Duane Forrester is a Sr. Project Manager with Bing’s Webmaster Program. In fact, he was one of the first SEO specialists hired by Bing. He recorded a lecture on the fundamentals of SEO. During this lecture, he covers a variety of topics all pertaining to SEO. He begins by going through what SEO is, and why it is important. He also talks in depth about what he believes is the secrets to SEO success. I want to walk you through what I was able to glean from this lecture by Duane Forrester.
What is Search Engine Optimization?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving a website to make it more relevant to searchers and search engines. It is about building a better product. It’s a very slow process. It doesn’t happen overnight. If you are thinking about small little technical things such as how many characters should I have in my title tag, and whether my meta descriptions contain the keyword enough times, you are going down the wrong path. There are much bigger picture things to focus on.
Secrets to SEO Success
The Basics
- If you are building followers, make sure to do it organically. Search engines can see if you have buying followers, and will penalize you if found out.
- When posting on social media, make sure to include a link. These links make your content more valuable.
- Try not to syndicate your social media content. This can show up as duplicate content.
Quality Content
- Try not to syndicate your social media content. This can show up as duplicate content.
- Search engines respond to unique content. This content has to be helpful. Thin content across many sites can penalize you.
Niche & Voice
- The internet is big, you must find and own your niche.
- Don’t be afraid to express an informed opinion
Keyword Research
- Know exactly what your users are searching for.
- Keywords can help with writer’s block. It can help keep you focused on the topic at hand for creating content.
These four areas are vital for your SEO success. Finding a niche, producing quality content, and utilizing keyword research are secrets that will help in your SEO efforts. By finding a niche, you are cutting down the competition that you have to deal with. Search engines can see when you are producing quality and consistent content. You want people interacting with this content, so make sure that the content is also helpful to many people. By focusing on your keywords, you can understand what exactly you need to be creating content for. In conclusion, you need to focus both on the content you produce and the technical aspects for which that content is organized. By focusing on both of these things, you can find success with your SEO efforts.