How to Become an SEO Expert, According to HubSpot’s SEO Team SEO helps businesses keep their website visible to people looking for what they offer.  It’s a technical specialty that requires understanding its foundational processes, continuously monitoring performance, and staying on top of search algorithm updates and new requirements.  The person at a business who monitors trends and helps sites remain visible is an SEO expert. In this post, we’ll discuss exactly what they do and advice from experienced HubSpotters on how to become one.  What is an SEO expert? An SEO expert monitors search trends and uses analytics to help businesses build websites that rank highly in search engines, reach target audiences, and meet business objectives. The optimized websites they help create generate leads and drive conversions to support business growth.  A successful SEO expert:  Has a well-rounded understanding of on-page, technical, and off-page SEO and how each impacts site performance independently and together.  Understands how search engines and SERPs work (like indexing and crawling) Can do SEO-focused research (like keyword research or competitive analysis) Can understand, analyze, and report on SEO analytics (like clicks, conversions, etc.) to make data-driven decisions and recommendations Use SEO tools (like Ahrefs or Google Search Console) Understand how to make SEO-focused content Stay on top of search trends and algorithm updates that might impact site performance. Create SEO-focused strategies (like a keyword strategy) Some SEO specialists don't start out with the...

The Complete Guide to Real Estate SEO Think about the last time you were considering buying something. Your journey probably started in the same place as everyone else: a quick Google search. Buying a house is no different. The National Association of REALTORS reported that 97% of buyers used the internet at least once during their search, with about half ending up buying a home they found online. Just having a website is part of the game for realtors these days. If you’re in a competitive market, just having a website might not be enough. For realtors looking to maximize the results, you’ve got to invest more energy to attract buyers through search engine optimization (SEO). Keep reading for a comprehensive overview of how SEO can level up your real estate website. Table of Contents What is real estate SEO? Benefits of Real Estate SEO Getting Started With Real Estate SEO Best Practices for Real Estate SEO What is real estate SEO? Search engine optimization is a way of labeling, organizing, and presenting information on the pages of your website so that search engines can better understand what they’re about. This way, Google becomes more likely to give your web page as a potential answer to the searcher’s question along four key principles known as E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authority, trust). For real estate website SEO, the same principles apply but focus on the specific terms...

SEO Pricing: How Much Should You Spend on SEO Services? SEO isn’t easy — it often requires an entire team of people who solely focus on SEO within your marketing department to get it right. That’s why many companies choose to outsource their SEO to an SEO agency/service. But where do you start? And how much will it cost? These are some of the first questions businesses may have when thinking about hiring externally. In this post, we’ll explore what SEO agencies do, how they structure their prices, and how you can tell if they’re worth the cost. Let’s dive in. Table of Contents What do SEO services do? The Benefits of SEO Services How SEO Services Structure Their Prices Basic SEO Plan Pricing Enterprising SEO Plan Pricing How can you tell if an SEO service is worth it? What do SEO services do? Search engine optimization (SEO) is an important marketing strategy because it helps you rank higher on search engines. By hiring an SEO service, you can partner with an agency that uses several tactics to increase your rank and traffic. These tactics include keyword targeting, keyword research, content marketing, link building (both internal and external), and more. Since there are several different kinds of SEO (on-page, off-page, technical, and local), there are services available. Some provide an all-in-one service others focus on just one type of SEO. Foundational services usually include the following: Keyword research...

How to Find SERP Feature Opportunities Search engine results pages (SERPs) have become a critical battleground for businesses, with SERP features increasing in visibility and importance. Considering the fact that the top 3 Google search results get 54.4% of all clicks, SERP features eat up a whopping amount of organic traffic — 18.5% for featured snippets alone. With SERP features becoming ever-present, understanding how they work and how to maximize them has never been more essential. In this article, you'll learn how to find SERP feature opportunities. You’ll also get real-life examples and advice from SEO pros. Table of Contents What does SERP mean anyway? How to Rank in SERP Features How to Find SERP Feature Opportunities 5 Tools to Help You Find SERP Opportunities 3 Free Ranking Tools What does SERP mean anyway? SERP stands for Search Engine Results Page. It’s the page that search engines, like Google or Bing, display after a user queries a keyword or phrase. The SERP is usually populated with blue links and different SERP features that are intended to instantly fulfill a search query. SERP features include featured snippets, local packs, news boxes, images, videos, and more. SEO pros optimize their content for SERP features to drive more organic traffic to their website. "Include the search question in the page title and the question in the H1 tag. Answer the question as clearly as possible in the first paragraph, also including...

Podcast SEO 101: How to Rank Higher 40% of podcast listeners use an in-app search bar to discover new podcasts. The trend is clear: if you want more reach, you need to optimize your podcast for search. One way to get there is with podcast SEO. Think of it as invisible levers you can pull to boost your ranking and drive more traffic to your podcast.  In this post, we'll cover how to optimize your podcast for Spotify, YouTube, and search — plus uncover how to find great topics for your next episode. Table of Contents How to Optimize a Podcast for Spotify How to Optimize a Podcast for YouTube How to Optimize a Podcast for Search How to Find Topics for a Podcast How to Optimize a Podcast for Spotify Update your show page. Every podcast on Spotify has a show page. You can think of it as a landing page for your podcast. According to Spotify, the purpose of a show page is to give listeners everything they need to know about your podcast, including: Its title Its cover art Its show description A "Follow" button A list of recently published episodes The show page isn't something to rush through — or leave to collect dust. Ensure each element is up-to-date, accurate, and as compelling as possible. Include sub-topics in your show description. Show descriptions are typically short and concise, so you need to make every word count. To...

TikTok SEO: How to Increase Your Discoverability on TikTok According to Google, 40% of Gen Zers prefer to use TikTok over traditional search engines. Gen Z would rather do a quick search on the app and see a visual representation of user-generated content (UGC) in the form of reviews, recommendations, and tips from everyday consumers than read about it. So, if you're ready to boost your discoverability, now is the time to level up your TikTok SEO strategy. So, when someone searches for something in TikTok through a keyword or hashtag, you would want your video to appear near the top of the list so that you can increase your content's reach and engagement. Marketers have planned to increase their investments in the app by running TikTok ads, improving video production, using a TikTok management tool, and collaborating with UGC creators. Brushing up on your TikTok SEO skills will make your content more search-friendly and well-loved by the algorithm. Why is TikTok SEO important? TikTok has been adding more features to support increasing video discoverability on the platform. Recently, they announced a massive expansion of their video description field from 300 characters to 2,200 — this increases the space available to add text about your clip by 730%. The key focus is on improving the searchable element of videos and connecting it with interested users. TikTok's algorithm gathers video information to determine what the post is about and who might find it interesting. So, with...

How To Make Your Own Ecommerce Strategy As an online store, you drive traffic online. This means that, when people search for products or services related to what you sell, you want your business to appear in their search results. Enter ecommerce SEO. Read on to learn more about ecommerce SEO, why it’s important, how to create an ecommerce SEO strategy, and discover tools that will help you with your process. What is ecommerce SEO? Ecommerce seo is the process of making your online store visible in search results so that people doing searches related to what you offer are likely to come across your website. An optimized ecommerce site is more likely to rank highly in SERPs and drive organic traffic. Ecommerce SEO is important because 60% of people research a brand online before making a purchase. When your site is optimized, they’ll be able to find your product pages in search results and learn about what you offer. When people can find your site and learn about what you offer, they’re also more likely to make a purchase. This type of SEO is not that different from general SEO. Still, you will focus your efforts on optimizing your site to benefit your products, like writing high-quality and keyword-rich product descriptions. Ecommerce SEO Strategy 1. Keyword Research Your ecommerce SEO process should begin with keyword research for your site, especially for your product pages. This research will help you learn the words most commonly used when people search...

6 SEO Challenges Brands Anticipate in 2022 In 1990, the key to SEO success relied on keywords. Today, it's way more complicated. The SEO landscape is constantly evolving, and marketers must evolve along with it. But to do that, it's important reflect on the biggest SEO challenges this year — and create a game plan to address them. Below, let's review the top six SEO challenges brands are facing in 2022, according to data from HubSpot Blog's 2022 Web Traffic & Analytics Report and other marketing experts. Top 6 SEO Challenges in 2022 1. Staying on top of algorithm changes. The HubSpot Blogs surveyed 400+ web traffic analysts to identify the top SEO challenges in 2022. The leading challenge — experienced by 50% of marketers — is staying on top of search engine algorithm changes. This isn't surprising — in 2020 alone, Google ran more than 500,00 experiments that led to 4,000+ changes to search. For many marketers, staying current with these changes is like hitting a moving target. So, how can you succeed when Google keeps moving the goal post? The key is to respond to these changes strategically. There's no need to overhaul your entire SEO strategy in response to a minor change. Instead, your time is better spent staying on top of industry news. If a big algorithm change is on the horizon, the SEO industry will talk about it. The second tip may sound counterintuitive, but hear me out – after an...

Everything You Need To Know About Google Web Stories Google is not a social media channel per se, but one of its features, Google Web Stories, is similar to the stories format that you’d see on popular sites like Instagram. It poses a unique opportunity for creators, so read on to learn all about Google Web Stories, what they can do for your business, and how to create them and make an impact. Table of Contents: What are Google Web Stories? Google Web Stories Examples How to Make Google Web Stories Best Practices for Creating Google Web Stories Google Web Stories SEO Checklist What are Google Web Stories? Google Web Stories are interactive, video-first pieces of content that creators can use to share information with audiences through tappable pages featuring audio, images, and text. The Web Story format was formerly known as AMP Stories. Google says that styles that work the best with the format are first-person narratives, evergreen or updating stories, live stories, educational and experiential stories, and quizzes and polls. Web Stories appear in standard Google Search results and as carousels in Google Discover, and you can also add them to a newsletter and link to them from your social media accounts. The image below shows a Web Story in Google Discover on the left and Google Search on the right. Web Stories are also individual pages on your website, so they can be indexed and surfaced in relevant...