Create a basic SEO strategy in 5 steps (w/ template)

Brittany-Herzberg-seo-copywriter-shares-5-step-seo-tutorial

What is SEO?

Every time you open Google & search “SEO basics checklist” you get overwhelmed & “X” out of that window faster than you roll through Starbucks to grab your morning coffee.

Most business owners are familiar with SEO (AKA: search engine optimization). You know SEO is just a fancy acronym that means “how Google helps your ideal clients find you online.”

SEO is a terribly complicated topic, right? It feels easier for health & wellness business owners to ignore its existence altogether & keep sipping that iced latte.

There are image titles, web page headings, oh—and the SEO title for each page on your site! And for holistic business pros just beginning their SEO journey—the mere thought of it is sweat-inducing.

Why is SEO important

What many health & wellness business owners don’t know is how to use SEO as a critical strategic asset for business growth.

And honestly—that is the 1 glaring reason you gots to use SEO. It’s crucial for business growth!

Peep this…

You (business owner) use SEO (the thing that tells Google & humans you exist) & this suddenly happens:

Authority is established
Connections are built
& New clients trust you enough to book with you

So—now you’re probably wondering what SEO Basics you’ve been missing (& must never overlook ever again).

Great timing! Look what’s waiting for you below ↓

What are the SEO basics not to miss

It’s about dang time someone shared a digestible SEO Strategy!

One that covers common SEO mistakes, that’s easy to follow & implement, & shares great beginner SEO tips.

Let’s kickstart this SEO tutorial…

B’s SEO Basics Checklist:

1. Find Your target SEO Keyword (for the page)

The reason for a web page’s existence needs to be kept front & center when it comes to SEO.

Translation → What topic are you zoning in on?

Are you writing a blog post? Updating your Home or About page copy? Drafting a sales page? Or creating a landing page (for your freebie)?

Cool. It doesn’t matter what page you’re working on—this first step is über super duper important.

It’s like the foundation of your Jenga tower. You can. not. mess. this. up. Or the whole thing falls down!

You’re going to want to take notes on the next few steps. Keep these keywords in a place you’ll remember & be able to easily access them.

How do you figure out what your page topic is?

Step 1:
Think—“What is this page about?”

What are you sharing on this page? What does your ideal client need to learn from this content? Why are they clicking to this page in the first place?

Step 2:
This topic now becomes your target keyword for this web page.

**Bonus:
If you really want to get SEO-nerdy with it, type your topic in the Google search bar & see what auto populates.

Use one of the keywords/keyword phrases that show up in your search. (Make note of it—& all your SEO research—in something like Google Docs, Notes, or Word.)

My favorite tools for SEO research are:

Keywords Everywhere & Ubersuggest (both have Google Chrome extensions)

Could you do the keyword research for me?

2. Choose Your link (URL Slug)

Probably the easiest & most overlooked place to use SEO keywords → the URL slug (AKA: the phrase that comes at the end of www.yoursite.com/this-is-your-URL-slug).

Now that you’ve discovered your page topic & picked a target SEO keyword, you plug it in, plug it in!

The URL slug is a great place to make that SEO keyword work its magic.

SEO-Savvy URL Tips:
» Make sure it’s not too long (I like to keep it 3–5 words long).

» Be sure to write it just-like-this (with hyphens in between each word).

» It’s up to you if you want to change an existing URL slug or not—there are pros & cons for either choice.
But if you do update an old URL link, you’re going to want to make sure you update the link everywhere it exists (Pinterest, Instagram, freebies, other pages on your site, etc.).

» Make note of the key phrase you’re using as your URL slug in that same Google Doc, Note, or Word page.

3. Use Keywords in Your Headline(s)

Oh, holy headlines. These are the phrases you see at the top of website pages, or at the start of a new section of text.

Headlines trip many people up. They’re complicated, but pros know how to make them look simple to whip up.

Here’s what you need to keep in mind for your optimized website headlines:

There’s only room for ONE H1 on each web page. After that, you can use however many H2, H3, H4, H∞ headlines as you see fit.
So many headline formulas exist out there online! If you’re feeling stuck—Google it. Or check out this resource to make sure your headlines are on point. (Tip: I love using the headline analyzer Google Extension for H1 headlines.)
Of course the main thing to keep in mind with your headlines is this: headlines are a fantastic place to use your SEO keywords!

It’s also extremely helpful in a blog post or sales page to organize that web page with different SEO keywords.

For example: you’re writing a blog post about “Your New Patient Appointment.” When you outline this post, take other SEO terms (like “Fill out your Intake Forms online” & “How long should a new patient appointment take”) & turn those into subheadings.

Use headlines to organize your web pages—which makes it easier for readers to understand, follow through, & stay on your page!

I want you to do this SEO copywriting for me

4. Optimize Your Images (Title & Alt Text)

It really is as simple as adding in SEO terms to your images.

Follow these steps to optimize your Image Titles & Alt Text:

Start with a fresh image.

Did you download an image from Canva? Redownload the image.
This way, you’re able to title your image correctly from the get-go.
(The more robust reason is very techy & really not something we need to explore here. So please—just trust me on this.)
Revisit your SEO keywords note page (your Google Doc, Note, or Word Doc).

Take a peek at your target keyword. Make note of a few other related search terms.
Using those keywords, title your image.
Add keywords to the Alt Text when you upload the image.

Your host platform (Squarespace, WordPress, Kajabi, etc.) will display the “Alt Text” box typically when you upload the new image.
You don’t have to use the same words for your title & alt text.

If you want to—that’s totally fine!
If you want to make them slightly different—also fine!

**Note: If you haven’t been doing this all along, you could go back & update the images on existing blog posts, sales pages, or other web pages.

Or—you could make a promise to yourself that starting right now, you’ll optimize your images for your site! (There’s no right or wrong answer here. Do what you need to do.)

5. Write Your SEO Title & Meta Description

The most daunting task I left for last. I’m guessing even just seeing those terms makes you want to hide under a blanket.

But don’t fret! This is actually a really simple task & usually takes at most 15 minutes to complete.

Steps to craft the most optimal SEO Title & Meta Description:

Have your SEO keyword research handy.
Open this link—which helps you with the character count for your SEO Title & Meta Description.
Now… reference that target keyword & start adding in other keywords. (What other questions are your clients asking Google?)
Use the character counter & write out your possible SEO Title & Meta Description using the target keyword & related keywords.
Give yourself time to play around with that. It’s usually a bit of a process the first few times anyone uses that tool.
Once you have a title & description you’re happy with (& the character counter is happy with), add it to the appropriate place on that web page.
(Again, it’s different for each web hosting site. Look for “SEO Title” & “Meta Description” for that page. They’re usually located in the same place.)

Look at you! You’ve optimized all the really key pieces of your sales page, blog post, or web page for humans & Google.

When creating a game plan for website content, my clients (& I) find it most helpful to have these pieces handy at the beginning and/or end of a copywriting project.

If you think something like that would be helpful as you create your website content, be sure to download your copy of The One-Stop SEO Cheat Sheet.

What SEO help exists

What if you don’t want to carve out time to fill in this sheet on your own?

Or if you only plan to use this thing once—just long enough to learn 10% more about SEO?

Maybe it would make more sense for you to learn SEO from a pro. You know, like a 1-to-1 situation that’s more budget friendly than hiring an SEO copywriter.

Perhaps you actually are looking to hire an SEO copywriter.

No matter which of these 3 kiddie pools you fit in: