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Technical SEO Basics Every Marketer Should Know

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You can work tirelessly to optimize your content for search engine visibility, but if your technical SEO house is not in order you will never get far. You need to know the technical SEO issues that matter, whether you want to handle them yourself or delegate them.

Technical SEO can mean the difference between a high ranking site and a site that doesn’t rank at all. These details are important to have a viable technical foundation for your website.

Technical SEO Defined

Technical SEO refers to improving the technical aspects of a website in order to increase the ranking of its pages in the search engines. Making a website faster, easier to crawl and understandable for search engines are the pillars of technical optimization.

Google and other search engines want users to get best possible results for their query. Therefore, search’s robots crawl and evaluate web pages on a multitude of factors. Some factors are based on the user’s experience, like how fast a page loads. Other factors help search engine robots grasp what your pages are about.

Serious technical mistakes can decrease your visibility or even keep you from being listed at all on search engines.

Factors in Technical SEO

A technically sound website is fast for users and easy to crawl for search engine robots. A proper technical setup helps search engines to understand what a site is about. Here are  the characteristics of a technically optimized website.

  • Secure. A technically optimized website is a secure website. (Starts with HTTPS.)
  • Fast. There are several free online site speed tests. Most also give you pointers on what to improve.
  • Crawlable. Search engines use robots to crawl or spider your website. A linking structure will make sure all of your content is crawled and there are no dead ends.
  • Robots.txt file. This special file gives direction to search crawlers.
  • No dead links. If a link leads to a non-existing page on your site, people will encounter a 404 error page. When that happens to search crawlers, it is a hit to your overall rank.
  • Structured data. Structured data helps search engines understand your website, content or even your business better. With structured data you categorize the types of content at your site in a way that search crawlers understand.

Instagram Bio Best Practices

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Instagram limits what you can post, so it is important to make the most of the content in your bio. When people discover you on Instagram, there’s a good chance the first thing they will do is read the bio. Great bios share info about the brand, what it stands for, and the value they share on Instagram.

The right Instagram bio:

  • Tells your story
  • Shares your brand voice
  • Sets the stage for the content you post

What Should Your Instagram Bio Include?

Every Instagram profile should have the following:

  • Name – This is your business name, which will help your current and prospective customers easily find you.
  • Profile picture – Having your logo as your profile picture will help with brand recall and recognition.
  • Link – Link to your website or a link tree leading to various pages.
  • Description – Tell users what your brand is about in just a few words.
  • Call to action – Lead people to an action that supports your goals.

An Instagram bio can also have hashtags relevant to your brand or industry.

While there isn’t a single right way to write your Instagram bio, here are some successful approaches to consider:

Mission Focused

Share details of what you sell and what you stand for. In today’s world, consumers want brands that champion social responsibility and are transparent about their practices.

Offer Focused

Your Instagram bio can be used to highlight a product offer. Use the bio to share details and lead users to your website.

Fun and Casual

Social media is a place to engage and have fun with your audience. So, if you’re struggling to come up with a bio, stop overthinking and consider going the lighthearted and funny route.

Hashtag Heavy

Hashtags help Instagram users find you more easily. In addition to improving discoverability, hashtags help brands tell their story in a quick and succinct way.

Emoji Heavy

When used appropriately, emoji are eye-catching. Like any image, they can say a lot without word clutter. You can use several emojis to highlight multiple things or limit your use to one emoji that relates to your brand.

 

How to Be a Thought Leader with LinkedIn

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“Thought leader” is a term that gets thrown around a lot. You may not think of yourself as a thought leader, but as a small business owner or communicator you are. Who you are and what you do makes you a thought leader in your area of endeavor.

The thought leader concept can be a terrific way to establish your brand’s place in the market. What do you know best? What perspective do you bring? How do you look at your industry compared to others? These are all essential elements of your thought leadership.

LinkedIn is a key place where professionals can establish thought leadership. Since it is a place where people go to find professionals and check credentials, LinkedIn is built for establishing your professional identity.

Thought Leadership on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a social connection platform focused on your business and your brand. Begin with your profile. Optimize it to showcase your industry and your expertise. Demonstrate your authority as part of your brand within the industry.

When someone visits your personal profile on LinkedIn, they should immediately be able to see what you do, who you help, and the value you provide. This starts with a strong headline on down through your description, featured links, published articles, activity, and content.

Keep your audience in mind. Make clear who you serve and how you serve them. Provide resources that support your expertise.

From your profile, create a LinkedIn company page. Be sure to complete all of the fields available. Once the profile is saved, make sure your current experience is linked to the company page.

Create Posts that Matter

Your next task is to share posts and articles that highlight and share your expertise. You can do this through original posts in your feed and as longer articles. You can also share expertise in comments on relevant posts created by other people.

Focus on content that is compelling, thought-provoking and makes contributions to your area of endeavor. Your content should align with your values and brand goals.

While you’ll want to diversify your content and try all sorts of different types, here are three kinds of content that right now are favored by both the algorithm and audiences.

  • Polls on LinkedIn are short multiple-choice quizzes that invite people to vote on a particular topic. Use a poll to ask for responses as well as comments.
  • Carousel posts allow you to upload and share a PDF file. Each page of the PDF becomes a slide on the carousel that the audience can swipe through.
  • Video on LinkedIn allows you to connect with your audience, which helps immediately build trust and authority. Short videos from 30 seconds to 3 minutes tend to perform better on LinkedIn than longer videos.