting tidbit: In 23% of the SERPs with both PAAs and a featured snippet, the first PAA had a similar answer to the featured snippet. 

Featured Snippets affect your CTR rate

A study by Ahrefs a few years back showed that, while featured snippets are eye-catching and informative, they don’t necessarily get the most clicks out of every site on the first page.

A page that’s #1 on a SERP without a featured snippet can get about 26% of all clicks. However, a page that’s #1 on a SERP with a featured snippet will only get about 19.6% on average.

This means the #0 spot effectively steals a good portion of the clicks from the #1 organic result. Pretty good tradeoff if you can’t quite beat the #1 result, but still want to get tons of clicks. 

How to Research Featured Snippet Opportunities

Manually looking for a featured snippet opportunity is going to take a lot of time. And, Google Search Console doesn’t currently show any information regarding featured snippets. 

I recommend using third-party tools to research featured snippet opportunities to optimize your content.  

Research Tools to Use for Featured Snippets

I use two tools to look into where our websites are at, in terms of featured snippets: Ahrefs and SEMrush. You can use both to check for your current rankings as well as untapped featured snippet opportunities. 

How to check your Current Snippets

Before you begin the process of looking for opportunities, I recommend getting a good idea of where your website is first.

On Ahrefs, just put in your domain, and click the organic keywords report. From there, you can filter the results by SERP features, and click on featured snippets.

The resulting list contains all the keywords you’re showing up as a featured snippet for.

With SEMrush, put your domain in the search bar, click enter, then select positions in the first menu you see below.

From here, you can further filter the results by clicking SERP features, which will show you which pages are currently shown as featured snippets (plus some other features, such as Local Pack).

On either tool, you can look at the percentage of your search results that appear in any kind of snippet. If you see a low number there, don’t panic. It’s common for most websites to have a low number—especially if you haven’t been trying to optimize for this kind of thing in the first place. 

What you’re getting here is a baseline for your optimization efforts. It’s good to know where you started to understand what’s working for you, and what isn’t, once you start trying to target featured snippets.

Plus, working within a niche where Google already considers you an expert is a pretty good place to start. You’re more likely to capture opportunities here than anywhere else.

How to find your competitor’s snippets

In the same way that you looked at your website’s standing, you can also check your competitors’. 

Why? Because you want to beat your competition. And if your competitors are showing up in the snippets 1 out of 10 times, then you should try to appear in them twice as much. That’s how you can get a bigger market share in your industry. 

The good news is that these two tools let you see the same data for your competitors. Just follow the same instructions using their website domain, and see where your competitors’ snippets are coming from. 

What keywords are they targeting that have a featured snippet? Are these snippets coming from their articles, pages, or homepage? 

These two considerations can reveal new opportunities as well as their tactics—both of which you can use later on. 

How to Identify Featured Snippet Opportunities 

This step-by-step guide can help you potentially win a featured snippet:

1. Check if keywords have featured snippets.
2. Look into keyword suggestions.
3. Optimize content for the featured snippet type.
4. Know your audience’s intent.
5. Make your content concise and informative.
6. Use schema markups.
7. Keep track of featured snippet targets.

Let’s get into each one.

Check if keywords have featured snippets

You can see this in SEMRush. If you look at your organically ranking keywords, you might see symbols like these, which indicate that the search queries show both organic results and structured results, such as featured snippets, PAAs, and more.

You should also check the SERPs manually to see what kind of featured snippet is showing up for this keyword.

From this, we know this particular keyword has a list featured snippet. This means that if I added a list to my old article, I can try to steal this featured snippet from the currently ranking website. 

Look into keyword suggestions

From there, go into Keyword Overview, which shows you related keywords and queries of your selected keyword. In the example below, I’m checking the keyword “how to tell seo is working,” which I used in a previous article.

This data shows what other keywords you might want to include in your article or page, as well as opportunities to hit the PAA section.

Optimize content for the featured snippet type.

Once you know what type of featured snippet your targeted keyword has, it’s time to optimize your content for it.

Make sure you’re adding something that fits the criteria. I also have other tips in another article I previously wrote on optimizing for featured snippets, if you need more help on that.

In the previous example, I said I’d add a list for my article targeting the keyword “how to tell seo is working” because that is the type of snippet I saw in the SERPs. 

If, on the other hand, I saw that it was showing a paragraph-type snippet, then my strategy for this article would change. 

Pro-tip: whatever you saw in the current featured snippet you’re trying to claim, one-up it. If it’s listing, say, the seven benefits of something, list eight to ten. If it’s a concise description of a topic, try doing the same—but with a little extra valuable info (if you have some expertise in the area, this is where it would come in handy). 

Always try to beat the value of the current featured snippet with the content you’re optimizing.

Know your audience’s intent

Part of optimizing your content is understanding your audience. 

When people search certain keywords, they are looking for a specific answer—they may not know what that is, yet, but you should. 

You have to know what kind of answer they’re looking for. Knowing that will help you understand how to best answer their query. I dive deep into this topic in my other guide on how to make helpful content.

Crafting the right response makes it more likely for your content to become a featured snippet. 

Make your content concise and informative.

Aside from using the right type of content, you have to make sure your answers are succinct and relevant to the query. Make your answers as to the point as possible (think 2-3 sentences, max).

Why? Google regularly pushes for short yet informative answers in the featured snippet. So, we know this is the way to go. 

Another pro tip: add a quick summary section to your articles.

You might have seen this in other websites. I’ve also started doing it while I refresh some older content of mine, like this section I added to this article, and some of my older but high-performing work, like my guide to aggregate rating schema. 

Adding a “too long, didn’t read” (tl;dr) to your most popular pages is an easy way of gaining a few featured snippets here and there. Making small additions to deliver your content in a simpler way can actually do a lot for your SEO. Plus, it’s a really easy way to experiment with your content. 

Use schema markups

Schema markups are lines of code that feed search engines (like Google) data in a structured manner. This helps Google better understand your content and its context, which results in improved snippets, also known as rich snippets.

Applying the right schema markup when applicable can help you win that featured snippet. Some common ones include:

1. FAQ schema
2. How-to schema
3. Recipe schema
4. Product schema

There are two ways to add schema markups to your website. The first is through plugins, the second is through hard coding. I recommend looking into the different markups you can add to your content on the Schema website.

Keep track of featured snippet targets

Lastly, always keep track of your progress. Like I said earlier, you won’t know what’s working out for your SEO and what isn’t if you don’t have a baseline to compare it to. And the same goes for your ongoing progress—so monitor those featured snippet targets.

From there, you can continue applying what works well for your website to other pages, and get rid of the strategies that don’t.

Key Takeaway

As featured snippets continue to dominate the top of the SERPS, knowing how to identify featured snippet opportunities—and how to capture them—can help you increase visibility for your website. 

There’s a lot of untapped opportunities waiting on your website, so get ready to do some research into your keywords, and deliver the right answers in the right format in simple, concise language.

The post A Guide to Seizing Featured Snippet Opportunities appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

As you dive into the fast-paced world of SEO (search engine optimization), it’s important to understand the key concepts that will help you crush the competition and dominate the first page of Google search results. 

And one critical aspect of this world is understanding keyword search volume, a metric that reveals the popularity, trends, and competition surrounding specific keywords.

By understanding the search volume of specific keywords, you can effectively optimize your content to target relevant keywords and drive organic traffic—and potentially claim a spot on that coveted first page. So I’ve prepared a quick but in-depth guide to keyword search volume to help you out:

What is Keyword Search Volume?

Keyword search volume is a metric that indicates the popularity and demand for a specific keyword in search engine queries. It represents the number of times a keyword is searched for within a given timeframe, usually on a monthly basis. 

Why is Keyword Search Volume Important?

Keyword search volume is a valuable metric in SEO because it shows you the popularity and demand for specific keywords. By analyzing search volume data, you gain insights into the keywords that potential visitors are using to find information related to your industry or niche. 

This knowledge empowers you to optimize your website’s content and meta tags to target those keywords effectively, increasing the likelihood of ranking higher on search engine result pages (SERPs). In essence, keyword search volume allows you to align your website with the interests and search behaviors of your target audience.

The Difference between Seasonal and Evergreen Keywords

It is important to consider the variations in search volume, whether they are consistent or seasonal. Within this realm, two primary categories emerge: seasonal keywords and evergreen keywords.

Let’s look at one keyword: ”number coding in Manila.” 

Keywords like “number coding in Manila” are a kind of keyword that you can bet a few hundred people search for every day since the need for information on this topic exists no matter what time of the year it is. This consistency means they’re evergreen, and evergreen keywords have a relatively stable search volume for pretty much the whole year.

On the other hand, seasonal keywords are directly tied to specific times of the year, which means you can see regular fluctuations in their search volumes. For example, as the holiday season approaches, people are more likely to search for terms like “holiday gift ideas.” During this period, the search volume for such keywords sharply increases, only to fall off after the holidays have passed.

To effectively evaluate keyword volume, you have to consider the potential seasonal fluctuations in search volume. By understanding which high-volume keywords are evergreen, versus what keywords might be trending because of the current season, you can better optimize your content strategy to align with your target audience’s search intent throughout the year.

Determining Good Keyword Search Volume

The definition of good keyword search volume can vary depending on various factors, including the industry, niche, and goals of a website. 

Generally, a good keyword search volume is considered to indicate a healthy level of demand and relevance for a particular keyword.

While there is no universal threshold, keywords with higher search volumes often show greater potential for attracting organic traffic. However, high-volume keywords also tend to be more competitive, making achieving top rankings on search engine result pages (SERPs) more challenging.

On the other hand, keywords with very low search volumes might not generate significant traffic to your website, but they may have lower competition and therefore may be easier to rank top-of-page for. So, striking a balance between search volume and competition is crucial.

Factors to Consider in Keyword Search Volume

When evaluating the search volume of keywords for SEO, it is important to consider the following factors:

Relevance

Aligning your keywords with the interests of your target audience is arguably the most important factor. What’s the point of using a high-volume keyword, if none of the people who click on it are your target audience?

Understanding your audience’s needs, preferences, and search behaviors enables you to create content that addresses their specific pain points and provides valuable solutions. By doing so, you increase the chances of attracting qualified traffic and improve user experience (which we know to be important for a website’s visibility in search engine rankings).

Competition

The more volume a keyword has, the more competitive it likely is. It’s because they present something very enticing to any webmaster: more views, more clicks. That means there are going to be more websites targeting these keywords, and your website may not have what it takes to come out on top. 

So, you have to understand how much competition you’re dealing with before settling on a keyword. While seeing a keyword volume of, say, 10,000 per month feels really tempting, it will require a ton more resources and effort to achieve high rankings on the SERPs.

By strategically targeting keywords with a balance between search volume and competition, you can increase your chances of achieving higher rankings and attracting valuable organic traffic to your website.

That said, how competitive a keyword can be will vary across different industries, niches, and geographical locations. You might come across a highly searched and potentially lucrative keyword in your research, and find that the competition for it is moderate or low enough to be a good opportunity for you.

As in many of my other guides, my advice here is the same: remember to do your research when you look into potential keywords. 

Long-tail keywords

Unlike generic, broad keywords, long-tail keywords are more specific and usually consist of a phrase or a long string of words. While they may have lower search volume compared to broader keywords, they can drive highly targeted and valuable traffic to your website.

It often reflects a more refined search intent. Users who search using long-tail keywords have a clearer idea of what they are looking for. The more specific the query, the more likely that this person is really interested in what they’re searching for.

For example, someone searching for “best running shoes for flat feet” is more likely to convert into a customer than someone searching for just “running shoes.” By targeting long-tail keywords, you can align your content and offerings precisely with the needs and preferences of your audience.

While long-tail keywords may have lower search volume, they bring numerous benefits to your SEO strategy. By targeting these specific and intent-focused keywords, you can attract highly targeted traffic, experience lower competition, achieve higher conversion rates, and provide an enhanced user experience. 

Adding long-tail keywords to your content strategy can help improve traffic and, ultimately, the fruits of your SEO efforts.

Search intent

Search intent refers to the underlying motivation or purpose behind a user’s search query. Understanding Search intent is crucial in SEO because it allows you to create and optimize content that aligns with what users are looking for, ensuring that your website meets their needs and provides relevant information or solutions.

Search intent can be classified into 4 different types:

• Informational intent refers to users seeking information or answers to their queries.
• Navigational intent occurs when users are searching for a specific website or brand.
• Commercial intent relates to users that are in the research phase and are comparing options before making a purchase decision.
• Transactional intent relates to users who are ready to make a purchase or complete a specific action.

By identifying the intent behind keywords, you can create content that matches the corresponding intent type and guides users through their desired journey.

How Do You Look For Keyword Volumes?

Analyzing search volume helps marketers like you understand the demand for specific keywords and make informed decisions about which ones to target. There are many ways to do this, but the most accurate way to look at search volume data is to use the right SEO tools, which are:

1. Google Keyword Planner
2. Google Trends
3. SEMRush
4. Ahrefs
5. SERanking

Let’s take a look at some of the most popular tools:

Google Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner is a free tool offered by Google Ads. While primarily designed for advertisers, it is also valuable for SEO professionals. It provides search volume data, historical statistics, and keyword ideas. By entering relevant keywords, you can access insights into average monthly search volumes, competition levels, and bid estimates. Google Keyword Planner is a great starting point for keyword research and planning SEO campaigns.

Google Trends

Google Trends is another free tool provided by Google. It allows users to explore the popularity and search interest of specific keywords over time. While it doesn’t provide exact search volume numbers, it shows relative interest and trending patterns. You can compare the search volume of multiple keywords, analyze regional interest, and view related queries. Google Trends is useful for identifying seasonal trends, tracking keyword popularity, and adjusting your SEO strategy accordingly.

SEMrush

SEMrush is a comprehensive SEO tool that offers a wide range of features, including keyword research and analysis. It provides accurate search volume data along with additional insights such as keyword difficulty, competition analysis, and keyword trends. SEMrush allows you to explore search volume for specific regions and languages, discover related keywords, and analyze the performance of your competitors. With its extensive database and advanced features, SEMrush is a valuable tool for in-depth keyword research and competitive analysis.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is a popular SEO tool known for its robust keyword research capabilities. It offers accurate search volume data, keyword difficulty scores, and related keyword suggestions. Ahrefs also provides insights into keyword trends over time and allows you to track the search volume of specific keywords. With its comprehensive features for keyword analysis and competitor research, Ahrefs helps uncover valuable keyword opportunities and optimize your SEO strategy accordingly.

SERanking

SERanking is an all-in-one SEO platform that includes features for keyword research and analysis. It offers search volume data, keyword suggestions, and competition analysis. SERanking allows you to track keyword rankings, monitor search volume fluctuations, and identify new keyword opportunities. The tool also provides comprehensive reporting options to measure the effectiveness of your SEO efforts. I wrote a more extensive review on SERanking’s content marketing platform (which includes their keyword tools) if you’re interested. 

These tools are valuable resources if you want to get the most accurate and up-to-date numbers for keyword search volume. Plus, they offer some pretty valuable insights into how competitive these keywords are. I recommend exploring the features and functionalities of each tool to find the one that best fits your needs.

Benefits of Understanding Keyword Search Volume

Knowing a keyword’s search volume is crucial because it reveals the trend for that search term. From here, you can infer the keyword’s potential traffic as well as its competitiveness. Understanding that leads to some very important benefits for your SEO, such as:

Targeted Optimization

By understanding the popularity and demand for specific keywords, you can optimize your content to target relevant keywords that attract the right audience.

Increased Visibility

Optimizing your website’s content and meta tags based on keyword search volume helps improve your chances of ranking higher on search engine result pages (SERPs). This increased visibility drives more organic traffic to your website.

Competitive Advantage

Analyzing keyword search volume allows you to identify keywords that potential visitors are using to find information related to your industry or niche. By targeting these keywords effectively, you can stay ahead of the competition and align your website with the interests and search behaviors of your target audience.

Better Conversion Rates

By using long-tail keywords with lower competition and stronger search intent, you can attract highly targeted traffic to your website. These visitors are more likely to convert into customers or take desired actions, leading to improved conversion rates.

Informed Decision Making

Keyword search volume data provides valuable insights into the popularity and trends of specific keywords. This information helps you make informed decisions when selecting keywords for your content, optimizing your website, and planning your overall SEO strategy.

Key Takeaway

Now that you’ve finished this guide to keyword search volume, and seen the tools available for keyword research, it’s time to integrate this knowledge into your SEO strategy. 

By analyzing keyword trends and demand using reliable tools, you can optimize your content to attract the right audience. Remember to consider important factors like evergreen versus seasonal keywords, competition levels, the value of long-tail keywords, and user intent.

Remember, SEO is a long game, as search engine algorithms continually evolve. Make sure to regularly revisit and assess your keyword search volume to ensure the list you’re targeting is still working for you and your site. 

Stay proactive, adapt your strategy if needed, and maintain a strong online presence in the ever-changing SEO landscape.

The post An In-Depth Guide to Keyword Search Volume and How to Use it for Your SEO appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

Here’s a straightforward answer. Yes, internal links CAN help build topical authority for your website.

Internal linking is a very important aspect of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) that helps build topical authority on your website. Here’s what you need to know, and how to use them strategically.

What is Internal Linking and Topical Authority? 

Internal linking is when you link to the other pages on your website within your content. Topical authority in SEO refers to the establishment of your website as an authoritative source of information on a specific subject or topic. 

For example, if I’m writing a blog post that mentions the best SEO tools, I would link to another post where I discuss them in detail. This helps your readers find more relevant and useful information for your website. 

By using links strategically, you can signal to search engines the relevance and importance of your content, which can improve your ranking and visibility in search results. 

Internal Links vs External Links

The differences between the two are as their names imply: internal links are those that go between pages of the same domain, while external links direct you toward different sites. We call external links pointing from other sites to your site backlinks. See my posts on link building techniques if you’re interested in also optimizing the external links pointing to your site.

Why are Internal Links Important?

You should care about the internal links on your site because they’re pretty valuable to your SEO. 

As advanced as the Google algorithm is–and how demanding their core updates can be–there are still fundamentals that, once optimized, will give you an immediate boost in topical authority, and subsequently, rankings and traffic. Internal linking is one of them. 

Types of Internal Linking

There’s only two types: navigational, and contextual. The first are the links you see in headers, footers, and any other navigational bar or menu on a website. The second are in-text links, which point users from one page to another. This kind of link includes anchor links in your articles, a related posts section, and any other relevantly linked URLs. 

How Internal Links Improve The Topical Authority of Your Website

By using internal links effectively, you can improve the topical authority of your site in the following ways: 

1. Internal links help create a logical and hierarchical structure within your website. By linking to related pages and topics, you show search engines that your site has extensive coverage of a specific subject. This organization improves user experience and makes it easier for search engines to understand the context and relevance of your content. 
2. Internal links allow search engine crawlers to discover and index your content. If search engines find internal links when crawling your website, they can follow those links to access and index additional pages. This helps search engines understand the depth and breadth of your content, resulting in better visibility in the search results. 
3. Internal linking allows you to distribute the authority of the highest-ranking pages to other pages on your site. When you link to a page that needs a boost in visibility from a page with high authority, you are giving some of that authority to the linked page. This can improve the topical authority of the linked page and improve its chances of ranking well in search results. 
4. Internal links make it easier for the user to navigate within your site, allowing visitors to easily access related content and explore different aspects of a topic. When users spend more time on your site, interact with multiple pages, and find value in related content, it sends positive signals to search engines about the quality and relevance of your site. 

How To Use Internal Linking To Build Topical Authority in SEO

So how do you use internal linking to build topical authority in SEO? It’s not gaming the system, it’s not gray hat, and it’s not a sly trick. It’s also definitely one of the easiest things to do for your website. 

Here are some best practices to follow:

• Use descriptive anchor text. Anchor text is the clickable text that links to another page. Instead of using generic phrases like “click here” or “read more”, use descriptive words that tell your readers what the page is about. For example, instead of saying “Click here to learn more about this topic”, say “Learn more about using anchor text effectively for your SEO.” See what I did there?
• Link to relevant pages. Don’t just link to any page on your site, link to pages related to the topic of your current post. For example, if you’re writing about how to grow tomatoes, don’t link to a page that talks about how to knit a scarf. Link to pages dedicated to gardening, tomatoes, or farming tips.
• Link to quality webpages. Don’t link to pages that have low-quality content, outdated information, or broken links. Link to pages with high-quality content, up-to-date information, and working links. This improves the credibility of your website and its user experience.
• Link strategically. Don’t overdo it with internal links, or you could annoy your readers and weaken your topical authority. Only link when it makes sense and adds value to your content. For example, don’t link to the same page multiple times in the same paragraph, and don’t link to all pages on your site in a single post. Link strategically and with a grain of salt.

What is the Optimal Format for Internal Linking?

For more bonus tips on how to do internal linking right, you might want to read our in-depth post about the do’s and don’ts of internal linking. 

By following these tips, you can use internal linking to create an up-to-date SEO authority and boost your site’s performance. Internal linking is a powerful technique that can help you create a better user experience, grow your traffic, and increase your authority.

What is the Best Internal Linking Strategy?

Now that you understand the best practices when it comes to internal linking, you’re ready to see the basic steps to setting up your internal linking strategy:

1. Determine the structure you want for your site. Think of your website in terms of categories, then work your way down to subcategories (and even sub-subcategories, if needed). Keep internal links within categories.
2. Figure out your cornerstone content. A.K.A. your landing pages, these are the most important content on your site, and the ones that you want users to find when searching for your industry, products, or niche on Google. Direct most of your internal links toward them.
3. Add contextual links. If you already have tons of posts on a certain topic, then you should try linking them together. You can use in-text links or recommend topically related posts for reading at the end of your post.
4. Work down from the hierarchy you establish. Link parent pages to child pages, and sibling pages to each other. Parent pages are those at the top of each category you create for your structure. 
5. Use navigational links. I highly recommend adding links to your most important pages from your homepage or adding them from your navigation menu. This denotes importance in Google’s eyes and gives them a lot more link value. 
6. Insert links to your most recent posts. Adding links to newly published posts from existing content on your website is a good way to improve topical authority.
7. Insert links in your most popular posts. Since these posts draw in the most traffic, adding links from these posts to related ones can also improve your topical authority. 
8. Create umbrella posts. If you’re on a roll with writing for a specific topic, consider making an umbrella post. This can be used to interlink all of the posts you’ve written for the topic so far, boost topical authority, and serve as a catch-all of sorts for related keywords. Take, for example, our technical SEO guide, which references a bunch of our other technical SEO topics.

Setting up the right internal linking strategy depends on what you want to do with your website and your SEO goals. But, these steps are a good place for you to start.

Key Takeaway

Do take note that while internal linking can add to the topical authority of your site, it should be done carefully and naturally. 

Focus on being intentional about your strategy, making meaningful links between relevant pages, and steering clear of spammy linking practices to reap the most benefits possible while avoiding penalization. 

Ultimately, providing valuable, well-organized, and interconnected content is key to building topical authority over time.

The post Can Internal Links Help Build Topical Authority? appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

Keywords, as we all know, are the bread and butter of SEO. They are how potential customers find us online and are what we build entire strategies around.

But targeting the best keywords for your business is tough. Short tail keywords are attractive, but are often too competitive, too high volume for most to fight for—so what is the alternative? 

Here’s where long-tail keywords come in. They provide an untapped opportunity to drive more relevant traffic to your website and connect with customers further along their purchase journey. 

In this article, we’ll dive deep into the essence of long-tail keywords, examining their importance, advantages, and—most importantly—how to incorporate them effortlessly into your content strategy. 

What is a Long-Tail Keyword?

Long-tail keywords in SEO are keyword phrases with more than three words that are extremely focused and specialized. These keywords are more targeted and reflect users’ exact search intentions than generic or broad-based keywords. They can also provide users with a more customized search experience.

The Power of Precision

When you are conducting keyword research, you can specifically target the wants and demands of your target market. You may draw readers who are more likely to convert by including these certain terms in your article. 

For instance, if you own a running shoe business, it will be very difficult to rank at the top for the keyword “best running shoes,” much less gain much traffic from your efforts. 

If, however, you decide to target the keyword “women’s running shoes for wide feet” instead, then you are more likely to draw highly interested customers who are looking for that exact product.

After all, when someone enters that very long, very specific keyword, they are demanding one thing: the kind of product that they just searched for on Google. 

By positioning yourself as someone who can answer their demand, you grab their attention, answer their search question, and ultimately bring in users who are more likely to buy your product. 

There is a value of precision that specific keywords provide. You may attract people who have a precise aim and are inclined to become clients by using such focused terms. 

Less Competition=Less Cost

Though these keywords often have lower search volumes since they are more specific than short tail or broad keywords, there often are fewer opponents for this from other websites. 

In that sense, you can also easily rank at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs) for these keywords, and attract more customers by focusing on untapped niches in a crowded online market.

So, this level of specificity of the keyword not only helps you reach a particular target audience but also distinguishes you from your competitors who may only optimize for broader keywords like “best running shoes.”

By catering to the needs and preferences of your audience, you also position your website as a trusted and reliable source for those looking for that particular product.

Providing people with exactly what they’re looking for will allow you to gain traffic almost effortlessly in a less competitive space, and drive conversions on your website. 

What is an Example of a Long-Tail Keyword?

To further comprehend the idea of what a long-tail keyword is, let’s look at an example. 

Consider a bakery that specializes in making desserts and sweets without gluten. 

Instead of optimizing your website for a short tail keyword like “dessert,” an extended keyword example you might consider is “gluten free chocolate chip cookies.”

This phrase is extremely particular, addressing the dietary needs of a smaller audience looking for a particular type of dessert. 

Aside from dietary needs, another way to find long-tail keywords is to look at the preferences of a potential customer. Things like flavor, color, or size can lead to a long-tail keyword. A customer might look for “mini chocolate frosted cupcakes,” which is another area you could target.

In short, almost every descriptor or variation of the products you offer is a long-tail keyword that you can potentially target.

Why Should You Integrate Long-Tail Keywords in Your Blog Posts?

Using long-tail keywords doesn’t just have to be on your website pages—it’s a great strategy for your monthly blogs, too. 

Integrating these in your blog posts can have a significant impact on both your entire content plan and SEO efforts.

Focused Traffic

As I said earlier—these keywords reveal users’ intentions when they look for certain knowledge, goods, or services. 

You can draw readers who are more interested in your content and offers by including long-tail keywords in your blog entries. 

These users are also often further along in the purchasing process, which increases their likelihood of becoming customers. 

You can direct targeted visitors to your blog and improve your chances of accomplishing your conversion goals by tailoring your content to their particular demands.

Enhanced Relevance

By focusing on writing for long-tail keywords, you can produce content that is incredibly relevant to the particular wants and needs of your target audience. You can satisfy their expectations by providing them with useful and informational blog entries by answering their specific questions. 

This can also position your blog post as a reliable source of information in SERPs—usually in the form of a featured snippet or rich result for that search query. 

Improved Search Rankings

High competition makes it difficult to rank highly in the search results for short, generalized keywords. 

On the other hand, long keywords frequently have a lower search volume and face fewer competitors. By targeting these, you drive better results for much less effort and time spent. This is especially helpful if you work in a cutthroat industry. 

You can quickly build your online presence, improve your exposure, and increase organic blog traffic by concentrating on long keyphrases.

When Should You Use Long-Tail Keywords in Your SEO?

To maximize their impact, long keyphrases must be used in the right situations within your SEO plan. 

Here are some pointers on when you should use these keywords.

Niche Targeting

Long-tail keywords might help you more successfully reach your target market if your company works in a particular niche or caters to a specialized demographic. Although they could draw in a larger audience, generic keywords do not guarantee that they will be interested in your particular services. 

You may boost your chances of bringing in highly relevant traffic by selecting keywords that represent the particular demands, preferences, or pain points of your audience. 

For instance, if you sell eco-friendly yoga mats, you may reach yoga practitioners who are concerned about the environment and are looking for sustainable products by optimizing your SEO using long keywords like “natural rubber non-toxic yoga mats.”

Entering Competitive Industries

In highly competitive industries, it might be difficult to rank effectively for generic keywords in highly competitive sectors. Long-tail keywords provide you the chance to stand out and draw in a smaller but more intent audience.

You might find several long-tail keywords once you start your competitors’ analysis. When you do, you’ll see that the difficulty of targeting these is low, since they have lower search volumes and fewer people actively trying to rank for them. 

This may be a golden opportunity for you—you can enter your industry through what is essentially a side door. Take gaming laptops, for example, where your website could enter by marketing your “thin and light budget gaming laptops.”

Focusing on a very specific part of the market can draw visitors who are actively looking for the exact goods, services, or information you provide. And, before you know it, you’ll have secured territory in a competitive arena.

Content Optimization

I said earlier that long-tail keywords are great for blog posts, and this plays into a larger strategy for content optimization.

Users frequently utilize longer and more precise keyword phrases while looking for information or solutions to their problems. You can give thorough and specific responses to these questions by including long keywords in your blog posts, articles, and FAQ sections. 

Providing useful material not only enhances user experience but also helps address any content gaps your posts or pages may have. They can help you establish authority in your field and draw in people looking for in-depth information by including them in your content optimization plan.

How do I Search for long-tail Keywords?

Using tools like SE Ranking and Semrush are pretty useful for when it comes to finding potential keywords, but here are a few free ways to do your keyword research:

1. Google Suggestions: A great place to start as we know these are phrases that people are searching for.
2. Google’s Related Searches: Always check the bottom of the SERPs for more suggestions linked to your keywords.
3. Google Search Console: The performance report will show you the long-tail queries search queries that drove people to see or click on your pages. If you don’t have pages that are optimized for the queries you’re showing up for the most, consider making one to improve conversion and user satisfaction.
4. Q&A Sites: Since these forums contain plenty of potential pain points and queries from users, it’s a great source for your blog topics, FAQ section, and more.

Key Takeaway

Long-tail keywords are a potent optimization technique that increases conversion rates and drives focused visitors. You attract interested visitors who are more inclined to take action by concentrating on precise, pertinent keywords. These keywords provide you with a huge competitive advantage simply because of how targeted and exact they are. 

Maximize your SEO potential now with long-tail keywords. Take charge of your website’s visibility, attract highly engaged visitors, and drive conversions like never before.

The post Long-Tail Keywords: Game-Changers for Your Website Traffic and Rankings appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

Zero Traffic from Google—that is what more than 50% of online content gets everyday. Ahrefs found this out last 2020.

And yet, countless websites continue to put them out regularly—a problem made even worse with all the AI-powered content tools out there. The result is an endless flood of low-quality blogs and posts that are, ultimately, not useful for anyone who reads them. 

So, what did Google do in response? They put out another addition to their algorithm, called the “Helpful Content Update.” Their goal with this one was to help make sure that valuable content that actually helps their users (a.k.a., people-first content) would be able to rank. 

Much like with every update, SEO professionals like you and I need to revisit our strategies to stay ahead of the game. In this article, I will show you some tactics I use to write content for people first, while maintaining good SEO practices. 

What We Know About Google’s Helpful Content Update

The Helpful Content Update algorithm update by Google was designed to improve user experience by putting high-quality content written for people higher up in the SERPs. 

Here’s how Google put it in their own words: 

“The system generates a site-wide signal that we consider among many other signals for ranking web pages. Our systems automatically identify content that seems to have little value, low-added value or is otherwise not particularly helpful to those doing searches.

Any content—not just unhelpful content—on sites determined to have relatively high amounts of unhelpful content overall is less likely to perform well in Search, assuming there is other content elsewhere from the web that’s better to display. For this reason, removing unhelpful content could help the rankings of your other content.”

While this update was first announced back in September 2022, it has now progressed into a global update, impacting all languages. Google also announced that the system will continue to publish new signals over the coming months, helping their site identify more content created primarily for search engines versus people.

What does this mean for your website? Well, there are a lot of changes that others have documented in the last few months, which I summarize for you here: 

• Purely AI-generated content is considered spam, and Google will be using its machine learning algorithm to detect it.
• Content made for clicks (i.e., ad monetization) won’t work anymore. 
• There may be no manual penalties, but sites have experienced losing organic visibility. 
• It seems to affect the overall site performance, rather than hitting specific pages—and Google won’t be telling you which pieces of your content it has deemed as not useful.

Google’s Danny Sullivan also talked about this update possibly working in connection with future updates:

So, like Hummingbird, this update may become fundamental to ranking algorithms—which means that its exact effects could be only observed over the next few years.

Even so, it already puts a stronger emphasis on your content. Writing with a “search engine first” approach should no longer be your angle. 

After all, Google is, primarily, a space for users to learn. So, it makes sense that they’re making no room for unhelpful content.

While this update will undoubtedly be more damaging for poor-quality sites, it also presents an opportunity for well-maintained sites to take a second look at their content strategy. 

How Does Google Evaluate my Content in this New Update?

Google’s complete guidelines on creating helpful, reliable, and people-first content can easily be found on Google Search Central. But, I’ve gone through the list and summarized it into the five most important criteria:

1. Content and quality: Does your content have original, substantial information? Does it avoid copying and rewriting existing content? And, does it provide value, compared to others in the search results?
2. Expertise: Does your content demonstrate your expertise, as well as clear sourcing of supporting evidence? Is it factual? Is it written by someone who knows the topic well?
3. Presentation and production: Is the content written well, free of any spelling or stylistic issues? Does it avoid excessive ads or marketing? Does it display well on mobile devices?
4. People-first approach: Does the content have a clear purpose or focus? Does it meet that purpose or focus? Does it provide useful information  that helps create a a satisfying experience for the reader?
5. Avoidance of search engine-first content: Was the content written with the reader in mind first, rather than search engine rankings? Does it avoid manipulation of search algorithms (such as through extensive automation, summarizing others’ content without adding value, etc.)?

How to Optimize Your Content—and Make it More “Helpful”

With this update, we have to start thinking about our content holistically, rather than just trying to gain as many clicks as possible (or maybe even a featured snippet).

To achieve this, you have two main action points to consider: improving your intent and processes, and providing high-quality content.

Let’s go over some tips I’ve come up with in the last two months to better tackle these points (and enhance your writing): 

Review Your Intent and Your Audience

Before you even start on your next blog post, you need to know who your audience is. 

Ask yourself, who are you writing for? What are their needs, and why are they asking these questions? What do they need help with?

These questions will help you tailor your content to help your target audience. Otherwise, it’s likely that whatever you write won’t be considered helpful by Google—and you won’t be able to reap the benefits from your work. 

If you’re having trouble understanding who your audience is, then take a look at your Google Analytics data, under your demographic details report. This is the best place to gain some insight into who is currently looking at your content, as well as other things they might be interested in. 

So, beyond inserting your keyword into your blog post, consider factoring both your intended audience and relevant adjacent content. 

Provide Real Expertise, Insights, and Experiences

When it comes to making helpful, valuable content, it’s a big plus if you have some first-hand expertise to add to your writing. 

Avoid writing on topics that are trending, but you know nothing about. I also highly recommend against simply regurgitating information you’ve seen in other posts. Instead, your insights and experiences with the topic should be the main focus of your writing.

Not an expert on the particular topic you’re currently drafting? That’s okay—not everyone can be one. You can still produce helpful content by doing your due diligence, diving deep into research, and sharing what you’ve learned. 

Remember, readers can see right through you if you’re faking being an expert, so avoid making false claims at all costs. 

Use AI Content Strategically

Though this update may be primarily aimed at reducing the amount of AI-generated content out there, that doesn’t mean your tools no longer have a place in your work. 

AI tools, such as the increasingly popular ChatGPT or our recently-reviewed Content Marketing Platform from SE Ranking, can still be used to improve your work and productivity. The key is to use them strategically. 

Use them to lighten your workload, and avoid depending solely on them. For example, you can use your tools to help you generate better titles or introductions—but always remember to add a human touch to whatever they make. And, make sure that the bulk of the ideas come from you! 

Try to Hit Related Queries (Such as the People Also Ask (PAAs))

I mentioned that we have to start approaching our writing holistically, and that means providing as much valuable information to our readers as possible. 

Now that being helpful is the name of the game, it’s a great time to take a look at all the related queries users have for your intended topic. Here’s what comes up when I google ‘wedding catering:’

Check the PAAs and related searches that pop up when you type in your keyword. These aren’t just generated questions Google thinks people might ask—they’re actually being searched up by real people! These will provide good subheadings to include in your next blog article.

Ask Yourself: Will Readers Be Satisfied After Reading Your Content?

Things like word count and keyword density are now a thing of the past with this update. The most important thing now is that your audience enjoys what they’re reading, or they learn something of value from your article. 

In short, they leave your site feeling satisfied. 

So, always gauge your writing by asking this question: will people be satisfied after reading this?

For example, if you’re writing an article on how to properly brew specialty coffee, will the reader come away from your article with more knowledge than before? Will they have all their questions answered? Will they know how to properly brew their new coffee beans?

If the answer is yes, then you’re doing great. But, if you’re unsure—or the answer is a resounding no—you must make some changes. 

That said, not every reader that comes across your work will be happy with what you’ve written. It is, after all, impossible to please everyone each time you publish something. However, as long as a majority of your audience is satisfied, then you’re doing something right! 

Revisit Your Old Posts

Lastly, because this update affects you sitewide, it’s a good idea to look at your previous work. 

If you’re like me, then you’ve been blogging for upwards of a decade—and that might mean some of your posts aren’t as valuable to readers today. The content might be outdated, or not up to snuff with newer guidelines, but either way, this bank of legacy content can bring your traffic down.

So, revisit your work and review its ability to provide your readers with the answers and experience they’re looking for. Take the time to check if you need to make some additions to make it useful once again, or redirect them to newer content. I highly recommend prioritizing evergreen content, which is something I covered in my Blog Writing 101 guide.

This is especially important if you’re in any industry that moves fast (think fashion or tech). Content here usually goes from helpful to obsolete in a matter of months! 

Key Takeaway

Google has always favored people-first content, and this recent update is just the latest in many of their attempts to make sure the right content gets to their users. 

The Helpful Content Update will continue to release tweaks to their signals over the coming months, so it’s prime time for us SEO specialists to take a second look at our content and writing strategies.

Luckily, this update could be a win for you—just keep these tips in mind, and you’re on the right track to getting the most value from your content efforts. 

The post Optimizing Your Content for Google’s Helpful Content Update appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

Nothing is more frustrating than when your team creates outstanding content, and nobody reads it. If you want the content to work in your favor, you need to make sure it ranks so it gets relevant readers right away. 

So if you are a blogger and want to win over your readers, if you run a business and need to outperform your competitors, or if you want to increase your revenue, you need to make sure that all the textual content produced by you or your team is optimized with SEO fundamentals and your chosen content strategy. 

That way, you can ensure your site ranks on the first page of Google Search and gets significantly more traffic. 

In a Content Marketing Institute survey, 88% of marketers reported that content marketing was successful in building brand awareness and credibility, 78% reached their goal of building loyalty with their clients and users, and 64% of marketers confirmed success in nurturing leads. 

By the way, if you need help reaching any of the objectives above, read our guide on 5 easy ways to build a solid content strategy. 

In this blog post, I’ll be reviewing a content optimization tool that can make your life easier: it’s a new roll-out by the SE Ranking team called the Content Marketing Platform. 

The Content Marketing Platform from SE Ranking is a time-saving tool for creating content to advance to the next level in marketing and business. It’s a simple-to-use, all-inclusive content marketing solution for SEO that covers a range of SEO factors stemming from content production efforts. Let’s check it out! 

Exploring SE Ranking’s Content Marketing Platform

SE Ranking’s Content Marketing Platform is a tool that takes your content to the next level. It saves time by helping your writers automate their work and provide your business and clients with exceptional marketing results. 

With the help of an AI algorithm, the tool analyzes all competitors’ content. So, in addition to keeping an eye on your rivals, you can create insightful briefs for your content marketers and copywriters and get suggestions on how to improve your messages from an SEO perspective. 

The Content Marketing Platform has two main tools: the Content Idea Finder and the Content Editor. With the help of these tools, you don’t need to spend hours scrolling through articles in search of relevant and up-to-date content ideas that will bring you thousands of readers. 

Features of SE Ranking’s Content Idea Finder

Let’s look closely at the Content Idea Finder. One of the fascinating things about this SE Ranking tool is that all you need to do is write down the desired topic. In a matter of seconds, you get keyword groups, which are accompanied by key SEO & PPC parameters such as search volume, keyword difficulty, CPC, and level of competition.

Another valuable feature of this tool is that it allows you to find interesting topics for your readers and the most effective keywords, which search engines also take into account. 

Thanks to SE Ranking’s tool, you can get a list of the top 10 articles with the best performance in the SERP, according to the keyword in your cluster with the highest search volume.

If you still can’t pick the right keywords for your article, you can use a mind map to see a visual comparison of keywords ranked by difficulty and search volume. You can then transfer some keywords to the Content Editor to continue working on your piece of content.

Features of SE Ranking’s Content Editor

To ensure that your future content is fully aligned with SEO requirements, you can create a comprehensive brief for your writers with the Content Editor. 

Setting up a brief

With the help of an automated AI-powered tool, the software analyzes the top-ranked content of your rivals. You can select the most relevant pieces from a list of competitor publications that is automatically provided according to the search intent and based on domain and page trust indicators, the total number of referring domains, word count, and the website’s visibility. 

Below is what it looks like.

Then according to the list of articles, the tool suggests the length for your content, the number of used media elements, and other content parameters. 

SE Ranking’s AI algorithm also suggests terms and common expressions with the needed SEO information for you to use in your text. All these suggestions are data-driven, so you can boldly rely on them (unless, of course, you know better because of niche experience).

Another part of setting the brief is the content structure. With SE Ranking’s Content Editor, you can see how your competitors build their texts and can then add their H1-H6 headings to your SEO technical assignment or use them as a reference and create your structure from scratch, and add the notes and comments with your copywriter. 

When the brief for your article is finally ready, you can share a link with your content team so your writers can collaborate on your project, even without logging into SE Ranking’s account. Another option is sharing your brief via email.

Editing an article

Using SE Ranking’s Content Marketing Platform, your writers can insert the Content Editor outline from your brief and start working on the text right there on the Platform, instead of Google Docs or Microsoft Word, as the tool has all the needed text formatting features. 

To make sure that the text is fully aligned with your brief and SEO requirements, the Content Marketing Platform checks all the content’s parameters and keywords, even as the team is creating the piece.

The Content Editor also has its own  assessment of the quality of drafts. The program checks the grammar, spelling, and punctuation of texts. It also defines the stop-words and grades the piece’s overall readability score. So you can be sure that your article will be high quality and bring you the best possible results. 

Pricing

Even though SE Ranking released its Content Marketing Tool only three months ago, it has already been ranked by G2 as a niche product among the market’s Content Analytics Software, according to user reviews. To join those clients and assess the Module yourself, you can try SE Ranking’s SEO tool for free for 14 days and get two free content pieces with access to the Content Marketing Module.

Note: A paid SE Ranking account is needed to continue working with the Content Marketing Platform. You can get 15 articles per month for an additional $29, 30 articles for $49, or 120 content pieces for just $99.

Key takeaway

SE Ranking’s Content Marketing Platform elevates your content to the highest possible standards. The Module analyzes competitors’ content in just minutes, and with the help of the AI algorithm, you can build a customized brief with all the needed SEO requirements and notes of your content team. 

Within the Content Marketing Platform, you can assess the quality of created texts and their SEO parameters, making sure that your content is also SEO-friendly. 

If you want to ensure that all of your content is appreciated by readers and search engines and effectively attracts traffic to your site, check out SE Ranking’s Content Marketing Platform.

The post An In-Depth Look at SE Ranking’s Content Marketing Platform appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

You are stuck in a maze and you’ve tried every possible turn but there is no way out.

This is what our brains feel like sometimes and if you haven’t tried banging your head against the keyboard out of frustration with your content strategy, you have no business reading this.

Yes, even I have those days when getting the mix of SEO and the client’s technical writing desires in your content strategy seems like an unsolvable puzzle.

So here are 5 things to keep close when planning your content strategy so you don’t ever have to damage your keyboard again. You will rank and you will also provide the best possible content to your client and your readers – win, win and win.

The Importance of a Strong SEO Content Strategy

Before anything else, it’s important to acknowledge that quality content is one of the defining components of an SEO strategy. Great content paired with SEO efforts has always been the backbone of any successful campaign. Regardless of other standard SEO practices- if your content isn’t good enough for Google, then your website isn’t good enough to rank.

Ways of Setting Up An Effective SEO Content Strategy

Do Keyword Research Above All Else

Keyword research is like the egg to your omelet- all your ingredients won’t come together without it. Never start building your SEO content strategy without gathering your keywords first. Your keywords will be the foundation of any type of content that you’ll be publishing to your web pages. It’s important to keep in mind these guidelines when doing your keyword research:

• Use keywords that acknowledge your target audience
• Ensure keyword relevancy to your website
• Understand the search intent of each keyword in the list
• Only consider keywords that have good monthly search volume

Learn more about the latest keyword research practices!

Identify Website SEO Content Opportunities

It’s a fairly general SEO practice to commit all your content publications as blogs for your website. While this particular SEO content strategy proves to still be very effective in attracting website traffic- wouldn’t it be ideal if you could attract THAT traffic straight to pages that have higher possibilities to convert?

Imagine an e-commerce site with a web page that purely displays product listings as its content.

By including a frequently asked questions (FAQ) type of information, we allow that page to target SEO-friendly keywords increasing the chances for it to have a strong online presence.

This is an example of an “SEO content opportunity” on your website. Instead of simply publishing blog articles, you can direct your writing efforts to pages where there’s an opportunity to target a keyword.

You can mainly identify these SEO content opportunities by analyzing search results and identifying what type of pages are ranking. For example- when searching for the term electric scooter, the search result returns product listings. Therefore, there’s a higher chance of ranking a page that mainly displays products. Which makes it a good target for additional content.

Keep Your Content Human

Build your content for users.

The rising popularity of AI-written content allowed web pages to rank high within search results. This led to unnaturally written articles being presented to users. As a result, Google continues to release algorithm updates that punish these pages’ rankings.

It is very important to note in your SEO content strategy how the articles should be written. Always bear in mind to present information in a way that’s digestible and easily understood by readers. Not only will this help keep Google’s eyes away from you, but it will also increase user retention.

Acknowledge Your Competitor’s Content Strategy

In any card game, there’s a benefit to knowing what hand are your opponents playing. The same concept applies when building your SEO Content Strategy. Your competitors have done the work, so why not learn from them?

Noting your competition’s implementation of content in web pages, topics they publish in their blogs, and how they’re structuring their content can give you an idea of how can you improve your own content strategy.

The tool that I mainly use to gauge my competition is SE Ranking’s competitive research tool.

This allows me to see what organic keywords are they using on their website, in addition to manually browsing through their content.

Optimize As Much As Needed

Let’s assume that you’ve already started publishing your content- the only way to maintain and improve its quality is to perform regular on-page SEO optimizations. Not only can it serve as the solution to ranking changes, but it also allows you to be flexible in the content you have on your website.

Here are some of the things that you should consider when performing on-page SEO optimizations:

• Maintain the quality of the SEO factors being implemented in your pages by ensuring proper keyword usage in SEO factors such as title tags, meta descriptions, headings, and the like.
  
• Look for opportunities to improve/update existing content- such as enhancing keyword usage and content comprehension.
• Point out and correct any existing UI/UX issues to improve the visitor experience
• Ensure proper indexing practices such as appropriate robots and sitemap implementations that guarantee website visibility.

Key Takeaway

There are honestly a lot of ways that you can approach your website’s content. But instead of overloading yourself with information, learning these 5 ways of building a solid SEO content strategy can allow you to focus on the basics. Only then can you start applying other SEO practices that can help you formulate a successful SEO campaign.

If you want to learn more about content marketing, check out our guide on how to write your content!

The post The 5 Key Elements for Successful SEO Content Strategy appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.