Just want to write? Don’t have TIME for spending hours on your blog, let alone learning stuff like SEO? That’s OK … because all you need is some Basic SEO Tactics … and once you know how, it will only take minutes.
I’ve worked with over a hundred clients creating and implementing SEO strategies for their business websites. And I was damn good at it. Some of my clients got hundreds of #1, #2 or #3 rankings.
The truth is that getting the really coveted Google positions takes time, know how and money.
Some of my clients hired my company to “just do it,” others wanted a bit of help and yet others wanted me to concentrate on other things and wanted to do the basic SEO functions themselves.
For those who wanted to do it themselves, I would load up a plugin such as Yoast SEO, I would configure the plugin and then I would coach them on how to use it. Some caught on right away, others never got it.
For the ones who never got it … I deleted the plugin (it actually interfered) and I came up with a one page instruction sheet that ended up getting some of their pages ranked.
The fact is … I started building websites before WordPress transformed the process, AND my sites were getting Search Engine Rankings before anyone knew what a plugin was.
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The bottom line is … you don’t NEED a plugin! All you need to do is implement some Basic SEO Tactics.
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If all you want is the basic SEO tactics in place and don’t want to spend much time doing it … here’s how to optimize a post or a page in less than three minutes. I’m assuming you already have your post written and it is in draft mode.
Look at your title. What are the keywords?
Your title is an H1 heading and should contain keywords that people are looking for. If you are writing and selling Billionaire Romances … then an article about Billionaire Romances should contain those keywords.
Add your keywords to an introductory paragraph. If it makes sense, BOLD the keywords.
Part way down your article, create an H2 heading using some or all of the keywords. Depending on how long your article is … another one or two H2 heading containing “Billionaire Romance” or “Billionaire Romances” would be good. Google doesn’t care if you add “s” or use other forms of the words.
In your final paragraph, use the keywords again.
Your post should be at least 350 words long. Come ON … you’re a writer, so write!
Now go back and look at your images. Open the image editor and write a description of the image using the keywords. Now that you know this, the next time you load an image, rename the image using your most important keywords. If you have more than one image, mix the keywords up a bit or label your photos keyword-1, keyword-2 and so on.
That’s it. You’re done. You’ve got all the really important basics covered. Yeah, if you use the Yoast plugin you’ll find all sorts of other stuff you can do … but the basics make it possible for Google to notice you!
Want one MORE thing?
If you have a page that is similar or relevant to the page you are working on … create an internal site link. For example on this website, I link all the articles that are about getting reviews together AND since I have more than five review articles I have created a main page where I link them ALL together.
If you have the time and inclination, you CAN install a plugin. MY recommendation is Yoast. For most small websites the free version is all you need. My advice is to read the instructions. Spend 3 – 5 hours learning how to use it properly. If you don’t use it properly there is no point. If you find yourself getting annoyed and not using it. Deactivate. Delete. Go back to the SEO basics.
On an author or self-publisher website, what should you absolutely SEO optimize?
1. The NAME of your website.
2. YOUR name or the name of your publishing company.
3. Each of your books
Feel free to ignore everything else.
For example, if YOUR name is Suzanne Black and your website name is AuthorSuzanneBlack.com here’s what you do.
- Optimize your home page for Author Suzanne Black.
- Create an Author Bio page and optimize it for Suzanne Black.
- Create a main book list page, which lists all your books (even if it is only two) and optimize it for Suzanne Black’s Books
- Each of your books should have a separate page … optimize for the book name. Link each book page to your main book list page.
Why do this? Because you want your website to show up in Google if someone searches for your name. Note: it may take a month or more for this to happen so don’t hold your breath!
Does it work? Sheese, you have to ask? I DO have Yoast installed on my websites. Half the time I don’t use it … I just implement the basic SEO tactics listed above. Go and google me … Melanie Rockett
YOU can get there too!
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