Basic SEO Metrics Lay the groundwork for more in-depth and detailed analysis. They provide you with general performance indicators and offer a starting point for identifying areas where improvements can be made and where you should focus your attention and resources. They are the baseline for effectively assessing your website from an onsite and offsite SEO perspective. Basic metrics can be divided into four core groups that can be used to analyze the effectiveness of your website in a general sense. They are keyword research and mapping, on-page optimization, social validation, and local SEO
Keyword Research & Mapping is at the core of SEO metrics and it is used by us to identify search terms and phrases that people enter into search engines. The goal is to find the correct mix of keywords and then implement them into your website to improve your overall search engine ranking. Ranking for the keywords that are most frequently used by your target group of users or customers can significantly increase the amount of targeted traffic to your website, as opposed to obtaining new website visitors by chance.
1. Set a baseline
Take a look at your current website data to get an idea of which keywords are generating the most traffic for your site and which keywords are not getting any traction.
2 Brainstorm keyword ideas
Use the data you discovered from your website and brainstorm a list of potential new keywords and phrases. Try to approach this exercise from a user’s perspective. For example, if you were going to search for your website, what words would you enter into Google to find it? What words or phrases most accurately describe your website?
3 Examine competing websites
Examine your top 3-5 competitor’s websites from a keyword perspective. What keywords are they optimizing for? Take a look at their meta tags, content, headers, and anchor text. More on this in the next section about on page optimization.
4 Run your list through the Google Keyword Tool
This is the main keyword tool that you will use. Add your keyword list into this tool to get an idea of the search volume and competitiveness of your keywords. Also, make note of related terms, keyword modifiers, local search terms, and other keyword ideas.
5 Refine your keyword list
Use the information provided from the Google Keyword Tool to refine your list of keywords.
It is important to know which pages you will be targeting as you go through the keyword research process. To begin the mapping process, you will want to simply layout the structure of your website along with the corresponding keywords for each page. A spreadsheet is an effective tool for this exercise. The most important rule for keyword mapping is to assign keywords that are relevant and related to the page. For example, you would not assign the keyword “Oranges” if the topic of the webpage is Apples. Mapping keywords is beneficial because it helps to provide clarity. It clearly outlines the targeted keywords for each web page, creates structure, makes it easier to perform internal linking, and helps to create an organized site map for your website.
The Keyword Research Tools
Google Adwords Keyword Tool
2 Google Insights for Search
3 Google Trends Keyword Demand Prediction
4 Microsoft Advertising Intelligence
5 Bing Keyword Research Tool
6 Wordtracker’s Free Basic Keyword Demand
On-Page Optimization
Integrating keywords into the correct places on your website is the most important part of onsite optimization. Effective on-page optimization plays a significant role in your website’s ability to achieve a higher search ranking for the keywords you have targeted. Identifying which keywords to target is the first step to achieving a good ranking, but implementing your keywords correctly will maximize their effectiveness.
1. Meta Title tag
Add targeted keywords into the title tag of each page on your website. For maximum effectiveness, each title tag must be unique. Avoid simply listing keywords and be concise– you have 65 characters.
2 Meta Description tag
Every page must have a unique page description. The description must be relevant to the content on the page, 165 characters or less, and naturally include targeted keywords. Using a call to action will increase the effectiveness and clickability of the description tag.
3 Anchor tags
“Click here” is not an effective use of anchor text. Include keywords in the anchor text links on your website to link to other relevant pages. Keywords need to be relevant to the content you are linking to and the anchor text should be grammatically correct.
Header tags
Use keywords in the header tags on your website where appropriate. Only use a keyword once in the <H1>. Keywords used must be relevant to the page’s content.
5 Site URL
Many overlook keywords when naming pages and setting up their website link structure. Use the assigned keyword to name relevant pages. Avoid including keywords in the URL if they are not appropriate or negatively impact the link structure.
6 Image Optimization
Do not forget to include relevant keywords into the alt tag. Refrain from simply listing keywords. Focus on writing a relevant image description and add keywords naturally.
7 Content
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you need to naturally include keywords into the content on your website. Before you go and stuff your website full of keywords, you need to pay particular attention to the following guidelines for adding keywords to your content.
Effectively optimizing on-page content will have a positive effect on your search ranking. This is the one area of SEO where you have complete control and it is important to get this structure in place correctly the first time in order to enhance your website’s visibility in search engines.
Keyword Research & Mapping is at the core of SEO metrics and it is used by us to identify search terms and phrases that people enter into search engines. The goal is to find the correct mix of keywords and then implement them into your website to improve your overall search engine ranking. Ranking for the keywords that are most frequently used by your target group of users or customers can significantly increase the amount of targeted traffic to your website, as opposed to obtaining new website visitors by chance.
1. Set a baseline
Take a look at your current website data to get an idea of which keywords are generating the most traffic for your site and which keywords are not getting any traction.
2 Brainstorm keyword ideas
Use the data you discovered from your website and brainstorm a list of potential new keywords and phrases. Try to approach this exercise from a user’s perspective. For example, if you were going to search for your website, what words would you enter into Google to find it? What words or phrases most accurately describe your website?
3 Examine competing websites
Examine your top 3-5 competitor’s websites from a keyword perspective. What keywords are they optimizing for? Take a look at their meta tags, content, headers, and anchor text. More on this in the next section about on page optimization.
4 Run your list through the Google Keyword Tool
This is the main keyword tool that you will use. Add your keyword list into this tool to get an idea of the search volume and competitiveness of your keywords. Also, make note of related terms, keyword modifiers, local search terms, and other keyword ideas.
5 Refine your keyword list
Use the information provided from the Google Keyword Tool to refine your list of keywords.
It is important to know which pages you will be targeting as you go through the keyword research process. To begin the mapping process, you will want to simply layout the structure of your website along with the corresponding keywords for each page. A spreadsheet is an effective tool for this exercise. The most important rule for keyword mapping is to assign keywords that are relevant and related to the page. For example, you would not assign the keyword “Oranges” if the topic of the webpage is Apples. Mapping keywords is beneficial because it helps to provide clarity. It clearly outlines the targeted keywords for each web page, creates structure, makes it easier to perform internal linking, and helps to create an organized site map for your website.
The Keyword Research Tools
Google Adwords Keyword Tool
2 Google Insights for Search
3 Google Trends Keyword Demand Prediction
4 Microsoft Advertising Intelligence
5 Bing Keyword Research Tool
6 Wordtracker’s Free Basic Keyword Demand
On-Page Optimization
Integrating keywords into the correct places on your website is the most important part of onsite optimization. Effective on-page optimization plays a significant role in your website’s ability to achieve a higher search ranking for the keywords you have targeted. Identifying which keywords to target is the first step to achieving a good ranking, but implementing your keywords correctly will maximize their effectiveness.
1. Meta Title tag
Add targeted keywords into the title tag of each page on your website. For maximum effectiveness, each title tag must be unique. Avoid simply listing keywords and be concise– you have 65 characters.
2 Meta Description tag
Every page must have a unique page description. The description must be relevant to the content on the page, 165 characters or less, and naturally include targeted keywords. Using a call to action will increase the effectiveness and clickability of the description tag.
3 Anchor tags
“Click here” is not an effective use of anchor text. Include keywords in the anchor text links on your website to link to other relevant pages. Keywords need to be relevant to the content you are linking to and the anchor text should be grammatically correct.
Header tags
Use keywords in the header tags on your website where appropriate. Only use a keyword once in the <H1>. Keywords used must be relevant to the page’s content.
5 Site URL
Many overlook keywords when naming pages and setting up their website link structure. Use the assigned keyword to name relevant pages. Avoid including keywords in the URL if they are not appropriate or negatively impact the link structure.
6 Image Optimization
Do not forget to include relevant keywords into the alt tag. Refrain from simply listing keywords. Focus on writing a relevant image description and add keywords naturally.
7 Content
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you need to naturally include keywords into the content on your website. Before you go and stuff your website full of keywords, you need to pay particular attention to the following guidelines for adding keywords to your content.
Effectively optimizing on-page content will have a positive effect on your search ranking. This is the one area of SEO where you have complete control and it is important to get this structure in place correctly the first time in order to enhance your website’s visibility in search engines.
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