Herndon Hasty gives publishers five ways to integrate SEO into the roles of your online editors
Search engine optimization should be an integral part of your company’s day-to-day operations. When transitioning from print to online, it’s in your best interest to get your team excited about using keywords and getting their articles found online.
In a session called “The Business Case for SEO Content Development” with Herndon Hasty of Range Online Media at the 2009 SIPA 33rd Annual International Conference in Washington, D.C., he gave the audience five ways to integrate SEO more into your editorial efforts:
Always go to the numbers: Take nothing for granted – people search for the darndest things and in the oddest ways. Research every keyword set you’ll compete in and you’ll be in a position to win more battles.
You have to track it to improve it: Track your natural search performance using analytics and periodic rank checks. Keep an eye on metrics like traffic growth, conversions, email/RSS/offline subscriptions and keyword exposure.
Motivate with results: Once your team has been instructed in SEO copywriting, hold them to results. Show the effects that their new efforts are making in rankings, traffic, and if possible, revenue. Call out specific wins to the whole team. Show them it works and they’ll fight to make it work better.
Share, share, share: Whether it’s keyword research with your staff, organic results with your individual teams or your content as a whole with the world, share as much information and content as possible. Sharing internally will allow your teams to make the most of available knowledge, and sharing externally will allow your biggest fans to promote content for you – valuable for SEO and creating new readers.
Quality first: When writing or designing for the web with SEO in mind, always choose quality of content over quantity of keywords. Good content will win every time, so focus first on good copy, then find ways to work in keywords in relevant spots.
More coverage from SIPA:
SIPA Take Away #1: 17 Testing Tools from Sandra Niehaus
SIPA Take Away #2: Get Your Staff Pumped About Search Engine Optimization
SIPA Take Away #3: Create an In-House Audio/Video Production Studio
SIPA Take Away #4: Membership Website Experience from Mark Ragan
SIPA Take Away #5: Best New Product Development Ideas
SIPA Take Away #6: 10 Ways to Sell One-Shot Products
SIPA Take Away #7: Google Really Does Love Online Publishers
