There are some warning signs that tell you whether someone knows what they’re doing or just wants to get hired quick. These red flags often show up early in conversations or during the proposal phase, but they’re easy to miss if you don’t know what to watch for. Here’s a breakdown of what to be alert to when you’re trying to choose the right person to handle your SEO as a solopreneur.

Watch Out for Lack of Transparent Communication

Clear, regular communication is one of the first things you should expect from any SEO expert. If they dodge your questions or speak in confusing buzzwords without straight answers, that’s a sign of trouble. You should understand what they’re planning, why they’re doing it, and what results you might expect from their approach. Being left in the dark leads to stress, doubt, and goals getting off track.

You might hear things like:

– “Don’t worry about the details, just trust me.”

– “It’s all very technical, so I’ll handle it.”

– “I can’t share that—it’s proprietary.”

These are red flags. A good SEO expert should take the time to explain what they’re doing in a way that makes sense to you. They should be able to answer your questions clearly and set up regular updates so you’re never wondering what’s going on. If things go quiet after a contract is signed, or you’re only getting vague check-ins without useful updates, that’s a bad sign.

With poor communication, even a decent strategy can fall apart. Projects miss deadlines. You can’t tell what’s working or not. And fixing problems becomes harder because nobody is on the same page. When someone avoids straight answers or doesn’t give you access to reports or results, your project (and money) is at risk.

Beware of Promises That Sound Too Good

If someone guarantees you’ll get to the top spot on Google in just a few days or claims they have a secret trick that works every time, it’s best to walk away. SEO takes time and steady work. Search engines like Google use patterns and data over time to decide which websites to rank higher. No one has the power to jump ahead instantly in a way that lasts.

That doesn’t mean good results can’t come quickly—it’s just that solid gains usually show up after a few months of consistent effort. A trustworthy SEO expert will let you know what’s realistic, point out things that can be improved quickly, and explain the long-term plan to get your rankings up and your visitors converting better.

Here are some common lines that sound impressive but should make you pause:

– “We guarantee number one rankings within a week.”

– “You’ll double your traffic immediately.”

– “Our method always works, no matter the business.”

Those promises might sound exciting, but they often lead to empty results or shortcuts that get flagged later, hurting your site. Some tactics may offer short-term bumps and then crash when algorithms update. Instead of chasing magic solutions, look for someone who’s focused on steady growth and clear strategy.

A good first step with any SEO expert is to ask them how they’d help your business specifically. Then ask what kind of progress you’d likely see at the 30, 60, and 90-day marks. Look for answers that feel grounded, not fantasy.

No Proven Results to Show

Past success is one of the easiest ways to check if an SEO expert can do what they say. If someone avoids showing examples of their work or won’t give you a clear story of how they’ve helped other small businesses, that’s a red flag. Even newer experts should have test runs or practice work they can explain in detail.

Here’s what to ask when checking for proof:

1. Can you share any results you’ve achieved for previous clients?
2. Do you have case studies or outcome summaries?
3. Can I see your work on a site similar to mine?

If you don’t get direct answers or what they show feels generic, move on. Some people may claim results they didn’t actually create. Take a few extra minutes to follow up, check the sites they mention, look for changed rankings on your own, or even ask for a referral contact if you’re still unsure.

A quick example: A solopreneur running a local pet grooming service was told by a so-called expert that their client traffic jumped by hundreds within a week. But when the business owner visited the site mentioned, it hadn’t been updated in months, and it wasn’t even ranking for its main keywords. Always double-check what you’re told. It can help you avoid losing both time and cash.

Generic SEO Plans Don’t Work for Solopreneurs

If an SEO expert presents you with a pre-built plan before learning about your business, that should raise a red flag. SEO isn’t a copy-paste task. What works for an online clothing store won’t work the same for a dog grooming service in Morrow. Every business has different goals, audiences, services, and challenges. If someone doesn’t ask about your customers, your location, your current website, or your short- and long-term goals, they’re not building a plan that fits you.

Watch for signs they’re just offering a template:

– They don’t ask about your audience or local market.

– The proposal or strategy looks very generic, with no mention of your type of business.

– They promise the same results regardless of your goals or industry.

Good SEO requires understanding your niche, especially when you’re running the show as a single-person team. You might need to focus on getting found locally, building up certain pages, or growing a blog section to bring steady traffic. If your expert isn’t customizing their service to match that, it’s like using the wrong tool for the job. You’ll end up spending time and money on broad efforts that don’t bring specific results.

One solopreneur in Morrow who ran a home cleaning service worked with an expert who never asked what neighborhoods she served or what types of cleanings she specialized in. The SEO work mainly targeted broad state-level searches instead of local terms. She got traffic, but not leads, because the content didn’t speak to the people in her actual service area. Customizing matters, even for the smallest businesses.

Falling Behind on Current SEO Trends

Search engines don’t stand still. What worked even a year ago might not be effective now. That’s why you need someone who isn’t just repeating outdated strategies but staying current. If an SEO expert talks about keyword stuffing, spamming links, or only focuses on meta-tags while ignoring how your pages feel to visitors, chances are their approach is from the past.

Pay attention to how they talk about SEO. If they use vague terms or only focus on technical tricks, ask about how they keep their skills fresh. Any mention of tricks or hacks over practical changes to your content or structure is worth questioning. You want someone who understands updates to search algorithms and how people actually use search engines today.

Here’s what to look for instead:

– Do they mention improving user experience on your site?

– Are they focused on useful content creation and website health?

– Do they understand the role of mobile-first design and voice search?

If they never mention these things, you may find yourself stuck with an outdated approach that brings zero long-term results. Good rankings now depend as much on trust and usefulness to the visitor as they do on good site setup. You can’t build that with old-school methods.

Make Smart Choices to Avoid Setbacks

Hiring the wrong solopreneur SEO expert can slow down your progress, eat into your time, and leave you second-guessing your direction. But by knowing what signs to look for, you can protect yourself and make smarter choices. Watch for clear communication, honest timeframes, real results, and tailored strategies. Avoid vague answers, flashy promises, or canned plans.

Your business is unique, and your SEO approach should be too. With a little patience and careful review, you can avoid setbacks and find someone who treats your business with the same care you do. Whether you’re running your entire operation from a laptop in Morrow or managing a local service, the right SEO help can make your efforts count. Just take time to choose wisely up front. That decision can save you headaches and help everything else fall into place.

By making informed choices, you’ll keep your business moving forward. If you’re thinking about hiring solopreneur SEO expert who understands the challenges of running a business on your own, Solopreneur Solutions is here to help with custom strategies that support real growth. Learn how we can improve your visibility and attract the right audience through our hiring solopreneur SEO expert services.

The post Red Flags to Watch for When Looking for an SEO Expert appeared first on Solopreneur Solutions.

1. Assess Where You’re At With SEO

You can’t move forward until you know where you’re at. This will give you so much information on what you need to do to improve.
Use a tool like Google PageSpeed Insights to see how quickly your pages are loading. If your site doesn’t load fast, your bounce rate will be high.
While you’re thinking of that, take a look at Google Analytics and see what your bounce rate is at. Your bounce rate is the number of people who load your site and then leave within the first few seconds. The goal should always be to get that number as low as possible. Take a look at the main page of your website and consider why people might bounce. Often, that’s due to a slow-loading page. Other common culprits could be difficult navigation, a design that loads poorly on mobile devices, a design that turns people off, or simply that the information they were looking for is not on this page. Make some notes on what it could be and what you might do to improve.

2. Have You Done Your Keyword Research?

Who do you want to visit your website? What are they searching for?
If you’re going to improve your search engine optimization and rise up in those rankings, knowing your keywords is essential. That starts with thinking about who you’re trying to bring to your website. What are they searching for when they find your page?
Use keyword research tools to create a list of words you want to rank for and make sure you have a good idea of related terms. This way, you can create natural-sounding content that uses your keywords, related words, and sounds like you’re writing to appeal to real people and not just search engines.

3. Create High-Quality Content

Maybe you’re tired of hearing it, but this advice is too important not to be a priority. If you want to run a great search engine optimization campaign, and you want to show up on the search result pages, then you want high-quality content.
This content should use your keywords. It should appeal to your audience. It should be beautifully formatted, with headlines, lists, and short paragraphs all working together to make it easily scannable by readers who’ve just loaded the page.
Write content that people visiting your page will actually find useful. Make sure it meets the needs they had when they searched for your page. If possible, longer content is doing better on the search results pages today. Think 1,500 words or more if possible.

4. Use Schema Markup On Your Pages

How do the spiders Google send out to index web pages know if a page is selling a product or just giving information? How do they know they’re seeing a blog post? Mostly, this is by the way pages are structured. Search engines know how to read the code you put on pages to create things like product pages and well-formatted recipes.
How do you make sure your code reads properly?
You can use a tool to create proper Schema markup. There are plugins you can use with your content management system (like WordPress) or Google has a markup helper tool you can use.
When your content is properly formatted, it’s more likely to show up in the snippets Google shows on their search results pages.

5. Employ Internal Linking Strategies

When you create a new piece of content, you should be able to link back to other pieces of content on your website that are also relevant. Since your entire website surrounds a specific topic and keywords, this shouldn’t be too difficult.
Make a habit of occasionally going back through some of your old content and update it to include internal links to your new content.
Why are you working so hard on internal linking? Because it signals to Google that these pieces of content relate to each other. This also signals to Google that your website surrounds these topics and has relevant and rich content on the topics that would be useful to their users.
You want the search engines to see how your pages link together. You also want users to know you have more content on the subject. To both parties, this signals that your website is an authoritative resource on this topic.
As with any linking practice, don’t go overboard. Make sure the links you’re placing are well and truly relevant and useful.

6. Update Your Old Content

If your website has been around for a while, updating your old content may be a useful strategy for improving your ranking.
Take a look at your analytics for your website. Do you have any content that could be doing better?
Make this content longer. Include internal links or an external link or two. Perhaps you even want to better optimize your keyword usage. You can add more headings, bolding, lists, and more to make that content fresh and well-optimized for both users and the search engines. Bring interest to the newly updated page by mentioning it on social media to bring new life to it again.
This tells the search engines that this content is staying up to date and relevant for the results.
Doing this can take a lot of time if you have a lot of older content. Make a practice of updating one or two pages a month. This can be done when you do your monthly review.

7. Perform a Regular SEO Review

Make an appointment on your calendar for a monthly review. At that time, take a look at your analytics for the previous month. What pages are ranking? What search terms are bringing people to your website?
Each time you do this, end the session by setting goals for where you want to be with search traffic next month. Try to make these goals realistic. The more often you do this, the better idea you’ll have of what realistic goals look like for your search traffic.
With that in place, you can look at your analytics during these reviews and compare how you wanted to do this past month with how you actually did. Watching your growth is a great way to encourage you to keep going. It’s also the best way to learn about your customers. What’s bringing them to your site? What search terms bring customers that stay the longest?
The more you know about your visitors, the better content you can create for them.

Remember You’re In This For The Long Term

There are many types of digital marketing today. Search traffic remains unique.
With search traffic, you’re marketing in a way that thinks long term. It will take a while to get your pages ranking. Once they do, they can stay that way indefinitely.
An SEO campaign involves many small things you do to your website over time. Often, a page may seem like it’s never going to rank, and then it jumps to the top. It can sometimes seem a bit unpredictable, but that’s part of what’s exciting about search engine optimization. It’s always changing. Today, we’ve seen the trends with Google. They’re moving more and more toward a search experience that is optimized for what customers want.
What does that mean? Websites designed to please online users will do best with SEO. Those who create websites meant for robots will lose ranking over time.
Search engine optimization is for the business that wants to bring in targeted traffic with clear search intent. It’s digital marketing for businesses willing to put in the time and build to get their sites working for them.
Today, consumers expect to be able to find your website on the Google search result pages. Being patient, and building a site well-optimized for consumers and search, is a strong way to bring in the right customers for your business and build trust with a quality website.

If you need an SEO Campaign plan schedule a call.

The post How to Develop a SEO Campaign to Improve Ranking appeared first on Solopreneur Solutions.

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What is Internal Linking?

Internal links are the hyperlinks that point from one location on your website to another. Think of them as the hallways and staircases in a building. In short, internal links are how visitors explore content you provide beyond the page they’re currently on.

How Internal Links Differ from Backlinks

Backlinks are hyperlinks that point to your site from external web pages. This means that another website places a citation through which users can click to your content. If, for example, you have a detailed analysis on how to reduce logistics costs by streamlining your procurement, a business website may find it useful to link to it.
As mentioned above, internal links connect content within your website. You are the one that chooses which content to link. Conversely, with backlinks, a third party finds enough value in your content to encourage their visitors to view your post.

Why Internal Links Matter to Google

The way Google finds content to rank in its search engine is by scouring the web through links. If a piece of content receives many links, ιτ’s a signal to Google that the post has value. This holds for both internal links and backlinks.
While backlinks help Google gauge how other webmasters rate your site, internal links allow you to prioritize your content. Using the right internal links, you guide your users to your most important posts. Let’s look at why this matters to search engines.

Linking Relevant Content

Google’s goal is to provide its users with the content they seek. A user enters a search query and expects to find information that will help them solve a pain point. By providing visitors with relevant content that augments their knowledge, Google rewards you for being an authority on the subject.
Let’s make a comparison with a brick and mortar business. If you have a store that sells sporting goods, you want customers to be able to find all necessary equipment and apparel within your establishment. If you sell tennis rackets but your customer has to go to a different store to buy wristbands, this is an inconvenience. The customer will have to search for a different store and may not become a repeat customer.
Similarly, Google want its users to find the answers they seeks with the least effort possible. Linking relevant content within your website shows search engines that you are truly dedicated to offering valuable resources. If you have relevant content on your website but fail to link to it, visitors will likely click away to greener pastures.

Assigning Value Based on Links

Search engines also assign value to your content based on your internal links. Your homepage tends to have the most link value because it’s likely the page most often linked to. Beyond that, your pages receive a score depending on the flow of link value. This value is unofficially referred to as link juice.
Linking to your recent posts from your homepage will ensure that they get the maximum link juice. This contributes to new posts climbing the rankings faster. You should place greater emphasis on cornerstone content that has the potential to bring the most clicks and sales.

Determine Your Internal Link SEO Strategy

Having a well-defined strategy for your search engine optimization will help you achieve better results. Leaving your internal link building to chance is a recipe for poor results. Let’s examine the seven steps to take that will boost your rankings.

1. Set Up the Best Site Structure

The best way to look at your website is like a spider web. At the very center of it all, you will find the homepage. This all-important page should then branch out into basic categories and sections. Your categories should break down further into subcategories and individual posts and pages.

2. Prioritize Your Content

All pages and posts should provide your visitors with helpful information. However, some pieces of content are more important to your users than others. Find the content that you want to be the most prominent for your audience.
You can approach this task from two endpoints and zero on the solution. Start by sifting through your posts and choosing which ones are closest to your business goals. Also, determine which posts have the most complete content regarding your main keywords.
Secondly, you’ll want to leverage your analytics. Check to see which pages get the most clicks and which keywords users prefer to use when searching for your content. Numbers don’t lie and your analytics will give you an objective ranking of your posts.

3. Tie Content Together Contextually

Linking related content within your website shows Google that you take the time to cover topics extensively over several posts. Avoid linking to a post that has little to do with the link’s starting point.
When writing an article on gym equipment and mentioning weightlifting belts, you can link to an article on this subject. Linking to a post about crossfit that mentions belts once is probably not going to have the same effect.

4. Assigning Hierarchy to Pages

Establishing a hierarchy is part of determining your structure and prioritizing your content. Once you establish which pages are cornerstone content and which pages play a supporting role, you should create links between them. Parent pages should like to child pages and visa versa. This strengthens the hierarchical bond and shows Google that users have a clear path to follow.

5. Increase Metrics with Related Posts

If you’re using a content management system like WordPress, you can add a related posts section with a couple clicks. There are many plugins to choose from that allow you to offer this feature on your website.
The related posts section is usually at the bottom of a post. It shows the user similar articles to the one they just read. This entices them to click through to an additional post on your site. The more pages they view and the more time they spend on your site, the more Google will acknowledge this as a sign of user contentment.
The result will be that you’ll rank higher in search results as people elect to spend more time on your site.

6. Include Navigational Links

The links in your menu are already some of the most fundamental on your website. If you can add links to your best posts from the homepage and your navigation menus, you’ll only end up strengthening these posts’ position.
This doesn’t have to be done by stuffing your menus. You can place navigational links in the sidebar. There, they will be prominent enough to gain clicks while sending link juice to your posts.

7. Place Emphasis on Categories

Taxonomies are the sections into which your website is divided. These sections include categories and tags. Especially with blogs, it can be helpful to add links to the category the posts belong to. This reinforces the structure of your site to Google. It is a way of making your website’s map more readable for the search engine’s bot.

Helpful Link Tips

The key to success with internal links is setting up a protocol to follow right from the start. That way, you will always structure your content is a way that is beneficial to your search engine optimization efforts. The following tips are tasks you can add into your routine. You can also scan your site in retrospect to improve these aspects of your internal link profile.

Preserve Link Value with Nofollow

Sometimes you will have links in your posts that do not offer particular value to your tranking efforts. These may include login links or other citations that are irrelevant to your brand.
Until recently, webmasters could just assign a nofollow tag to all unimportant links. This was a way of asking the search engine bot to disregard them.
While you can still apply the nofollow tag, Google has tweaked their algorithm to account for these links as well. The reason for this is that Google wants the authority of judging whther links are important or not. It’s best to reduce the number this type of links on your pages rather than nofollowing them. If you do apply the nofollow tag, keep it to a minimum.

Make the Most of Anchor Text

Anchor text is the clickable words that take your users to the desired page. With anchor text, you can have too much of a good thing. Your goal should be to use high-quality keywords without engaging in keyword stuffing.
Avoid using the exact same words to link to a page. If you’re linking to the same page, try using different keywords in your anchor text.
Make sure the text reads naturally and keep the emphasis on providing value. If you follow this mentality, your anchor text will work synergistically with the rest of your post.

Start Improving Your Rankings Today

Optimizing your internal links will noticeably benefit your presence in the rankings. Go through your website and apply the best practices discussed above. You will find that your strategy for internal links will carry over to your other search engine optimization efforts. Keep a spreadsheet to make note of changes. A detailed account of your actions will allow for benchmarking based on measurable results.

The post Why and How to Use Internal Linking for SEO appeared first on Solopreneur Solutions.

Think About Conversations

Think about the last conversation you had today. How do you speak when talking with someone in everyday conversation? Does the way you speak in any way resemble a typed Google search entry? Probably not. But when we use voice assistants to perform Internet searches, how to we do it? “Alexa, what is the closest pizza place to my home?” “Siri, find the best takeout Chinese food near me.”
We typically speak to the digital assistant as if we are speaking to another person. The key to voice search SEO is human conversation. Voice search queries contain conversational words and are typically longer. Voice search is more likely to contain question phrases.

Suggested Steps

How do you prepare for voice search queries? First, start thinking about questions a consumer might ask to locate your business. A great online tool for this is Answer the Public. Enter any keyword and it returns loads of questions. From that list of questions related to your search term, you can get an idea of what questions you should include in your content, and how.

• Build a FAQ page on your website and include as many of the popular questions that searchers can ask relating to your business and its products or services as possible.
• Optimize your company website’s meta data with the most popular voice search queries. Use questions that your page content will answer in the meta titles and descriptions of your pages.
• Create blog posts answering consumers’ most popular questions. Deal with one question per blog post.

Think About Your Location

About 20% of all voice search queries are for local content. This makes perfect sense, because people use their mobile phones on the go to locate information. And since 50% of local mobile searches lead to a physical visit to a nearby store location, if you have a physical store, you need to be optimized for local voice search.

Suggested Steps

Incorporate these local-focused keywords and phrases into your website SEO:

1. Add “Near me” into your title tags, meta description, internal links, and anchor text (flower store near me, content writer near me, etc.)
2. Add the phrases people use to describe the neighborhood around your location (upper east side, near Middleton park, etc.)
3. Add the names of prominent landmarks around your business location (near Stone Mountain, GA, across from the Washington Mall, etc.)
4. Add the titles of local institutions that are relevant to your business (near Academy of Art University, beside the Federal Reserve Bank in Raleigh, NC, etc.)

Think About Search Listings

It’s important to understand how digital assistants work. A primary source of information for them is Google My Business listings. So, when a consumer performs a voice search, they will be pointed to you in the following ways:

1. “Food delivery in Memphis” — If you have optimized your site for local keywords like Memphis, then you will likely appear high in this search result.
2. “Food delivery near me” — For these questions, Google tracks your mobile device location and compares it to local Google My Business listings.

Suggested Steps

If your haven’t claimed your Google My Business listing, do so and ensure that is includes your correct business name, address, and phone number with area code. The introduction field to your Google My Business listing needs to contain a well-written 400-word pitch to describe your products and services.
This is the listing Google will use when consumers search for your products or services “near me.” The most accurate listing will be returned high in search listings.

Conclusion

Remember that Google still evaluates content and other factors as well. Don’t throw other sound SEO practices out the window and focus only on voice search. These suggestions should be incorporated into your SEO strategy along with other good practices.
What are some of your best voice search SEO suggestions and tips? We’d love to share them with our readers. Leave them in the comments below.

The post How to Position Your Website for Voice Search appeared first on Solopreneur Solutions.

• One-time blog setup adjustments – do those just once, reap the benefits forever
• Plugins – these tools provide optimal WordPress on-page SEO
• Things to do for every new post – go through this part whenever you’re just about to hit the Publish button

One-time Setup Adjustments

Be sure these optimization settings are correctly chosen for your entire website. Then, you never need touch them again.

Enable Indexing Settings

 
Google will only index your site if WordPress allows them to do so. There’s a small setting in the Settings > Reading section of the wp-admin. It’s called Search Engine Visibility. Make sure that the box is deselected. If it’s enabled for development purposes, or any other reason, Google will not crawl your site.

Optimize Permalinks

 
Permalinks represent how WordPress structures every URL on your site. You can set those in Settings > Permalinks. Be sure to include keywords in your posts’ URLs, which is very important for WordPress on-page SEO.

Make Sure Your Site is Responsive and Mobile-friendly

 
Over 80% of internet users own a smartphone and use it frequently to access the internet. Moreover, Google announced some time ago that they’re now favoring mobile-optimized sites over those that are not. You can check how mobile-friendly your site is at Google’s dedicated tool. If you get negative results, you’ll need to change your WP site theme to a fully responsive one.

Check How Your Theme Handles H1, H2 Tags

 
H1-H6 tags are a critical part of your on-page search engine optimization structure. These headings are used to notify the reader (and search engines) about your page hierarchy, and what’s more or less important.
H1 – main, top-level heading – it’s what the page is about. Only use one H1 tag per page.
H2 – secondary heading – it’s what a section on the page is about.
H3 – third level heading – subsections under secondary headings
Make sure all your H1, H2, H3, etc. tags make sense and present a good structure of the document.

Recommended WordPress On-Page SEO Plugins

 
WordPress plugins work to fill the gaps in your on-page SEO. We recommend three of the most popular and easiest to use.

Yoast

Yoast is the most popular WordPress on-page SEO plugin of all. It gives you all the basic settings you’d need, and also lets you in on some of the advanced stuff, should you want to experiment. This is the one on-page SEO tool that you cannot do without. Install and explore the features, changing settings as needed.

Sumo

Sumo is a social media plugin/tool, and social sharing is paramount when considering on-site SEO. Social media metrics are something that Google measures when ranking your site pages. This plugin allows site visitors to share your pages on social media simply and quickly.

WordPress Touch

The WPtouch Mobile Plugin switches between your standard design and a mobile-optimized version based on the device that the visitor is using to access the site. The plugin works on autopilot and it’s completely free. The mobile design it delivers is clear and good-looking. In short, a great free solution if you don’t want to rebuild your whole theme to achieve a responsive website.

Things to Do for Every New Post

 
These are the things worth doing with every new post to make it search-engine friendly. Follow this checklist repeatedly for each post until these on-page optimizations become second nature.

Use Two-fold Headlines for Improved Keyword Targeting

 
Construct your headline from two parts: the keyword-rich search engine optimized part, and a twist. This sets the right tone, both for users and for search engines. The great thing is that you can use your primary and secondary keywords in the headlines.

Always Set Titles and Descriptions Manually

 
WordPress will fill out the meta title and description fields for you, but their auto-generated texts aren’t always the best, both from a keyword optimization perspective and copywriting perspective. Use your main keyword for the post, and also some related keywords in the description.

Include a Keyword in the First Paragraph

 
The first paragraph is the most important part of the post’s content from an SEO point of view. Let Google and your visitors know what your post is about by using the primary keyword or phrase somewhere in the first paragraph. Always.

Pay Attention to Keyword Density

 
If you want to rank for a certain keyword, you need to mention that keyword a number of times in the body of the post. The Yoast plugin has an on-page SEO checker that evaluates your current keyword density score for that page. Use them throughout the text and be sure they occur naturally and do not sound forced.

Use Related Keywords

 
Related keywords can be just as important as your main keyword for the post. Basically, Google wants to see some range of words and phrases alongside your main keyword if you expect them to be convinced that your post is indeed on topic.

Link Your New Post with Older Posts

 
For every new post you’re working on, find at least 3 existing related posts on your blog, and then link to them from within the body of that new post. If possible, see which of your posts get the most organic traffic, and link to other sites you want to rank, from those posts.

Use Alt Text for Images

 
Yes, you should use images in your blog content. Posts with images get more clicks. But Google has no idea what’s on them until you find a way to tell them directly. In WordPress, you can set alt text very easily for every image you have on the blog. Use a short 2-5-word description of what’s in the picture, plus include a keyword whenever it makes sense.
 
Wrapping Up –
 
Are you working on your WordPress site’s on-page search engine optimization? What other tips and tricks do you have to share with our readers? Record them in the comments below, and thanks for sharing your wisdom!

The post Your WordPress On-Page SEO Checklist appeared first on Solopreneur Solutions.

What is Keyword Research?

Keyword research is discovering everything possible about the actual search terms that people enter into search engines. Knowing all we can about these search terms can and should shape our content strategy and our overall marketing strategy.
 
Of course, a quick-and-dirty way to research keywords is to type key search terms about your subject into Google, then scroll to the bottom of the page and check out the related searches. There are usually six or eight terms, each with several words, that are popular searches related to the topic you entered. This is not an exact way to do keyword research, but in a hurry, it will do.
 

Step 1: List Topics Relevant to Your Business

Step 1: Make a list of topics that are relevant to your business. Think about the topics you want to rank for in terms of broad categories. Come up with about 5-10 broad categories you think are important to your industry. Use these later in the process to get more specific with keywords.
 
Don’t choose these topics at random. What topics do you blog about frequently? What topics come up the most in sales conversations? If you are using buyer personas, what topics would those people search for frequently?
 
If your business is digital marketing, you would have broad category topics like “blogging,” “email,” “SEO,” “social media,” and others.
 

Step 2: Brainstorm Keywords that Fit Each Topic

With 5-10 broad category topics in place, it’s time to identify some keywords that fall into those categories. These are keyword phrases you think are important to rank for on search engine results pages because your target customer is probably conducting searches for those specific terms.
 
For example, if I took a topic from your digital marketing company, “marketing automation,” I would come up with connected keyword phrases that people would search for related to that topic. Here are some suggestions:
 

• what is marketing automation?
• marketing automation tools
• how to use marketing automation software
• how to tell if I need marketing automation software
• email marketing automation
• top automation tools
• lead nurturing

 
Think of as many as possible. This is just a brain dump of potential phrases people may type into a search box when looking for information about your broad category. Later in the process, you will narrow down the lists to popular and valuable keyword phrases.
 
Another way to get possible phrases for each category is to determine for which keywords your website is already getting found. Use website analytics software like Google Analytics or HubSpot’s Sources tool. Research your website’s traffic sources and organic search traffic to identify the keywords people are using to get to your site.
 

Step 3: Research Keywords Related to Your Topics

This was mentioned earlier, but it’s a valuable hack. Take a look at the related search terms at the bottom of a Google search page when you plug in your broad category topics and related keywords for each. This may spark other ideas for keywords to consider and add to your list.
 
Another valuable tool to use in researching keywords is AnswerthePublic.com. Type in a broad category keyword and it returns hundreds, sometimes thousands, of possible combinations to use as keyword phrases. Give it a try and be amazed.
 

Step 4: Separate Keywords into Two Categories

Check for a mix of head terms and long-tail keywords in each of your category topics. Head terms are generally shorter and more generic keywords, one to three words in length. Long-tail keywordsare longer keyword phrases usually containing four or more words. A good balance of both types is key.
 
Head terms are searched more frequently, making them often much more competitive and harder to rank for than long-tail terms. Consider this: for which of the following terms do you think would be harder to rank?
 

• blogging
• how to write a great blog post

 
The more specific a search, the harder it is to get a good ranking. While head terms generally boast the most search volume, specific searches are generally more qualified leads. They are more specific, meaning they know exactly what they seek.
 

Step 5: Examine How Competitors Rank with Your Keywords

Understanding the keywords your competitors are ranking for is a great way to additional keywords for evaluation. If your competitor is ranking for certain keywords that are on your list, it makes sense to work on improving your ranking for those keywords, too. However, don’t ignore the ones your competitors don’t seem to care about. This could be a great opportunity for you to own market share on other important terms.
 
Aside from researching keywords and seeing what positions your competitors are in, SEMrush allows you to run a number of free reports that show you the top keywords any domain. This is a quick way to get an idea of the terms your competitors are focused on.
 

Step 6: Fine Tune Your Keywords List

Now it’s time to narrow down your lists with some more quantitative data, and that means more tools. You can use tools to get data on keyword visits, rank, historical performance, difficulty, and how other competing businesses are performing with their keywords. We suggest the following tools:
 

• HubSpot Keywords App
• Google Adwords Keyword Planner
• Google Trends

 
Use the Keyword Planner to flag any terms on your list that have way too little, or way too much, search volume. But before you delete anything, check out their trend history and projections in Google Trends. Some low-volume terms might actually be something you should invest in now and reap the benefits for later. Google Trends can also help you determine which terms are trending upward, and are therefore worth more focus.
 
With your research completed, you should have a list of keywords that’ll help you focus on the right topics for your business, and get you some short-term and long-term gains. You should also re-evaluate your keywords about once a quarter to see how they still rank and if any new terms are climbing the ranks.
 

Step 7: Optimize Your Website

Now that you have done the research it is time to optimize your website with the terms you have selected. Each page of your website should be optimized with a specific keyword or phrase.  Once you have completed this process it is time to submit your sitemap to Google.
 
Using Google Webmaster tools add your website and sitemap so that Google can index your site and store the data in its memory banks. This is the first step to getting your site to show up in search results. To keep improving your odds of climbing up the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) continue to write blog content using the keywords you have identified.
 
What is your process for keyword research? Have successful are your efforts with it? What lessons have you learned? Share them with our readers in the comment section below.

The post How to Do Keyword Research appeared first on Solopreneur Solutions.

• Blog posts and webpage copy that is written and optimized with quality
• Clean and formatting page URLs
• Fast-loading pages
• Google authorship incorporated
• Incorporating selective keywords naturally into title tags, meta descriptions, heading tags, alt text, etc.
• Social sharing integration within your content

 
Off-Page SEO includes:

• Backlinking (having other high quality/authoritative sites  link to your site naturally)
• Social sharing signals
• Social bookmarking (Stumbleupon, Reddit)

 
What Is Search Engine Marketing (SEM)?
SEM is now often used as the umbrella term for SEO and SEM. The longer phrase “search engine marketing” — or SEM — is now typically used to describe paid search activities. Working to gain traffic and visibility from search engines through both paid and unpaid efforts is now usually just called Search Marketing.
 
Other than search engine optimization (SEO), SEM includes pay per click (PPC) listings, social media marketing (SMM), and advertisements. Most of the time, SEM strictly includes PPC campaigns and activities, but if you use SEO and paid search, that falls under SEM efforts.
 
The main difference between these two terms is that search engine optimization is simply a component of search engine marketing. It is important to never use the terms SEO and SEM interchangeably because although they work hand in hand, they are not the same term.
 
SEO vs. SEM: Which Is Better?
Marketers often debate which one is better than the other, or if there is such a concept. Arguably, how can a part of something (SEO) be better than the whole (SEM)? That may seem like a vicious circle of semantics, but in the online marketing world, it actually matters.
 
Inbound Marketing experts would argue that organic SEO is the best approach. This means doing the hard work of optimizing your content and tweaking your efforts until you are on the first page of Google results. But as anyone can see, true SEM cannot succeed without the use of organic SEO.
 
Moreover, there are situations where PPC (pay-per-click, a component of SEM) makes more sense than SEO. If you are launching a new site and you want immediate visibility, it is a good idea to create a PPC campaign because it takes less time than SEO. However, you still cannot ignore SEO. Although organic SEO takes longer to show results, in the end, it will be less costly and you will establish a search credibility that you probably cannot establish with PPC.
 
Here is the real kicker: SEM traffic is considered the most important source of internet traffic because it is targeted. People use search engines to find the solution to a problem, an answer to their question, or to learn how to do something. So, when users click on a website from the search results or click on an ad, they are more likely to convert. The relevancy of the displayed websites and ads makes SEM traffic more valuable than any of the other sources.
 
When it comes to choosing the best tactic for you, evaluate your specific needs, and be sure to fully understand both the differences and how you will maintain your efforts with each. Do you have SEO or SEM tactics you have used with success in the past? How about sharing them in the comments with our readers?
 

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1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is designing and optimizing your website so it appears naturally or organically in search results by Google, Bing, and other search engines. This is the simplest and quickest way to ensure your business website can be found by internet users. Including relevant keywords, links, images, and content within the front end and back end of your web pages provides search engine ‘crawlers’ topics under which to index your site in their databases.
While some insist that SEO efforts are futile due to Google’s constant algorithm updates, this is not true at all. Google modifies its algorithms regularly so only relevant results are presented to users. Their efforts prevent unethical site builders from manipulating the system to get their sites listed high in search results. Therefore, SEO is worth your investment in time, or in cost to have a professional optimize your site.

2. Content Creation

Every year, research continues to demonstrate that content is king. Content is the currency of the online marketing realm. Even the most recent enhancements to search engine algorithms continually stress content as a top metric when determining search results. This content can be in a variety of formats, including blog posts, images, banners, infographics, videos, podcasts, webinars, Q&A forums, white papers, eBooks, case studies, how-to guides, or social media communications.
Tap into your creative side and generate content on any topic and then link it directly or indirectly to your business. Regardless of the type of content you choose, interactive measures increase user engagement. In today’s consumer-centric world, users prefer to have ongoing communications with the companies with which they do business, and feel increasingly loyal if their feedback is welcomed and acknowledged.

3. Social Media Marketing (SMM)

Social Media Marketing involves driving traffic to your business website through social networks like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, LinkedIn, and others. Content is custom created for each platform to attract users’ attention and incite a response, usually a click on the link provided in the message that takes the user to a specific place on your site.
In addition, good content is liked and shared by users, further spreading your message across numerous other social pages, and increasing your possible reach and engagement. With social media, it’s best to share at least four or five times a day and reply promptly to personal responses.

4. Mobile Marketing

Optimizing your site for mobile is just a small part of mobile marketing. Mobile internet users are growing exponentially each year with no slowdown in sight. Therefore, it not only makes sense to be sure your website is viewable and usable on mobile devices, but also to consider what kind of mobile app your company could develop for mobile users. According to a report from Flurry analytics, 90 percent of consumers’ mobile time is spent in apps. Or, according to frequent app users and developers, It’s an App World – The Web Just Lives in It.
This 90% figure is a vital metric to remember as you decide whether to develop a mobile app for your business. Apps don’t fit every industry or business. For some, it may be best to focus on a mobile-optimized site. Either way, mobile marketing makes sense as the potential of the mobile market continues to grow.

5. Email Marketing

Email marketing is sending commercial messages through email to past, current, or potential customers. By using email marketing software, you can maintain email lists that are segregated based on a variety of factors. Sending personalized emails develops trust and makes you sound like a real person meeting real needs, and not just an uncaring automation.
In some opinions, and in some countries, email marketing is considered spamming. Some countries have laws prohibiting unsolicited emails with stiff penalties for violators. The safest route is to only send commercial emails to those who have signed up for your emails and given permission to receive them. Even then, email marketing should be used strategically so as not to antagonize recipients and compel them to opt not to receive them in the future.

6. Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Search Engine Marketing is a comprehensive strategy to drive traffic to your business through paid efforts. It is also sometimes called Paid Search Marketing. Essentially, you are renting traffic for a price in order to get business. The two major models of SEM are PPC (pay-per-click) or CPM (cost-per-mile). With PPC, you only pay a fee for every time a user actually clicks your ad to go to your site. With the CPM model, you pay a fee for each 1,000 impressions (1,000 impressions = 1 ‘mile’), which can be simple views of your ad.
SEM is difficult to keep up with while running a business and almost exclusively requires someone to manage it. There are a variety of platforms for SEM that perform basically the same service. Two of the most popular ad services are Google AdWords and Bing Ads.

7. Retargeting / Remarketing

Retargeting, or Remarketing, targets users who have already visited your website. It places a JavaScript ‘cookie’ in the user’s internet browser when they visit your site. This invisible code reports back to your ad server provider every other site the user visits. At appropriate times, the ad server can then display your ads on other sites when users are there.
Retargeting is a preferred strategy because you are targeting users who have already shown interest in your business. This means conversion rates are usually high. Retargeting works on websites, social networks, and on mobile devices.

8. Affiliate Marketing

With Affiliate Marketing, you pay people who display your ads (called ‘publishers’) to bring you customers. The performance can be based on promotions, leads, or sales. Publishers provide space on their site to display your ads to help drive conversions. You pay them based on a compensation model. Affiliate Networks provide a large base of publishers, along with benefits like tracking and reporting technology.
Affiliate Marketing is a win-win for businesses and publishers. Sites like Amazon, eBay, Link Share and Flipkart, and most large-traffic online businesses, have Affiliate Programs.
The digital marketing strategies that work best for you will vary. Different industries have different objectives, as well as smaller and larger businesses. In most cases, a combination of several digital marketing strategies will serve to drive traffic and lead to conversions for your company. What are your favorite or most profitable strategies for digital marketing? Share your wisdom or suggestions with our readers in the comments below.

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Content

In spite of some naysayers’ spin on this topic, content is still king regarding SEO rankings. Even Google has affirmed that the number one SEO ranking factor is content. And why not? Content is the currency of the online marketing realm. When you provide quality, relevant content of great value to users, they return to your site again and again, and Google takes notice. Therefore, pay attention to producing top-notch content that users will pause to read, watch, and act upon, something they cannot find elsewhere on the web. Always write to benefit consumers, not to please Google.
 
Keyword research and usage is a key element of producing great content that is also searchable and ranks high enough to be found and used by consumers. When writing to a particular topic, research what keywords and key phrases are used most by top-ranking pages on similar topics. Use words and phrases that consumers use most when searching for a particular topic. While your topic may be ‘melanoma’, consumers may be searching for ‘ways to avoid skin cancer’ or other, simpler phrases.
 
Search engines also love new, or fresh, content. Sites with regular updates stand a much better chance of achieving high rankings than those with only occasional or sporadic updates. This doesn’t mean that daily updates gain higher rankings, but it does mean that providing fresh content on a regular basis is a plus. Also, content that relates to events or topics that are suddenly very popular can enjoy a boost because of something Google terms Query Deserved Freshness (QDF). When something happens that garners lots of searches, and your site produces content relevant to that topic, Google will boost that content ranking so searchers can find it.
 

Backlinks

Google has also affirmed that links to your site from other sites are a top factor that affects rankings. However, quality is also a factor here. It’s not just a matter of having lots of links pointing to your site, but who is pointing to your site. For example, 1000 links to your site from 5 sites is not the same as 1000 links from 1000 sites. Also, 25 links from reputable, high-ranking sites and/or sites in your particular niche count more than 1000 links from questionable sites or blogs.
 
The words within a link – link text or “anchor text” – are also important. This is how search engines determine how one website describes another. Accurate descriptions of your site and its content within incoming links is a factor that counts toward higher rankings. For instance, if your site is about pools and spas, an incoming link with the text ‘water’ is not as helpful as one reading ‘swimming pools’ or other relevant words. Very often, you cannot control the words others use when linking to your site, but when those opportunities arise, capitalize on them by suggesting accurate text.
 
Quality backlinks take time to obtain. Don’t be tempted to use spamming software or linkbaiting campaigns to generate lots of links in a short amount of time. Search engines detect these kinds of tactics and penalize those sites accordingly. Top sites that share top content gain top-quality backlinks.
 

RankBrain

This is not another new algorithm that Google uses to determine site rankings, but a machine-learning artificial intelligence that Google has been using to process a “very large fraction” of search results each day. Basically, RankBrain uses AI to translate searches into mathematical data the computer can understand, so that Google algorithms can filter and produce results that are better-tailored to the user’s search. This improves the overall search process, but especially for never-before-seen search queries. In short, RankBrain is mainly used to interpret the searches users submit to find pages that may not have the exact words contained in the original search query.
 
Google admits to having hundreds of ranking signals that factor into a site’s overall ranking in search results, and these can have literally thousands of variations. With content and backlinks being established as the top two, top analysts are claiming that RankBrain is now the number three ranking factor. If so, in addition to great content that contains accurate and popular keywords, and large numbers of quality backlinks, your site pages should also be optimized with related secondary keywords that can help Google (or RankBrain) connect users to your content.
 
So, does this mean there is now a RankBrain score for webpages? According to a great write-up concerning RankBrain at Search Engine Land, it is likely that RankBrain is helping Google classify pages based on content and quality in a better and more usable fashion. Basically, it uses artificial intelligence to learn how to better summarize pages in order for Google to help users find them when using long-tail or complicated searches. According to the article linked above, Google is only admitting there is a ranking component involved, and nothing more.
 

Getting to the Top

To summarize, getting to the first page of Google searches for keywords relating to your business requires consistent refinements. There is no magic bullet, no secret formula, and no single expert who holds the key. Anyone can achieve top rankings by consistently producing quality content that causes users to link back to their site, and by using simple and popular keywords and phrases in their content to help searchers find it.
 
It is important to remember that there are hundreds of other ranking factors that Google and other search engines consider. There are technical aspects such as page loading speed and image labels that have a bearing on rankings. Page titles and descriptions are important. Making it easy for users to share your pages makes a difference. Getting to the first page of Google is a process containing numerous interconnecting factors. Consistent refinements over time will eventually see your pages ranked at the top where most searchers look.

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