Backlink Bonanza: Strategies to Skyrocket Your SEO Rankings

Guest post Don’t know what to do on a winter day in Adelaide? Want to get more traffic to your website or just simply want to know a tiny bit more about backlinks (who doesn’t like a bit of nerdy reading).   If you are reading this article, you probably are a bit familiar with the concept of backlinks, but just to be clear, let’s take a step back and cover the basics. Backlinks, at its core, is your website getting a vote from another website. The vote in this context is the link. It’s like saying “hey this website is trustworthy, and I recommend it”. Ideally you want votes from websites where there is a logical connection to your business. So for a copywriting business the most obvious recommendation would be getting backlinks from other copywriters. But if we zoom out a little there are more opportunities – startup founders, small business owners, freelancers and marketing managers are just a few. Building backlinks is a long-term strategy but when done ethically and with no “quick wins” methods, it is one of the best ways to boost your SEO rankings and give your business more leads and more revenue.   The goal of this article is not to go into details about the technical aspects and all metrics but instead giving you a more general overview how to approach building backlinks. Don’t think about links This is a link building article about backlinks. So the title may seem a bit strange but bear with me. Let’s say you are a Solar Installation company working in Adelaide and you want more business. Your primary instinct would probably not be “I need to hurry and build some backlinks”. No, you would probably have a few meetings (hopefully not too many of the boring ones) and define your ideal clients: what sort of clients do you want more of? What sort of clients do you want fewer of? The same goes for geographical areas. Are there any suburbs that are more interesting for your business? Maybe you see that the jobs you do in North Adelaide are bigger and more profitable than the ones you do in Marion. That is all very important and solid information that will help you when you are implementing a link building strategy.   Getting the foundations right You can have the best and most relevant links in the world, but if you don’t have your on-page factors in place, they will do very little for your business. It’s all about getting the foundations right! So after you have done the first step it’s time checking how your own website is doing. These are some of the things you want to make sure are in place: What is working for your competitors? Whether we are talking about link building, SEO in general or some other business related topic – you should always assess the market and do some market research. So choose three competitors that offer the same products or services as you do and then analyse their backlink profile. The goal is not to steal their backlinks. Instead, we want to look for patterns. What kind of links are they building? What anchor text are they using? What prospecting angles can you discover?  This is valuable information that you want to take notes on. Find people you like, not websites with names Human aspect first! To get valuable links you have to be able to actually make someone else understand that you not only looked at their website but show them in what way their audience would benefit from the type of link you are trying to pitch. So before you start emailing someone you need to determine what group (or ideally sub-group) you want to target and really define in what way they make sense to your business (if they don’t make sense to you, they will not make sense to search engines). Then it’s about finding these real human beings – and there are many ways of going about doing this. One suggestion is that you identify what specific keywords companies in that group or sub-group would rank for and add search operators such as +inurl: blog or “how to”, or “tips”. You can also go for an already pre-made list by typing your chosen subgroup and “100 best XXXX” XXXX being your subgroup. BOOM! 100 prospects right there. It’s all about being creative and thinking outside that very scary narrow box, because if you write target keyword + “write for us” (if you’re going for guest posts), chances are that thousands of link builders are before you in line and you will most likely have to pay your way forward. Email them and show who you are (quite literally) When you finally start doing outreach, make sure you email a real human being – not any info@addresses. You should have a clear plan of what kind of link you are going for, who you are targeting (and why) and what’s in it for the person receiving the email – and their audience.   Let’s say you are going for a guest post, you want to make sure you do some research beforehand and check out what other blog posts the website (ideally the person you are emailing) have published before. Was there something in particular that you actually liked (not fake flattery). I recommend using a proper outreach tool like Buzzstream but if you are a small business owner you can do it via your normal email, as long as you don’t mass-email thousands of people. Show the person in the first email some suggestions on topics and why these topics would be relevant and helpful for their readers. Be personable, be prepared to negotiate and always think about the human aspect first.   In this article I have discussed important steps to get more traffic and more leads from your website. The right types of backlinks are relevant to you and your

SEO Services and Content Strategy | Case Study

SEO services case study for Adelaide client Overview Jones the Writer Copywriting Services (Ode Marketing’s former name) collaborated with an acoustics engineering firm to enhance their online presence and engagement through SEO services. The partnership aimed to address specific challenges related to visibility, client education, and time-sensitive communication. The client Resonate Consultants is an Australian firm specialising in acoustic engineering and vibration consulting services. This multi-award-winning company has offices across Australia and services a number of clients across multiple industries including building and construction, Defence, education, environment and marine, renewables, laboratories, transport and infrastructure and the arts. Objective The primary goals were to: With the overarching objective to establish credibility among potential clients, clarify the offered solutions, and educate the audience about the benefits of engaging the services early in a project. Challenges Strategies implemented I began working with this client in early 2021, where I devised an in-depth content strategy and audit, tone of voice guide and email marketing strategy. The marketing implementations included: Content example Results It also helped that the CEO knew the value of content marketing and SEO and backed the process and my proposals fully. Impact 31 out of 45 goal conversions during one quarter were directly attributed to organic Google searches. This meant that their SEO was working tremendously to bring in new clients who happened to search for any of their SEO keywords and click on their site. Once on their site, they demonstrated contact by phoning or emailing for an enquiry. That’s nearly a 70% rate of contact from organic Google searches. A remarkable 17.78% increase in goal conversions. Resonate Consultants experienced a notable surge in goal conversions, showcasing an impressive growth rate of 17.78% during the April to June 2023 period. The surge in goal conversions underscores the successful engagement and positive response from their target audience during this timeframe. Most quarters in the recent past have witnessed a consistent upward trajectory in goal conversions on Resonate Consultants’ website. This sustained pattern underscores the consistency of the approach, reflecting not only a one-time success but an ongoing commitment to meeting and exceeding their performance targets through SEO and content efforts. With my help and marketing services, the client successfully transformed their online presence, achieving substantial increases in visibility, engagement, and competitive performance. The implemented strategies addressed the challenges of client education, time pressures, and the need for a reliable online presence. The collaboration demonstrated the effectiveness of a holistic content approach in achieving tangible business results which will make a difference in the business’ bottom line for years to come.

Definitive SEO Checklist

Here is a comprehensive SEO checklist that covers essential aspects of search engine optimisation. Go through the list one by one and make sure you have completed the actions to ensure your best possible SEO outcomes. Keyword research and selection On-page optimisation Technical SEO Content creation and optimisation Link building Local SEO (if applicable) Tracking and analysis Mobile optimisation Site structure and navigation User experience Ecommerce optimisation (if applicable) Local search optimisation (if applicable) Done all that? Now do the following to power up your SEO and leave others for dust. Social media integration Competitor analysis Voice search optimisation Video optimisation By undertaking all these items on your SEO checklist, you can ensure that you are taking a comprehensive approach to optimising your website for search engine performance and user experience. And start to get those mindblowing results that you’ve been dreaming of. 

Choose Your Own SEO Strategy Adventure

Four different SEO strategies for you to tackle I know a lot of us are always trying to configure our SEO and tweak it here and there to really suck the juice out of it. And I encourage that. SEO is an ongoing puzzle. It’s not just “set and forget” type of marketing activity. So with that in mind, I’ve proposed four overarching SEO strategies or components of an SEO strategy that I encourage you to look at this year. Now, depending on the size of your site or your brand, this can be a really overwhelming task. It might even take a whole team to action if you don’t have the resources; I suggest picking one of the following four strategies and really perfecting it to the best of your ability this year. Anything you can do will make a difference. Like I said above, if you don’t have the resources to tackle all of this yourself or have a team to help you, I recommend picking one of the four above, focusing on it and getting it really right before moving on to the next. You are better off diving in and making something work rather than doing bits and pieces here in there. So my recommendation is to pick either one or four above if you haven’t done a deep dive on either before. SEO strategy 1 – keyword optimisation Keyword optimisation is the process of researching, selecting, and incorporating keywords into your website content, meta tags, and other elements in order to improve your website’s visibility and ranking on search engines such as Google. The goal of keyword optimisation is to identify the keywords and phrases your target audience is searching for and to make sure that your website appears as high as possible in the search engine results pages (SERPs) for those keywords. The process of keyword optimisation involves researching and identifying the right keywords, analysing the competition for those keywords, incorporating the keywords into your website content in a natural and effective way, and continuously monitoring and refining your keyword strategy to ensure maximum results. Keyword optimisation is an important part of search engine optimisation SEO, as it can help drive more traffic to your website and increase your online visibility and credibility. The following are some techniques and methods you can apply if keyword optimisation is your chosen SEO strategy for this year. Again, if you work with limited resources, pick one and perfect it until you move on to the next.  Keyword optimisation techniques for 2023 I want to explain a few of these terms a little further since they may be new to you.  What are LSI keywords? LSI (latent semantic indexing) keywords are semantically related words and phrases that provide context and meaning to the main keyword. They help search engines understand the content’s topic and theme and can improve search ranking for the target keyword. The use of LSI keywords can also help avoid keyword stuffing and make the content appear more natural and relevant to the user. Examples of LSI keywords for the main keyword “pizza” could include “toppings”, “delivery”, “New York style”, “crust”, etc. What are topic clusters? Topic clusters are a content marketing and SEO strategy that organises related articles into interlinked groups, with one main piece of content serving as the “pillar” that provides comprehensive information on a particular topic.  Each cluster consists of the pillar content and several “cluster” articles that are linked to it, providing in-depth coverage of specific subtopics related to the pillar content. For example, where my main page (and SEO keyword and content focus) is “copywriter“, I would focus on creating and improving content (specifically blog articles) that are directly related to “copywriter”. That might look like topics such as “what’s it like being a copywriter”, “how to become a copywriter”, “what you need to know when hiring a copywriter”, etc.  Using topic clusters helps establish the website as an authority on the subject (which we know is vital for the EEAT formula), improves user experience, and increases the chances of ranking higher in search results for relevant keywords. What are local keywords? Local keywords are words that include a geographic location, such as a city, region, or neighbourhood. They are used to optimise content for local search queries. These keywords are used to target users who are searching for products or services in a specific area. Examples of local keywords include “pizza delivery in Adelaide”, “best hair salon in Melbourne”, and “coffee shops in Sydney”.  The use of local keywords can help improve a website’s visibility in local search results, attract local customers, and drive more relevant traffic to the website. If you’re a brick-and-mortar business, you would absolutely make this one of your SEO strategy priorities. Especially if you rely on face-to-face service as your business. When you run an online and remote business like mine, it’s not so important. But I still occasionally look at doing as, say, a third-level priority when it comes to improving my keywords and SEO activities. The way to tell whether you need to invest your time in this is by doing good quality SEO keyword research, and if you notice a lot of search volume for, say, “copywriter Adelaide” (if that is your local area), then it’s definitely worth popping it on your to-do list. What is user intent? User intent refers to the goal, need, or purpose behind a user’s search query. Understanding user intent is crucial in providing relevant and valuable content that satisfies the user’s search request. User intent can range from informational (searching for information), navigational (searching for a specific website), transactional (searching to purchase a product or service), or commercial (researching products or services before making a purchase).  By understanding and targeting user intent, marketers and content creators can optimise their content to better match the user’s expectations, improve search ranking, and increase user engagement and satisfaction. You can see in the image below that SemRush tells

Backlinks: the Avocado to Your SEO

What are backlinks? Backlinks, also known as inbound links or incoming links, are links from external websites that point to a specific page on your website. They are an important factor in search engine optimisation (SEO) because they signal to search engines that your website is reputable and valuable. It lets readers know that your site is one to read and provides a certain level of confidence.  When other websites link to your website, it can increase your search engine ranking and drive more traffic. And it helps boost your domain authority. Which, you know I bang on about. There are many ways to get backlinks, such as by creating high-quality content that other websites want to link to (probably the best way if you ask me), participating in online communities and forums related to your industry, and reaching out to other websites to ask for a link. How important are backlinks for SEO? Backlinks are hugely important. Link I’ve suggested in the title, backlinks are basically to SEO what the avocado is to any meal. Some SEO specialists even purport it to be one of the top factors. In fact, Google purports it to be one of its top three ranking factors! When other websites link to your website, it can increase your search engine ranking and drive more traffic to your site. However, it’s important to remember that the quality of the backlinks you have is more important than the quantity. Having a large number of low-quality backlinks can actually harm your search engine ranking. It’s also important to note that backlinks are just one factor among many that search engines consider when ranking websites. Other factors include the quality and relevance of your website’s content, the structure and organisation of your website, and the user experience provided by your website. To improve your search engine ranking, it’s important to focus on building a robust and diverse backlink profile by acquiring high-quality backlinks from a variety of reputable websites. And these websites need to have a higher domain authority than your website. Of course, the higher, the better.  What is a high-quality backlink? A high-quality backlink is a link from an external website to your website that is considered valuable by search engines. These types of backlinks are important for search engine optimisation (SEO) because they signal to search engines that your website is one that needs to be read and will be credible. You know, one that follows the EEAT formula.  There are several factors that contribute to the quality of a backlink: It’s important to focus on building a strong, diverse backlink profile by acquiring these linkbacks from a variety of reputable websites. This can help improve your search engine ranking and drive more traffic to your site. What domain authority should you place a backlink on? Domain authority (DA) is a metric that predicts how well a website will rank on search engines. It is based on a number of factors, including the number and quality of backlinks pointing to a website, the age of the domain, the overall quality of the website’s content, and the website’s user experience. You really need to be linking back from a website that is pretty high because websites with a high DA are more likely to rank well on search engines, and a backlink from a high-DA website can help improve the search engine ranking of the linked website. However, it’s important to remember that the quality of the backlink is more important than the domain authority of the linking website. A high-quality backlink from a website with a low domain authority can still be valuable, while a low-quality backlink from a website with a high domain authority can be harmful. It’s also worth noting that domain authority is just one factor that search engines consider when ranking websites. Other factors, such as the quality and relevance of a website’s content, the structure and organisation of the website, and the user experience provided by the website, are also important. Tips for link building: Now, there’s no point putting the horse before the cart. Don’t leap into your backlinking project before you have written exceptional content. That means your main web pages need to be optimised and well-written, and you should have a handful of excellent cornerstone content blog posts.  But if you have that in place, here are my recommendations for starting to acquire backlinks that will take your SEO strategy to the next level.  Semrush recommends creating juicy assets that sites will naturally want to link to and share with their audiences. Such as: And, ‘companies who engage in blogging receive 97% more backlinks to their site,’ states HubSpot. So you must blog! How can you approach site owners for backlinks? Here are a few key steps you can follow to approach site owners effectively (without offending or blacklisting yourself): Needless to say, it’s important to be respectful and professional in your outreach and to focus on building mutually beneficial relationships rather than just acquiring links. 

How to Reverse Engineer Your Competitors’ Content Marketing

Reverse engineering your competitor’s content marketing strategy can be a valuable way to identify potential opportunities and inform your content marketing efforts. With ‘82% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing‘, you’re almost assured that your competitors are putting in the effort where you might not be. Yet! That also means there is plenty of scope for you to take what they’re doing the best and learn from it. And cheekily improve your own marketing. Here are some steps you can follow to reverse engineer your competitor’s content marketing strategy: It’s important to keep in mind that reverse engineering your competitor’s content marketing strategy is just one piece of the puzzle. You should also consider your own unique strengths and value proposition when developing your content marketing strategy. And the aim is never to completely copy what your competitors are doing. The objective is to assess what they are doing and then apply what will work for your company with the intention to improve and build on it so that you stand out from the crowd.  You might like to try out a handy tool (that I recommend and use) to eliminate some of the grunt work: Semrush tool (head to the comparative analysis part) – Get a 14-day FREE trial. What things should you compare: Take note of the following: Choose one post from each competitor (the best one) and analyse it. There’s a complete module on doing this within my Blank to Brilliant online course.  How to identify your competitors Identifying your competitors is an essential first step in understanding the competitive landscape of your industry. Here are some ways you can identify your competitors: It’s important to keep in mind that your competitors may change over time, so I suggest regularly reviewing and updating your list of competitors. Yearly is a suitable timeframe.  What is Buzzsumo, and how can you use it? BuzzSumo is a tool that helps users analyse and understand the content that is most popular on social media. It allows users to search for specific topics or domains and see which pieces of content have received the most social media shares. There are several ways you can use BuzzSumo: How does SEMrush help with competitors’ content? SEMrush is a tool that helps users understand and improve their search engine optimisation (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising efforts. It can also be used to analyse and understand your competitors’ content marketing efforts. Here are some ways you can use SEMrush to analyse your competitor’s content: It’s important to keep in mind that while SEMrush and BuzzSumo are super useful tools for understanding your competitor’s content marketing happenings, they shouldn’t be the only sources of information you rely on. It’s also important to consider your own unique value proposition and target audience when developing your content marketing strategy. Once you’ve worked out what works for your competitors, it’s time to get started with your own content planning.  Here are three tips to keep in mind:

How Many Blog Posts Should I Have?

How many blog posts should you publish for SEO? The frequency at which you should publish blog posts depends on your goals and resources.  Suppose you are using your blog to drive traffic to your website. In that case, it can be helpful to publish new content regularly to keep your readers engaged and to help your site rank higher in search engine results. However, it is also essential to consider how much time and resources you have available to create and promote new content. If you’re a one-person show, sometimes spending all your spare time blogging when you could be doing the core duties of your business might be detrimental. When they first started gaining extraordinary traction that saw them become the publishing giant that they are today, Huffington Post started pumping out an astonishing 1200 articles a day. That is not a typo. I meant to write ‘a day!’ But unless you have a team of 532 full-time editorial staff like they did, you are unlikely to achieve that kind of content volume.  How many blog posts do I post? My website saw a 69% increase in page views from 24th Dec 2022 to 7th Jan 2023 compared to the previous period. And a 307% increase in average session duration. This was when I posted pretty much all my blog posts for 2022 (busy year!). I posted almost one blog post per day. Additionally, I created far longer content than I usually do (a goal of mine for a while now) and have branched out into other keyword areas and topics such as blogging and more SEO stuff. Now that’s also partly because I increased social media sharing during the Dec to Jan period (as I was on holidays, so I had more time to devote to my business’s marketing). But it would be foolish to discount the increase in content, helping to entice more traffic. I already have a blog post bank of around 120 posts, so I have a great solid base to really build my blog upon. And as I’ve mentioned here, this year, 23.4% of my income came from leads who found my via Google Search. ⁠And 29% of my overall leads (whether they turn into clients or not) came from search. You can see why I’m a big proponent of SEO as a way to get new leads.  Blog post frequency guidelines Here are a few general guidelines to consider: If you are just starting and are looking to build an audience, it may be helpful to publish new content at least once a week. This will allow you to establish a consistent publishing schedule and produce a variety of content for your readers. Weekly is a consistent and reliable content timeframe for most businesses and should be built into your general marketing duties. ‘Businesses that post four or more blogs weekly get 3.5 times more traffic.’ And, get this, ‘22% of bloggers post every single week’, so if you post twice a week or even five times per month, you are doing more than nearly a quarter of bloggers! I’m going to propose that if you have no content at all, that you do a bulk lot of content and publish 100 posts as quickly as you can (without sacrificing quality). If you can, aim for 100 blog posts within the first month. That way, you will have an excellent content base to work from and start seeing SEO results quite quickly. Plus, it will be easier to create more content from existing content.   You can see in this SEO case study that this business generated $54,285.30 in sales in a month by posting 7 blog posts a week and adopting a few other techniques, such as link building.  If you have a more established blog and are looking to maintain a steady traffic flow, it may be sufficient to publish new content once or twice a month. This will give you time to create high-quality, in-depth content that resonates with your audience.  If this is your strategy (and it’s always beneficial and more efficient if you have an SEO content strategy), then I recommend creating in-depth blog posts that are at least 1200 words that directly answer questions that your potential audience will have. And/or are targeted for a high-volume keyword that points to one of your core static pages. A how-to SEO article is an example of this. If you have a medium or large team and are able to produce new content on a daily or weekly basis, you may want to consider increasing the frequency of your blog posts. This can help you stay top-of-mind with your audience and can also help you rank higher in search engine results. It also gives you the option of mixing up the variety of your content. Each month, you can publish several people profiles, an SEO keyword-rich article, a project review, a case study and a how-to guide. Keeping your audience entertained and hooked with helpful content. Plus, it gives the added bonus of giving you heaps and heaps of fresh content to share via your social media or email marketing channels.  Ultimately, the right frequency for your blog will depend on your goals, audience, and resources. It’s important to find a balance that works for you and to be consistent in your publishing schedule. Publishing new content on a regular basis can be helpful for driving traffic to your website and for keeping your readers engaged. However, it is also important to consider the time and resources it takes to create and promote high-quality content. If you publish too frequently, you may struggle to produce content that meets your standards or to promote your content effectively. The second your blog posts become amateur or repetitive, you may need to take a step back and publish less frequently (but write better content) or outsource to a freelance copywriter.  How many blog posts does your site need to start ranking for SEO keywords? There is no specific number

Your Money or Your Life – Website SEO Tips

What is YMYL in SEO? “YMYL” stands for ‘your money or your life.’ It is a term used by Google to describe websites that have the potential to impact the health, happiness, financial stability, or safety of users. Examples of YMYL websites include those that provide medical information, financial advice, or legal services. Because these types of websites have the potential to significantly impact users’ wellbeing, Google has guidelines in place for how they should be ranked in search results. This includes requirements for accuracy, credibility, and trustworthiness. If you run a YMYL website, it is imperative to focus on providing high-quality, reliable content and following Google’s guidelines in order to rank well in search results and have optimal website SEO. ‘As Google has stated in the past, “We have very high Page Quality rating standards for YMYL pages because low-quality YMYL pages could potentially negatively impact a person’s happiness, health, financial stability, or safety,’ Forbes reports. What are examples of YMYL websites? Some examples of YMYL websites include: It is important to note that not all websites that fall into these categories will be considered YMYL websites by Google. Google uses a variety of factors to determine which websites qualify as YMYL, and the specific criteria may change over time. In general, however, websites that have the potential to sway users’ wellbeing are more likely to be considered YMYL. How can you write better content for YMYL websites? Much like my tips on SEO writing for EEAT, there are a few key strategies you can use to write better content for YMYL websites: What factors does Google use to determine which websites qualify as YMYL? Google uses a variety of factors to determine which websites qualify as YMYL. Some of these factors may include the following: How can you improve accuracy on a YMYL website? There are a few key strategies you can use to improve accuracy on a YMYL website: It is important to note that these are just a few examples of the strategies you can use to improve your SEO for a YMYL website. SEO is a complex and constantly evolving field, so staying up-to-date with the latest best practices and guidelines is a good idea.

You Don’t Have to be an SEO Expert to Create Trust | EAT formula

What is EAT in SEO? E-A-T stands for expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. These are key factors that Google’s algorithms consider when ranking websites in search results. Google wants to provide its users with the most relevant and trustworthy results, so it looks for websites that have credibility and are written by experts on the topic. So the handy acronym, EAT, is paramount to keep at the forefront of your mind when creating content for your website if you want it to rank well. Now, EAT are not direct ranking factors (such as page speed, keywords etc). Still, they are taken into account when Google “looks” at websites overall and are laid out in Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines. The Google Quality Rater Guidelines are a set of guidelines used by human evaluators, known as “raters,” to assess the quality of search results returned by the Google algorithm. These guidelines provide information on what constitutes high-quality content, how to evaluate the credibility of sources, and how to determine the relevance of a result to a user’s query. The guidelines are used to help ensure that the search results provided by Google are of the highest quality and relevance to users. Expertise refers to the knowledge and skill of the content creators on a particular subject. This can be demonstrated through credentials, education, and experience. Authoritativeness refers to the website’s reputation and influence on the topic it covers. A website widely recognised as a leading source of information on a particular topic is considered more authoritative than a website with less recognition. Trustworthiness refers to the website’s reliability and honesty. This can be demonstrated through transparent business practices, accurate and verifiable information, and security measures to protect users’ privacy. I will say that, in general, it’s important for a website to have high levels of E-A-T in order to rank well in search results and be considered a reliable source of information by Google. But there’s now more to EAT – an extra E In December 2022, there was a google update of guidelines that included an additional part to the acronym: an extra E. Making the full acronym E-E-A-T. This extra E stands for “experience”. Google states the following: ‘Experience: Consider the extent to which the content creator has the necessary first-hand or life experience for the topic. Many types of pages are trustworthy and achieve their purpose well when created by people with a wealth of personal experience. For example, which would you trust: a product review from someone who has personally used the product or a “review” by someone who has not?’ What is trustworthiness in SEO? In the context of search engine optimisation (SEO), trustworthiness refers to the credibility and reliability of a website. Trustworthiness is an important factor that search engines consider when ranking websites in their search results, as it helps to ensure that users are presented with high-quality and reliable sources of information. There are several ways a website can demonstrate trustworthiness to search engines, including having a clean and secure website, having a professional design, having a clear and easily navigable structure, and having high-quality and informative content. Additionally, having a good track record and positive reputation can also help to increase a website’s trustworthiness. How can you achieve trustworthiness for SEO? There are several ways that you can work to increase the trustworthiness of your website for SEO purposes: When creating their SEO content strategy, I always encourage clients to start with decent cornerstone content (before they start blogging about the “fun” stuff) that highlights their proficiency in their field, no matter the industry. Cornerstone content is a term used to describe the most critical and comprehensive content on a website. It is called “cornerstone” content because it serves as the foundation of a website and provides a structure for the rest of the content on the site. Cornerstone content is typically in-depth, well-researched, and evergreen (meaning it will remain relevant for a long time). It is often the website’s main attraction and is designed to be the go-to resource for a particular topic. Examples of cornerstone content might include a detailed guide, an informative video, or a comprehensive review. As an example, some cornerstone content for a copywriter might be an in-depth post about the history of copywriting. This is what Google says about trust: Consider the extent to which the page is accurate, honest, safe, and reliable. The type and amount of trust needed depends on the page, for example: Online stores need secure online payment systems and reliable customer service. Product reviews should be honest and written to help others make informed purchasing decisions (rather than solely to sell the product). Informational pages on clear YMYL topics must be accurate to prevent harm to people and society. Social media posts on non-YMYL topics may not need a high level of trust, such as when the purpose of the post is to entertain its audience and the content of the post does not risk causing harm.’ How can you be an expert in your field for SEO? To be seen as an expert in your field for SEO purposes, you can follow these tips: Essentially, your whole website should be obviously set up to immediately announce what you do and what industry you are in. If you look at my website, my home, about and copywriting services pages, all clearly state my areas of expertise and experience and are optimised for specific industry-related SEO keywords. Then my blog post content solidifies these claims and points towards what I offer professionally. You could still start a blog and rank well without having to work or be an expert in your field, but it’s going to be easier, following the EEAT formula, if you demonstrate your expertise on your website towards your chosen blog topics. For example, if you’re a travel blogger, be sure to include on your home and about pages why you are best placed to talk about the things you will blog about. The same goes if you

Are You Ignoring This One Vital Thing for SEO?

Website speed is one of the key factors in improving your SEO and creating an effortless user experience. ‘In a 2019 survey by Unbounce, nearly 70% of consumers admitted that page speed impacts their willingness to buy from an online retailer.’ ‘The first five seconds of page-load time have the highest impact on conversion rates. (Portent, 2019)’ and ‘website conversion rates drop by an average of 4.42% with each additional second of load time (between seconds 0-5).’ SEMrush declares that page load time is a primary ranking factor. It also effects conversion rate too. ‘A 1-second delay in your site speed can result in a 7% reduction in conversions.’ Why do you need to improve your site speed? There are several reasons why it’s important to improve the speed of a website: How to improve site speed There are many ways to improve the speed of a website. Here are a few general tips: These are just a few general tips to improve the speed of a website. It’s also important to regularly monitor the performance of your website and make adjustments as needed to ensure it remains fast and efficient. See below for tools that can help with this. How do you optimise images for site speed? There are several ways to optimise images for site speed: How many plugins should I use for good site speed? The number of plugins that you should use on your website depends on the specific needs of your site and how well-optimised the plugins are. In general, it’s best to use as few plugins as possible, as each plugin you add to your website can potentially add more code and resources that need to be loaded, which can slow down your website. That being said, there are some plugins that are essential for the functionality of your website and can actually improve the speed of your site. For example, a caching plugin can help speed up your website by storing commonly used resources on the user’s computer, so they don’t have to be downloaded each time the user visits the website. It’s important to carefully evaluate the need for each plugin you are considering using and to only use those that are necessary for the functionality and performance of your website. If you do use multiple plugins, make sure to keep them up to date and optimise them for performance. It’s also a good idea to regularly review the plugins you are using and consider removing any that are no longer necessary or that may be slowing down your website. How do plugins slow your website down? Plugins can slow down a website for a few reasons: By using as few plugins as possible and carefully evaluating the need for each plugin you use, you can help ensure that your website performs well and loads quickly. This is something that trips me up all the time. I love a good plugin, but I tend to overload my site with them and forget to disable those that are no longer working for me. And then my site crashes or takes ages to load. Oops! It’s also important to keep your plugins up to date and to optimise them for performance to ensure that they don’t slow down your website. How do you enable compression on your website? There are a few ways to enable compression on your website: Use a plugin: Many popular content management systems (CMS) have plugins that can enable compression on your website. For example, WordPress has several plugins that can enable Gzip compression, such as W3 Total Cache and Autoptimize. Use mod_deflate: If you are using an Apache web server, you can enable compression by using the mod_deflate module. To do this, you will need to edit the .htaccess file in the root directory of your website and add the following code: <IfModule mod_deflate.c>   # Compress HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Text, XML and fonts AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/javascript   AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/rss+xml AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/vnd.ms-fontobject AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-OpenType   AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-otf AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-TrueType AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-ttf AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-javascript AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xhtml+xml AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/XML AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/opentype AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/otf AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/ttf AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/svg+xml   AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/x-icon AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/CSS AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/HTML AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/javascript AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/plain AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/XML </IfModule> Use nginx: If you are using an nginx web server, you can enable compression by adding the following code to your nginx.conf file: gzip on; gzip_comp_level 6; gzip_vary on; gzip_min_length 1000; gzip_proxied any; gzip_types text/plain text/CSS application/JSON application/javascript application/x-javascript text/XML application/XML application/xml+rss text/javascript; gzip_buffers 16 8k; These are just a few ways to enable compression on your website. It’s important to note that compression can impact the performance of your server, so it’s essential to carefully consider the trade-offs between increased performance and increased resource usage when enabling compression. What is a content delivery network? A content delivery network (CDN) is a distributed network of servers that delivers web pages and other web content to users based on their geographic location, the origin of the webpage, and the content delivery server. CDNs are used to improve the performance and speed of websites by reducing the distance that data needs to travel between the user and the server and by offloading traffic from the main server. CDNs work by storing copies of a website’s content on servers located in strategic locations around the world. When a user requests content from a website, the CDN will serve the content from the server that is closest to the user, reducing the amount of time it takes for the content to be delivered. CDNs are commonly used by websites that receive a large amount of traffic or that serve users from around the world, as they can help improve the performance and reliability of the website. CDNs can also enhance the security of a website by providing features such as DDoS protection, SSL/TLS encryption, and rate limiting. How to use a content delivery network A content delivery network (CDN) is a network of

Using AI Writing Software ChatGPT for Blogging

GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is a language model developed by OpenAI that can generate human-like text. It has the ability to complete a given prompt or generate text based on a given topic or style. It can be used to assist with blogging by generating ideas for blog posts, providing suggestions for structure and organization, and even generating complete drafts of blog posts. To use GPT for blogging, you can provide it with a prompt or topic and have it generate text based on that prompt. For example, you might give it the prompt “Write a blog post about the benefits of meditation” and have it generate a list of ideas or a complete draft of a blog post on the topic. You can then edit and refine the generated text to suit your needs. It’s important to note that GPT is a tool and not a replacement for human writing and editing. While it can be a useful tool for generating ideas and providing inspiration, it’s important to review and revise the text it generates to ensure that it is accurate and meets the standards of your blog. What are the benefits of chatgpt for blogging? There are several benefits to using GPT for blogging: However, it’s important to note that GPT is a tool and not a replacement for human writing and editing. While it can be a useful tool for generating ideas and providing inspiration, it’s important to review and revise the text it generates to ensure that it is accurate and meets the standards of your blog. GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is a language model developed by OpenAI that can generate human-like text. It is best for tasks that involve generating text, such as: GPT can be used in a variety of contexts and industries, including content marketing, journalism, education, and more. It’s important to note that GPT is a tool and not a replacement for human writing and editing. While it can be a useful tool for generating ideas and providing inspiration, it’s important to review and revise the text it generates to ensure that it is accurate and meets the standards of your blog. What are the limitations of chatgpt for blogging? GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is a powerful language model that can generate human-like text, but it does have some limitations to consider when using it for blogging: It’s important to keep these limitations in mind when using GPT for blogging, and to review and revise the text it generates to ensure that it is accurate and meets the standards of your blog. You could use my preferred spellchecker, Grammarly, to help. Everything above was written by GPT and I left it unedited so you, as the reader, can get a sense of what it produces. Below, is entirely my copy without any assistance from AI. Why AI writing software doesn’t work for blogging Context is often missing. Humans can easily identify context and what information goes where. So you can’t rely on AI in terms of structure and what statements go where. I have used AI writing software in the past (I won’t mention which one for obvious reasons) and it just never suited my needs and I ended up getting frustrated with it. It’s an expensive software for me to keep flogging without the proper results of great quality content writing. It would repeat the same sentences over and over again. Literally, word for word. And then the next paragraph would say the same thing but with a few words different, liked they had been plucked out of a thesaurus and therefore, context was lost. Most AI, ChatGPT included do not even recognise that UK/Australian spelling exists (as you can see from the text above). Let alone language nuances and colloquialisms, which makes it tougher for the reader. Plus, the naturalness is removed. Often, I would discover by using Copyscape that the text wasn’t entirely original. And we know that when it comes to great writing, originality is key and is supposedly favoured by Google’s bots. Because I’m a fast and prolific writer, I have found that it’s just much quicker for me to write something from scratch than use AI software because by the time I have to edit the piece, I may as well have written it! Plus, you have feed the software prompts and plan out the structure yourself. Additionally, AI can’t insert correct facts, statistics, hyperlinks, quotes and research— a huge proponent of convincing articles and quality SEO blogs. Of course, it can’t help you with SEO factors that improve your search rankings such as formatting and keyword placement. And you can forget the personal anecdotes. As we know, ‘Personal experiences and anecdotes receive more respect, are perceived as more rational, and elicit a greater willingness to engage than facts and statistics.’ Are there any benefits to AI writing software? With the paid software that I used, they provided useful templates and copywriting formulas. These are really handy if you are new to copywriting. For example, it offers a PAS (pain, agitate, solve) template which helps the novice understand exactly how each of these facets function in a piece of writing. But, if you ask me, it’s cheaper to just watch some Youtube vids or buy a copywriting book. Interestingly, ChatGPT is poised as something that will be used IN PLACE OF Google search as the prediction is people will source a written paragraph on their query straight up. At the moment, ChatGPT is free whereas other AI writing software comes at a cost. Often, not cheap. And it will be surprising if it stays free forever. Plus, there’s the issue of copyright. Currently, it’s a very murky area and US copyright law might suggest hostility towards AI-generated content being attributed to humans. Australian copyright is a little different but, again, it is murky as law catches up to reality. What can you do instead? Practice writing. The more you practice, the quicker you will get

The How-To of the How-To SEO Content Article

When it comes to writing a helpful SEO content article, there are many factors to consider.  What type of blog post will help you reach your target audience?  Firstly, to create a blog post that hits the mark, you need to ask yourself: what are your business or marketing goals? Are you looking to generate leads, increase brand awareness, or drive traffic to your website?  The answer to these questions will help you determine the type of blog post that will be most effective in helping you reach your desired outcome.  Here are a few different types of blog posts that can help you achieve business and marketing goals: How-to posts These types of posts provide readers with step-by-step instructions on how to do something related to your industry. They are typically informative and helpful and can be a great way to generate leads. Product reviews Writing product reviews can be a great strategy if you’re looking to increase brand awareness or drive traffic to your website. Be sure to include links to the products you’re reviewing so readers can easily purchase them. Case studies Writing case studies can be beneficial if you want to show potential customers that your product or service is effective. Sharing stories of how your product or service has helped solve a problem for a customer is a great way to build trust and credibility. Lists/listicles  People love lists! Whether it’s a list of tips, resources, or even just fun facts, these types of posts are easy to read and provide value to the reader. If you want to increase website traffic, consider including listicles in your content strategy. You know the ones, they’re the ones that are often titled ‘6 ways to become better at your job’ etc. Fun fact: listicles are said to have been around since 1000CE in Japan.  Newsjacking This term refers to the act of writing about current events or hot topics in your industry to generate traffic and increase brand awareness. Suppose you can provide insightful commentary on a timely topic. In that case, you’ll be more likely to capture the attention of readers and media outlets. How-to articles are the most popular blogging format. Orbit Media reports that ‘76% of bloggers are publishing “how-to” articles. Lists (54%), long-form guides and ebooks (45%), and news and trends (41%) are also popular blogging formats. Stats further show that roundups, gated content, interviews, infographics, and lists are most likely to deliver strong results.’ It’s important to know that lots of readers are on the lookout for instruction via blogs, even in the day of Youtube video saturation. ‘33% of people would read a blog that teaches them how to do something new.’ How to write a how-to SEO content article If you want to improve your business or marketing goals, one type of blog post you can write is a how-to article. This type of article provides readers with steps they can follow to complete a task. When writing a how-to article, make sure to: How to choose a how-to topic If you want to improve your business or marketing goals, writing a how-to blog post is a great way to do it. But how do you choose a topic?  Here are four tips: First, consider what your audience wants to know. What questions do they have that you can answer?  Second, make sure the topic is something you’re knowledgeable and passionate about. You’ll be able to write more convincingly if you believe in what you’re saying.  Third, choose a topic that’s specific enough to be exciting but not so specific that there’s no room for discussion.  Finally, don’t be afraid to experiment. Try different topics and see what works best. How to provide clear and concise instructions in a how-to article When writing a how-to article, the goal is to be clear and concise. No one wants to read a long, drawn-out explanation of how to do something. They just want to know how to do it! So, keep that in mind when you’re writing your next how-to article.  Here are some tips:  When writing the steps, ensure that you write in the correct order with enough detail before your reader moves on to the next step because ‘When reading and following instructions, a person will act in the same sequence in which action items are presented in the text. Writing instructions according to the sequence of actions the reader needs to take may lead to better results. For example, “do A before doing B’ is a superior form of wording instructions than stating, “before doing A, do B,”…’ Keeping the objective front of mind is the most essential thing that will help inform your article through the planning, drafting and finalising stages. What do you want your readers to take away from your SEO content article?  Helpful exercise Write it down as a clear mission statement at the top of your page, or stick it near your computer.  ‘By the end of the article, the reader will…’ and fill in the blanks. For example, ‘By the end of the article, the reader will be able to build their own chicken coop.’ If you start with this objective, you can work backwards and write up the steps. Want super clear how-to SEO content articles written for your business? Step one: email me.