The world is constantly changing and with that, so is the way we want our tech coverage.
Checkout this video:
SEO Basics
You can’t deny that SEO is important if you want your website or blog to rank well in the search engines. Even if you’re not familiar with SEO, you can still implement some basic SEO techniques to help your website or blog rank higher. However, SEO is not a quick fix and it takes time and effort to see results.
Set up GSC and Bing Webmaster tools
If you want your website to appear in Google search results, you need to set up Google Search Console (GSC). GSC is a free tool that helps you monitor, maintain, and improve your site’s appearance in Google Search results. You can use GSC to submit sitemaps, test robot.txt files, and view your website’s search traffic data.
To set up GSC, you first need to verify that you own the website. You can do this by verifying your site’s DNS record or by uploading an HTML file to your server. Once you’ve verified ownership, you can start using GSC to configure your website for better appearance in Google search results.
In addition to GSC, you should also set up Bing Webmaster Tools (BWMT). BWMT is a free service from Microsoft that helps you monitor your website’s performance on Bing. You can use BWMT to submit sitemaps, test robot.txt files, and view your website’s search traffic data.
To set up BWMT, you first need to verify that you own the website. You can do this by verifying your site’s DNS record or by submitting a file to your server. Once you’ve verified ownership, you can start using BWMT to configure your website for better appearance in Bing search results.
Set up Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. Google launched the service in November 2005 after acquiring Urchin.
Google Analytics is now the most widely used web analytics service on the Internet.
To use Google Analytics, you must have a Google account. Once you have a Google account, you can sign up for Analytics here.
Once you have signed up for an Analytics account, you will be given a Tracking ID. This Tracking ID will be used to track the traffic to your website.
To add the Tracking ID to your website, you will need to edit the code of your website. The Tracking ID must be added to every page of your website that you want to track.
To find out more about setting up Google Analytics, please visit this link:
Install and configure an SEO plugin (wordpress)
SEO basics are all about improving your website so that it will rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), and thus be more visible to potential customers. While there are many different techniques that can be used to achieve this goal, one of the most effective is to install and configure an SEO plugin.
There are many different SEO plugins available for WordPress, but one of the most popular is Yoast SEO. Yoast SEO is a plugin that was created by Joost de Valk, who is also the founder of the popular WordPress SEO blog Yoast.com.
The Yoast SEO plugin has a number of features that can help you to optimize your website for search engines. One of the most useful features is the ability to automatically generate meta tags for your website’s pages. Meta tags are special HTML tags that provide information about a web page, such as its title, keywords, and description.
Adding meta tags to your web pages can help to improve their chances of being found by potential customers who are using search engines. The Yoast SEO plugin can generate meta tags for you automatically, or you can enter them manually. If you enter them manually, you’ll need to use the proper syntax, which is explained in the plugin’s documentation.
Another useful feature of the Yoast SEO plugin is its ability to help you create XML sitemaps. XML sitemaps are files that contain a list of all of the URLs on your website. They allow search engines to more easily find and index your website’s content. You can create and submit XML sitemaps to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
The Yoast SEO plugin also includes a number of other features, such as the ability to control which pages are indexed by search engines, and the ability to edit .htaccess and robots.txt files. These files are used by Apache and other web servers to control how websites are accessed and indexed by search engines. Editing these files can be helpful if you want to make sure that certain pages on your website are not indexed by search engines.
Keyword Research
No matter what corner of the tech world you write about, your articles need to be tailored to the audience you’re trying to reach. That means understanding what topics and keywords they’re searching for. In this heading, we’ll show you how to use keyword research to make your tech coverage more effective.
Identify your competitors
In order to identify your competitors, you’ll need to first identify your niche. Once you know your niche, you can then begin to research who is already writing about topics similar to yours.
There are a few different ways to do this:
One way is to use a simple Google search. For example, if you’re writing about artificial intelligence, you could search for “artificial intelligence” + “news.” This should give you a good idea of who the major players are in your field.
Another way is to use a tool like BuzzSumo. BuzzSumo allows you to see who the most popular authors are in any given field. Simply enter your topic into the search bar and BuzzSumo will give you a list of the most popular authors in that field.
Once you’ve identified your competitors, take some time to study their work. Read their articles and think about what they’re doing well. Then, try to find ways to improve upon their work. This could involve writing better headlines, providing more comprehensive coverage, or offering a different perspective on the topics you’re covering.
Conduct a keyword gap analysis
Start with your mission statement and competitor analysis to generate a master list of keywords. Then, review your website content and social media presence to determine which of those keywords you are already addressing. The keywords you are not addressing are your keyword gap.
To prioritize your keyword gap, you need to consider three factors:Search volume: How many people are searching for this term?Relevance: How relevant is this keyword to your business/industry?Competition: How difficult is it to rank for this keyword?
You can use Google’s Keyword Planner or other paid/free tools like Moz’s Keyword Explorer to help you with this process.
Once you have a prioritized list of keyword gaps, start creating content that addresses them. This could be blog posts, social media posts, infographics, etc. As you create this new content, be sure to include the keywords you’re targeting so that search engines can easily find and index it.
Find your main ‘money’ keywords
Start by brainstorming a list of potential ‘money’ keywords – these are the ones that you think will bring in the most traffic and/or conversions. To get an idea of the kind of keywords you should be targeting, take a look at your competitors’ sites and see what keywords they are ranking for.
Once you have your list of potential keywords, it’s time to start researching them. Use a keyword research tool like Google Keyword Planner or Moz Keyword Explorer to get search volume data and other insights for your chosen keywords.
Look for keywords with a high search volume but low competition level – these are the ones that are most likely to bring you success. Once you have found some promising keywords, add them to your website and start optimizing your content for those terms.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO is the practice of optimizing a website so it can rank higher in the search engine results pages (SERPs) for certain queries. This practice usually involves improving the website’s architecture, code, and on-page elements. Technical SEO can be a complex and time-consuming task, but it’s often worth it because it can improve a website’s organic traffic.
Leverage “Inspect URL” feature in GSC
The “Inspect URL” feature in Google Search Console (GSC) is a quick and easy way to check whether a given URL is indexed by Google, and to see how Google perceives it.
To use the feature, simply enter a URL into the GSC interface and click “Inspect.” If the URL is indexed, GSC will provide information on its last crawl date, any crawling or indexing errors, as well as any applicable search queries and Rich Cards. If the URL is not indexed, GSC will provide suggestions on how to proceed.
The “Inspect URL” feature can be particularly useful for debugging issues with website crawls or for troubleshooting potential indexing problems. It’s also a helpful way to get a sense of how Google perceives a given page.
Ensure your website is mobile-friendly
No matter what business you’re in, it’s important to ensure your website is mobile-friendly.
In 2019, Google announced that it would be using mobile-first indexing for all new websites. This means that the search engine will now index and rank your website based on its mobile version rather than its desktop version.
If your website isn’t optimised for mobile devices, it’s likely you’ll see a drop in your rankings. In fact, research has shown that 61% of users are unlikely to return to a mobile site they had trouble accessing and 40% will visit a competitor’s site instead.
So how can you make sure your site is mobile-friendly? Here are some tips:
-Use responsive design: This means your website will adjust to fit any screen size, whether it’s a desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone.
-Make sure your content is easy to read: Use short paragraphs and large font sizes. Avoid using small font sizes or dense blocks of text. Consider using bullet points or lists.
-Make sure your buttons and links are easy to tap: Links and buttons should be spaced out so they can be easily tapped. Avoid putting them too close together.
– Use images wisely: Images can make your content more visually appealing, but they can also slow down your page if they’re not optimised properly. Make sure your images are compressed and have descriptive alt tags so visitors know what they’re seeing.
-Test your website: Always test your website on different devices before you launch it. This will help you spot any potential problems and fix them before they impact your users.
Check your site’s loading speed
A slow site is a sure way to lose visitors. No one wants to wait around for a site to load, especially if they’re on a mobile device with spotty service. Google understands this and uses site speed as a ranking factor in its search algorithms. To make sure your site is up to snuff, run it through Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool. The tool will give you a list of things you can do to speed up your site; some may be obvious (compressing images, for example), while others will be more technical (like minifying CSS). You don’t have to fix everything on the list, but the more you can do, the better.
On-page and Content
As you’re creating or revising your title tags, keep in mind that there are certain common mistakes that can hurt your ranking and click-through rate ( CTR). These include:
-Duplicate title tags
-Missing title tags
-Truncated title tags
Fixing these issues can be a quick and easy way to improve your website’s SEO. Here’s a closer look at each issue:
Duplicate title tags: If you have multiple pages with the same or similar title tag, search engines may have trouble determining which page is most relevant to a given query. As a result, they may choose to not display any of your pages in the search results. To fix this, make sure that each of your pages has a unique and descriptive title tag.
Missing title tags: If you have pages on your website without title tags, search engines will have a harder time understanding what those pages are about. As a result, those pages are less likely to rank well in the search results. To fix this, make sure that all of your website’s pages have title tags.
Truncated title tags: If your title tags are too long, they may get cut off in the search results, which can hurt your CTR. To fix this, keep your title tags under 60 characters.
Find and fix duplicate or missing meta descriptions
Your website’s meta descriptions are an important factor in on-page SEO. Meta descriptions are the brief descriptions that appear below your page’s URL in the search engine results pages (SERPs). Although they don’t directly influence your ranking, meta descriptions can impact your click-through rate (CTR) — which, in turn, can influence your ranking.
If you have duplicate or missing meta descriptions on your website, it’s important to fix them. Having duplicate or missing meta descriptions can hurt your CTR, which could eventually hurt your ranking. Use a tool like Screaming Frog to find and fix duplicate or missing meta descriptions on your website.
An H1 tag is supposed to be the title of your article, and you’re only supposed to have one per page. If you have more than one H1 tag on your page, that’s a problem. Search engines will often penalize pages with multiple H1 tags because it looks like you’re trying to stuff too many keywords onto the page.
The easiest way to fix this is to find all the H1 tags on your page and replace them with proper headings (H2, H3, etc). You can do this manually, but it’s a lot easier to use a tool like Screaming Frog or DeepCrawl.
Once you’ve replaced all the H1 tags with proper headings, you should make sure that your title (the text that appears in the
Off-Page SEO
Use this tag to describe techniques that are used to promote a website through non-website channels. Also known as “link building.” This can be accomplished in a variety of ways, but a few methods include: article marketing, social bookmarking, social media, directory submission, and blog commenting.
Analyze your competitor’s link profile
One of the most important aspects of any SEO campaign is understanding your competitor’s link profile. By analyzing their backlinks, you can gain insights into their overall SEO strategy and what’s working for them.
There are a few different ways to go about this. First, you can use a tool like Majestic or Moz’s Open Site Explorer to get a list of all the links pointing to your competitor’s site.
Once you have that list, you can start to analyze the links and look for patterns. Are they getting a lot of links from directories? Guest posts? Social media? By understanding where their links are coming from, you can start to build a similar link profile for your own site.
Of course, not all links are created equal. A link from a high-quality website will be worth more than a link from a low-quality website. So, in addition to looking at the quantity of links, you also need to look at the quality.
There are a few different metrics you can use to judge link quality, but one of the most important is PageRank. This is a metric developed by Google that basically measures how popular a website is. The higher the PageRank, the more valuable the link will be.
You can check PageRank using a tool like MozBar or PRChecker. Just enter in your competitor’s URL and it will show you their PageRank score. Alternatively, you can install the MozBar extension for Chrome and it will show you the PageRank score for every website you visit.
Once you have a good understanding of your competitor’s link profile, you can start working on building similar links for your own site. This is an important part of any SEO campaign and should not be ignored!
Conduct a link intersect analysis
Link intersect analysis is a process of identifying websites that link to multiple competitor websites, with the goal of identifying potential link partners.
There are a few different ways to conduct a link intersect analysis:
1. Manual method: This involves going to each competitor website and looking at the list of websites that link to them. You can then manually compare these lists to identify potential link partners.
2. Automated method: There are a few different tools that will automate this process for you, including Moz’s Link Intersect tool and BuzzSumo’s Link Intersect tool.
3. Spreadsheet method: You can also use a spreadsheet to conduct a link intersect analysis. Simply create a sheet for each competitor website and list all of the websites that link to them. Then, use a VLOOKUP or other comparison formula to compare the lists and identify potential link partners.
Once you’ve identified potential link partners, you can reach out to them and request a link. Be sure to provide them with value in return, such as linking to their website from yours, writing a guest blog post, or offering discounts on your products or services.
Target your competitors’ broken backlinks
Any link that is valuable to your competitors is likely to be just as valuable, if not more so, to you. So, it’s definitely worth targeting any competitor links that are no longer relevant or working.
To do this, you can either use a backlink analysis tool like ahrefs or Majestic, or do a simple Google search.
Just enter site:yourcompetitor.com into the search bar and then hit the “search tools” button and set the date range to “All time”:
This will show you all of your competitor’s broken backlinks—links that are no longer going to their website. You can then reach out to the webmaster and ask them to link to your website instead.
