Demystifying how you can easily do SEO/SEM
I was dumbfounded by SEO and SEM. They seemed like really complicated topics. It was something that I didn’t know much about. I tried to talk to someone about it and he just confused me to oblivion. I was desperate to find out, because I wanted to start using it in my business. And, I didn’t want to hire some consultant to pay with money I didn’t have!
I thought I would share with you what I’ve figured out.
SEO and SEM aren’t that hard. Now, I don’t proclaim to be a full blown expert. What I can tell you is it takes 4 things: reading a few articles, creativity, tools, and common sense. Let’s talk about each of them.
Reading a few articles
I think this one is pretty self-explanatory, but I will mention it anyway. Reading is how we learn. There is a lot of great content right here on Medium published by the likes of Larry Kim or Neil Patel. You can also do a search on Google and read about SEO on Kissmetrics or Moz. These are reputable blogs that have experts provide you expert advice for free!
Creativity
You can plug your ideas into Google’s keyword planner and that will give you some ideas. The rest is on you. You need to test and see what works and that’s where a tool can come in. I would also say that a lot of it is trial and error. It’s a pity that Google made the analytics part no longer free. Because of this change, you can’t see how well the keywords rank which is kind of important.
Tools
Right so you need to fill up your SEO/SEM toolbox. I’ve already mentioned one but a couple of others. You can consider SEM Rush, Ahrefs, and Buzz sumo. Each of these tools can tell you what words are hot, how competitors are using them, and where they rank. You need invest a little bit in them, but you will gain the ROI on that investment.
Common Sense
If it works, it works. You need to review your analytics and deduce whether you’re getting the results you want or not. That’s where the common sense comes in. It should give you an idea about whether or not your engagement is improving or not. It’s interpreting your numbers.
Final Thoughts
And that it’s it for now. I am looking forward to building on my SEO/SEM knowledge as it works really for building my personal brand.
Stay tuned for my updates on how I am trying to use my SEO/SEM knowledge to build my personal brand. Oh, and I am going to provide a few ways you can rank better for free!
Key Takeaway: SEO/SEM is not a difficult area once you understand the basics. You need to equip yourself with the right tools. The tools help when you use your creativity and common sense to try different keywords out and analyse the analytics. It’s a matter of practice and continuously reading to stay up to date.
