How to DIY your blog SEO on a shoestring budget |
It doesn't require expensive instruments to conduct SEO for your blog and it shouldn't need to cost a fortune either. This is how you can do it yourself in 7 easy steps.
When it gets closer to the New Year hits its stride, you're most likely going over budgets and expenses, trying to figure out what you did with your money last year and how you'll reduce your expenses this year. We've all been there, and it's not a pleasant experience.
In the search for ways to reduce costs It's not unusual to identify strategies and methods you've been using that can cost a significant amount of money, and then find ways to remove them, or bring them in-house.
For some reason, most marketers think the need for the services of a search engine optimization (SEO) specialist or tools to support their efforts in that area is a must. Well, I'm here to tell you that you can effectively do your own SEO and not spend any cash at all.
Have you been blown off by your imagination?
SEO can be an important component of your overall marketing strategy.
Actually, 61% of marketers' most important priorities in their marketing through the internet is enhancing the SEO of their websites and increasing their online presence. With the rise of voice search in popularity, the percentage will only increase year-over-year.
Ensuring your SEO is on the same page and increasing your natural site's traffic may help you outdo competitors in your space, and increase the accessibility of your audiences conducting those internet searches.
How to DIY your SEO strategy
1. Make a list of your keywords
The first step of doing your SEO strategy for yourself is to find your key words through the research of keywords . Keyword research can be short-tail or long tail , but essentially it should include keywords you wish your website to rank for and phrases your audience uses to search for related items to your area of expertise on the internet.
For example, if you're an agency that is specialized in design and marketing, you'll want to start with a list that looks as follows:
Agency for marketing
Design agency
Marketing and design firm
Design of high-quality
Marketing strategy
The long-term keyword you choose could look similar to:
What are the steps to implement a market strategy
The most effective design strategies for email marketing
How to identify marketing goals
The kinds of marketing strategies to utilize
These are just an example. What you'll want to determine is your special areas of expertise and then build on that.
I'd recommend also talking to your sales staff to determine what questions prospects might be asking about and what they're saying they require assistance with. This could inform your keywords list in addition.
Make sure to check your current rankings so you can determine which terms to focus on and don't forget to examine your competition's rankings, as well. This will provide you with the idea of areas that have been neglected, to help you focus on them to gain an advantage.
2. Establish or create pillar pages
Pillar pages are designed to serve as the one-stop shop for information on a certain topic, which should also be linked to one of the keywords you have chosen to use. These pages are typically longer, as they don't leave any one unfinished and cover as much ground as is possible.
You either have these pages which need to be updated or create them. When making or updating your pages, make sure you explore different areas of the subject.
As an example, say you're creating a pillar page for the keywords "marketing method".
You'll want to discuss what you need to do to put your strategy to achieve the objectives that a strategy will help you attain, the various methods and tactics that a strategy consists of, how to measure the effectiveness of your strategy and also how you can implement your plan.
For each keyword or word you want to rank for You'll need a pillar page. That way, whenever you make use of that term in your content you'll be able to hyperlink back to that particular page on the pillar, which can increase the website's potential to rank in search results for the word.
3. Find duplicate content, broken links
If you've been creating blog content willy nilly there's a good chance you've got lots of outdated and duplicate content and maybe even broken pages. You must rectify those issues in order for your website to rank well, as they will end up working against you.
You can create a spreadsheet in which you list the keywords, as well as blog posts that are tied to this keyword in some manner. And if you have a large amount of blog posts You may need create subgroups of every search term. See the image below to get an idea of what I mean.
This can help you manage your efforts so you can more easily break down what blog posts are the most like others.
Also, make sure to create a separate spreadsheet that houses the broken links that you discover when doing this research to make it easy to pull the links and redirect them.
4. Update and redirect your website
Once you're done creating your spreadsheet, go over the similar blog content carefully. If there are any that seem repetitive or reiterating similar ideas, you should redirect the less strategic or dated blog posts to the more modern, more high-quality sites.
This can reduce the self-competing content (yes it is possible for your content to rival itself on the search results), and ensure the right pages rank with the appropriate search terms.
It's also an excellent occasion to refresh any blog content that doesn't have to be changed but would benefit from additional content or a refresh.
In the event that you're going to keep your pages on the internet, you'll need to ensure they've got appropriate keywords in the content, as well as provide the most up-to current information that is available.
5. Link to the pillar pages in content
Now that your blog is cleared of duplicate content and the clutter has been eliminated, as well as any broken links, you need to look through your blog's pages and ensure that the correct pages are linked back to your the pillar pages .
Start by reviewing your subgroupings, as well as the hyperlinks listed underneath them.
Let's suppose there are three blog sites that correlate to marketing strategy and marketing via email . Review each article and add a link to your pillar page for marketing strategy using "marketing strategies" as the anchor text.
6. Develop a link strategy that moves ahead
Make sure you've adhered to this plan for all the future blog posts you're writing. After all, you went through the hassle to update your content and the only thing that could harm that effort is if you do not continue to follow the plan.
It's true that I've spoken about spreadsheets a lot and yet they're an asset in this approach. They can help with just about each process, and this is one. I suggest listing every keyword, and in the next column, the post assigned to them.
It's also a good idea to provide various anchor texts or keywords with long tails that can be used for each as well.
By outlining which pillar article is associated with which keyword(s), you'll keep any new team members on the same page and provide an easy reference to refer to as you review and edit the content for your blog in the future.
Also, it helps to keep SEO at the forefront of your mind when you write your web content.
7. Keep track of results
Be sure to check on how well your strategy is doing every month or quarter. You'll want to indicate whether or not your content is starting to rank higher in the search results, or if your content is in a rut, and aid in identifying any issues.
It is possible to use tools for free such as Moz or do a Google search based on your keyword from time moment to determine if your content is popping up.
In all likelihood, if you're wondering where to track this and you don't want go in on the SEO software like Moz Then I've one last word for you, and it's one that we've spoken about a number of times this morning in the past: spreadsheets.
SEO doesn't have to cost you a fortune
The need to have an SEO strategy is crucial in order to get quickly found online by customers. The hiring of an outside SEO expert can be costly, but it isn't necessary.
If you move your SEO work in-house and following the steps mentioned above, you will be able to get your blog in order in order that the best blog posts begin to appear on search engines, and continues to rank over time.
To review, the basic actions are:
In assembling a keyword list
Creating pillar pages, or if you already possess a popular page you utilize, you can transform existing pages into Pillar pages
Scoping out duplicate content
Refreshing old, outdated content and granting redirects to content that's competing with itself
Seeding the links to your cluster content from your pillar pages
Implementing a link strategy
Of course you should be keeping a close eye on your results.
Easy-peasy.