When it comes to getting free traffic, search engine optimization (SEO) is no doubt the best way to do it. I’ve already showed you how SEO works so you know what to expect. And in that article, I told you that, as long as you optimize the content you put out, you can get ranked on search engines like Google.
But you’re probably here because you want to improve your chances of succeeding in SEO on Google, you’ve come to the right place. I’ll be sharing with you seven tips to improve your SEO ranking, whether you’re optimizing a blog or a YouTube video. Many bloggers and YouTubers will offer information on SEO, but either they don’t give enough information or they provide you with methods that worked in the past. In this article, I will introduce to you effective steps that are proven to work well with search engines like Google.
So with that being said, let’s check out these seven SEO tips.
1. Use the right keywords.
This is the first and most critical tip when it comes to SEO. Do your keyword research, but do it right! It’s simple to think of your niche and all the keywords people will be typing into Google based on your niche. If I were in the health niche, I’d think of a keyword like “how to build muscle” and then create content that satisfies the keyword. But there’s a problem with using this particular keyword.
Keywords like “how to build muscle” and “how to make money online” are so broad that there’s too many competitors for you to outrank and you aren’t covering a specific topic in your content. That’s why you need to strive for long-tail keywords. They usually have 6 words or more and address a particular problem. So instead of “how to make money online,” I’d go for something like “how to work from home and make money.” Now I’m focusing on work-from-home jobs, a specific area that I can talk about. Do you see the difference?
So, when doing your keyword research, remember to keep it a little long and detailed, so you can target people who are searching, without all the competition.
2. Stick to the topic.
When you create your content, always keep in mind the problem you’re targeting. This might seem like a breeze to you, but you may not know you’re getting off topic.
Let’s suppose I had to make a blog article on how to protect your computer from malware. I’d introduce the topic, but then I start talking about what malware is and how it can ruin your computer. See how I unexpectedly changed the topic? Instead of giving directions on how to protect a computer from malware, I’m just giving the definition of malware.
That’s why, as you think of content to write or film, always make sure that you are staying on topic and answering the questions people have when they searched up the keyword.
3. Give lots of information.
You may have heard of the myth that you shouldn’t make your blog articles or videos too long because that would bore your readers or viewers and they would leave. But the truth is: the more information you provide, the more fascinated your traffic would be and the likelier they will stay longer. In fact, if your content was too short, your audience will probably still be dissatisfied and so find someone else to answer.
So if you’re doing a blog article, I always advise at least 1,200 words, or if you’re filming a video, strive for at least 10 minutes. This way, you are not only satisfying your audience better, but you also incentivize search engines like Google to rank you higher because you provide more value than most others. As you see in the image above, Ahrefs saw that the blogs that ranked the most on Google had the longest word count.
Also, make sure you write more articles and record more YouTube videos until you have a wide selection for your audience to browse through. That way, when they’re done reading or watching one piece of good content that they enjoyed, there’s more where that came from!
4. Provide good links.
Search engines enjoy seeing sites connected together through links, so if you’re not linking anywhere on your content, this is a must! If you’re on a blog, provide not only links to other articles, but also links to third-party websites that are helpful resources to your readers. On a YouTube video, provide websites or blogs for people to check out for resources, or link to other YouTube videos that you recommend. Of course, make sure the links are related to the topic you are covering.
And in case you’re wondering, affiliate links don’t count, because that’s the selling side of things. Instead of linking to products, link to resourceful content that your viewers or readers can consume. The search engines will see how open you are to other people and consider you more authoritative.
5. Connect with your audience.
The longer you get your audience to stick around, the better your chances are of ranking higher. And what’s the best way to keep them from going away? By attracting them, of course!
The best way to do this is to place yourself in their shoes and stoop down to their level. As you give your information, tell them “I know what it’s like to…” or “I completely understand if you…” This gives your audience a sense of reassurance. You also want to put in magnetic words in your content’s title to attract your audience. Magnetic words include: “easy,” “for beginners,” “free,” “simple,” “without…,” as well as the current year. By doing this, the audience who see your title will feel reassured that their problem will be resolved once and for all. Now you don’t want to be clickbait. That’s why earlier, I gave you the tip of providing as much information as you can.
When you reach out to the audience and support them as much as possible, they will feel at ease and resonate with you. As a result, they will stay longer on your content and you earn more authority for that.
6. Ignore the old tactics.
If you’ve already done research on SEO, you’re probably familiar with these kinds of strategies:
- Repeat the keyword that you’re targeting over and over in your content. (This is called “keyword stuffing.”)
- Get backlinks from other people. Beg users to link back to you so that you can rank higher.
- Connect your content to all forms of social media, like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
But the truth is: they are all old-school methods. These were really effective ten to twenty years ago, when search engines focused on the technical aspects of your content to rank you. Today, they are so smart that they can tell if your content is juicy and helpful or not and rank that accordingly. So stop wasting time following outdated methods that the SEO “gurus” are still trying to teach you, and follow these new ones that are proven to work today and for years to come.
7. Be very patient.
If you’ve done all of these tips and still feel like you’ve failed with getting traffic to your content, you’re probably just impatient! See, it can take months for your content to rank higher on the search engines and thus gain the traffic it needs.
When it comes to SEO, how long it takes pretty much varies. Some get free traffic as early as a few months while others have to wait a year before they see any results. In my SEO for beginners article, I have given an idea of exactly how much time it can take for you to find your place in the search engines. So give the process more time and your wait will be well worth it!
Conclusion
As you can see, doing SEO is not as difficult as it really seems. You just need to know what to do and have the focus and confidence to take action. Of course, you DON’T have to follow ALL of them to do better at SEO. If you can apply at least some of them, you should notice some difference in the way you look at SEO and over time discover free traffic coming to your content.
If SEO is something you’d like to dive deep in, I’ll leave you with a great website to check out, and that is Yoast.com. If you’re starting a blog and would like a WordPress plugin for SEO, that’s the place to go. Not only that, Yoast has amazing free content in its SEO Academy and SEO Blog for you to learn even more about the process of SEO. Now if you’re interested in starting affiliate marketing, we have an even better site to go to see how much SEO can affect you as an affiliate. You can check out this site in our RECOMMENDATIONS page, under “Best Affiliate Training.”
Anyway, I hope this gave you more hope in becoming better at SEO with your blog articles or YouTube videos. However way you choose, all that really matters is that you give a lot of value to your audience and that will definitely pay off!