Figuring out how Google searches the internet

The first step to winning at SEO is to understand how internet searches work. Here’s an introductory overview.

When someone goes to Google.com and searches for “best marketing books for small business,” Google gets working. It looks for websites that are tagged with the entire phrase or search query term best marketing books for small business and the keywords marketing, books, and small business.

In addition, Google looks for sites associated with brands that have paid Google Ads to show up under that phrase and those keywords. It also looks for web links to content related to the keywords that give sites a vote of confidence, and it looks for sites and pages that are tagged with all or some of the search terms.

Your job is to ensure that when someone searches for terms or words related to your business, your site shows up by aligning with the above process. Given the 2 billion websites that exist on the internet as of 2022, that can seem overwhelming. However, if you remain committed to building links through organic marketing activities, tagging your website and web pages, and monitoring search queries, keywords, clicks, and impressions on your Google Analytics dashboard (see Chapter 12 for more about Google Analytics), you can affordably rank above your competitors on the top page of related SERPs.

The following sections tell you how to get high rankings on SERPs through organic and paid efforts and manage your keywords and website tags. I’ll also tell you how to get valuable links to credible third-party websites and share other important SEO tidbits.

Growing organic and paid SEO

There are two main approaches to SEO: organic and paid.

Organic SEO refers to no-cost tactics that push your rankings higher on SERPs. Examples include blogging with keyword-laden content, media mentions that link your website with media sites that have thousands of monthly visitors, and tagging your site and individual pages with keywords and long-tail keywords, or phrases consisting of three or more keywords (more about keywords later in this section).

Paid SEO refers to campaigns with Google Ads and retargeting platforms that serve up your listings or ads to searchers looking for sites related to your keywords. Your rankings are influenced by the ads you create with your keywords and, of course, by the money you spend to compete with others vying for the top SEO results.

To maximize your hits within each category, you can employ certain tactics and actions as part of your regular marketing routines and website maintenance. The most critical elements of SEO you should regularly monitor and maintain are keywords, links, and tags. The next sections give you more information on each of these elements.

Curating keywords

Your keywords are any words and phrases that describe your product, brand, and value proposition. You need to align your keywords with both your organic and paid SEO programs, as well as the search query terms your customers use when they’re looking for options in your industry.

For your paid SEO, you should list in your Google Ads platform all the possible terms that describe what you offer and also align with what people are looking for in your category. If you’re selling a marketing book for small business owners, for example, you’ll want to associate your website and SEO ads with as many keywords as you can brainstorm that align with search query terms used by your target audience. The topics of most interest to them may be SEO, digital advertising, social media, and blogging. So you should consider using phrases that include those topics in your keyword listings.

You can set your keywords up on Google Ads as an exact match, a broad match, or a phrase match. These settings impact your Google optimization score and impressions, so it’s important to note the difference. Your optimization score reflects the effectiveness of your spend of your ads and budget for driving impressions and clicks. Impressions is how many people see your ad, not to be confused with how many people click on it and go to your website.

If you choose the exact match setting, your search ads will appear in searches that contain the words or phrases you’ve set as your keywords, but you’ll also show up in searches that use words with the same meaning as your keywords. For example, Google points out on its help pages that grass cutting and lawn mowing are considered exact matches, and searches containing either term will get results for both. If you’re using the exact match setting, you’ll want to know the specific terms consumers searching for your product or service use.

Always include your business name as an exact match keyword, especially if it contains a word that may appear in searches for very different things. For example, if your business’s name is Starlight Software Solutions, you’d set those words up as an exact match phrase because the word starlight on its own may serve up your Google ads or listing to people looking for astrology classes or boutique shops selling tarot cards, clothing brands, boutiques, theatres, music release, anything that uses the term, Starlight.

The broad match setting loosely matches up your listing and ads with search queries that are related to your keywords. For example, if you’re a lawn mowing service, your Google ads may show up in searches for aeration and mulching. Google recommends that you use the broad match setting so your ads will show up more often and get more impressions. However, you can get a lot of unrelated impressions with broad match, so think it over carefully before you choose this setting.

With the phrase match setting, your ads and listing may show up in searches that include the meaning of your keywords. Again, using Google’s example, if your long-tail keyword is lawn mowing service, your ad may show up in searches for landscaping services. Google Analytics, a web analytics tool that helps you track your website’s performance, and Google Search Console, an SEO tool that helps you monitor your Google search results will share search query terms that relate to your category. Your Analytics page shows the impressions for your ads and keywords. Your Search Console page shows the search terms consumers use when searching within your category. Review their suggestions and include relevant search terms in your keyword listings and throughout your content to ensure your website aligns with current search trends among your target audience.

Keywords that reflect broad categories can generate millions or even billions of results, which makes it hard for you to rise to the top of a SERP. Using long-tail keywords — those phrases consisting of three or more words — can help you rise to the top of a given search containing terms with less competition.

Table 13-1 uses a furniture store in Breckenridge, Colorado, as an example of the results a consumer would get using different search terms on Google. As the marketer for the store, you want to compete for hits on the long-tail keywords that include your specific location. Long-tail keywords that contain Breckenridge, not just Colorado, will significantly narrow down the other URLs you have to compete with to be at the top of the SERP. You can reach the top of the list by including the phrase log furniture in Breckenridge, CO in your website’s first 100 words, on each of your web pages, in your site’s title and meta tags (explained in the “Playing tag” section of this chapter), in your blogs, and in your copy for your search ads.

Use your competitors’ names in your keywords so your listing appears in searches related to their products and brand. Monitor the words they use on their landing pages and social media pages and tag your site accordingly so you can share in the impressions they may be generating for themselves.

SpyFu and Semrush are online platforms that allow you to gather information about your competitors’ search results. You can discover what your competitors are using as keywords, how much of their traffic is organic or paid, and how much they’re spending on SEO. SpyFu gives you a free look at a short list of the keywords and phrases your competitors use and charges a fee for a full list, making it a great starting point for discovering what others in your space are doing.

If you can spy on your competitors’ keywords and SEO buys, they can spy on yours. You should always stay a step ahead of where you think your competition may be and where you think you should be at any given time.

Making links

The more links there are between your website and other websites related to your industry and keywords, the higher your SEO ranking will be. You don’t get quality links by paying for them; you get links by earning them.

As Ryan Deiss and Russ Henneberry note in Digital Marketing for Dummies, 2nd Edition (Wiley), “Links are the Internet equivalent of positive word of mouth.” If a research site or blogger inserts a link to a web page, representing it an authority on a given topic, they are, in a sense, endorsing that authority, which tells Google the site must be worthy of a high ranking in related search term queries.

A link inserted in another website is referred to as an earned link. You earn links every time an outside website points to your website, and you earn more points for links on credible pages that have a high volume of regular traffic over pages that have a low volume of traffic.

So a marketing strategy that centers around identifying your company as an authority in a given field not only boosts credibility and trust for your brand’s experience and products, but also boosts your SEO via earned links without the expense of paying an agency or a platform to increase your results.

Here are some ways to earn links:

• Write and post press releases. Send out press releases about your personnel, business, partnerships, new products, and events. When a media site publishes your story with a hot link to your page, you score more than just the impressions for your story. You get web traffic from a credible site.

• Share content with your partners. Ask business partners and happy customers to include some of your content on their site in exchange for you doing the same thing. Posting case studies and papers that link back to a credible brand can help your SEO.

  Be careful how you execute this strategy, because links that take people off your site too early in their navigation will affect your bounce rate, dwell time, and session duration (see Chapter 12), and your ability to keep engaging and selling to interested visitors.

• Cross-link your own content. Link your blog to pages on your own site. If you write a blog about product specifications customers should look for, link that blog to your page about your own product specifications. Search engines pick up internal and external links and boost your chances of ranking high on SERPs.
• Create content worth sharing. Content that presents original research findings from surveys you conduct yourself, big ideas, or decision support that you push out on social media often gets shared by journalists and bloggers who list your site as a reference. These mentions earn quality links for your content.
• Ask your community to share links. Ask your partners and suppliers if you can link to each other’s websites. This is a win-win, because the more links you have, the better off you both will be.

You can monitor the links that come and go from your marketing efforts and brand recognition on sites like Moz (www.moz.com/link-explorer) and SpyFu (www.spyfu.com). Google Analytics also shares referral sites to help you see all the ways people get to your page.

Playing tag

Tagging refers to keywords you input into the programming end of your website. You need to have admin rights for editing your website, creating new pages, and so on. With these rights you can access a page on your site that has fields for tags that reflect the entire site, and tags for the content of specific pages.

When setting up your website, you have options for tagging your home page and the other pages on your site. Be sure to use concise and compelling language for your tags because these are the words that will show up on search pages with your URL. Google looks for tags when it’s finding websites to rank for search queries, so tagging is important to your SEO.

You need to craft a title tag (the title of the SEO link for your website that appears on a search page) that relates specifically to the search queries you want to fill. If your business is a nail salon in Utah, you’ll want key terms in your site’s title tags that align with how people search. For example, best manicures in Ogden, Utah; 5-star customer service for pedicures and manicures; most affordable, highest rated manis and pedis in Utah; and so on.

You also need to craft a meta tag for your site: a brief, one-sentence statement about your value proposition. The meta tag is what shows up below your title tag on SEO links. Typically limited to 60 words, it sums up your brand value. An effective meta tag for a software as a service company targeting small restaurants may be “The highest rated software service for optimizing all areas of your business, earning 5-star ratings from owners of delis, cafes, and full-scale restaurants.”

You can also tag each web page and your blog with keywords that will result in SEO rankings for them. Website builders provide tagging fields for your website and for each page.

Website tagging is something you need to continually refresh to sync up with current search terms for your industry. Pay attention to the search terms that come up on your Google Analytics page and update your tags as necessary, keeping the wording fresh and compelling to get clicks for the impressions you earn.

Landing pages and blogs

Websites have many entry points besides their home page. Creating secondary entry points, also known as landing pages, is a common tactic to get people to your site at the highest point of relevance for them. Landing pages also enable you to track the effectiveness of an email, mobile, social media, or print campaign. Google Analytics easily identifies the entry page for your visitors, so monitoring your landing pages is an easy and inexpensive way to test your marketing campaigns.

Setting up your Google Ads account

Setting up a Google Ads account requires an email address and a URL if you want to drive traffic to a website. Having a Gmail account makes it easier to get started and manage your ads down the road.

To set up your account, go to https://ads.google.com. You will be prompted to set up an account name, a payment method, and so on. Google Ads offers two types of accounts: Smart Mode and Expert Mode. Smart Mode, the default setting, is easy to use no matter your skill level and experience. Expert Mode is more complex and something you can switch to when you understand how the platform works. Google Ads prompts you through your account setup by allowing you to choose your marketing objectives from options like Sales, Leads, Website traffic, and more. After you’ve selected a goal, or created one of your own, you select a campaign type. Options include Search text ads, Display ads that show up across the web, Shopping ads, Discovery and Video ads on YouTube and Gmail, and more.

When you set up your account, you have to create an ad campaign, so have a list of keywords and a goal for your first ad in mind when you get started. For help with keywords, turn to the “Curating keywords” section.

Creating your first Google Ads campaign

Setting up Google Ads campaigns is easy! The platform walks you through each step of the process and gives suggestions to optimize your search results. You can create campaigns that have multiple ads, and only pay for what you activate. You can pause or delete campaigns at any time, helping you execute affordable testing and save your budget for ads that work.

To set up your first Google Ads campaign, you need to have the following elements:

• A goal for your campaign, such as to drive web traffic or generate inquiries
• A business name and website
• Copy for your ad, including a headline, description, and phone numbers
• Keyword themes that include keywords, search terms, and long-tail phrases
• Locations in which you want your ad served
• A budget that you can spend daily toward reaching your goals

Google Ads offers various formats to help you best achieve your goals. The most common formats include:

• Text Ads: This is the most common format that consists of a text block that includes your URL.
• Image Ads: This format allows you to include an image in your ad and appears on Google’s display network, which consists of over two million websites that reach more than 90 percent of internet users worldwide.
• Display Ads: These are ads with images that look like banner ads and are served throughout Google’s Display network.
• Responsive ads: These are ads that automatically resize to fit the devices upon which they are being used. Google will rotate headlines and copy you provide to create various ad combinations of your content.

Even though Google Ads will still look like text ads, they are no longer managed as extended text ads, which Google retired in June 2022. All ads now have to be formatted as Responsive Search Ads, which involve multiple headlines and descriptions which Google combines into multiple ads. This format has been proven to achieve higher results, which prompted the change.

Setting up your Google Business Profile

When you create a Google My Business account, the first step is to set up your Business Profile. Your Business Profile may already exist. You just need to claim it so you can manage it.

To start, go to www.google.com/business/ or use Google to search for “Business Profile Manager”. This will bring you to a Google page that walks you through setting up your Business Profile. Type your business name into the search bar and find your business. If your business doesn’t show up, Google will prompt you to create a profile with your business name.

After you find or add your business, you’ll enter your Business Profile information, including your company name and category, locations in which you serve customers, contact information, and hours. You can set up your profile so that customers can message your company from your profile page.

Once you create your Business Profile, you can start advertising it in a Google Ads account. Google will gladly prompt you on how to do this. You can respond to reviews, receive direct messages, take calls and orders, and more.

Creating a profile that stands out

Setting up a Google Business Profile is a solid step toward driving local traffic and sales to your business by aligning with real-time searches in your location. However, having a profile and showing up on Google Maps isn’t enough. Your location will appear among a handful of others, and consumers will likely choose the one that has the best reviews and the most engaging images and descriptions.

Like any aspect of marketing and branding, your message is key when you describe your company in your Business Profile. Don’t just state what you do. State what you do with descriptions that explain what makes you different, better, and more fulfilling than others.

Consider a profile statement like

ABC Donuts is Small Town USA’s highest-rated donut and coffee shop, with all products made fresh every morning, never frozen. Give your day a sweet start in our spacious store in the heart of downtown, or order a dozen to go. Our 5-star products include warm, fluffy sugar-glazed donuts, rich chocolate cake donuts, and maple bars with fresh bacon.

This description references customers’ 5-star ratings, which provides social proof as described in Chapter 2, lists products with appetizing descriptions that create impulsive triggers, and references status with an inviting location statement, “the heart of downtown.” Choose your words carefully and be sure to use descriptors that set you apart from competitors but also mention any unique experiences you deliver.

Product details can be listed in your Business Profile as well. Google allows most small and medium-size businesses to showcase their products by posting photos, pricing, details, and so on with its Product Editor tool. You can also include videos in your profile.

Managing your results

As with Google Ads, Google provides you with detailed insights about the impact of your Business Profile and your Google My Business results. Google’s Business Profile data will help you understand things like how customers find your profile and what actions they take, including the number of requests for directions and phone calls they make through your profile listing. You’ll get key insights, such as how many customers found you through Google Search or Google Maps, which days and product listings show the most results for your listing, and so on.

One of the most important insights that can help inform your other marketing activities is discovering what customers do once they find your profile. Do they visit your website, request directions, call you, view photos? Where on your profile do viewers click the most? These actions can tell you what captures attention and inspires engagement among your target customers.

You can add a Call Business button to your profile. If you do include this feature, be sure you list a phone number that’s monitored by a live person who can answer customers’ questions. People engaging with businesses through Google My Business are typically in the middle of the shopping process and are likely to make quick decisions. If no one is available to answer their questions, they will head to the next listing on the map.

Online resources with updated insights

You can keep up with advances in SEO without hiring an expensive agency to execute, update, and manage your keywords, ads, budgets, and other aspects of your Google Ads campaigns. But there are some DIY alternatives. Here are some resources you should check regularly to stay on top of new features, tools, and strategies for optimizing your SEO:

• Google’s SEO Starter Guide: Google has a comprehensive guide for helping you determine what their tools do and how to use them.
• Moz: A robust site with free insights about managing and optimizing your SEO programs, how to get started, and tools you can access for free or through moderately priced packages
• Search Engine Journal: An online forum offering articles, checklists, guides, and webinars covering all areas of SEO as well as industry updates
• Semrush: An industry-leading SEO backlink checker and competitor research tool that provides limited insights for free or ongoing insights and tools through a moderately priced package, as well as blogs and articles about starting and managing your SEO programs
• Backlinko: A site set up by an SEO consultant that offers guidelines, training, and newsletters to help you stay on top of tactics and tools

You can also get your website’s SEO and related functionality graded for free. Search for “website grader” on Google, and you will likely get a lot of options for services that will give you free insights on your site’s overall SEO performance, mobile responsiveness, and security. You’ll get grades for your tag descriptions, page speed, page requests, SEO plug-ins, and more. Some website graders will give you access to a grade just for submitting your URL and email address, while others require you to set up a free account. Search online for “website graders” to see which ones make the most sense for you.

Additional tactics for more SEO results

SEO is a science and an art. As you strengthen your skills, use new tactics to get better results. The following list shares a few ways to up your SEO game.

• Establish and maintain a strong presence across the web. Your web presence encompasses your pages on third-party sites that bear your name and drive people to your URL. Maintaining a presence on sites like YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Flickr can help your website come up more often and higher in search rankings (see Chapter 9 for more about getting noticed on these sites).
• Provide a site map. A well-designed site map makes it easier for search engines to find your website when they’re navigating through URLs relevant to a specific search.
• Execute retargeting campaigns. Use a retargeting platform like AdRoll to serve up ads to people who have visited your site as they browse the web. This creates visibility for search engines and helps drive repeat traffic as well as higher search rankings.

Your website is often the first impression people have of your brand, so it needs to be found easily on SERPs and be everything they expect to get them to engage and embark on a journey to lifetime value. Do some research to find out what consumers in your space want when they’re browsing brand and product websites, and craft keywords and Google ads accordingly.