With the arrival of our new brand & website, us at Hero Creative wanted to seize the moment by exploring several changes and measures we took to progress our new website for search rank and placement. Below are the steps of our process for optimizing our content for SEO and long-term analytics managing.
The initial phase of growth for our content was predicated on a better understanding of the economic ecosystem of search engines (Google, Bing, etc). We compiled our Google Analytics data and then performed keyword research to establish a baseline of informational verbiage necessary to both: effectively describe our company’s services and organically incorporate keyword phrases to boost Page Rank & S.E.R.P. placement.
All search engines use a series of various algorithms to determine the relative usefulness of a website or page. Search Engine Optimization is an all-encompassing term that broadly defines tactics and technical strategies to streamline web content for crawler bots (used by Google, Bing, etc) to process information and assess content value.
We performed the bulk of our keyword research using the Google Keyword Planner / Google Trends but we also recommend keywordtool.io as a strong alternative when conducting keyword analysis. In addition, our keyword research and evaluation alerted us to the most important aspect of compelling SEO. Rather than dumping excessive amounts of keywords and long-tail phrases into our segments of site content, which would run the risk of Google blacklisting us for “black hat SEO”, or unauthorized keyword stacking maneuvers to drive increased site traffic.
We outlined specific keywords and phrases that were necessary in describing our company’s mission and process (White Hat SEO). In basic terms White Hat SEO adheres to search engine rules and policies, while Black Hat SEO does the opposite and consists of gimmicky language or technical loopholes to illegally drive clicks toward a given webpage. For more specific parameters of White versus Black Hat SEO, check out OptinMonster’s SEO Blog.
The next step in our process of SEO integration involved a thorough mapping of our existing site content. Followed by an audit of our content for concision, clarity, and of course the appearance of relevant keywords on our site pages. However, a simple content audit and revision for an increase in keyword prevalence will not substantially improve SEO effectiveness. In fact, merely increasing keyword volume and other non-substantive changes to content will likely increase the risk of your content qualifying as Black Hat SEO.
Our next step involved acquiring a deeper knowledge of how search engines sift through and then consolidate information. Search Engine Results Page is the presentation of Google, Bing, etc. information into a list of webpages matching the parameters of a given search. A multitude of factors (~200 factors) contribute to a page’s placement amongst search results including: Domain History, Keyword placement in Title Tag, Keyword in Subdomain, Keyword in Description Tag, Keyword Appearing in H1 Tag, and so on. For a complete list of all of Google’s ranking factors, visit Backlinko’s comprehensive list.
Google separates search results into the following categories, Organic; keyword recognition, Paid; CPC based ads, Local results; Google+ and Maps, Knowledge Graphs; FAQ and trusted sources, Related Searches; suggestions for other search terms. These are all mediums to implement keywords into meta tags and identifying terms, with the goal of building visibility in different types of search listings.
Our implementation of keywords into our content was tailored around keeping in mind covering as many search result categories as possible. We structured our keyword analysis around the evaluation between a “competitive keyword” vs “long-tail phrases”. One concept which is widely considered to be true amongst SEO strategy circles is the importance of balancing high volume shorter phrases and low volume long-tail phrases in content construction and organization.
Keyword length is an important factor as far as the relative frequency of a term being searched is concerned. Very simple short keywords are more likely to have high average search volumes which affect the bid price of the keyword term. However, focusing your efforts in too many long or short phrases can leave you vulnerable to the security of overly general or overly specific terms to drive traffic to your site. Whereas the theoretical benefit of long-tail phrases comes from minimizing the variance of a search result, and allows companies to use directly relevant language to track and market their services or products.
One commonplace aspect being adopted by many sites in an attempt to boost SEO rank is the process of “backlinking” an article or other form of content from a third-party source. The intention of hyperlinking into text for a site’s blog or newspage is to grow the reach and overall connectivity of a company’s website with the rest of the internet. Backlinks also provide the luxury of building brand credibility for a website by referencing the information or news from another highly reviewed source.
Lastly, the integration of SEO optimized content into our site structure was the most technical portion of the process of crafting our new website. Thankfully, WordPress and other website builders have the capacity to engage extensions such as Yoast SEO plugins, Open Site Explorer, and SEMrush. A comprehensive list of the most highly reviewed SEO plugins can be found on WPBeginner’s site. Their article is a great resource for those who want to attach a plugin to their WordPress site build(s).
Cloud-based Analytics
From all of us at Hero, thank you for believing in our vision and taking the time to explore our content!