SEO Flashcards
Four pillars of SEO
keywords, technical, content, backlinks.
how to find organic keywords to use on a website
identify keywords by using google’s auto-generation, use underscore, LSI keywords (suggestions at the end of the page), google keyword planner, SEM rush
how to validate that we can rank on keywords
Create an excel file with all positions under the keyword you want to target see if the articles actually target the keyword, see the length of the article. If not targeted and under 750 words it is probable good to make content under that keyword.
how to conduct local keyword research
jot down a list for all services provided, expand on these ideas,
check for local intent, check for search volumes, group keywords by page, check high-ranking competitors keywords,
five categories of search intent
informational, investigative, comparison, transactional, navigation.
examples of informational intent
the first step of the funnel. A customer wants learn what a thing is “learn (topic)” “how to (do something related to (topic))”
examples of investigative intent
when a customer is trying to understand what the options are”(topic) tools” “best (topic)”
examples of comparison intent
when a customer wants to weigh options” brand 1 versus brand 2”
transactional intent
when a user wants to conduct an action to do something”(product or service) sign up”
Navigational intent
trying to direct to website
what is the correct way to work on SEO updates based on intent.
work from the bottom up aka prioritize keywords with high transactional intent and low competition.
three pillars of the technical portion of SEO
make sure the site is crawl able and indexable, optimize for UX, site architecture
factors that affect crawl-ability and indexibility
search architecture and page experience and robots.txt file, no index tags
factors that affect page rank UX
page loading speed, interactivity (first input delay), visual stability (Cumulative layout shift)
First Input Delay
a web performance and user experience metric that tracks the time from when a visitor first interacts with a web page to the time when the browser starts processing the interaction
Cumulative layout shift
a calculated shifting of elements while the page is being downloaded and rendered.
ideal link max depth
3 links deep
best way to increase site architecture quality
increase internal linking, make sure to reduce link depth, and identify pages with poor internal linking.
how to optimize content performance
is there keyword cannibalization, does the page need to be upgraded, is the page optimized well, does the page have enough internal link coverage, does the page need more topical authority
what is keyword cannibalization
When you have two or more pages targeting the same keyword phrase.
when would a page’s content need to be upgraded
when it’s worse or not differentiated enough when compared to competitors.
how to optimize a page’s content
if the keyword you are working on does not have the keyword on h1, url, first sentence, last sentence and title.
how to check if there is enough internal link coverage.
2-5 links per post
how to check topical authority
internal linking to other articles on similar subjects
how to target backlink acquisition
make sure it’s relevant to the website, a real website with real organic traffic, it’s authoritative and backlinks are quality.
types of keywords
head, body, long tail
what is a head keyword
single words like cars, food
why are head keywords not high quality
they don’t show intent. they are low quality traffic and have poor conversions, high competition and high serp volitility
what is SERP
Search engine results page
what is a body keyword
usually adjective plus a noun. used cars. Thai food
negatives of body keywords
highly competitive
why are long tail keywords the best keywords to target
these are highly specific and usually have the lowest competition, high intent, higher quality leads, ranking will be more profitable
how to find keyword opportunities
existing keyword profile, semrush keyword magic tool,
3 catagories a website is already ranking for
(2-15) aka low-hanging fruit, existing keywords (16-50), clustering opportunities (51-100)
how to capitalize on the website’s low-hanging fruit keywords
find easy to compete keywords first using KD
what does it mean to have a clustering opportunity
this means your page isn’t targeted enough and it presents an opportunity to create content around and move up that keyword up in rank.
what is google’s #1 goal when it comes to search
to provide the most relevant information possible
tools I use in SEO practice
peoplealsoask.com, semrush, google keyword finder, google itself
keyword qualification parts
current position, minimum search volume, intent, relevance, trend, ctr potential, keyword difficulty
how many keywords should one page have
one keyword per page.
what is a minimum search volume to target
100 searches per month
what is a good keyword pool to start with.
50-100
Where to start with an SEO audit
identify total organic keyword reach, identify low hanging fruit keywords, optimize low hanging fruit pages,
how to run a technical audit on site
use the URL Inspection Tool in Google Search Console (GSC)
how do you target low-hanging fruits keyword wise
play with title tags and meta description
a good rule of thumb to target keywords for improvement
if ctr is less than 1%
How to test a low hanging fruit keyword page
benchmark original data, create 10-15 options for new title tags and meta descriptions, make the variation live, collect data for each idea for at least 2-4 weeks
how to write a good title tag
use power words, 50-60 characters, Make sure they’re unique
what is a backlink gap
a gap of authoritative sources linking back to your site or page
