5-11-2019
"How do I get Google to display me as top result?" Putting as many keywords as possible in a page may have worked in the past, but nowadays that doesn´t do it anymore. Google has clever algorithms that scan the page structure and content to be as relevant as possible to its visitors. The algorithms are complicated and change constantly, but with the following five tips you can write super-strong content, for both your visitors and Google.
1. Determine and research your target group
Focus not only on basic characteristics (male/female, age, etc.) but also on the type of person. What keeps them occupied in daily life and what do they find important? For example, google the subject you are writing about together with the word 'forum'. On forums, some people write about everything and anything in their lives. That's very useful, because it gives you insight into the motives of your target group, and, also very useful: topical hot topics. After you have learned what your target group finds important and what their problems are, you can start thinking about how your organisation, service or product contributes to the solution.
2. Research keywords
A second reason why researching your target group is useful is that you get a feel for their choice of words. Make a list of words that are relevant to the subject you are writing about, including different word combinations. Then check if Google also finds these words relevant.
There are three ways to do this:
- Google suggest:
When you google a keyword, the search engine automatically adds frequently used keyword combinations. For example, to the subject 'milk production' Google automatically adds 'milk production per country' and 'milk production worldwide'.
- Related searches:
After entering a keyword, Google indicates at the bottom of the page which other related keyword combinations are commonly used. For 'agricultural communication agency', the related searches are: 'agricultural advertising agency' and 'agricultural communication'. Try out different keywords and combinations and test new ideas.
- Google Keywordplanner:
This is a tool for Google Ads which shows you which keywords are interesting for an advertisement, but also for SEO of course, and it is free! All you need is an Ads (Google) account. The great thing about the keyword planner is that, in addition to suggestions, you can immediately see how much search traffic a keyword or combination generates each month.
With a lot of traffic that is relevant, but then you also have a lot of competition. With very little traffic, you may reach fewer people, but those are the people you want to reach.
3. Write a strong text tailor-made for your target group
Now put your keywords aside. Always keep in mind that you write for your reader and not for Google. What is the message you want to convey to your reader?
- Who is the page for?
- What is the purpose of the page?
- What do you want your visitor to do on your page?
So write qualitative content for your target group. Make it easy to read on a screen: short paragraphs, lots of empty lines and use subheadings. These are extra important for SEO. The challenge is to be to the point, but on the other hand to make sure your text is long enough, at least 300 words.
4. Put relevant keywords into your text
Now that your text with a clear message for the target group is ready, go back to your keyword list. Do not use as many keywords in your text as possible, then it becomes unreadable. Add some of them in logical places, and make sure the words that are already there are in the right place:
- In the URL
- In the first words of the title of the page, then the search engine immediately understands what your text is about.
- In the intro of your text
- In subheadings, make them extra important for search engines by formatting them as H1 to H6 (often displayed as header 2, header 3 etc.).
- In the meta-description. This does not count for SEO, but is displayed in the search results and is therefore of interest to the reader.
5. Use links, images and tags
You now have a strong text with the right keywords in the right place. Finally, it is important to pay attention to the layout of the page.
- Use images and give these images a name (ALT text). Again: use keywords.
- Use keywords for internal links to other pages or articles on your website.
- Write a catchy title tag and meta description for your page or article. These are displayed in Google and therefore largely determine whether the reader becomes interested and clicks on your page-link.
- Make sure that external websites link to your page. Google sees this as an authority and ensures that you are displayed higher than your competitors who are of course also using SEO.
If you've implemented all of the above, you're already on the right track with Google. Do you need help writing catchy texts or do you want someone to have a fresh look at your website and SEO? Then please contact Marije.