Social SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) Through Clever Content Creation
Creating optimised ‘Social’ content to rank for key terms isn’t a new idea but the search results are becoming more eclectic.
With that fact in mind, I’d like to briefly run through which content types regularly appear and how to use this content to clamber through the sweaty throng of competing pages.
Firstly, here are some broad content principles that you should be focused on:
Keywords
…need to be selected, based on competitiveness, search volumes, and long-term trends.
Research
…the content themes and formats (eg, Videos, Blog posts, Tweets) that your target audience is most interested in.
Create
…good, interesting, valuable, sharable, content – and publish it freely where possible. Create something of unique value that can’t be found elsewhere.
Optimise
…this content. I’m not advocating a selfish SPAM approach, but why wouldn’t you want to give your content the best possible chance of being indexed, noted and linked to? Search Engines need to be given explicit cues (in titles, headers, links) – regardless of quality, content, and context.
Identify
…influential hubs and make sure that you promote your content within them (responsibly). The mantra of ‘build it and they will come’ won’t usually work.
Done That… What’s Next?
Here are the main forms of content you should be interested in. The key to a lot of content optimisation is getting search terms in a) The Page Title b) The URL, and c) including links to raise awareness, link equity, and the likelihood of others linking to you.
SEO Tip 1: Blog Posts
Optimise: The post title – this will usually become the page title and URL. Many CMSs, such as Wordpress, allow SEO plugins so keywords can easily be added to the places that count. Including a sensible amount of keywords in the copy is also important (but don’t force it).
It’s also best practice to register your blog with Google and Technorati.
Why?: Good blog content can quickly appear on the front page.
Ideal when: Your blog is well-read, established, and has garnered some respect (from both users and Google).
Example: (Term = ‘Social SEO’, Results no 5/6 / PageRank 5)
SEO Tip 2: News Articles / Press Releases
Optimise: The headline – this will usually become the page title and URL and, if appropriate, add some keywords and links within the copy.
Also, make sure you’re indexed by Google News and add selected keywords to your XML news sitemap if you’re using one.
As with blog posts, most CMSs can be used to add keywords to the most important places.
Why?: News articles rank (transiently) in most SERP sectors – increasingly at the pinnacle.
Ideal when: You’re regularly producing good, neutral, and newsworthy content and have the resources to continue to do so. Even better if your competitors aren’t using the same technique.
Example: (Term = ‘Hotels in London’, Result no 1)
SEO Tip 3: Facebook Pages
Optimise: The page name – this is added to the URL and page title. Make sure that links are included back to your desired main page. And, If this main page has a keyword focused URL, you could influence new members to link to your page using search terms.
Why?: Social Profiles are becoming more prominent within the SERPs. Facebook pages are publically viewable and ranking with more frequency. Within pages, discussions and sub-sections can also infiltrate the results pages.
Ideal when: Your page has attracted high membership and you’re in a market that isn’t saturated with similiar pages. It’s also more auspicious for your page if your brand name is highly searched for.
Example: (Term = Hackett London, Result no 3 / 1,090 fans)
SEO Tip 4: Twitter Profiles
Optimise: The profile name (becomes the URL and added to page title) and username (also added to the page title), then use keywords (when appropriate) within Tweets. The bio becomes the meta-description, so try to make it interesting.
Don’t worry too much about links and the language used within them, they don’t pass any value or PageRank. However, I generally don’t shorten links unless I have to: user experience is improved if link text is explicit and descriptive.
Why?: Recent Google updates have led to Twitter profiles becoming far more prominent in the SERPs (although this trend has tailed off in recent weeks).
Ideal when: Your profile becomes established and linked to. Most profiles that rank are well established, highly followed, frequently updated, and continually on topic.
You’ll also stand a better chance of ranking with a valued brand name and a comfortable ‘social’ fit. eg, if you’re a known quantity in the Art or Tech sector, you’re likely to be followed in high volume.
Example: (Term = ‘Social SEO’, Result No 10 / 894 followers)
SEO Tip 5: YouTube Videos
Optimise: The channel username (added to the channel URL), the video title (Becomes the video’s page title), and the video description (becomes the meta description) – then include links in the video using YouTube annotations.
It’s also best to include links back to your page in the video description and whenever possible.
As YouTube is effectively an independent search engine, make sure that tags are optimised so internal searches are returned in response to keywords.
Why?: Google owns YouTube and loyally places its video content within SERPs.
Ideal when: You’ve created a video that really is going to be viewed, rather than a thinly veiled corporate advertorial: most videos that rank are fairly popular.
Also helps if you’re in a relatively uncompetitive search sector and competiting against few similiar videos.
Example: (Term = ‘Social Media’, Results no 2 / 3 , 320,400 / 697,381 views)
SEO Tip 6: Images
Optimise: The alt-txt. The overall theme of the page and surrounding copy is taken into consideration but won’t usually be worth modifying around an image. Instead, add relevant images, when the copy and context is already focused on a particular theme.
Why?: Images regularly appear within the SERPs. Note, Google isn’t affiliated with one particular channel (like Flickr) and uses a slower bot (googlebot-image) to crawl images for inclusion within its image search index.
Ideal when: You’ve got a hefty selection of quality images to use on your site
Example: (Result no 1 for ‘Lesser Spotted Woodpecker’- the highest volume term on the teletext internet)
SEO Tip 7: PDFs / White Papers
Optimise: The title of the PDF, its URL, and page title. Also add links within the PDF – Google recognises and follows them.
Why?: Within niche, emerging, sectors, white papers and focused PDFs are vessels of valuable knowledge. Framing the paper by a key term also increases the chance of users linking using search terms as anchor text.
Ideal when: You’re in an emerging sector and have something interesting to say. As the sector grows, (early) established rankings can stick like muck.
Example: (Term = ‘Social Media Marketing’, Result No 7)
SEO Tip 8: Listings (Products/Jobs etc)
Optimise: The description, title, and keywords. Also submit other items (e,g job listings) to Google Base, even though their appearance in the SERPs is almost as infrequent as a Tufted Puffin on British land.
Why?: Product items feature heavily on the first page for specific search terms, and other items are Increasingly – but still sparingly – appearing.
Ideal when: You’ve got a steady flow of products to release onto the web that cover a wide range of long-tail search terms
Example: (Term = ‘Board Game’, Result 4)
There are a few other relevant content formats, but the principles remain the same.
Stick to the above and you’ll stand a good chance of ranking – even in more competitive sectors.
Adios.
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Prakash_pandey
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ericafiller02
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