Back in the Dinosaur Age of the internet (think before 2010) SEO was simple: figure out the keyword phrases you want to rank for and cram as many of them as possible onto your website and blog posts.
It may have been slightly more involved than that, but there were plenty of ways to game with system with link farms, article marketing, article spinning and the like.
Today Google’s wised up with an increasingly sophisticated algorithm. If you think you’re going to cheat your way to Page 1, it’s only a matter of time before you get found out.
The recipe for SEO domination today is all about CONTENT.
Give bride and groom searchers what they want and make it easy to find. You need great content. There’s no way around it.
Fortunately, Sam Oh of Money Journal just made your job a whole lot easier with his Mammoth SEO Checklist to Rank Any Blog, a comprehensive action checklist and infographic outlining the step by step approach for top ranking your website.
Here are some highlights from this excellent resource.
The New SEO Recipe For Ranking
#1 – Blog about topics of interest to your ideal couples. Find out what they’re searching for and give it to them. If you’re not sure, just ask ‘em.
#2 – Wedding blog posts that rank:
• Get shared on social media.
• Earn natural backlinks.
• Are referenced in forum discussions.
• Are written to attract and capture wedding leads.
#3 – Do keyword research to discover wedding blog topics that rank. Identify top ranking blog posts in your wedding market.
Follow the step by step instructions for doing keyword and competitive research here.
#4 – Write compelling titles that contain those keyword phrases. Remember that you’re writing for real brides and grooms, not the search engines, so create titles that earn the click.
Use the recipes for bride attracting blog titles here.
#5 – Search wedding blogs, Facebook groups and forums to identify your couples’ biggest pain points so you can write about them. Research what brides and grooms are ranting and raving about as inspiration for your articles.
#6 – Optimize your images, metatags, social share titles and descriptions with those keywords. Don’t forget to include your target keyword phrase naturally in all these locations.
#7 – Create images to use in your social sharing promotion. Articles shared on Facebook, Twitter and the like that contain images with a compelling title get more clicks and website visits.
Use one of these 3 free tools to create images for non-photographers.
#8 – Promote the heck out of your article. Share it with your email list and social media sites. Send the link to any of your couples and other wedding professionals involved in your piece.
Getting your wedding blog found in the search engines takes some work, but it’s one of the best ways to attract targeted leads.
What do you think?