5 Takeaways After Reading a Search Engine Optimization Book
(And why you should care about SEO)
I’m sure you have read articles about SEO, whether you knew it or not: the importance of choosing the right tags, writing good headlines, and formatting text properly.
Basically, SEO is about ranking higher in searches and getting your content read by more people.
After having read dozens of those articles myself, I felt I needed a bit more in-depth introduction to SEO or Search Engine Optimization. Therefore, I started reading, Ryan Stewart’s book, SEO Blueprint. (Not an affiliate link).
Stewart runs an SEO company, “The Blueprint Training,” so he does make sure you know about the services he offers in his book.
Nevertheless, this was my first long read about SEO, and it was interesting.
As eBooks go, the book was thorough although a bit repetitive at times (which is not always a bad thing when discussing technical concepts). While I am sure I could have found a more comprehensive guide to the history, the practice, the benefits, and additional resources, Stewart’s book was what I needed to get some preliminary takeaways.
My SEO Takeaways (In no Particular Order)
Takeaway #1: Organic Traffic is Key to Long Term Success in Today’s Online World
If you are not familiar with the term “organic traffic,” it refers to traffic/visitors who find your site, article, blog post, etc., through an online search. These visitors have not been forwarded there through an ad or influencer referral.
Organic traffic is key to growth because other types of traffic may (will) slow down once the referrals or ads stop. However, if your growth is “organic,” then it means that people who continue searching will continue to find you (if your SEO is done right that is).
Takeaway #2: Don’t Try to Cheat an Algorithm
I’m sure you have seen the articles claiming to know the secret for a particular site’s or search engine’s algorithm.
Well, these “secrets” are not likely true anymore, if they ever were.
Algorithms are incredibly sophisticated and constantly changing. Therefore, even if you or someone did figure it out today, it would change before you could “take advantage of that knowledge.”
The bottom line with this is to forget the algorithm.
Write quality content with SEO best practices in mind and then let the algorithms find you and do their “thing.”
Takeaway #3: Formatting of Content is Key
Here is where the articles you may have read have a point. Formatting should include certain best practices:
- Keyword(s) in the Headline, Primary Subheader, and final Subheader. (Don’t force them though. They need to be included naturally in your writing.)
- Sentences shouldn’t be so complex that it takes a Doctorate to understand them. (Again, write naturally — don’t just write all simple sentences either.)
- Write shorter paragraphs. In Technical Writing, we call this chunking. (Like the other best practices, you can overdo it. You don’t want to just write one-sentence paragraphs all the time either. The reader still needs to be engaged in what you write once they get to your content. So sentence variety is essential.)
Takeaway #4: Writing Proper Content with SEO is a Process
Success is not guaranteed by just jumping in, writing, plugging in keywords in the right places, formatting the content just right, and pressing publish.
No. There is much more to it than that. You need to perform some research first. If you really want to make a go with SEO (see the rhyme there), you need to take your time:
- Come up with a content idea
- Search and Research keywords (steps 1 and 2 can be done in either order — you can use keywords to get a content idea or vice-versa)
- Write a preliminary draft of your content
- Edit for Grammar and Spelling (you can use MS Word’s grammar checker, Grammarly, and even the Hemingway App)
- Revise for Understanding (Word choice, reading level, sentence and paragraph length, etc.)
- Revise Formatting for SEO Best Practices
- Edit for Grammar and Spelling one more time
- Publish the Content
- Measure the Success Points
This isn’t the exact process that Stewart outlines, but it is how, as an English professor, I would implement the SEO Content Writing Process.
Takeaway #5: Keep Track of Your Project’s Progress from Beginning to End
This is likely the step that most people would find boring because prior to content writing, it would be project management:
- Outlining Tasks
- Assigning Roles
- Establishing Deadlines
- Keeping Notes
After the content is written and published, it is tracking how the content is performing:
- Establish Key Performance Indicators
- Mining Data
- Compiling the Data
- Reporting the Data (in numbers and visually)
However, I find this part fascinating because I also love data. I know that sounds strange since I just said I teach English. However, I also love statistics and have an MBA with a Data Analytics concentration.
Bonus Takeaway: Google is Your SEO Friend
Truth be told, much of SEO is about ranking high on Google, although it could also be about being seen on Etsy, Pinterest, Medium, and yes, even Bing.
Nevertheless, according to Oberlo, Google handled 91% of all search queries worldwide in 2021. That’s a massive market share!
In addition, though, Google provides so many different products and services for free. You can use Google Drive, Google Spreadsheets, Google Data Analytics, and Google Data Studio to help you plan, organize, analyze, and report on your SEO projects.
So, don’t see them as an adversary!
Use Google and help them fulfill their mission too. They want to provide the most relevant results for each of their searches, and you want Google to see yours as relevant.
Final Thoughts About SEO and this First Read
I still have much to learn about SEO.
I didn’t read the book because I was planning on starting a website right away, nor did I read it because I wanted to rebrand a business.
No, I read it because I heard things “here and there” about SEO and thought it was time to wade a bit deeper into what it’s all about. Now, I’ll start using what I learned where I can and later read a bit more about SEO once I know what it is I want to learn.
Until then, I hope these 5 (well, really 6) takeaways help you understand SEO a little bit more and maybe even help you with your own goals.
I would love to get your feedback, as I love interacting with fellow readers and writers. If you’re interested in personal finance, please think about subscribing to “Everyday Finance.”
Also, please check out Joachim Guth, Jenn Leach, and Ben the Trader.
They are great people, who write great articles and great comments. They help make Medium a wonderful place to be.