25% of small business websites don’t have an H1 tag.

Recent small business SEO stats indicate that while almost all SMB sites have a title tag, 25% of them don’t have an H1 tag. Furthermore, 28% of small business websites lack meta description which is another important SEO feature that correlates with higher CTR.

Now how much of that made actually made sense to you?

When I sat down to write my first blog post, I had zero idea how to optimize it for SEO. Later, when I started designing websites, I realized I needed to have a basic knowledge of SEO in order to be creating websites that werent just pretty but also effective. Yet, a google search for “SEO” information turns up about 1,270,000,000 results. Talk about information overload. SEO is a huge, and growing industry and there is admittedly a lot to learn. But what about the basics. I needed to find a way to get started with a simple SEO strategy, and today im sharing that with you – so you can get started applying SEO and creating higher converting content.

68% of all online activities start with a search engine. SEO is the tool that gets your audiences eyes on your website and content. Still, SEO is something that often gets overlooked by creatives, coaches, and entrepreneurs (and that first fact backs me up on it). There is a lot to it, so what do you need to know to get started?

What is SEO, and why do I need it? The Importance Of SEO In Digital Marketing

SEO stands for search engine optimization. It’s a term that encompasses the practice of using specific keywords in your Branding and Copywriting with the goal of appearing at the top of your ideal clients web searches. Blogs, websites, and content marketing that is designed with SEO in mind is often referred to as being SEO optimized. A “Keyword” is actually a little misleading. Keywords are a combination of 2 or more brand and content specific words (not just one word). The better the job you do with your SEO – the more eyes reading and viewing your content and website.

93% of online experiences begin with a search engine. Having an SEO strategy means having a resource of brand keywords and process for gathering content keywords. It allows you to have an SEO optimized website, blog, and content. This means organic traffic and conversion from high quality leads.

What is Metadata, and how is it used?

Ive “coded” some pretty cool myspace pages in my day but the word “meta tag” still kind of makes me feel like i’m in Zenon of the 21st century. But meta tags are super important for SEO. So lets start by simplifying them. They mainly apply to your website and blog. Meta data is how your website talks to google using code. But don’t worry you don’t need to be a web developer to be using it correctly.

Remember that first fact, about how “25% of small business websites don’t have an H1 tag.” An H1 tag refers to a meta tag. A tag that you can easily set in your website to tell google this the most important heading in my blog. Each webpage and Blog should have a title tag and header tags. Heading help readability, and they help google to know which parts of your content are the most important in order from h1 to h6. Most web design platforms like Squarespace, Showit, & Shopify will automatically set these tags for you based on how you format your copy, and also give you the option to tweak it. A h1 tag typically denotes the page title or article headline, while h2 and below serve as subheadings to break up your content. It’s usually suggested to use only one h1, while you can use more than one h2 or h3.

Blogs and webpages also have a section for something called metadata. Metadata is a 160-word description that google and other search engines will pull from as the description that appears on the webpage for that website. Some platforms like square space will do this for you, while others will require you to do it yourself. Your metadata description should include SEO-optimized keywords that are relevant to that page or post’s content.

Alt Text

Alt text is basically a meta data section that describes what an image is. You can and should add alt text on your website, blog, and even instagram posts. This is an ideal place to include relevant SEO keywords.

SEO Simplified

Branded Keywords

Brand Keywords are specific to your product or service. These types of keywords are discoverable through both social media and search engines.

SEO Keywords

These are niche specific keywords that the people who are searching for your a solution to the problem you solve are using in their searches. They describe the problem, service, or solution that you provide.

Content SEO

Content keywords are words you are use in the titles, descriptions, and captions of your content, that are relevant to that piece of content. You can create a resource for these, and make it part of your content creation process.

Location Specific SEO

This one is pretty self explanatory. If you have a brick and Mortar business they are especially important. Location-based SEO, also known as geo-targeting, is the practice of optimizing your content to appear for your target location.

Social SEO

Initially, SEO applied to standard search engines, like google. As social media platforms evolve, they too are becoming search engines in their own right. You have Pinterest, which is a visual search engine, and Instagram and Tik Tok with search features. This makes SEO powerful for creatives just starting out (even without a blog or website). Optimizing your posts, pins, reels, and carousels with SEO keywords is a sustainable way to beat the algorithm and create more organic traffic to your accounts and content.

How do I get started using SEO keywords in my content?

How to use SEO Keywords to Optimize Your Blog Posts

When writing a blog you want to use brand and Content specific SEO keywords in the headings. Make SEO research a part of your blog writing process. You can also use SEO to help you outline your blogs content and answer the questions that people are searching for. Using SEO keywords in your Heading, Sub headings, and metadata help your blog posts to shop up in niche specific web searches.

Instagram SEO

Optimize your Bio with SEO keywords. That means your favorite song lyrics, made up words, and coffee lover have got to go. We’ve got limited space and need to make the most of it.

Pro tip those cool fonts you can download to your phone, yeahhh do not use them here. The algorithm doesn’t “read” them and those SEO keywords you worked so hard for won’t do a damn thing.

Use content-specific SEO Keywords in your “hooks”. Those attention-grabbing, thought-provoking, headlines are prime real estate for SEO keywords that drive organic traffic to your posts.

Pinterest SEO

Pinterest is not only a great tool for finding SEO keywords, but also a search engine in its own right. Im curious, how often do you find yourself searching for something on Pinterest vs. google? More often than not, Im searching Pinterest. SEO Keywords are used in pin titles & descriptions, board titles & descriptions, and your profile description.

SEO Copywriting | Optimizing your website with niche specific keywords

Content on your Blogs, Instagram, and Pinterest should all direct traffic to your website. But your website itself needs to be optimized too. Optimize your website by using keywords In the page descriptions, headings, and metadata.

There is a lot that goes into an SEO strategy that will rank your content on the first page on google, but that doesn’t mean its power to create organic traffic is inaccessible to you. The sooner you can start with SEO, the better. You’re probably wondering, “How do I find SEO keywords for my brand?”. I’ve got your back Download this tutorial that walks you through how to use my three favorite tools for finding SEO Keywords.