SEO & blogging for online course creators . how to rank your product |
Incorporate SEO into your marketing plan. In this guide to SEO for digital goods, you'll learn how to optimize content, drive traffic, and boost sales.
You're going about your day but you get a question. What can you do?
Find the answer in the encyclopedia.
Contact to a person you know.
Search it on Google.
If you chose option C, you're not all on your own. Google sees approximately 63,000 search queries each second. This is 5.6 billion searches every day, and around 2 trillion annual searches.
Enter search engine optimization (SEO).
SEO is often confusing and complex, especially for those who are new to internet marketing. In the case of running your own company, the chances are that you're not creating valuable educational content to learn the ins and outs of the latest Google algorithm updates.
That's why we put together this information guide on how to make SEO an element of your strategy for online marketing. We're sharing four tips and tactics for using SEO to increase sales of digital goods.
But first, what exactly is SEO? And why does it matter for creators?
What is SEO? (And why would you require it?)
SEO (search engine optimization) (SEO) is the practice to make your site as well as your content and product easy to locate through search engines.
Optimized content shows up higher on the search pages (SERP) for relevant words and phrases. If you can optimize your content, easier to make it easy for people new (or a.k.a. potential customers -- to find it via search.
The organic search engine is at the heart of 53% of all online traffic , and almost 39% of all eCommerce traffic originates from search.
Ranking high in the SERP could make a big difference. The first five results on every Google search represent 67.6 percent of all clicks however just 77% of people will go past the first result page.
SEO is also less expensive and more effective than traditional advertising. A Survey by Databox found that 70% of marketers agree that SEO is more effective than pay-per click (PPC) ads for generating sales. That's why 69% of marketers are planning to invest in SEO in 2021.
If SEO appears daunting, relax and keep your heart. Google is continually updating its algorithm which is a challenge for a small business owner it is difficult to be on top of every change and nuance.
What exactly does SEO take on in real life?
If I'm in college and struggling to manage my budget, I might make a Google lookup for "budgeting student budgeting".
If I visit your page, I'll discover your website, find out that you've got the knowledge I'm seeking Perhaps I'll even sign up for your course.
The highlighted snippet from the phrase "budgeting to college students" is this blog post by Clever Girl Finance , a website which provides both free and paid content dedicated to helping women overcome debt and gain capital.
This is the concept:
With the right SEO tactics, you can compete for the top spot in search results- and watch your digital products' sales increase the greater your rank. Keep reading to learn how.
Four ways to increase sales of digital goods using SEO
1. Do Keyword search
Keyword research can help you determine your ideal key words that include the keywords you'd like your article to be ranked for.
Before embarking into your research for your keywords, there are two types of keywords to know:
Head Terms
Keywords Long-tail
Head terms are broader keywords with higher search volume and more results. A search on the term "online classes" generates over 5 billion results.
To rank on the list of "online classes" it is necessary to outrank five billion other websites, and that would need a substantial budget.
Keywords with a long tail On the other on the other hand, typically have lower search volume, lower competition and better conversion rates than head-words.
For example, "online courses on SEO for beginners" produces fewer outcomes with 51 million as instead of five billionas well as targets a much more specific target audience.
Instead of looking through all of the available online classes, those that search using this keyword are looking for an online course that focuses on a particular subject.
Therefore, you should focus on your research for keywords on finding the keywords with long tails that potential clients will use to find your blog and courses.
There are a variety of Keyword research tools available that can help you identify appropriate keywords to focus your efforts. One of the most popular is Google Keyword Planner .
For anyone who has anyone with a Google account. Google Keyword Planner helps you discover which keywords people are searching for within your field of expertise. It lets you see the the monthly volume of searches and projected volumes of searches. You can also find keyword ideas to help you connect with your target audience.
Finally, as you put the keywords together, think about user intent. Who is the person behind the query? What is their goal?
Google takes user intent into account while ranking content. There are three varieties of intention of the user in search queries :
Informational: Looking for details on a certain issue or topic.
Navigational: Searching for specific brands' websites or its content.
Transparency: ready to purchase items and services.
If someone types in "What does a marketing consultant perform?", that's an informational query. Most likely, they're not ready to give a full-blown sales pitch to your consulting course. If you're trying to rank your course with content that's an all-out sales page likely won't work for your business.
In the end, content that is designed to meet user needs provides a more enjoyable experience for the user. Create content that is useful for those who come across it by targeting the context and intent around the keywords instead of just keywords' sake.
If you've determined which keywords you want to target then it's time to enhance the content. Let's start with your product descriptions.
2. Optimize your product descriptions
Do not use as many keywords from your research as you are able to, integrate them into the text in a way that feels natural and easy to understand.
For example, say you're writing a description for a digital download on dog training. You could search Amazon and then read reviews for books that cover the area, for instance the book Lucky Dog Lessons: Train your Dog In 7 Days :
From these reviews, you will see that pet owners are looking for empowering and simple-to-read material. It is possible to highlight those advantages in your description of the product.
Reviews also show you what language your audience uses to discuss the topic, and also when looking for your subject. Find them, and align the intent of their searches by employing the same language in the product's description.
Last but not least, make your product descriptions more effective to keep them short with a focus on the benefits.
If you've got a product that you're extremely happy with, it might be tempting to detail every aspect. However, a long listing of functions doesn't necessarily make for fascinating (or optimized for SEO) content.
Minessa Konecky's Social Strategy Squad Membership page is a great illustration of a description for a product which focuses on the its benefits and the results.
Instead of tons of keyword-stuffed paragraphs that cover every single information about her membership Minessa's product description is concise, value-packed, and tells readers exactly what they'll gain through her membership.
The product descriptions aren't your only way to improve your content. Check out our next tip to build a content marketing and SEO powerhouse. blog.
3. Create blog posts that are high-quality and of the highest quality.
People love blogs.
77% of Internet users are avid readers of blogs. those in the U.S. have 3X the time with blogs than emails. Blogs can boost your bottom line too. Companies with blogs generate around 67 percent more leads than businesses without one.
SEO and content marketing go hand-in-hand. 88% of the people read, watched, or heard a piece of content from a brand in the last year. SEO can help the most relevant people locate your material.
If you can optimize your blog content for a specific search query and you stand a greater likelihood of appearing on the SERP. Your target audience is more likely to find your quality content, visit your blog, and, when they are confident in your knowledge purchase your digital goods.
If you're using WordPress (like 60 million other websites ), the Yoast SEO plugin helps you optimize your blog's content directly in the WordPress web editor.
Here's how it works:
You enter the keywords or phrases you would like your blog to rank for.
Yoast reviews your website content and informs you whether you're using the keyword enough , and in the correct places.
Yoast also lets you preview how your post appears on the search engine results page.
It's not enough to include as many relevant keywords as you can within your blog posts, though. In fact, it can harm your search engine rankings.
As I mentioned earlier the Google algorithm is focused on giving the most excellent experience for users, which implies presenting them with top-quality quality content. "Keyword overfilling" -- making use of a lot of words without the proper context can breach Google's standards for quality .
Instead, concentrate on writing content that addresses your reader's needs and gives real value to them. Blog posts that are longer and dig further are more likely to be ranked higher on the SERP.
HubSpot reports that the best length for a blog post for SEO is between 2,100 to 2,400 words. A study conducted by Orbit Media found that the majority of bloggers who publish 3000+ words report "strong performance".
If a 3000-word article seems to be a daunting task Don't be concerned. It's not necessary to write regular blog posts (or maybe even each week) to build a successful blog. If it's about blog content, it's about the quality of your content over quantity.
Amanda Nielsen of New Breed Marketing told Databox , "You can get tons of SEO benefit through transcribing video. If you've got the bandwidth, you can write a transcription and a blog post to help promote this video."
For more tips on starting blogs and producing top-quality content, check out these guides:
In this case, Python developer and instructor Reuven Lerner uses the opt-in form on his blog to grow his mailing list.
Once you start your own blog, guest posting is another stellar way to improve your search engine ranking.
Here are the most important benefits of the guest blog :
Increase backlinks.
Improve the authority of your domain (a index of search engine rankings).
Get people to visit your web site.
Enhance brand awareness.
It's likely the reason 60 percent of bloggers write anything from one to five guest blog posts every month.
These are some websites to assist you in finding blogs that accept pitching for guest posts:
List of 200+ websites and blogs which are accepting guest posts
List of 150+ websites to host blog on.
Writers In Charge's definitive list of blogs that accept guest post submissions
The most well-established blogs accepting guest post submissions typically provide pitching and writing guidelines that you must follow such as the Practical Wanderlust 's "Write for Us!" page.
Here's another short, but delicious advice for you to consider today, and it's a little less technical.
4. Your website should be mobile-friendly
Today, more than ever users are using their smartphones to surf the web.
The first quarter of 2021 mobile phones accounted for 54.8 percent of the world's site traffic . And visitors are nearly five times likely to leave your site in the event that your website isn't mobile-friendly.
Additionally, Google announced in the year 2018 that they'd be boosting positions of sites optimized for mobile within their results for mobile searches.
Google is focused on these three factors to create mobile-friendly websites:
1. Does your site load quickly Do you have a site that loads quickly? A study by Google revealed that 70% of mobile landing page pages take more than five seconds to load visual content above the fold. For a quicker load time, keep your product pages concise.
2. Does it make it simple to navigate? It can be hard to navigate through a complicated site on a small screen. The more difficult it is to help visitors find the information they are looking for to know, the more likely they will be to become frustrated and then leave. Keep your website design simple.
3. Are you able to easily do something? It should be easy and fast for your visitors to make a decision on your site. For example, stick to a single call-to-action (CTA) per landing page.
When you include several different CTAs to make it more difficult for mobile users as well asrun through Hick's Law, a.k.a. decision paralysis .
The law of Hick's says that the more choices you offer an individual, the more time they need to decide. (And you might see them leave your page and not click on one of the CTAs.)
If you want to see how well your current website works on mobile, we recommend you use the mobile-friendly test tool from Google.
You enter your website's URL, and Google tells you whether your website is designed for mobile. The tool also provides a preview of what your website looks like when viewed when viewed on mobile devices. Similar to every other Google Search Console tools, this tester is free for those who have the use of a Google account.
If you have these SEO most effective practices under your belt, you're in the process of creating high-quality, optimized content that boosts both sales and traffic.
Keep an eye on your search ranking and your sales on digital items soar
Your digital product is amazing to offer however, you must make sure they are in front of an appropriate audience. It's time to include SEO in your digital marketing toolbox, place your content on the top of search results, and make more revenue.
To recap, here are four SEO techniques to help sell more digital products:
Conduct keyword research. Keyword research can help determine what your audience is looking for. This allows you to make content that ranks.
Optimize your product descriptions in order to make them easy to find via search. Do some customer research and focus on your product advantages to create descriptions that are converting.
Make sure your blog is of high quality and is able to address your clients' needs points and dives deep into solutions. Guest posting and email marketing can be great methods to convert blogs' traffic into sales.
Make your website mobile-friendly by keeping content simple and easy to navigate. Google gives preference to sites that perform well on mobile.
New SEO algorithm updates as well as "growth hacks" will always pop up, and it can be difficult to determine what's worth paying attention to.
But as long as you keep your audience's needs and experiences top-of-mind, you'll continue creating material that is converting and also selling digital goods that customers appreciate.