SEO certainly has a technical component, but in today’s email we’ll discuss some important non-technical steps you can take to improve your SEO.
Search engine optimization simply comes down to helping people find what they’re looking for.
Google’s algorithm is highly sophisticated and complex, but it has the same goal as you: to help your readers (and potential readers) find you. (At least, that is our assumption for this discussion. We can debate the possibly nefarious goals of Google another time…)
The better you can define who you are and what you offer, the better Google (and other search engines) will be able to provide your content to those who are looking for it.
It’s that simple.
There are two entities to optimize for: search engines, and searchers (people).
SEO means considering how to help search engines find, read, and share your content. And considering how to help people find, read, and share your content.
The technical side of SEO is about helping the machines find, understand, and deliver your content to the right audience. As technology advances, it becomes more human-like. And while this fact makes for great sci-fi horror (and increasingly, real-world concerns), it also makes it easier for the average person to optimize for search engines. (Because the machine is starting to sound more like us, and we don’t need to “speak machine” as much.)
To optimize for search engines, clarify who you are and what you offer.
To optimize for searchers (people), clarify who you are and what you offer.
This leads us to keywords.
Keywords are not complicated.
Keywords are simply questions (or queries).
Here is an example of some keywords that might be relevant to your author website:
- Amish fiction
- Best Amish fiction
- Amish romance
- Popular Amish romance
- Christian fiction
- Christian suspense novels
- Top Christian fiction
- Inspirational romance
- Clean romance
- Cozy mysteries
- New cozy mystery series
- Beach reads
- What should I read this summer?
Let's consider your own search behavior.
If you want to know something, you may sit down at your computer and type a question into Google’s search bar. That question is a query. It may be a full sentence, or a phrase, a name, or a word or two. This query IS a keyword.
Every time you type into a search engine, YOU are typing a keyword. Keywords are created by searchers.
Keywords are the terms searchers type into search engines to find the information they want.
For example, if you want to read a new cozy mystery, you can simply type “cozy mysteries” in Google.
You could also get more specific. Let’s say you want to read a series about a baker who solves crimes. You might google:
- Cozy mysteries with baker sleuth
- Culinary cozy mysteries
- Cozy mysteries with cupcakes
- Cozy mysteries about food
- Cozy mysteries like Joanne Fluke
- Mysteries like Joanne Fluke
- Books like Joanne Fluke
- Authors like Joanne Fluke
There are many variations, and part of creating a keyword strategy is brainstorming all the different ways people (readers) may search for your books.
If you want to be found by readers looking for books about a crime-solving baker, you can include the many different keywords (search terms) within the content of your website.
You can do this on your About (or Bio) page:
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