Selective focus of magnifying glass and computer keyboard with red key written with SEO Search Engine Optimization on a wooden background.

Contributed by Robert Kravitz, AlturaSolutions

Many cleaning professionals believe there is a “secret” to effective search engine optimization (SEO), and unless you know that secret, your site won’t rank on Google.

The reality is, there is no secret. SEO comes down to using a few, easy to learn strategies.

That’s according to Robert Kravitz with AlturaSolutions, a marketing agency for Influencers and Thought Leaders. Further, he says the process starts with the blogs placed on your website.

To help get found on search engines, here are his key tips:

Select key words first. The keywords in your blogs are often the central topic of the blog. If the post is about “floor cleaning,” applicable keywords might be cleaning wood floors; cleaning tile floors; mopping floors; or best ways to clean floors.

Select a keyword tracking program. Google AdWords is suggested for this, but there are other platforms — some free, some at moderate cost — that are easier to use.

Have engaging titles. Engaging titles catch visitors’ eyes. “Five Ways to Do This . . .” or “Ten Things You Should Know About That” are memorable and catchy. Asking questions is also effective. “Did You Know Floors are Germ Collectors?” Now, that’s an attention grabber.

Keyword sprinkling. The keywords should be in the first sentence of your blog, the second and third paragraph, and then sprinkled throughout the post. Do not overuse them. Highlight every time they are used to keep track of them.

Evergreen blogs. Unliked shorter blogs, evergreen blogs are 1,000 words or longer and stay relevant for long periods of time. Evergreen blogs typically are examples of thought leadership and are not as impacted by search engine algorithm changes.

Keywords in titles and headers. Keywords should be in the post title and in subheads. With a 600-word blog, two or three subheads with keywords should work well.

Links in and out. Be sure and add external hyperlinks in the body of your content and internal links. Internal links point to more information on your site, and both improve SEO.

Quotes are good. Adding quotes from well-known and respected people gives the post credibility. 

Avoid quotation marks. Only use quotation marks around actual quotes. If you need to emphasize a word or group of words, use bold or italics, not “quotation marks.”

Images. Images improve SEO if you take advantage of ALT text. Search engines can’t tell one image from another. The ALT text tells the search engine what the image is all about. 

“Finally, give it time,” adds Kravitz. “Patience and persistence pay off big time when it comes to SEO.”