Before we dive into my best easy tips for SEO, a short story:
The current game in my house is โhide and seekโ – a very well known game whose name does *not* need to be in quotes, until you learnโฆ
That my children pick one spot to โhideโ (again – quotes are so very needed) and absolutely do not waver from it.
That they giggle the ENTIRE time, which would give them away immediately if they werenโt in the same spot each and every round.
That the SECOND I get to โ10โ in my counting, they bust out of their hiding spot (itโs the coat closet) and yell HERE I AM!
And hereโs the thingโฆ
They want to be found. They want the connection that comes with having someone be absolutely delighted to see them – and I always am.
And thatโs how it should feel when people find your website on Google.
How to Get Found on Google (My Best Easy SEO Tips)
Unfortunately – the algorithm makes it just a liiiiiiittle more challenging than finding a toddler whoโs making a ton of noise in a predictable location. But Iโm going to teach you some tried-and-true tips that make you feel more confident in what youโre doing, and actually help you start seeing results.
Pssst – weโre about to talk techy details. Need a refresher? Try this blog post on SEO basics!
Easy SEO Tip #1 | One focus keyword per website page
Itโs highly, highly tempting to grab a keyword that makes sense (like โTherapist in Atlanta, GAโ) and put it EVERYWHERE then call it good.
But the primary keyword (AKA, the one youโre focusing on adding to the page content) should be different for each page, or you risk something called keyword cannibalization – which is where Google doesnโt know which of your pages are the most relevant and helpful for each keyword, so they all suffer in the search results.
Quick tip: I like to research the concept keywords (like โtherapyโ โcounselingโ) for home/services pages and the person keywords for the About page (like โtherapistโ โcounselorโ). This gives you variety and prevents keyword cannibalization while keeping your results clear and relevant.
Easy SEO Tip #2 | Check your keywords before committing
I love Ubersuggest for keyword research – which is basically the art and science of aligning your keywords with what your target is actually looking for.
Two things you want to check:
- How many people are actually searching that keyword (โSearch volumeโ – make sure itโs not 0)
- How hard it would be to rank for that keyword (โSearch difficultyโ – make this 30 or less if youโre starting out)
Easy SEO Tip #3 | Use your headings correctly.
You know that โHeading 1, Heading 2โ or โTitle, Heading, Subheadingโ hierarchy in your settings? You absolutely need to be leveraging it. Thereโs a pile of rules and guidelines about how to do it best, but hereโs what you absolutely need to know.
- Your primary keyword needs to be in a heading 1 (Title/H1) and near the top of your page.
- Your primary keyword needs to be used in other headings (H2, H3, etc) and body copy throughout the page
- Body copy and subheadings should be placed with higher-order headings that make sense so that Google can read the page more easily. Think back to high school English, where you had to write outlines for your papers in a specific order (with I., A., then 1., etc).
Easy SEO Tip #4 | Create more opportunities to rank for more keywords
Remember that โone focus keyword per pageโ rule? Well, it creates the next rule Iโm teaching you which is:
Create more opportunities for your website to rank in Google by creating more pages.
DO NOT STOP READING; THERE IS A CATCH.
If youโre going to create a new page, that page needs to be relevant and helpful, not โcreated for the sake of having more pagesโ – because that shit is going to frustrate your site visitors and cost you traffic.
You donโt need separate pages for your services and your fees.
You donโt need to create separate โAboutโ and โMy Philosophyโ pages.
But if you have multiple specialties with distinctly different audiences (like therapy for adults and therapy for teens, whose parents are the ones Googling you) – then you can leverage a separate page for each and try to rank higher.
Want to see what this looks like in action? Check out my Rebecca website template, which comes with a Ways to Work Together โsplash pageโ to organize all your specialties pages.
What to Do With Extra Website Content
โBut Amy, I have SO MUCH TO SAY and it wonโt all fit on one page!โ
^ Welcome to the conversation I have on pretty much every project. ๐
If you find it hard to pare down your pages to keep them user friendly, or you have more ideas than itโs appropriate to split into website pages –
You need to blog. Period.
Blogging for Business
Blogging creates more pages of user-friendly content (each post = new page = new ranking opportunity) in a format that people are looking for.ย
If I Google someone to help me with physical therapy, Iโm looking to book that person. But if Iโm looking for what to do about pelvic floor strength postpartum (IYKYK), a blog or article is exactly what Iโm looking for – which may lead me to booking with a PT, if their website is done right and the one I find in my search.
You can leverage a free SEO tool like Yoast SEO to optimize your posts for your focus keyword (Iโm extra and have the paid version – which I love), and bam – new ranking opportunity.
I feel so strongly about blogging that I include a blog design on each of my website templates (although yes, you can purchase them without the blog pages for most of my templates if you really want to), and wrote a whole post about it here.
Easy SEO Tip #5 | Donโt forget to make a human-friendly website.
Iโm just gonna give it to you straight here:
SEO means nothing if your website is a terrible experience for the people that find you.
I once got asked during a consultation call if website design really matters when people are finding you on Google.
And YES, yes it absolutely does, because:
- Google prioritizes helpful and relevant content in search results, so your page needs to be exactly what people are looking for AND fun/easy to use.
- Unless youโre aiming for blogging as a main revenue source (through something like Mediavine), the point of generating website traffic is to generate more clients – and youโll need a killer website design to make that conversion.
- If your website hides key information, makes it hard for people to understand why they need you, or makes it hard to book with you – youโre losing clients and money, full stop.
Make sure your website is friendly to the actual humans finding you by:
- Making it easy to read and skim with high-contrast text colors and large headings (I cover both in my website template tutorial library, BTW).
- Anticipating and answering your audienceโs questions in your website copy (or have me write it for you).
- Having a clear path from finding you to booking you.
Easy SEO Tip #6 | Tell Google you have a new website/pages
Round out your SEO efforts by telling Google you have a new website and/or new pages. You can do this by submitting a new sitemap to Google after getting started with Google Search Console.
I teach this step and more in the content for my website template tutorial library, which is packed full of tips like this post!
And bam – your website just got more findable and more persuasive in 6 effective, simple steps.
Need more help getting your business *found* on Google? You know Iโve got you covered:
>> Get the SEO keyword workshop to learn how to find keywords your clients are already searching for and get your website to show up for them.
>> Join Cook Your Copy to have me double-check your work so you can feel confident optimizing your site for SEO!
