Sphere of Influence Guide-Authorify

Chapter 8: Tricks to Boost Your SEO

Did you know that according to Hubspot, 97 percent of people start searching online to find a local business? That means that having your name and website highly ranked should be your ultimate goal in online marketing, since how you rank online can mean the difference between attracting a desert full of tumbleweeds and a stadium full of screaming fans. So what’s the best way to get people to take notice? Here are a few tricks for boosting SEO — including handy software you need to try — that can help you track and optimize your website’s ranking and grow your sphere of influence. Find relevant keywords. You don’t want to haphazardly clutter your website with keywords — you need to select a few keywords that are especially relevant to you, your specialty, and the area you serve. Sign up for Google Keyword Planner, and search for the terms you are interested in. You’ll be able to see the volume of searches each day and each month for various keywords. Remember to target keywords that are searched often and would apply to your real estate business. If you want to spend a little cash, Google Adwords can give you an estimated price on pay-per-click for each keyword. SEMRush is another website you can use for this type of research. It isn’t free like Google Keyword Planner, but it has more features, such as analyzing your listings or mentions around the web. Understand that not all keywords are practical targets. There’s a dark side to keyword research. While you may discover a certain keyword gets 100,000 searches a month, that also means it’s incredibly difficult to get ranked for it. The most popular keywords require an enormous amount of content and backlinking through other websites. Getting your website ranked on the first page for those keywords is typically not attainable if you’re doing your own marketing or working with a small budget. For example, a phrase like “Florida Realtor” is almost impossible to rank without the help of an SEO firm. It’s even possible that targeting large cities — think “Miami Realtor” — could be too lofty. So, instead of those top keywords, target other keywords that still promote a lot of traffic. There will still be plenty of attainable ones, especially if you focus on your location — the more hyperlocal, the better. Target specific areas such as neighborhoods, counties or smaller towns. Also target what