Our heads are all currently spinning with how we can make ends meet in an online-only society. We knew the Internet was powerful – we didn’t know just how badly we were all about to need it.

There are a LOT of unanswered questions floating around out there… but let’s start with one:

WTF is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. I have a habit of typing “SEO Optimization” into our proposals (Frank edits it out every time, thank you Frank). “Search Engine Optimization Optimization,” is not the thing. SEO is the thing. I’ll stop saying it if you will. 

Anyway, it does what it promises – great SEO will optimize your site, increasing people’s ability to search for you, on the engine (known fondly as Google).

SEO isn’t sexy. But you know what is? Increased traffic. Reaching new viewers. Connecting with your people. Actualizing your why. Making money. Living your best online business life.

When it comes to SEO, your goal is simple: to be the most useful thing on the internet. All that means is, position yourself as an expert. You don’t have to invent things, but you do have to be a “source of sources.” Research, share knowledge, become a hub of reliable information that people (and Google) can trust on the topic you’ve chosen. 

That’s what Google is looking for – Google is creepy smart, but she’s kinda lazy. Googs can read between the lines of a search phrase, but there are things you can apply to your website + blog + online store right now that will make it MUCH easier for people to find you online. 

So, let’s go ahead and DO THAT. If you manage your website (or manage someone who does) these are the places you can immediately implement SEO changes. Like, right now.

BLOG

• Change the titles of your old blog posts to directly answer a question or search topic (“Get What You Paid For, Every Time” changes to, “How To Maximize Your Creative Investment”).
• Make sure you’re using keywords within the copy that tackle the subject matter from multiple angles, based on regional dialect, different terms for the same words, and so forth. (While we use the word “branding”, our clients might be searching “logo.” Where people call it a romper, somewhere else may call it a jumpsuit. Switch it up throughout your text, so you can hit multiple searches!).
• Google is smart enough to know that your carrot cake with almond flour is “gluten-free baking,” but that doesn’t mean you’ll be at the top of the list, up against titles like “gluten free carrot cake.” The more keywords you can naturally insert into the text, the better. *NATURALLY.* Remember: you want this to appeal to your readers, too. 
• Consider making seasonal content evergreen. If you published something at Halloween, it will be more searchable during that time of year. However, you can duplicate the post, and remove any seasonal tags to give yourself more reach year-round. Seasonal posts actually aren’t a negative thing – the seasonal pool is smaller, meaning your relevance may be higher during that time.

ONLINE STORE

• Your online products are a beautiful place to pack in SEO keywords. If you want to keep your product names short and on-brand, that’s totally okay – but make sure the product description states exactly what it is, who it’s for, and what problems it solves. If you want to include a brief list of product specs, make sure there is context first. The more info you offer, the more searchable. But, do so with intention, and keep it concise so your shoppers aren’t overwhelmed with text.
• Link between your products and blog, if you have both! Link products in your blog posts and, in your product descriptions, link to blog posts that feature them. Keeping internal site traffic higher keeps people on your site longer, which tells Googs that people want to hang out there – and establishes you and your offerings as an authority. 

WEBSITE 

• Make sure ALL links on your website (including blog + store) are ACTIVE and leading to actual places that can help your customers in whatever way is intended. Dead links are flagged by Google as *not* useful content, and can keep you further down on the search list. This is especially important for shopping lists and gift guides, links to external sites that you aren’t personally in control of, but also applies to links within your own site that just might be typed in wrong or misdirecting. Check ‘em allllll out, remove ‘em if they don’t work. 
• Edit Alt Text + filenames of images with keywords and phrases to describe the image, if your web design host gives you the option to add a description for the image to give an extra SEO boost. 

If you just read this entire thing and thought, “okay coooool, but how do I actually *do* this, though?” we can help.

Drop us a line here, and we can chat about our SEO overhaul offerings.

Happy Interweb-ing! 

The Appleyards