D-I-Y SEO Tips For Small Business Owners

Interview with Lauren L'amie

Senior Manager, SEO

New York Times



What do you think about SEO? If you’re like me, you don’t know what to think because Google is constantly changing its algorithm, and you’re not sure if you have the most up-to-date info, and on top of that, they’re kind of secretive, so how confident could you really be?


There are whole teams and hundreds of tools devoted to search engine optimization because it’s complicated and important! Your page rank has a major impact on buyers’ ability to find you online when they’re searching for exactly what you offer.


Luckily, you don’t need to know everything about Google’s algorithm to make the front page of a Google search.

What do you need to know?


I happen to know the expert that knows. Lauren L’Amie is the SEO Content Strategist for The New York Times’ product recommendation publication Wirecutter. Her brain is an ocean of SEO knowledge, and she was kind enough to let me take a 10-minute dive.


Read the interview below to get her DIY SEO tips for small business owners, plus what’s new and changing in SEO this year. 


What are your favorite resources for learning about and staying current with SEO? 


Search Engine Journal is great for daily updates on algorithm changes, news, and SEO expert opinions. They also have free resources that cover SEO basics. For beginners, who want to dive into the most up-to-date SEO basics, I’d start with Google Search Central! Google Search Central’s Blog is another good place to keep up-to-date with actual algorithm changes or news.


What are the biggest trends or changes in SEO?


Google is constantly updating its algorithm to improve search engine results pages. Page Experience Update launched in 2021, which Google defines as “a set of signals that measure how users perceive the experience of interacting with a web page beyond its pure information value,” officially rolled out.


This allows Google to consider the informational value of a page, it will also consider other experience metrics, such as load time and interactivity. While it’s an important change, page experience is one of many factors Google uses to rank pages. According to Google developers, “Great page experience doesn’t override having great page content.”

 

What are a few of your go-to SEO tools for researching keywords and measuring improvement? 


  • Moz: Offers some really great free tools for helping you write with SEO in mind, such as Keyword Explorer and MozBar.
  • Google Trends: Free tool, in which you can see what search terms are trending. But perhaps even more helpful, you can type in your keywords to see when and where they are trending and their related queries and topics.
  • Google Search Console: Helps you measure your site’s search traffic, fix issues, and understand how Google Search sees your page.
  • Ahrefs: All-in-one paid tool that gives you the features, resources, and support you need to improve your ranking and stay on top of algorithm changes.
  •  THRUU: Free tool that helps you analyze why pages are ranking high in Gooogle search and offers details about the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) of Google.
  • Google AdWords Keyword Planner: Intended for choosing keywords for paid search, but also very helpful for seeing what keywords and phrases are highly searched in your industry.
  • SEMrush: Offers paid plans with over 40 tools and reports to help you create a comprehensive SEO strategy.


How important is publishing new content to your SEO strategy?


Content “freshness” is a really important ranking factor in Google!


There are two ways to continue to keep content fresh:


  1. Publish new content with a regular cadence like on a blog. Hint: blog posts between 1800 – 2400 words rank better!
  2. Update existing pages frequently with new, relevant information to signal to Google that your content is fresh and up-to-date.


Depending on your strategy and what you’re trying to rank for, competition can vary. But fresh content is definitely going to help you, as long as it’s not duplicative of your existing content!


How do you optimize for voice search? 


Think about natural language when you’re trying to figure out keywords to target.

Speech-to-text search like through Alexa and Siri is becoming more common, and people tend to type the way that they talk, following natural patterns of thought/speech.


Think about how a new reader or client would find your content using natural speech. How might someone who doesn’t know anything about your business or area of expertise phrase a question? In a conversation, what would you content answer or address?


How important is page speed/page load time for SEO?


Really important! Google cares and your readers care. People spend more time on pages that load quickly and give them what they’re looking for right away!


With this year’s algorithm update, Google is considering Core Web Vitals (the set of specific factors that Google considers important in a webpage’s overall user experience) an even more important ranking factor.


The TLDR version: Google is getting much better at recognizing and rewarding pages with better overall user experiences. Load time is a big factor.


Where should I put my keywords in my copy? 


Put keywords in your H1 copy (headlines) and H2/H3 subheadings if you can do it in context. It’s a good rule of thumb to keep your anchor text, or the main keyword you want associated with your page, in the H1 and use your H2/H3 subheadings to optimize for secondary keywords or to include different iterations of your head term.


For example, if you’re writing a blog about dog breeds, you want an H1 headline that is engaging and includes your main keyword: “The Best Dog Breeds to Adopt 2021” followed by subheadings in H2/H3 that capitalize on secondary terms your reader probably also cares about: “Best Small Dog Breeds” “Best Dog Breeds for Kids” “Best Dog Breeds for Apartments,” etc.


That being said, Google is getting better at “reading” a page in its entirety like a human would and picking up on the most important parts. Anywhere you can put keywords naturally will help boost your page rank.


How important are title tags and metatags for websites?


Google doesn’t rely as heavily on titletags and metatags as it did in the past. However, they are still important ranking factors that help to categorize the pages of your site and make the purpose of your content clear to both readers and search engines.


While it is a factor, meta information alone doesn’t make a page worthy of ranking highly in search. Google rewards content that is informative and relevant as a whole. The text on the page should be just as robust and on-topic as the headlines and meta information.


Explain the difference between internal and external linking and the importance of both.


Internal links refer to hyperlinks on a web page that lead to another page on your site. External links refer to links from outside of your domain that you link to. Both internal and external linking aid in what is known as the “flow of authority”.


Linking to trustworthy sources outside of your domain (and having trustworthy sources link back to you) boosts your site’s overall authority and expertise in a specific subject area.


What is domain authority? 


Domain authority is a measure of how relevant a site is in a specific coverage area according to Google. It refers to your root domain. Sites, like nytimes.com for example, have very high domain authority when it comes to queries related to the news. You can build your own authority in search by publishing content that displays expertise and is linked back to from other trustworthy, authoritative sites.


Google often awards higher authority to pages that are linked to from other reputable sources. So, for instance, if Forbes links back to your website in an article, that backlink can help boost your authority.


Does changing your website host affect SEO for your site? 


If you’re migrating your website to a new platform, or even more importantly, working on a rebrand, it’s important to have an organized approach. Search engines need to know that your site is still authoritative and should continue to rank for your target keywords.


Monitoring your site in Google Search Console can help you to create a strategy to redirect important links, update your site’s robots.txt file, and make sure nothing breaks in the process! There are a ton of great blogs out there that can help with any specific migration tools you might need!


What are a few SEO tips for pictures and videos?


When optimizing images and video on your website, try to include alt text! Alt text is embedded in image HTML to describe the appearance of an image on a page. Its primary purpose is accessibility – adding alt text to an image makes it “readable” to screen readers often used by people who are visually impaired.


Alt text also serves a secondary purpose. It allows Google to read image and video file names/titles and descriptions in order to index web pages.


What are your top DIY SEO recommendations for business owners wanting to improve their website’s organic search ranking? 


  1. Set up your site with Google Search Console (GSC) – it’s free, and it’s the simplest way to get started with SEO. GSC can help with fixing errors that affect your ranking like 404s/broken links and defining the top keywords that your site ranks for.
  2. Work on building links back to your site. The easiest strategy here is to ask the owners of related sites or partners to consider adding a link to your site from theirs. You can offer to include a link to theirs in exchange for a link to yours!
  3. Consider setting up more advanced SEO tools to track keywords and identify growth opportunities as your business grows! I like SEMrush, which offers some lower-cost plans that allow you to set up projects to track the keyword groups you care most about, get specific suggestions for how to improve on-page SEO, and see how your site stands up to your competitors.


I learned so much from this SEO conversation with Lauren, but from a content creator’s perspective, my key takeaway (and she confirmed it) is:

Google is getting better and better at ranking pages that are the most helpful and relevant to its users. Knowing what your audience wants, understanding how they search, and creating content to serve them well is the best way to get Google’s and your readers’ attention.


Pen & Purpose

Is 'Lucky Girl Syndrome' Luck Or Self Awareness?

By Emily Lewis • 26 Apr, 2024
‘Lucky Girl Syndrome’ is one of the latest viral trends on TikTok sweeping the nation. I’m not a TikToker and heard about it on a medium more targeted to my (cough - older - cough) demographic - Hoda & Jenna . But it caught my attention because it probably works but for reasons that have nothing to do with luck. What is 'Lucky Girl Syndrome'? The Lucky Girl Syndrome is characterized by an individual's ability to attract seemingly fortuitous outcomes consistently. It’s manifestation in a cuter outfit, complete with pretty TikTokers sharing their amazing results and swearing it will change your life. From winning contests to stumbling upon unexpected opportunities, these women appear to attract luck and claim you can too! How Does It Work? Explanations of how it works center on the power of positive thinking - if you believe you’re lucky, you will be. But is there more to it? It reminds me an exercise I did earlier this year, in which I wrote my own obituary– Donald Miller’s more morbid approach to getting your desired outcomes. ‘Lucky Girl Syndrome’ and writing your own obituary both challenge you to think about and declare what you want. ‘Lucky Girl Syndrome’ focuses on believing you’ll get what you want. Donald Miller’s exercise (as part of his 2022 book Hero on a Mission) challenges you to take it a step further and figure out what you want your life to mean- what do you want and why? With his approach, you create 10-year, 5-year, and 1-year goals to ultimately work towards what’s written in your obituary. For both, you need to answer to the question: what do you want? So, is knowing what you want and believing it will happen all you need to get it? Lucky Girl Syndrome says yes because of two psychological factors: 1. Cognitive Biases: Human cognition is susceptible to biases that influence perception and decision-making. Your brain looks for confirmation of what you already believe. But it doesn’t just influence your belief, it influences your actions. If you believe you’re lucky, you seek out opportunities to confirm it. This is often subconscious, so you feel lucky when you get what you want, but it’s really, at least partially, the result of your actions. 2. Reward System Activation: Neurologically, experiences perceived as positive or rewarding trigger the brain's reward system, primarily involving the release of neurotransmitters like dopamine. My friend @mashalyons posted a Jamie Varon quote on Instagram stories, which embodies this “syndrome”: "Find a way to love your life so much that you feel lucky to be you. Like its a privilege just to wake up as yourself. Like you are utterly charmed by your own life. What a beautiful home you've built. What incredible friends you get to text all day. How you spend your time and your life- genius. What fun! What a strong mind you have. What a way you care for yourself and listen to your needs. What great kids or dogs or cats or plants you've raised. Wow, you've got this whole life thing figured out. Or, if not, look at you, trying to figure it out and fight for your joy. How lucky you are that you get to be you." - Jamie Varon Your luck is subjective. If you feel lucky, you are. The Role of Gratitude Believing you are lucky requires gratitude for what you have as much as it requires thinking you’ll get what you want. Gratitude is essential because, it enables: A Positive Mindset: Gratitude shifts your focus from what you lack to what you have. This positive mindset can fuel your motivation, resilience, and satisfaction. Resilience: Gratitude reframes setbacks as opportunities. When you're grateful, you're better equipped to find silver linings in difficult situations and learn from setbacks. Improved Relationships: Gratitude strengthens relationships by fostering a sense of connection and appreciation for others. Being genuinely appreciated helps others feel more connected to you, which increases their desire to help you. Enhanced Mental Health: Gratitude is linked to numerous mental health benefits, including reduced stress, anxiety, and depression - all of which get in the way of feeling lucky. Increased Productivity and Performance: Studies have shown that gratitude correlates with success. When you're grateful for the opportunities, resources, and abilities you have, you're more likely to make the most of them. Grateful individuals tend to be more proactive, creative, and goal-oriented. Better Opportunities: The laws of attraction suggests that like attracts like. When you radiate gratitude, you attract more positive experiences and opportunities into your life. Others are drawn to those who exude positivity and appreciation. Physical Health Benefits: Gratitude has been linked to numerous physical health benefits, including better sleep, stronger immune function, and lower blood pressure. The Role of Knowing What You Want When 'Lucky Girl Syndrome' asserts that if you believe good things will happen to you, they do, it forces you to define “good things”, which does the following: Sets Goals: When you know where you’re going, getting there is much easier. Improves Self-Awareness: Knowing what you want requires self-awareness—understanding your strengths, values, and passions. This adds meaning to your life and helps you understand why you want the things you do. Empowers You: A clear sense of what you want empowers you to take control of getting it. Donald Miller’s obituary exercise encourages you to look at not just what you want, but how you’re going to get there. His approach is ideal for planners, Enneagram 3s , and people with very specific goals. But if that approach doesn’t appeal to you, knowing what you want and believing you will get it enables your subconscious to work towards it. Maybe that's enough. I’m not arguing that luck has nothing to do with success or good outcomes, a number of studies and books confirm that it does. But how much of a person’s luck is fueled by gratitude, self awareness, and faith?
ChatGPT: Copywriting Comrade or Competition

ChatGPT for Copywriters: Comrade or Competition?

By Emily Lewis • 20 Sep, 2023
Two years ago, I tried the marketing and copywriting AI tool Jasper (at the time branded as Jarvis). I concluded it and similar AI tools weren't worth my time or investment because the output was generic, repetitive and sometimes nonsensical. Then in November 2022, ChatGPT launched and quickly went viral on social media as users shared examples of the impressive ways they were using it. For content creation and copywriting, it was more advanced than any other AI tool I’d seen and free! The AI Copywriting Revolution 🚀 Fast forward to today, AI ( thanks to ChatGPT ) has evolved. It's now the hottest trend in town, with many media outlets predicting AI-tools will revolutionize business practices across every major industry. So, what's behind this meteoric rise in popularity? Let's break it down: Efficiency & Speed: AI tools like GPT-4 have turbocharged the writing process. A first draft that once took a writer 1-2 hours can now be done in minutes. Consistency: AI tools maintain a consistent tone and style regardless of who is inputting the information. Scalability: Not only do AI-tools enable you to create content in a fraction of the time you could do it manually, they allow you to outsource creating it to anyone that can input information. At least in theory. Top AI Tools for Business & Marketing 🛠️ While I don’t believe copywriting AI tools are a good replacement for a human writer of any skill level, they have drastically improved since 2021, and today’s AI tools are absolutely worth investing in. When coupled with a human, these are my favorite AI writing tools: GPT-4: I used it to generate this post. While I did a lot of editing, it gave me a first draft, which likely would’ve taken me close to an hour to write without assistance. Feed it a prompt, and it'll churn out a draft in minutes. The better and more detailed your input, the better output it delivers. And you can give your tool feedback to keep editing the draft. Grammarly: The free version spots grammatical errors and helps you enhance readability. Grammarly Premium does everything the free version does, plus checks for plagiarism, offers recommendations based on over 400+ writing styles, and has an AI writing assistant (although not as sophisticated as GPT-4). SurferSEO: Using AI to analyze top-performing content in your industry, SurferSEO helps you craft SEO-optimized copy based on keyword searches and queries. There are hundreds of AI tools available and dozens specifically for copywriting. Pick a few that work for you. Trying to use too many tools can easily derail your efficiency and productivity. AI needs you to function, not the other way around. Maximizing the AI Advantage 🚀 Now that you have your favorite AI tools in hand, how do you squeeze every last drop of potential from them? Here's the playbook: Customize, Don't Compromise: Don’t expect perfection. AI is not a mind-reader. It’s an interpreter of the knowledge and experiences you give it. It also pulls from other sources around the web to complete your request. The content you publish becomes your digital portfolio, so don't let AI tools diminish the quality of it. Quality Control: Always have a human check the output and edit as needed. I've never published an AI-generated piece that didn’t require edits. Feedback Loop: Get feedback from your marketing tools, audience, customers, or team on AI-generated content. If they report a decrease in quality, relevance or effectiveness, try changing your input or editing processes. What AI Can't Replace 🧠 AI can’t replace you. Because while it can put words on paper for you, it lacks: Creativity: The AI may paint by numbers, but the canvas is still your domain. Innovative ideas, storytelling, wisdom, and expertise gained from experience are firmly in your human court. Empathy: AI doesn't have a heart. It can't truly understand your audience's emotions and respond with the compassion and empathy that only a human can provide. Strategy: Crafting a content strategy that aligns with your business goals requires human finesse. AI can execute, but the roadmap is your creation. There's no question that AI has drastically impacted the marketing and copywriting industries. But like any other technology, it doesn’t function on its own. AI can’t replace a skilled human writer, but it can improve their productivity and efficiency in unprecedented ways. The new era of copywriting and content marketing is not driven by AI, it’s driven by humans leveraging the power of AI.

10 Traits of the Unicorn Email Newsletter

By emily • 28 Jun, 2021
  Raise your hand if you want another email newsletter! Nope? Me neither.  We'd sooner expect to see a unicorn in our inboxes than an email newsletter we actually want to read.  But unlike unicorns, they do exist! I've managed to collect a few over time. Here’s what makes them so good (and rare).  1. [...] The post 10 Traits of the Unicorn Email Newsletter appeared first on Pen & Purpose.
More Posts
Share by: