SEO Help

20 Semantic Search Steps that Will Help Your Business Grow

David Amerland

• Publisher: Cool Publications
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781844819782
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Informatik
• Subtopic: Webentwicklung

Search has changed. Search marketing now works differently. Semantic search is disrupting many of the practices associated with traditional search engine optimization techniques. David Amerland takes the complex subject of semantic search optimization and reduces it into twenty manageable steps anyone can apply. Using some of the most advanced semantic SEO techniques, in plain English, he shows you how you can: • Make quick SEO gains for your website
• Take your search marketing to the next level
• Use search in your branding efforts
• Define the uniqueness of your business
• Create trust and authenticity on the web
• Make use of current promotional techniques
• Integrate video and images in search marketing
• Shape your digital identity
• Form clear brand values
• Future-proof your SEO Start using semantic search techniques from the very first moment. Designed for the busy webmaster, business leader and entrepreneur, each chapter can be read alone, or in sequence. A comprehensive list of 200 questions, presented at the end of each chapter in tranches of ten allows you to reshape the entire way you approach digital marketing and search, irrespective of the size of your business or the budget available. Immensely practical, easy to read with each chapter standing alone this is the down to Earth aid to semantic search that you have been looking for.

Step #1 - Create a Google Account

 

# A Google Account is central to the success of your online identity.

If you are still wondering whether to create a Google Account or not you should have one already!

There is some debate online about whether giving access to your privacy to Google is a good thing or not and whether Google truly is a “Do not be Evil” company as its motto proclaims.

I have an opinion about that informed by my dealings with many companies and online businesses but it’s immaterial. There are two things right now that you need to keep in mind. First that Google’s recently updated privacy guidelines are no different to those of Microsoft and Yahoo and they are heck of a lot better than Apple’s and Amazon’s and second that the moment you get online to work you should give up any serious expectation of privacy.

That doesn’t mean that everything you do should be on the web but you should not expect anything you put on the public web to be hidden for long.

If you have not got a Google Account point your browser at: http://accounts.google.com/ and create one.

Make sure you fill it out completely and, incidentally, subscribe for, at the very least: Gmail, Google+, Google Analytics, Webmaster Tools, Docs, anything in short you find of value amongst Google’s services.

There is a good reason for that and it’s based on the fact that Google uses all of this to draw in data about yourself, who you are and what you’re doing. It is suitably anonymized so only the patterns of your online behavior are logged in. It all, however, goes to fill in your online profile and generate the trust Google places in your digital presence.

For the same reason you should be logged into your Google account when carrying out Google searches and when interacting with others on social media networks.

The ‘social signature’ you generate is very much part of your digital footprint and Google uses it to show you results in search that are relevant to you. More than that however, Google uses the data to assess your importance and influence on the web.

If you are ever going to be successful in the new SEO world you will need to have an online presence that is capable of acquiring a little ‘weight’ at least and leveraging some influence, if not your own then that of others. To achieve any of this you need to now establish a visible online identity.

If you are new to all this you will see that upon signing up for a Google Account, Google will most probably require you to also sign up for a Google+ Account. Do it! Again, I am not going to debate the right and wrong aspect of this. Right now what you want is to be able to promote your business online and have your site rank high on Google search. Join Google+ and go to Chapter 3 to see the best way to fill out your Google+ profile in order to profit from it.

One last word of warning. If you’re tempted to create more than one Gmail account thinking that it will help amplify your presence and ability to market, resist it. You may have more than one Gmail address for personal and professional use but the days of creating multiple accounts and online identities and using them to artificially boost a website or a promotion are now behind us.

Google can see all this activity even if you have not linked anything in any way. So treat your online identity with the same care and attention that you treat your offline one. As a matter of fact use the way you behave offline as a guide on how you now need to behave online.

Before semantic search came along you could safely assume that what happened on your website (or the social media network where you spent most time on) stayed there. This is no longer the case. The web has become transparent. Data has become portable. So have the sense of authority and expertise you project and that impacts directly upon your reputation. Reputation leads to trust. Without trust no business can ever take place. So developing a sense of trust in the online world is key to succeeding as a business.

 

Semantic Search Action List

1. Create a Google Account – go to: (http://accounts.google.com/)

2. Create a recognizable Gmail Address. Do not create anything spammy like [email protected] – go instead for your name and experiment for ways that make it easy to remember. Think about how easy it will be to type it without making any spelling mistakes. This is particularly important if you have a name that is unusual or too long. You may want to experiment with ways to make it more user friendly.

3. Join Google+. I won’t go into any detail here as it is covered in Chapter 3.

4. Allow Google to have access to your location (this is important for the quality of a number of Google services). Location-awareness in your Google account helps Google establish who you are and what you do a little faster.

5. Start thinking about what you need to do in order to establish as much “data density” as possible in your online presence. This includes thinking about the type of information you will put on your website and the kind of presence you will have to develop across the web, as a whole, through your social media profiles.

6. You will need to think about shooting a couple of high-quality, head and shoulders shots of you. Approach this the same way you would offline: think in terms of the impression you want to create in your target audience.

7. In your Google Account you will need to set up Security (http://goo.gl/uN50Hu). This is really important. It is best if you set up two-step verification (http://goo.gl/ikveoX) and install Google Authenticator (http://goo.gl/cvl2Y) in your device(s). A hacking of your Google Account could seriously compromise everything you do online, just as identity theft can compromise your offline presence.

8. Set up backups. Link up and verify your cell phone to your Google account (if you haven’t done so already) and put in place at least one more (if not two) alternative email addresses where you may be contacted.

9. Add a nickname. In the “Personal Info” section add a nickname you are known by, if applicable. This can be a pen name, if you are a writer, a stage name for an artist or actor or a name through which you are commonly associated with on forums.

10. In the “Languages” section of your Google account input any other languages that you understand. If you speak French or German, for instance, put that in there as well.

 

Step #2 - Establish your Identity

# Establishing your identity is key in the semantic web.

Whether you are promoting yourself (as a microbrand) or your company as a full-blown brand the key requirements are the same. In order for you to establish your identity you need to take some practical steps.

Over time these may change a little so I will start with an explanation and a guiding principle. Semantic search works by joining up every piece of information it can find in order to form a picture of who you are. In this sense it is no different to how we have worked, since the beginning of time, as individuals, in the offline world. In order to achieve this goal semantic search requires a simple thing: data density.

It’s no longer enough to just ‘be’ online if you cannot also establish the credentials of who you are and what you do through the independent emergence of your name and brand on social media platforms, other publications perhaps, citations (if required) and mentions.

Whenever I mention this I get two reactions and they are both understandable: the first is a resistance to doing more citing reasons of privacy, available resources and time. The second is the response that everything that can be done, is done already.

I understand the objections. None of them is an excuse and neither is entirely true, either. This is where the idea of data density comes in. In the offline world, because there is no real choice, we subconsciously do everything we do in a carefully considered way. The way we set up the physicality of a business, the buildings, décor, lighting, logo, colors, fonts and even merchandise positioning has a logic that resonates with the target audience.

In the offline world data density arises as a matter of course because we do not have to focus on the structure of the building, its building materials or the way the plumbers and electricians connected everything behind the scenes so that power flows along the wires and water runs from the taps. These are taken care for us so we can focus on the things that really matter to our business.

Online, unfortunately, we acquire X-Ray vision. We see everything that is involved in the construction of our websites. When that happens it is distracting and it becomes difficult to know where to look at first. I have seen cases where website owners obsessed over getting pixels right trying to align banners and display items and then completely forgot to address the real reason anyone would want to visit a website (like its content and the specific way it helps an online visitor do something they need to get done).

If you are setting up a website (or if you have one already) here are three things you should do to make sure it works the way it should:

1. Check the Design. Colors and pictures and clever scripts are great but they need to work to establish something specific. If every design element on your website does not help guide the online visitor to do something you may want to reconsider using it. If the way the website is set up visually does not immediately establish your brand and identity and appeal to the first-time visitor in an easy-to-understand way, you may want to reconsider some of its aspects.

2. Check the Content. In the past you needed content because you needed content. The number of words (and by association the number of relevant words) played an important role in itself. As a result many websites ended up containing content that was thin in value. Avoid this trap. The content you place there has to really work for your online visitors, delivering real value to them. Whether you’re writing an “About Us” page or explaining something complicated, it really has to be unique in terms of tone and voice and explain exactly who you are.

3. Make it flat. Website architecture is something that’s frequently overlooked. I’ve seen websites with great content that had it buried several levels deep and had, on top of that, failed to include a site search that would make content easier to find. The flatter your website structure is the easier it becomes for the visitor to find what they are looking for and the easier a search engine spider indexes your site.

While the three steps detailed seemingly have little to do with identity they actually force you to think about how you want to work online. What is your ‘style’, what will drive your content creation, how will you project that? These are all identity questions.

Semantic Search Action List

1. Design your website to help your audience, not yourself. Your online success really depends on how good you are at being helpful to those who find you. Solve that in terms of look and feel in your website design and navigation and you have a quick marketing win on your hands.

2. Think before you write anything. Work out who your audience is. What do they really need to know? How can you best provide answers to their needs?

3. Provide accessibility. Whether it’s your website you are looking at, your content or the general process your business operates in, work to make everything as streamlined, simple and accessible as possible. Obstacles, however small, lose you customers and hurt your business.

4. Think before you do. I know it’s basic but getting things done on the web takes time and effort. We all want to see a website being created and a business begin to work. Before you get to that stage take the time to think carefully why you’re in business. What is it that drives you before the obvious need for money? Once you have that clear in your head consider how you will make it clear to those who find you online.

5. Details are important. Put in as much data as possible about you and your business on the web. Do not forget to verify your business (if you are local) with Google: http://goo.gl/1xa5be

6. Decide on your communication style. Your tone and ‘voice’ become part of the character and personality your business develops. They help guide how others perceive you and that influe...