how to use seo to maximize online course sales
TRANSCRIPT
Use Search Engine Optimization to Maximize Online Course Sales
FORMULATE A STRUCTURED SEO PLAN TO EXECUTE 1
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• Ask questions about you and your target market
• Review your existing data and history
• Research competitors for keywords and tactics
Research
• Build a seed list of preferred keywords
• Pull search volumes • Score for Relevance • Create a sitemap and
plan for keywords
Plan • Write quality content • Optimize content for
SEO and usability • Promote and link build • Reverse engineer your
success and repeat
Execute
SEO starts and ends with a structured process!
ASK QUESTIONS - LOTS AND LOTS OF QUESTIONS 2
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Ask Lots of Questions
ü Whoareyou?ü Whatdoyoudo?
ü Whatmakesyoudifferent?ü Whodoyoucompetewith?
ü Whodoyouhelp?ü Howcanyouhelpthem?ü Whatproblemsdoyourvisitorshave?
ü Whatques;onsdotheywanttoask?ü Canyouansweranyoftheseques;onswith
courses,products,pages,orblogposts?
The first step in your SEO journey is to ask questions about you & your visitor:
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PERFORM RESEARCH - LOTS AND LOTS OF RESEARCH 3
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Perform Competitive Research If you want to beat your competition, you have to truly know who you compete with inside and out. Spend time researching your competitors and you’ll be rewarded.
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Build a Seed List of Possible Keywords
ü Yourownideasü Manualvaria;onsofini;alsearchphrases
ü Reports,presenta;ons,courseoutlines,emailsü GoogleSearchConsole’sSearchAnaly;csandGoogleAnaly;csreports
ü GoogleAdwordsreports(adver;sersonly)ü Googleautosuggestandrelatedsearchesü BingWebmasterTools
ü Compe;tors’visualcontentandsitemaps(HTML&XML)ü Compe;tors’meta;tlesanddescrip;ons
ü KeywordsfoundinSpyFuorSEMrush(you&yourcompe;tors)ü Sugges;onsfromtoolslikeKWFinder
Keywords are everywhere so keep your eyes and your mind open. Once you start thinking about keywords, you’ll see endless possibilities.
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What’s Your Keyword Focus?
ü Brainstormthetopicyouplanonwri;ngaboutandwritedownthekeypointsyou’llcoverinthepieceofcontent.
ü Writedowna5-10searchphrasesyouthinkwouldpertaintothistopic.ü SearchforeachphraseinGoogleandreviewwhoandwhatshowsuponpageoneof
thesearchengineresultspage.ü Documentanyphrasesthatshowaweaknessand/orwhereyoucreatebeXercontent.ü U;lizetheGoogleAdwordsKeywordPlannertoolorKWFindertoviewmonthlysearch
volumesforeachphrase.ü Narrowyourop;onsdowntoobtainablesearchterms–akanot60,000phrasesper
monthinsearchtraffic.ü Thinkabouthoweasyitwouldbetocra`acourse;tleoropeningsentencewiththe
exactphraseyou’reconsidering.
Before you write your first course, ask yourself what keyword phrase you would like this content to rank for in search. Not sure? Let’s walk through picking the right one.
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Keyword Selection Warning! Before you proceed further, as yourself two very important questions.
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Isthekeywordpreciseenoughorisitgeneric?
Haveyouusedthiskeywordbeforeinothercourses,products,pages,posts,categories,ortags?
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Keyword Volume Difficulty Commentguitarlessons 73,990 55 Toobroad
learntoplayguitar 18,186 45 BadEnglish
guitarcourses 260 38 Good
onlineguitarcourse 320 52 Good
learnhowtoplaytheguitarbyyourself 168 31 Good
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Create a Keyword to Content Sitemap This isn’t an HTML or XML sitemap. It’s a roadmap for you to use in writing content.
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Keyword Loca,ononlineguitarcourses MainCoursePage
guitarcourseforbeginners Course
acous;cguitarcourse Course
electricguitarcourse Course
guitarinstructor About
learnhowtoplaytheguitarbyyourself BlogPost
Donotposi;onyourcoursepageandproductpageforthesamekeyword.You’llcompeteagainstyourselfandGooglewilldegradeyouinsearchduetoconfusion.
Donotassignkeywordstocontentthatisprotectedbylogins/subscrip;ons.
Pro Tips for Optimization
WRITE CONTENT THAT USERS & SEARCH ENGINES WILL LOVE 2
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Longer Content Wins With Everyone
Better for Keyword Ranking AserpIQ2012showed:• Theaveragecontentlengthofeachofthetop10resultswasmorethan2,000words.
• Theaveragenumberofwordsforthecontentinthe#1spotwas2,416.• Forthe#10spot,theaveragenumberofwordswas2,032.
Better for Obtaining Social Media Shares & Inbound Links Peopletendtosharelongercontentonsocialmediamorethenshortercontent.Peoplealsotendtolinkintolongercontentthantheywouldashorterar;cleorpost.
Better for Conversions Websiteconversionscanalsobealteredbycontent.Thelongerthecontent,themorelikelytheconversion.
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Long-form content has a variety of numbers assigned to it on the web. Long-form content is at least 1,000 or 1,200 words and really approaches towards 2,000 words.
OPTIMIZE CONTENT FOR SEO BEST PRACTICES 3
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Elements of On-Page SEO
ü Nameofcourse,product,page,orpostü URL
ü Headers(H1,H2,H3,etc.)ü Paragraphtext
ü Keywordvaria;onsandrelatedphrasesü Internallinksü Linkanchortext
ü Imagesü Readability
ü Meta;tlesanddescrip;ons
We’ll go through these items one by one, but before we dig in, let’s review the list as a whole. When you break each down, you’ll see optimization is complely managable.
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Name Given to Content A page (our course) name is simply the name you give when you create it. In WordPress this is important, because it defaults other important elements like URLs and H1 headers.
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ü Choosea;tlethatisrelevanttowhatthecontentdiscussesü Makesurethe;tleisuniqueanddoesnotduplicateanotherpage/post;tle
ü Keepthe;tleshortsoitiseasytoreadanddigestedü Includethekeywordphrase,butdonotrepeatit
ü Usekeywordphrasetowardsthestartofthepage;tleifpossible
Pro Tips for Optimization
URLs 17
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ü Thisshouldalwaysincludeyourkeywordü Thisshouldbeasshortaspossible
ü Thisshouldusewordsandnotunrecognizableparameters(funkycharacters)ü Usedashestoseparatewords
ü Whilecontentsilosaregreat,keepsilosshortsotheydon’tcreatesomanylayersthattheURLislongandunreadable
The URL is the website address for a piece of content. The URL is displayed as part of a search result in Google and it appears below the document’s title and snippet.
Pro Tips for Optimization
H1 Headers 18
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ü MakesureyourwebsiteorWordPressthemeusesH1tagsü MakesureyourwebsiteorWordPressthemeusesonlyoneH1headerperURL
ü IncludeyourkeywordphraseinyourH1tagü Posi;ontheH1tagbeforeothertags(H2,H3,H4,etc.)
The H1 is the most important tag and it should never be omitted on a page, post, or product. Search spiders pay attention to the words used in the h1 tag as it should contain a basic description of the page content, just as the page title does.
While most WordPress themes will automatically create this for you, I see a lot of websites that forget to use the H1 or include multiple H1 headers per content piece.
Pro Tips for Optimization
H2-H6 Subheaders 19
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ü UseH2-H6headerstobreakupgroupsofcontentü Includethefocusedkeywordphrasewhereapplicable
ü Includevaria;onsofthefocusedkeywordphraseü Keepheadersin;tlecase
ü Avoidlongsentencesasheadersü Avoidduplica;ngyourH1headerwithinH2-H6subheaders
Search engines and human website visitors will use these to better understand the structure of the page. While headers can help with SEO, they are not a make or break SEO factor.
Pro Tips for Optimization
Paragraph Text 20
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ü Includeyourkeywordphraseanumberof;meswithinthecontentü Don’tkeywordstuff
ü Usethekeywordinthefirstsentenceofthepageandifthatisnotpossibleinthefirstparagraph
ü Usevaria;onsandsynonymsü Don’tworryaboutkeyworddensityü Insteadfocusonwri;nggreatcontentaroundatopicandusethefocusedkeyword
inanaturalmanner
This simply refers to the content itself and this could reside on the home page, interior pages, blog posts, courses, products, categories, tags, etc.
Pro Tips for Optimization
Keyword Variations 21
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ü Brainstormingü Compe;torwebsites
ü GooglerelatedsearchesattheboXomofasearchpageü GoogleKeywordPlannertoolforAdwordsorKWFinder
ü Googleautosuggestphraseswhensearchingforthephrase
A keyword variation is simply an alternate phrase for a focused keyword. They help you rank on the focused keyword as well as alternate phrases.
Pro Tips for Finding Keyword Variations
Images 22
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ü Imagefilenamesshoulddescribetheimageanduseyourkeywordifpossibleü Imagealttextshoulddescribetheimageanduseyourkeywordifpossible
ü Usetherightimagesizesoperformanceandspeedareprotectedü Writeakeywordrichdescrip;onforanyimageyouwanttorankinGoogle
Example of Alt Text Usage
ReallybadaltaXribute:<imgsrc=”puppy.jpg”alt=””/>
BeXeraltaXribute:<imgsrc=”puppy.jpg”alt=”puppy”/>
ReallygoodaltaXribute:<imgsrc=”puppy.jpg”alt=”Dalma;anpuppyplayingfetch”>
SpammyaltaXributes:<imgsrc=”puppy.jpg”alt=”puppydogbabydogpuppuppies”/>
Images are great for SEO, usability, and sharing on social media. While all content won’t have the option for an image, use an image whenever possible.
Pro Tips for Optimization
Internal Links 23
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ü Placelinkswheretheyhelpthereaderandprovidevalueü Linktoyourcornerstonecontent,services,andproducts
ü Linkwithgoodkeywordrichanchortextü Varyyouranchortextforalinksoitdoesn’tappearforced
ü Don’toveruselinksandindoingso,makecontentunreadable
An internal link connects one page of a website to a different page on the same website. Internal links provide value to the human reader as well as help search engines locate content and know what content is of most value.
HereisGoogle’sverbiageonthisreportwithintheirhelpsec;on:
Thenumberofinternallinkspoin3ngtoapageisasignaltosearchenginesabouttherela3veimportanceofthatpage.Ifanimportantpagedoesnotappearinthislist,orifalessimportantpagehasarela3velylargenumberofinternallinks,youshouldconsiderreviewingyourinternallinkstructure.
Pro Tips for Optimization
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Link Anchor Text 24
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ü Makesurethisclearlydescribesthedes;na;onlinkü Ifpossible,includethefocusedkeyword
ü Don’tmakeitspammy–don’tforcethekeywordifitcan’tbeusednaturallyü Avoidclickhere,page,readmore,andar;cleasanchortextasitdoesnotinform
humanreadersorsearchenginesofthenatureofthelink
Anchor text is the clickable text that users will see as a result of a link. This text is placed within the anchor tag. You set this in WordPress when you define the link. Anchor text helps users with disabilities and search engines better understand the link.
Pro Tips for Optimization
Readability 25
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ü Useshortparagraphsü Usebulletstohelpdigestlists
ü Usesubheaderssovisitorscanscancontentü Userregularverbiageandskiptheindustryjargon
ü Don’tallowimagestointerferewithtextflowü Saynotobling,brightneon,andunnecessary
movement
Ease of use matter in SEO. If readers stay on the page, this increases your time on site, which in turn helps SEO.
HappyVisitors+HappyGoogle=HigherRank
Pro Tips for Optimization
Meta Titles and Descriptions 26
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ü Apage’smeta;tleshouldbea;tle(notasentence)ü Makesureitisuniqueanddoesn’tduplicateothermeta;tles
ü Makeitinforma;ve,yeteasilyreadableü Includethefocusedkeywordphrase
ü Ifpossible,keepthekeywordphraseasfartothebeginningaspossibleü Thisisyourfirstopportunitytoreachpoten;alvisitors,somakeiten;cing,butnot
cheesy
ü Keepitunder55characters
A meta title and description are the very first thing a potential visitor sees for your website. They show up in search engine result pages, so this is your first opportunity to grab someone’s attention, gain their trust, and entice them to take action.
Pro Tips for Optimization of Meta Titles
Meta Titles and Descriptions 27
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ü Apage’smetadescrip;onmightbeasentenceortwoorashortparagraphü Makesureitisuniqueanddoesn’tduplicateothermetadescrip;ons
ü Makeitinforma;ve,yeteasilyreadableü Includethefocusedkeywordphraseinit
ü Ifpossible,keepthekeywordphraseasfartothebeginningaspossibleü Thisisyourfirstopportunitytoreadpoten;alvisitors,somakeiten;cing,butnot
cheesy(yepthiswasrepeatedbecauseitisimportant)
ü Keepitunder150characters
Pro Tips for Optimization of Meta Descriptions
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Crappy Content
Peoplewritecontenttofillwhitespace.Don’tdoit!Youneedtoproviderealvaluetowebsitevisitors.
Youhavetohavesomethingreallygoodtoresonatewithreaders.
NoamountofSEOwillhelpbadcontent,sostartwithsomethingsolid.
Writegoodcontentandyouwillberewardedforittenfold.
You’vedoneyourkeywordresearchandyou’vewriXenyourcontent.
Whenyoulookcloselyatthecontent,yourealizeyouusedvaria;onsofyourkeywordphrase(good)buttotallyforgettousetheactualkeyword(bad).
Takethe;metogobackthroughyourcontentandweaveintherightfocusedkeyword.
Becarefulaboutwhatyoureadontheinternetandwatchar;cledates.
Un;lyouareconfidentwithyourSEOknowledge,refrainfromop;mizingyourpagesandposts.
Takethe;metolearnbestprac;ces.Anddon’ttrysomethingunlessyouhaveasolidgraspofthetac;candtheposi;veornega;veramifica;onsthatmayresult.
Forgetting the Keyword Inaccurate SEO Knowledge
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QUESTIONS & ANSWERS ?
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Digital agency serving small business through enterprise level clients. Services and products include custom website design and development, SEO consulting, and stock WordPress themes.
Eight hour online course for DIY SEO education. Course includes videos, how-to tutorials, template downloads, and quizzes.
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Private Facebook group where I share the latest news and information on search engine optimization. Please join us at https://www.facebook.com/groups/seolaunchpad/.
@rebeccagill RebeccaGill.com
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