This week’s SEO chat on Twitter is a delicious smorgasbord of random, but useful questions to be answered this holiday season.
Q1 #SEOchat – How do you improve a website's SEO?
— Crystal Horton (@imcrystalhorton) November 30, 2023
A1 – #SEOChat lol nice starting with the easy ones!
This leads to another question of what is your user looking for? You have to have a baseline and a reference point so you have sometime to “improve”
Kevin Pauls
A1: The fastest & “easiest” wins come from Technical SEO – Meta Titles & Descriptions, URL cleanup, Header Hierarchy, seeded keyword phrases.
This “foundation of discoverability” rolls the snowball downhill. Then it’s content creation, CRO for new content, etc.
travis
#SEOChat A1. There’s lots of different things that can be done, but what gets done, and in what order, depends on what state the site is in, what’s done/missing, what competitors are up to, and what content contributes to the primary goal(s) the most.
Darth Autocrat (Lyndon NA)
Q2 #SEOchat – What tips do you suggest for creating a successful SEO gameplan?
— Crystal Horton (@imcrystalhorton) November 30, 2023
A2: Most often, it starts with education (re-education). SEO efforts are not overnight successes. It’s a patience game with nuance. With that, projects should be divided into Phases: short-term early wins, longer-term organic traffic growth, conversion into revenue. SEOChat
travis
Know the niche you’re in – and that means not relying on a tool but actually exploring the niche
Mordy Oberstein *Buckle Up*
#SEOChat A2. Start with the business/client/site. Know the goals, know the market and audience, audit the site (SEO/UX, tools and actually use the site as a user (starting from search)). From there, you can start prioritising for short/mid/long term goals/optimisations.
Darth Autocrat (Lyndon NA)
A2: It is important to clarify where you to show up.
Understand “these are your customer behaviors so this is how you get in front of them”.
Write the story, reread it. If it is no good then rewrite it. Then have it reviewed.
There needs to be an expectation at the start.
Kevin Pauls
Q3 #SEOchat – What are effective strategies for keyword optimization in content?
— Crystal Horton (@imcrystalhorton) November 30, 2023
If there’s an empty spot on the page just put the keyword there.
Mordy Oberstein *Buckle Up*
keyword stuff the crap outta every page!!!
JUST KIDDING – in fact – ignore keywords altogether and focus on creating exhaustive unique, value-add, HELPFUL content around a topic #seochat
Elizabeth Rule
A3: Search intent is the name of the game. Why optimize for “facial moisturizer” when you can optimize for “petitgrain facial moisturizer.” The latter houses specific intent. There may be less volume than the former, but as a theme/phrase it’s far more “ownable.
travis
#SEOChat A3. 1) Knowing what term(s) the right people use 2) Knowing what modifiers go with it for the different intents 3) Building out content across the stages/intents 4) Interlinking them properly 5) Including the right term in the right elements/places >>>
Darth Autocrat
Q4 #SEOchat – How does mobile optimization impact SEO?
— Crystal Horton (@imcrystalhorton) November 30, 2023
A4: These days, it goes without saying that we’re in a mobile-first world. Phones (+ tablets) are the most accessible, convenient devices.
This is design/dev work, but all sites should flourish on mobile, then larger devices. It’s an absolute priority optimization.
travis
Despite what G says/implies – the type of site makes a big difference. If there’s a Mega-site/Brand in the SERP, even if they aren’t that mobile friendly, they may still rank. But it’s more about how it impacts the user. Being usable and helpful wins return visits.
Darth Autocrat (Lyndon NA)
Mobile usability is important. That is primarily how Google is Crawling and reviewing the page. We know that Google looks at user interactions and behaviors… and retrains on the last 13months of data. But Google is a Profit machine. They look at $ per page.
Kevin Pauls
Q5 #SEOchat – What metrics do you track to measure the success of your SEO efforts?
— Crystal Horton (@imcrystalhorton) November 30, 2023
A5: I see 2 critical buckets: Directional Metrics 1. DA/DR (Moz/Ahrefs) 2. Org. Visibility (GSC) 3. Avg. Eng. Time (GA4) 4. % New (GA4, 30-60d) Revenue-Oriented KPIs 5. Content ROI Efficiency (custom, time-based) 6. Org. Transactions (GA4) 7. Org. Conv. Rate (GA4)
travis
A5: #SEOchat A business should have 1 “most important number”. Usually that number is Profit.
Kevin Pauls
A5 #seochat I measure business metrics or UX metrics based on what we were trying to do. For some items we look at crawl data – shifts in internal page rank and depth. For others we look at interactions and bounce rates. Those give us early indicators.
Craig Harkins
I measure impressions and clicks on queries.
Atif Shahab Quresh
Q6 #SEOchat – If a website is optimized, will it increase the rank of a Google Business Profile?
— Crystal Horton (@imcrystalhorton) November 30, 2023
A6: I’ve not looked at that specific relationship, but it holds at least some water. Treat GMB like a social profile, regardless of local-ness. Keep it accurate, post frequently (even repurposed content), highlight products/services, promote deals, respond quickly.
travis
YES!! big time. In fact, onsite optimization is one of the top ranking factors as reported in
@whitespark‘s lovely Local Search Ranking Factors survey https://whitespark.ca/local-search-ranking-factors…#seochat
Elizabeth Rule
Oooooh – I don’t typically touch Local/GBP these days, but I believe the answer is “yes”, (if the page linked to the GBP sucks, your GBP listing may lower etc.) I could be wrong though.
Darth Autocrat (Lyndon NA)
Q7 #SEOchat – Is it true that a website that's well-optimized can lead to a more effective Google Ad campaign?
— Crystal Horton (@imcrystalhorton) November 30, 2023
A7: Almost too much to unpack here… Are we talking PMax/Shopping campaigns reliant on Page Titles & Descriptions? If so, then absolutely. The standard line is that SEO & Google Ads success are independent, but solid SEO can reduce reliance on Google Ads.
travis
Yes – but’s it’s due to a psychological “trick”, not a systemic one. If people see (consciously or unconsciously) the same brand/domain/message, they may be more inclined to respond to it. This may lead to a (typically small) gain in CTR (SERP and/or Ad)
Darth Autocrat
Absolutely!! Optimize it for CRO so that when people land on your website no matter where they come from they can easily convert #seochat
Elizabeth Rule
Q8 #SEOchat – If a website is in good SEO standing, will it increase lead volume with a Local Services Ad?
— Crystal Horton (@imcrystalhorton) November 30, 2023
A8: I see SEO & Google Ads as independent, but related. Any GBP Profile must be holistically sound to compete, both organically & in ads. Ads are pay-to-play, but you can’t buy your way out of poor build. Others will leapfrog you in auctions, regardless of bid.
travis
A8: #SEOchat Perhaps you can chime in LSA Queen, but I would say yes indirectly. There is only so much optimization that can be done on LSA, but if your website is in good SEO standing you may be getting more traffic, more reviews, etc. which starts the snowball.
Kevin Pauls
#SEOChat A8. *blinks* Can I have one about cheese? No idea! *goes off to read other answers to learn!*
Darth Autocrat
From what I understand, not at all. I do wonder how much (if any) influence the GBP plays on LSA success #seochat
Elizabeth Rul
