Optimize your content

Google themselves have explained how its search engine works.  Too many people are trying always trying to trick Google's algorithms, thinking they have a way to beat or cheat Google. If you are unaware of this, then you should equip yourself with this knowledge or hire SEO experts. If you're aware of this and yet do it, shame on you!  Be honest, be truthful and perhaps that will pay off more than your "SEO tactics" which may produce short-term gains, but in the end, it will be a heavy cost.

It's actually pretty simple.  It's not all about content anymore, I would dare call some of these "content' just SPAM or fluff.  You're probably not the best writer, but try to make your message clear and even concise. Google mentioned when you've identified your main idea that you think could be interesting for a wide audience, to take a look at existing content on Google for inspiration. By improving on the existing content, you can create something that is valuable and interesting to your audiences. There you have it!  Simple and to the point.  No fluff, no gimmicks, tricks, and so on. All you need to make sure is that your content is unique and engaging.  There are company websites that try to gain traffic by placing content that has nothing to do with their product or service.  This is neither valuable or interesting and all you'll do is get a high bounce rate, which in my opinion can affect SEO, especially since the idea of writing content is to be unique and engaging.  People leave your site because it's not engaging.

Yes, we're in 2023 and SEO has changed considerably.  But the basics remain the same.

Obviously, this article is not going to give every single detail but will address some of the basics that anyone can do, without the need to be an SEO expert.  It does involve work yes, so if you don't have the time, then consider hiring an SEO agency. 

TIP #1: It doesn't cost any money to appear in Google Search results, no matter what anyone tries to tell you.

There are three (3) basic requirements to get your web-based content (web pages, images, videos, etc.) eligible to appear and perform well on Google Search:

• Technical requirements: What Google needs from a web page to show it in Google Search.
• Spam policies: The behaviors and tactics that can lead to lower ranking or being completely omitted from Google Search results.
• Key best practices: The main things that can help improve how your site appears in Google Search results.

Get your website on Google

As an expert in the field, I can assure you that Google automatically looks for sites to add to their index, and usually, you don't even need to do anything to make this happen. However, occasionally sites can be missed, so it is important to check that your site is on Google and to learn how to make your content more visible in Google Search.

TIP #2: Before we get into the details of how Search works, it's important to note that Google doesn't accept payment to crawl a site more frequently, or rank it higher. If anyone tells you otherwise, they're wrong.

Introducing the three stages of Google Search

Google Search works in three stages, and not all pages make it through each stage, so you don't necessarily have to be stressing over this.

1. Crawling: Google downloads text, images, and videos from pages it found on the internet with automated programs called crawlers.
2. Indexing: Google analyzes the text, images, and video files on the page, and stores the information in the Google index, which is a large database.
3. Serving search results: When a user searches on Google, Google returns information that's relevant to the user's query.

Google always emphasizes this point: Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content

The keyword (no pun intended) here is "people-first content" and not "SEO Bots" come here!  Write naturally, write to inform your audience of what your business is about.  If your business has nothing to do with pizza (other than eating it at times in your business) then don't write about pizza because it's a high-traffic keyword!  Produce helpful and useful content for your readers about your business.  That's more valuable and what your audience may be searching for.

More to come in a series of educational "how to" so we can give back to our community.  

Pay it forward.  Help one another in all that is good.