Nicole Salvatore is our resident blog copywriter, a website copy expert, and a babe on a mission: Un-bro SEO for babes like us. Today she’s sharing 6 stellar secrets to showing up in Google searches without sounding like a robot.
Secret 1: Get Your Goals On Lock And Block Out The Noise
The first thing to know about SEO is that no one knows everything about SEO.
Search Engine Optimization is the process of using tech and writing approaches to help your website (or blog) show up in search results.
And while there are tons of gurus out there telling you they know exactly how to make that happen, and how to make it happen fast, it’s simply not the case.
While copywriters and SEO specialists take time to learn all they can about what Google and other relevant search engines are looking for, Google itself doesn’t release step by step instructions on overnight SEO success.
So, Nicole’s advice:
Decide what you want to get out of improving your SEO (more traffic, more checkouts, more comments, or more booked appointments for example) and block out the “quick fix” gurus who promise overnight success.
Instead, buckle up for putting a long-term SEO plan into action and connect with people who know how to make that long-term plan a success.
Secret 2: Keywords Are The Hashtags Of Website Copy
Back in the day, you’d probably see way more websites with endless paragraphs repeating the same word over and over.
It really was a keyword wasteland where you’d find something like, “Get the workout plan that can help make your workout feel less like a workout.”
But today, Google is smarter, your clients and customers are smarter, and the SEO you need to use...well it’s not that robotic as a result.
When you’re writing blogs or website copy it can be tempting to focus on one keyword that you repeat ad nauseam. After all, you want to show up in Google for that word, right?
But Nicole suggests thinking about more than a single word.
Consider the questions you want to be the answer to and the phrases that your ideal client or customer is typing into the search engines.
That way you can vary your words, sound less robotic and build your SEO juice (Yeah, she calls it juice and we still love her…) over time.
Secret 3: You’ve Gotta Write For Your Audiences (Yeah, There’s More Than One Audience)
One of the biggest secrets when it comes to SEO is that you’re writing for more than one audience.
Most people assume you’re writing for Google. And Bro-y SEO gurus will have you buying into this myth hard.
But the truth is that Google doesn’t just read your website or blog copy, it interprets the interactions that site visitors tend to have with that copy and content. Then it makes judgments about how to place you in search results and when to show your site or blog in particular results pages.
So you’re not just writing for Google when you’re trying to juice up your SEO, you’re writing for the people who will visit the site and especially for the people who are most likely to hang around.
So, even if your goal is to amp up your SEO, don’t forget the reason you’re writing that copy and content: Your favorite clients and customers.
When you write for them, infuse keywords and phrases, and tend to the other SEO nuts and bolts, you’ll find you grow in ways that help you reach more of the right people.
Secret 4: Say Hell No To “Copy and Paste”
One of the myths of SEO is that it’s just for website copy. But Google can now read things like Instagram and Facebook posts.
And Google doesn’t love duplicate content.
This is, of course, because it’s trying to move us all away from things like plagiarism. But it’s also because Google favors new, high-quality, engaging content over a “copy and paste” job.
Things like Title tags, alt tags, and meta descriptions follow the same rule. So, if you want to talk about something you wrote on your blog in a social media post, be sure to change up the content at least a bit to avoid an SEO problem in the long run.
Secret 5: You Probably Don’t Have Enough Copy
One of the things copywriters like Nicole hear more often than you might think is, “I just want a little bit of copy for this page.”
And while minimalist websites might be visually appealing, the SEO value of sites with only a few hundred words is pretty darn low. This creates what Google calls “thin” content and it can slow your SEO growth if your main pages are deemed “thin”.
So, if you like a minimalist look, that’s perfectly fine. Just don’t skimp on the words.
(And be sure you make them all count by doing so thorough keyword research too!)
Secret 6: You Don’t Need To Know It All (Or Do It All On Your Own)
If things like alt tags, title tags, backend SEO, frontend SEO, and meta descriptions have you feeling a bit overwhelmed or you aren’t quite sure where to start, the important thing to know is that you don’t have to know everything about SEO to create stellar content and copy for your website or blog.
In fact, getting a handle on where your site is right now and how it can grow will give you all you need to get moving in the right direction.
Get Your SEO Juice Going And Reach More Of The Right People Customers
If you’re looking for some help getting your SEO juice going or you just want someone to Un-bro the whole SEO thing so you can show up in the right search results and reach more of your ideal clients and customers, we’d recommend reaching out to Nicole.
Whether you need an SEO Audit to figure out what’s standing between you and better search results or you want some SEO-fueled website copy for your website rebrand or your next launch, she’s got your back.
You can email her at Nicole@NicoleSalvatoreLLC.Com
Photos By Chelsea at Rosebud Photography.
