Search Engine Optimization (SEO) should be an integral part of your website, influencing early decisions on site structure, content, and future content creation. t's crucial to lay a solid foundation for your strategy right from the start, starting with thorough research on Keywords—the key elements that search engines use to translate search queries into results. I'm sharing this article to encourage readers to take control of their SEO strategy and be well-informed about their investments. For those considering outsourcing their SEO strategy, this post can serve as a resource for understanding the essentials when engaging with an SEO professional.

This article outlines four steps for developing and enhancing your SEO efforts:

1. Building a Strong Foundation for SEO

2. Understanding Keywords and Utilizing Them Effectively

3. Finding Strong Keywords

4. Using Keywords to Improve Your Website

Most of Steps 2-4 are adapted from the Reddit post "SEO is easy. The EXACT process we use to scale our clients' SEO from 0 to 200k monthly traffic and beyond" by u/malchik23. I have also included insights from my personal experience, focusing on areas where my clients often have trouble understanding parts of this process.

The SEO landscape has undergone significant changes between 2018 and 2021, with Google prioritizing analytics and User Experience (UX). While keywords and technically sound websites remain crucial, Google now assesses User Experience (UX) through metrics such as "Time Spent on Site," "Click Through Rate," and "Search Query Completion Rate." When hiring an SEO professional, make sure they also prioritize these new UX benchmarks alongside keyword analysis, strategy, and building a technically sound site over outdated techniques like backlink building.

Step 1 - Building a Strong Foundation for SEO

Before delving into Keyword analysis, ensure your website is technically sound, easily accessible, and adheres to best practices, contributing to a high Lighthouse Score—an important metric used by Google to assess technical quality. Prioritize achieving a score of 90 or higher in all Lighthouse categories before investing in content improvements. (For certain Shopify sites, I'll concede on the performance score, as some plugins essential for your site may slow down performance.)

Complete your Google Business Profile to enhance local search rankings. Google values comprehensive business information, boosting visibility on Google Maps and local searches. Integrate Google Search Console to track keywords site visitors use before visiting your site. You might be surprised with what keywords people are using to find your site. Be prepared after launching your site to use this tool to make sure your content aligns with what your potential customers and clients are searching for.

I mentioned earlier the UX benchmarks that Google now uses to rank and index websites. While these benchmarks are intricate and deserve their own article, I want to reiterate that good UX directly improves your rankings. One important benchmark to explain is 'Search Query Completion.' When a user searches for "bicycle repair" on Google, they might visit two or three sites before deciding where to bring their bicycle for repairs. If your website is the last one a Google user visits, Google interprets it as the user finding what they were looking for on your site, completing their search query. This benchmark is an example of the sophisticated ways Google now ranks sites.

Step 2 - Understanding Keywords and How to Utilize Them

Keywords are words or phrases people use in their search queries, ranging from single words like "jeans" to longer phrases such as "dog adoption center" or "hot dogs near me." Google uses these keywords to direct users to websites that feature these keywords throughout their content, signaling authority on the given topic. Strong keywords have low competition, high traffic, and strong conversion rates. You are lucky to find a keyword that meets all three criteria.

Once we find these keywords, the most effective way to integrate them into your site is by creating a dedicated webpage focused solely on that keyword. This dedicated page signals to search engines that your business is an expert in that particular area, so much so that you even have a dedicated webpage for that topic.

For example, if you run a furniture store and want to boost search rankings for the keyword "Living Room Couch," consider creating a collection page titled "Living Room Couches" that showcases your entire inventory. If specific inventory or site structure constraints prevent this, you can alternatively write a blog post titled "How Living Room Couches Can Change Your House" using generative AI in under 10 minutes. Blogs serve as valuable tools on your website, enabling easy content addition and the creation of dedicated web pages to enhance keyword rankings. You may have noticed that some of your favorite websites have blogs that you might not read or find particularly interesting; these blogs are not primarily for human readers but are built to convince search engines that their website is an authority on a keyword.

Step 3 - Finding Strong Keywords

I would like to introduce my Keyword Research Sheet, a valuable tool to assist you throughout this process. Feel free to use this sheet or create a another version for your needs. I'll reference throughout the rest of the article. The key components of this sheet include:

• Target Search Phrase: The keyword you are targeting.

• Priority (Ranked 3-2-1): Prioritize keywords based on competition, traffic, and conversion potential, with 3 being the lowest priority and 1 the highest.

• Low Competition: Does this keyword have significant competition or is it niche?

• High Traffic: Popularity volume of searches.

• Well-converting: Are users making purchases or completing their search queries with this keyword?

• Monthly Search Volume: The number of monthly searches for the keyword.

• Topic Cluster: The category the keyword belongs to.

• CPC (Cost per click): The keyword's potential effectiveness. This is a its market-derived measurement, particularly useful for paid searches.

Now that we understand what keywords are and how to use them, and we have a tool to organize and prioritize them, I'd like to mention again that a significant portion of this article is derived from u/malchik23's Reddit post, "SEO is easy. The EXACT process we use to scale our clients' SEO from 0 to 200k monthly traffic and beyond." The next section, in particular, draws heavily from their process. Here's a straightforward step-by-step guide on how to find useful keywords:

1. List your top 5 SEO competitors, these are companies with a strong SEO presence in your niche. If needed, identify competitors by searching for top keywords related to your own product or service.

2. Run these competitors through SEMrush's "Organic Research" (or another domain performance tool) to receive a comprehensive list of the keywords they rank on.

3. Add all relevant keywords from this list to your Keyword Research Sheet, this completes about 70% of your keyword research.

4. Run your top keywords through UberSuggest (or another keyword suggestion tool) to generate similar keywords. Add relevant ones to your sheet, bringing your progress to about 80%.

5. The remaining 20% will be added over time as you periodically check Google Search Console for insights into what people are searching for before finding your website.

Step 4 - Using Keywords to Improve Your Website

Once you've identified the keywords you want to prioritize, you can begin implementing these keywords across your site. Each keyword should have at least one dedicated webpage to signal to search engines that you hold authority on the subject. Various webpage types, including landing pages, collection pages, blog posts, product pages, and custom web pages (similar to landing pages), serve this purpose. Blog posts, being the easiest to set up, highly scalable, and among the most converting pages, are recommended. Each type of webpage comes with its own ins-and-outs for building robust SEO, which is beyond the scope of this article and best suited by your web developer, SEO professional, or through additional research.

Despite the intricacies, there are common best practices for all webpage types. These practices include the effective use of meta tags, proper headers, accurate titles, comprehensive content (ideally 1.5 to 2 times the length of your competitor's content), and including call-to-action buttons that encourage user interaction (clicks) on your site. Consider using generative AI tools like ChatGPT to quickly write comprehensive content. To do this, give the generative AI your keyword, a few headers, and relevant information about your company and target audience to generate well-written, specific content. Tools like SurferSEO and YoastSEO can help you improve your SEO content. Additionally, employ Lighthouse or GTMetrix to double-check the technical aspects of your SEO. Think of Technical SEO as a filter; without a solid foundation in Technical SEO, search engines may overlook the quality of your content.

Feel free to reach out to me at mason.omara@gmail.com or fill out my contact form if you want to effectively improve your SEO. Once again, I recommend referring to u/malchik’s guide "SEO is easy. The EXACT process we use to scale our clients' SEO from 0 to 200k monthly traffic and beyond" for further guidance or as a starting point to improve your SEO knowledge.