Most people overcomplicate things, especially SEO (search engine optimization). Business executives are notorious for overcomplicating SEO.
The key to a successful SEO strategy is keeping it simple. There are plenty of awesome tips and tricks that will help juice up your rankings, but most people should hire those out. A professional SEO can be the difference between ranking and tanking your site.
When it comes to Internet marketing consulting, I’m typically working with the executives or owners of the company. They always want to know what else they can do in addition to my work to help with SEO. As executives of the company, they have the opportunity to make an impact beyond what I can do on my own. With a little bit of coaching, the formula works not just with SEO, but exposure in general.
Start Writing Content on Your Blog
This is one of the #1 ways that I’ve been able to grow my business over the last decade – writing content. I love writing, so it comes easier to me than most. However, anyone can get started. One of the few things that I remember from college is my college professor telling us that he woke up everyday and wrote 1000 words. It was a habit that helped him start the process of writing his first book.
Executives can pitch in with an SEO campaign by consistently producing and sharing original content via blogs. If you need some inspiration, check out the founder of Atlanta Tech Village and Pardot, David Cummings. Get started by aiming for 350 words each day. You can do it!
Write Content for Other People
One of the fastest ways that I was able to grow brand names and my own brand was through contributing to other sites. I’ve never contributed to Forbes or Fortune, but I’ve been on a handful of radio shows, podcasts, YouTube channels, industry magazines, and company blogs. I rarely turn down the opportunity for someone to share my name or my company’s name with their audience.
When you’re consistently writing awesome content on your own blog, you can use that content as a citation (via links) on other content that you contribute. As this process snowballs, you end up having more and more people writing about you or your contributions due to increased exposure. This helps build backlinks naturally, in addition to the media you’ve written for someone else.
Start Taking Video Seriously – Start with YouTube
First, I’ve been horrible at this over the past two years, but I’m going to start investing a ton of time into video. I know it works because I’ve done it before.
I love video, especially YouTube, for a few reasons:
- YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine and you can optimize it
- Video can be optimized on your site (I prefer Wistia or JW Player)
- It makes your content more dynamic
- You can break video up into multiple pieces of content to dive deeper into ideas or extend its life
Video takes guts. Way more than writing. Typing my thoughts out is a much more natural process than sitting in front of a camera talking or teaching. I was SUPER awkward at first, but I eventually became more comfortable. Eventually, I was still a little awkward but people could move past it and pull value from my content. If I can clearly articulate value, then it’s working and it’s worth it.
My best advice for creating video is to just keep doing it. The more you do it, the better you will get. The better you get, the more exposure you and your business will earn. Executives like Ross Hudgens at Siege Media do a fantastic job of cranking out great video for their business.
The biggest thing you an do is to simply get started and stay committed. SEO is a long term investment. It might take months before you start seeing any traction. The people that are crushing their web presence are the ones that put in the time and effort to see it through.
