Search Engine Optimization and Google Search Ranking

How Does Search Engine Optimization Relate to Ranking on the Google Search Engine ?

You write great content about something you deem worthy and want to share it seen with your target audience. But, just because the content is "great" in itself does not guarantee a place high enough on the Google's search engine results page (SERP) so that your audience can see it. In order for your content to meet its intended audience, it should be backed up by either paid advertising (e.g., PPC) or organically optimized for search engines like the Google search engine to find it at right time by the right person. When the latter choice is made, this is referred to as Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Depending on whether you have some good advertising money available, you might be tempted to choose the easier option: PPC (Pay Per Click). But sometimes, you and your organization live on a tight budget, if any, but still aim at a fair shot when it comes to showing up when someone searches for the exact product or service  that you offer as described in your "great" content. In this case, your gateway is simply SEO. Of course, joining forces between SEO and PPC is the ideal thing to do. But few of us have this luxury. We sometimes face a tradeoff  between  the two. This post is for those of you who somehow have to go for SEO at the expense of PPC.

Before diving right into SEO and its use, defining it might be a good start.

Just what is SEO? 

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is strategically organizing your content in a way that attracts your intended audience and meets their specific needs. This may sound simplistic as definition, but the emphasis on audience attraction and need satisfaction is key to writing effective content and constitutes the very essence of what SEO actually does.

How Does SEO Work?

People go online to search for information about their every need. The fact that they go to a search engine, like the Google search engine, and type in a query means that they are intentional to take certain action. If, by any chance, any term (keyword) in your content happens to match their search queries, it shows up to them through the help of sophisticated algorithms built in most, if not all, search engines. That's the basic mechanism of a search engine work. But you don't have to leave it all to chance; you can make use of SEO and make sure that everytime someone searches for the type of product or service that you offer, your content is the next thing they see. Here's how to do that:

• Anticipate Needs 

• Perform Keyword Research 

• Test Keywords 

• Implement Keywords 

• Iterate Keywords 

Anticipate Needs 

Anticipating the needs of your potential customers, by putting yourself in their shoes and imagining the "key" words they type in a search engine when looking for what offer, is crucial to an effective SEO strategy. So far, this is no magic; it is all common sense. What seems more of a hurdle, though, is how to come up with such keywords and optimize them for search engines algorithms to easily crawl, index, and return a relevant user outpout. The way to tackle this issue is through proper keyword research performance.

Perform Keyword Research 

Now all words should be included in your content. You want the most effective ones only, don't you? (this will spare you from the troubles that "keyword stuffing" usually brings). As such, performing an effective keyword research and norrowing down on the most effective keywords is a sure way to determine and choose which keywords are to be used to optimize your content for user search queries. There are some powerful keyword research tools available out there. SEMrush is one of them with its Semrush Magic Tool. Entering a keyword into the SEMrush Magic Tool search bar, for example, gets you a list of keywords listed from most used to least used quantitatively. The most frequent ones represent what people are mostly searching for and therefore are the most competitive ones. And you don't want to face that stiff competition, but you don't want to spread yourself too thin either. So, you have to choose the keywords that are mid-range and long-tail (made up of multiple words) to weather out the competition. In other words, you need to find yourself a keyword niche and test it out before adoption.

Test Keywords 

Once you find your keyword niche, you need to test it for suitability. Your keywords will need to suit the user need and intent and, hence, be placed in strategic positions in your content. Most importantly, you should test them yourself by performing relevant searches. If you tested a keyword for its likelihood of being typed by the typical customer searching for your product or service and found out that it shows up with enough frequency than others, you should retain it. Be aware, though, of extremely popular keywords for which competition is stiff. Instead, choose the less popular, long-tail keywords with less competition. This will be more cost-effective and increase the odds that your product or service ad is served when related to your potential customer's search term.

Implement Keywords 

Now that you have tested your keywords (for mutual need suitability), you need to implement them in your content. But how do you do it? Well, this is where on-page SEO, the pluging of keywords in key parts of your content such as title tags, descriptions, and URL (Unique Resource Locator), comes in handy. If you run advertising campaigns, this strategy is particularly relevant. Furthermore, if you have a body in your content such as in a blog article or related content, you will want to include the most important keyword (s) in the first 100 words your article. This is believed to have a positive impact on the search engine results page by facilitating the work of search engine algorithms. By making use of one-page SEO, you exponentially increase your chances of showing up higher on the SERP, particularly on Google.

Iterate Keywords 

Keywords implementation is not a one-off activity. People's needs evolve and so do their queries. On the other hand, your offerings might evolve as well. All of these changes require adaptation. Keyword iteration, the constant reviewing and adjusting of keywords with regards to user search intent and query, is key to showing up and staying on top of search results for what you offer.

Conclusion 

Whether you have a budget to pay for ranking on search results or not, SEO should be your friend. SEO should be your best friend if all you have are words. Optimizating your use of those words is a must if you want to stand any chance of being shown to those who are looking for what you have and possibly pay for it at end of their journey.

How To Pass The Google Ads Exam: 4 Techniques to Get Google-Certified

Marketing is becoming increasingly digital. This is a clear fact to all of us. Companies are allocating a fair share of their advertising spend to digital advertising and marketing. It turns out that much of those advertising dollars are spent on the Google advertising platform and constitute the bulk of Google Advertising Revenue. In the meantime, some companies require that their marketing team or department have at least one Google-Certified professional for obvious benefits, including the prestige that comes with it and the more enticing partnership possibility with Google for organizations. But, passing the Google Ads Certification exam is no cup of tea. So, if you're reading this post, odds are that you're looking for the secret to successfully taking the exams and getting certified either for personal fulfillment or for professional requirements. No matter your motivation for acing this exam (80% of total score is still an achievement by Google's standards) and getting your Google Ads Certification, while there's no unveiled secret to do so, there are some proven techniques you can use to achieve just that. In this post, I'm sharing 4 of those effective techniques with you.

1.  Start With Google Ads Search

While there are many exams--Search, Video, Display, Measurement, Shopping, and Apps--one can take to become a Google-Certified  advertiser, the best of them is the Search Ads Certification. This is because the Google Ads Search Certification gives an overall idea about and touch on all of the other types of available certifications. That is, the search skills, honed in the Google Ads Search program, are transferable to all of the other Google Ads programs. Another worthy reason for choosing Google Ads Search over the others is because the exam is relatively easy to pass and, hence, offers easiest path to the Google Ads Certification credentials. It sounds easier for us to just type our query into the Google search engine and confidently wait for some results to show up (and they do) than, say, to go to YouTube for the same search. Even if we do go to YouTube, we still type the query anyway. This reveals the paramount nature of the "search" tool. So, unlike you're required to do otherwise, taking the Google Ads Certification exam is more beneficial for both advertising agencies and client organisations (more exposure) and individuals (as they are more likely to pass it compared to the other Google Ads programs).  This is just a suggestion. Your goals may differ from those of Google Ads Search and you might find it more relevant to take the more relevant exam for the certification you need. But keep in mind that these are harder to pass to get Google-Certified. Naturally, the more diverse your Google Ads Certifications, the better as this makes you a polyvalent advertiser. So, if you can master it all about the Google Ads Certification programs, go for it.

2. Go Over the Study Material 

It is very tempting, even to those who have never read a thing about Google Ads before, to go straight to the exam section and take it under a wishful success stance. This is because no one has the time or the will  to study for long hours these (our mind is wired to choose the seemingly easier paths, which do not always lead to best destinations). But not doing so can result in way  more time spent trying to pass when you consider the number of trials that can be accumulated and the retake time interval (24 hours) between each unsuccessful attempt. Studying the material gives real knowledge and takes out the guesswork and the temptation to "Google" the question. Even if  you could, by the luckiest shot in the world, end up obtaining the minimum score (80%), it is very unlikely. Furthermore, there's no point in having a piece of paper that you have not legally and ethically earned (you swore not to cheat but did, or did you?). So, the best way to ensure that you will pass the exam, and do so deservedly, is to put in the necessary work and study effort.

3. Consult the Supplemental Materials 

Even if the overall course--study and exam--is indicated to last less than 5 hours, the truth is you will spend way more time on the course. Not to mention the fact that your motivation and energy level should be kept constantly high enough throughout the whole course. So, why would you even bother to take on additional materials, which are as, if not more, time-consuming as the primary course materials themselves? Well, this is because doing so is key to achieving mastery of the topic at hand and increasing your chances of success in the exam. By carefully consulting the purposely  given supplemental materials, you'll get a deeper understanding of the topic at hand and be better equipped to answer even the trickiest question in the related the exam. I know someone who failed the test a discouraging number of times ignoring supplemental materials, although exhausting every bit of the main course materials. Upon taking some time to go over the additional materials, they aced the test the very next time and got certified. Those materials are there for a reason and it is to give you in-depth knowledge and understanding of the material. And any serious exam will go deep into it. And Google exam is a serious one. So, if you really want to succeed in it, go deep too.

4. Take Good Note for Quick Reference 

As uncovered above, the main study material itself is quite extensive and our memory is fallible and will eventually let it down in the most inappropriate moments; when we need it the most: review or actual exam. So, without proper note-taking, we may feel the need to go over or sift through the whole scary thing all over again. And this sucks the boiling blood out of you. Good note-taking proves very useful in our college life only after we had realized that our long-term memory is not that very faithful after all. I can can assure you that even your short-term memory is not. This is because, if you wish, you can  take the whole Google Ads course in just one day, still I bet the smallest detail will trick your memory for that very day. Taking good notes worked for me both at school and at my taking of the Google Ads Certification exam and related studies. But, I learned that good note-taking lesson the hard way, and I give it to you so you don't have to, especially for the tedious Google Ads Certification exam. 

Of course, good note-taking can be a matter of taste and preferred style, but as long as the key concepts and information are noted in some comprehensive way, taste and style matter less.

Conclusion 

In an era where marketing and advertising is ever valued on the Google platform and network, companies are very demanding and requiring that their marketing staff or prospects  be Google-Certified. The path to to that prestigious certification has been shown in this article. All you have to do is to follow along and help yourself and your organizations achieve your respective, if not common, goals.