If there is one thing most newbie bloggers struggle with is SEO. Who could blame them though?
SEO is a weird, weird thing man. With so many algorithm changes happening daily and a new “major update” coming out every few months or so, it’s hard to keep up with this “what search engines actually want.
However, that shouldn’t stop you from learning and understanding SEO and how it works.
For a while, even I didn’t have a clue how to go about publishing content for SEO purposes. I was just “winging” it as I go along not paying any attention to it and “secretly hoping for the best.“
Today I want to tell you how to understand SEO better. I’ve recently had an “epiphany” of how Google acts and I think this is by far the closest I’ve come to understand SEO and the many algorithms governing its search results.
SEO, is search engine optimization so we’re talking about all search engines here (including BING and Yahoo).
Regardless, for the sake of keeping this easy guide to understand, I will be only mentioning Google as an example but you can safely assume that the same goes for all search engines on the web.
So how do you understand Google? Simple, just think of Google as a human being.
Let me explain…
How To Understand SEO: Think Of Google As A Human
Right, meet Google. He is a powerful, highly sought after person that people come to for advice (around a billion times a day actually but let’s not worry about that).
What Google does is he tries to answer every question as best as he can, but Google doesn’t know anything (even if he pretends he does).
What Google does to answer so many requests from other people is he uses other people (content marketers or in other words; bloggers like you) to get advice from so he can point the person “in need” in the right direction of where the best possible answer lies.
Good going Google!
Now, you, the person reading this, has the potential to become “the somebody” that Google points to when others need help, and that can be done through the form of producing content.
But….
Google needs to know who you are first and what you know about in order for him to know where to point readers to.
And that is your job at this moment: to prove to Google that you are in fact the best source for information for that specific topic.
But how do you do that?
Simple; you create informative and original content as best as you can and then let Google pick his favourite.
That is why it takes time for you to get ranked and for you to be trusted by Google. Because Google needs to make sure that you know what you are talking about and you are consistent with your message, so when he sends people your way, it’s a win-win-win for all parties involved:
- Your (or your content) and
- The person looking for information.
Is this starting to make sense now?
If you can provide the best information about a specific topic, then Google will start to notice who you are and what you can provide, thus over time, if you keep building up your content and your expertise it is a guarantee that Google will send people your way.
That is why it is super important to be very specific with your niche and your content.
You don’t want to be the “jack of all trades” here, if that is the case, then Mr Google has no choice than to point a friend in need to the direction of an expert that can deliver precise information.
Once you establish your trust with Google, you can expect him to keep directing traffic (people) your way. All you have to do is stay consistent with your message and your information.
Once you get this, then you know how to understand Google and how to use it to make a name for yourself on the world wide web.
How To Not Confuse Google With Your Message
Often times, people start changing their theme and message of their blog (even after it has become successful) and guess what happens next nearly every time; rankings start to drop.
I have a post talking about the many reasons Google may have dropped you from the search engines and by evidence of the comments on that post, this happens quite often.
The reason is that Google gets confused when you go about changing your message, thus it can not deliver the same exact answers to his readers that are looking for information.
Do you see how this works now?
If you are not consistent, then you can’t provide information anymore.
If you blog about 10 different things instead of on one specific topic, you can’t provide the best information anymore.
If you can show to Google that you are one of the best for providing specific information, then you can kiss away the hopes of ever building a great SEO strategy that will get you the readers you so desperately need.
How To Make Sure Google Trusts You (And Continues To Trust You)
Simple;
- Stay consistent with your message, always.
- Provide great information so Google can begin sending readers your way.
- Take care of your readers (provide a good user experience). Google doesn’t want to send his readers to a scammy / BS website.
- Make sure you keep going building trust. Once you stop working on improving your trust with Google, you immediately start losing it.
I had a friend who was making close to $20,000 a month with his blog but once he started making that money, he abandoned his blog and slowly but surely, in a few months time, his income was disappearing.
You need to keep at it and keep pushing it to let Google know you’re the man / gal to go to!
Remember, Google has a lot of other friends that can provide the same information (your competition) so do not think that you have some godly right to get ranked and / or stay ranking high enough for people to find you.
It doesn’t work that way.
Is Google A Friendly Human?
Yes, if you understand SEO like I am explaining it and you go about creating your campaigns with this thought in mind (that Google is a human) then I am sure you and Mr Google are going to have a long lasting and successful relationship between you two.
Just always keep in mind this fantasy scenario we created here and anytime you are trying to understand SEO, picture in mind Google as a real person that just relies on information from people to provide that information.
Is that clear?
If you know how to do it right, then you will be rewarded for it, if not; then you will struggle with SEO for quite a bit of time till you find yourself a system you understand that you can also work with.
Closing Words
Thank you very much for reading this post on how to understand SEO, it was a quick post today but I wanted to give you the way I see SEO and Google in a straightforward manner.
I know this may be probably the weirdest explanation of what SEO really is, but I am sure you learned a few things today.
Since you’re here and you liked the post, I’d like to invite you to join my email list using the form above. This way, I’ll be able to send you:
- My weekly blogging tips,
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- Send you a free invite to try my #1 rated “Getting Started” course for bloggers and online entrepreneurs.
Till next time.
Chris Lee
