5 Effective Search Engine Optimization Tips

There are many techniques that you can utilize for search engine optimization or SEO. Basically, the aim of SEO is to show up within the first few results when a person searches for a keyword related to your business. Think about it yourself: do you ever click on the search results beyond the first two or three that show up? Unless you’re looking for something very specific, this doesn’t happen. And it’s even rarer for people to go to the second or third page of search results. But what can you do to make sure that you show up in the first few results? Is this even possible? The answer is yes. And here are a few search engine optimization tips that will get you there:

1. Keywords: You need to use keywords relevant to your business on your website. So, for example, if you’re running a real estate firm, your keywords will probably include “house,” “apartment,” “real estate,” “home” etc. It’s a good idea to use these keywords 3-4 times maximum in a 3-400 word piece of content. Make sure that the keyword isn’t just used in the title and then forgotten about in the rest of the piece. At the same time, you don’t want to indulge in “keyword-stuffing” i.e., using the same keyword in places where it’s not necessary or natural. This will actually result in your being penalized by search engines.
2. Keep it Brief: People searching on the internet don’t necessarily have the same degree of patience as those who sit down to read a newspaper or a magazine. Think about it. When you sit down on a comfy chair to read a newspaper or magazine, you might even end up reading it from cover to cover. But when you’re at a computer, you’re usually sitting in a hard-backed chair at a desk. And very often, it’s your work desk, so you’re trying not to waste any time. What you want are some quick and dirty tips to get your task done. So you’re much more likely to read through content which is brief.
3. Break it Down: Another simple but effective method to keep people reading on the internet is to break down your content into small parts. You can do this by introducing subheadings, bullet points or numbered lists. The advantage of this is that the reader can see, at one glance, what the entire article is about. So if they already have all this information, they can skip reading it. On the other hand, if they have a part of it and not the rest, they can read the parts that they haven’t come across before. This saves them time. Also, it makes the content more organized.
4. Make it Unique: Often, people just want to keep repeating the same information that other people are giving in their own content. Why would you want to do this? Don’t you want to put your individual stamp on your website or blog? Besides, using the same keywords as everyone else and using them in the exact same way isn’t going to get you any hits. On the other hand, if everyone else is writing about how the earth is suffering from global warming and you write about ways to recover from global warming, you’re going to stand out in some way. As a result, the search engine will give your article priority.
5. Write for People: Often, people try so hard to be ranked higher by Google and Bing that they forget that they’re eventually writing for other people. There’s a person sitting on a computer at the other end reading what you write. And there are certain things that people appreciate in all types of writing, such as good spelling and grammar, an interesting hook, a compelling anecdote etc. Nowadays, storytelling has become popular in the SEO and content-writing community. Everyone loves a good story. So if you can include one in your article or blog post, you’ll catch the reader’s eye and keep them engaged.

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