SEO Best Practices
ON PAGE FACTORS
This is what can happen easily ON the page as you are writing, and posting.
Example: this post is #3 on Google for this search on full title and on 3rd page for shorter and more competitive self-care for the College Student)
A Guide to Self-Care for the College Student
- Keyword(s) in the Post Title perfect
- Keywords in the content of the page in both body and H1, H2, H3
- Keywords in the categories (optional)
- Keywords in the TAGS (highly recommended)
OFF PAGE FACTORS
Incoming Links
Links FROM external sites (the more the merrier)
Best when using the keyword in the link
ENGAGEMENT (time on site)
Google will add ranking for sites and pages that get lots of engagement, time on site, comments on blog page. HINT: embed video on your page to get folks to watch and hang out longer
SOCIAL SIGNALS
Googles said yes in 2010 and no in 2014 but social is still a good idea. Facebook and Twitter can be considered search engines in their own right!
SIZE OF SITE
Google will add ranking for sites that are larger with lots of pages
FREQUENT UPDATES
Google will add ranking for sites that are frequently updated