Hosting a blog or website is one of the most effective ways to draw attention to yourself and your business. But you’ll also need to learn how to make your website more search engine friendly.
When first getting into blogging, many people feel extremely overwhelmed and intimidated by Search Engine Optimization (SEO). However, SEO can be one of the most helpful tools for running a successful blog or website.
We recently invited guest expert Cinthia Pacheco into the LIT Community to talk about how to make your website more search engine friendly. Cinthia is the owner and founder of Digital Bloom IQ and helps Health and Wellness businesses be more intentional about their SEO marketing so they can share more of their healing talents with the world.
In this blog article, we’ve summarized the main takeaways from her talk so you can learn how to make your website more search engine friendly, too.
What exactly is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, i.e. the act of making your website more search engine friendly. It will help your website to rank higher on search engines like Google, so more people will see your content. As a result, it can lead to more traffic and potentially more clients.
Learning about SEO …
- will help you understand keywords and what your audience is searching for
- could change many things in your blogging routine
- can complement your other marketing channels (like Instagram or Podcasts)
Three Common Mistakes that Keep Your Website from Being Search Engine Friendly
When running a blog or website, there are many things to keep in mind. Here are three mistakes to avoid in order to make your website more search engine friendly.
1. Your blog is completely disconnected from the rest of your marketing efforts.
Rather than researching all new topics to write about on your blog, you can use something you have already created for another platform. For example, you could repurpose a post on Instagram or a podcast interview into a blog post.
Cinthia also suggests integrating one SEO task into your existing marketing routine. This could be spending half an hour a week researching keywords or writing one paragraph of an article. This way, you won’t become overwhelmed.
2. You’re not using keywords effectively.
To make your website more search engine friendly, you will have to learn about keywords and topics that are interesting to your audience.
The best and easiest way to do so is by setting up the Google Search Console (we added a short how-to down below). Then, you should set a monthly date to look up your keywords for at least 5 minutes and slowly integrate them into your current content plan.
3. You’re not consistent with PR and Backlinking.
If you want to generate more views, it’s essential to put yourself out there. This is best achieved through other websites or blogs mentioning and featuring you, also called backlinking.
Generating a backlink from another website will tell Google that your content is important and relevant. Here’s a very simple guide on how to create backlinks:
- Make a list of all the brands/news outlets/podcasts etc. you would love to be featured on
- Set aside one hour per month to reach out to five different opportunities
- Once your feature appears on that channel, make sure their backlink to your website works, and you add it to your press page
How to Sign Up for Google Search Console and Use Keywords for SEO
To sign up for Google Search Console, you need to:
- Go to https://search.google.com/search-console/about
- Register your domain
- Wait 24 hours so that Google can collect all the data
- Look at the performance report to see which keywords perform best
Understanding Analytics in Google Search Console
Once you have signed into Google Search Console, you will be able to look at your analytics to learn more about your ideal keywords and website performance.
Here are some terms you’ll want to know:
- Clicks: How many clicks you get on your website for that keyword
- Impressions: How many times did your site appear in a Google search
- Position: This tells you about your position in the search results (1-10 is usually the first page)
Where Should You Include Your Keywords to Make Your Website More Search Engine Friendly?
You should definitely include keywords in your main heading and your URL. You can also add them to some of your subheadings and within the text itself.
Example: If your keywords are “three ways to calm anxiety”, your URL could look like this: https://www.example.blog.com/three-ways-to-calm-anxiety
You want to include enough keywords that your website will rank on Google. But avoid keyword stuffing – make sure that it sounds natural and is easy to read.
How to Make Your Website More Search Engine Friendly with More Than One Language
If you run your website in different languages, you might be wondering if you can still make keywords work in your favor. You can!
You just have to ensure you don’t mix several languages on one page. Each translation should be on a separate page with different URLs. If you don’t do that, it won’t send a clear enough signal to Google to show someone the language they are looking for.
SEO tools might be intimidating at first, but they are totally manageable. Once you get the hang of it, working with them will be tremendously beneficial for your site.
Thank you, Cinthia, for sharing your expertise with us in the LIT Community. You can connect with Cinthia on her website or Instagram at @digitalbloomiq.
Cinthia has also created a free SEO Checklist for therapists and counselors – you can download it here. It breaks down all the elements to getting found on Google and how to start taking action right away.
What support do you need in your business?
The full replay of Cinthia’s talk is also available to members of the LIT Community. We aim to support our members in everything from running a business to navigating the challenges of the location independent life.
And that’s why we ask our members what they’d like to learn about when planning all our events. We build our community around what our members need most. So, you’ll find plenty of support for you in the LIT Community, wherever you are in your business.
Plus, our members get access to our entire catalogue of event replays. And we’ve also created the LIT Journey, a guide to help you jump in at the right stage for you and your business.
Here are just a few of the replays available when you sign up to the LIT Community:
- Social Media for Therapists
- Content Writing Mental Health Professionals
- Money Mindset for Therapists
- Creating a Website
- Pricing & Setting Your Fees
- Choosing the Right Marketing Channels
- Nurturing Your Email List
- and many, many more
If you’d like to join a community of mental health professionals around the world who can support you as you start (or grow) your online private practice, come join us inside the LIT Community.
So now, what are you waiting for? Are you ready to make your website more search engine friendly and take it to the next level?
