The Guild Library
The Guild Library
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Optimising websites and SEO through design and content

  1. The Important Roles of SEO and Persuasion on Your Website Traffic and conversions Traffic - SEO (what to include on website to tell Google you’re top of the niche) Conversations - persuasive content Why is SEO important? most cost-effective way to reach new customers build cred connects to right person at right time On page SEO keywords we want to rank for creating written content on those topics including those phrases strategic places user signals such as time on page, bounce and click through SEO operates on a page-by-page basis Persuasive content involves: Strategy for which pages you actually need SEO and Websites Course 1

Specific sections on each page designed for right info, at right time, in right order to increase desire and decrease doubt written content that emphasises what your customers will get proper formatting that leans into proven behaviours people don’t read websites. They skim. SKIMABLE headlines and subheads short paragraphs bullet lists bolded texts images and video

2. Creating a Persuasive Page Your Customers Will Love emphasis on homepage and service/product pages golden rules (these are very similar to Building a Storybrand)

  1. write casually and conversationally
  2. keep emphasis on customer not business
  3. People don’t buy services and products - they buy results and benefits
  4. Buying decisions are made on emotions first, logic second extra engagement = more times spent on website = more scrolling = more pages being looked at = google things your stuff is the nuts Not everyone enters website via homepage, particualrly if you nail your SEOs Persuasive page format SEO and Websites Course 2
  5. The hero Section - first bit people see. Communicate exactly what you do, how it will make your customers lives better, and what they need to do to get it. needs to be above the fold, and be understandable in under 10 seconds. Be Clear on your value prop! Give them a reason to stay (aka how you will help them stay). Clarity and brevity trumps trying to be cute and clever with your value prop. Headline for value prop Subline for how you help or main benefit you deliver background can help to reinforce your subline (NOT your team/business or boring vanilla stock photos of people shaking hands or holding a calculator. Showcase the emotion instead of what they get from working with you) CTA - a ‘how do it get it?’- what happens next in the process. Be descriptive (buy now, download app, shcedule free demo etc instead of vague ones like ‘contact us’)
  6. The Problem/Solution If you dont bring up your customers problem, they won’t know why they need you SEO and Websites Course 3

This doesn’t have to be ‘going negative’ either. You are relating to them meaningfully and they might assume it means you already know how to solve it. TLDR: your customer wants to feel ‘seen’

Problem in the headline 2-3 parts that extend on the problem, maybe an example, and how you solve that problem - or help THEM to solve it aka guide them (although i slightly disagree here with the amount of text because i think less is more when it comes to text on websites) Image here to help sell the idea 3. Products or Services showcase only really need this if you sell multiple items or services makes sense to funnel people to the offer that matters to them most so they get a more tailored page Page is about accounting services in general, but each panel links to a specific offering under those services Give each a simple name, a short 1-sentence description, and button that takes them to that page

SEO and Websites Course 4

  1. The Benefit Spotlight benefits can increase the percieved value of your offers it becomes more valuable in the mind of customers TLDR: make it stupid easy for someone to say yes to purchasing from you BUT benefits are often a mishandled section of the website because most people dont understand the difference between beneffits and features important because benefits sell better than features Features are THINGS, Benefits are ACTIONS, OUTCOMES, OR TRANSFORMATIONS To help write about benefits, often its easy to think: What is the BENEFIT or value of that feature? WHY did you include it? what do customers either gain or help avoid from this feature? “We offer [FEATURE] so you can XYZ [BENEFIT]” e.g., “we offer 24/hour support so you never have to feel stuck again” “We offer a 37 step process do everything gets first the first time round” SEO and Websites Course 5

Pick your most compelling and turn them into headings, then write a short one- sentence description, and some kind of image that visually depicts the benefits

5. The Testimonal section fairly non-neg aspect of websites now not all are created equal though - you kinda want to be picky about what testimonials you put up (if you’re lucky enough to have a few to choose from, or negotiated with key customers as part of their contract etc) Home page can be more general; ones on specific products should be related to the product on that page try to get name a photo People will put more weight on a testimonial if it looks like a person is willing to publically stand behind what they’ve said graphics like starts help people to grasp that it’s a good testimonial even if they dont read it (because people skim) 3-5 testimonials that either: SEO and Websites Course 6

address an objection talk about a specific problem we solved bring up an outcome or results

6. Features Section Ok so we’ve covered a lot of emotional bits, but some people need the tech specs to justify the decision they’ve already made with something tangible List out 10-12 features and relevant specs etc one step further is adding a lil bit more info under each feature to talk about the benefit

SEO and Websites Course 7

  1. FAQs helps people self-qualify busting common objections AND adding keyword phrases list out common questions and the top objections/hestitations and pick the 5-6 that feel the most relevant for the particular page you’re on. Can list rest on dedicated page restate your objections as questions and your rebuttle as the answer SEO and Websites Course 8
  2. Call to action block a simple headline and repeat headline of the CTA button in the hero section. Consistency in design is key SEO and Websites Course 9
  3. Uncovering your most profitable keywords (this is where they start plugging Semrush) next step is the layer in the keywrod phrases to help the website be found need to do some research to see which ons you should be trying for. You want to concertrate on the ones that re the most profitable for your business profitable keywords must: Have high enough search voluem to be wortht it Have low enough competition to be worth it have the right intent behind it (what searcher has in mind) Informational searches - looking for general info to answer or a question Navigational - specific brand or specific page on website Commerical - when someone is looking for a product and services and comparisons between brands transactional - looking to make a purchase Difficulty level depends on your industry and your location Focus on Long-tail keywords: phrases made up on 3-4 words easier to rank for dial in in intent e.g., ‘accountant’ vs ‘accountant services in sydney’ Keyword research pre-planning
  4. start spreadsheet or google doc
  5. list out all important SEO pages separately (home page, services and produc tpages)
  6. for each, write your best initial guess of what you think people will be googling to find that page SEO and Websites Course 10
  7. no insider jargon or tech-speak
  8. if you’re local, you might want to include your city name in keyword phrase This is where they start to plug the use of SEMrush, but you can find free versions of this with AHrefs and they also have a free version for a few uses Use a keyword checker from the words you guessed above Gives you recommendations of similar keywords and the intent (commericial, navagational etc) Gives volume - how many monthly searches people are doing for these phrase You want a high enough volume for it to be worth pursuing it Difficulty score - 1-100 for how hard itll be difficult to rank Commercial and transactional are people ready to buy or look at a sales page so might be a good place to start can also look up related to increase the number of keywrods you have Figure out your primary and secondary keyword phrases Do for each page and primary phrases also worth looking at what the competition is doing - some closely related words to sprinkle in and a recommended word count for that page SEO and Websites Course 11
  9. Layering your keywords Your humans come first! IF your keywords don’t read naturally, pick something else or not use it at all. pages need to persuade humans, and keyword stuffing will negatively impact their experience of the site and work against your rankings. Google knows about this stuf Start with your list of pages and their acommapanying primary, secondary, and related pages. Where to improve primary phrase Page Title URL H1 Tag First or second H2F First sentence of your first paragraph (keywords count for extra when they are lcoser to the top) A few more times where it makes sense and reads well alt text of your most prominent image If you’re an overachiever you can also included in an embedded youtube video. Primary phrase in title and description of the video What about secondary phrase? 1 H2 and H3 1-2 in the body copy in one photo alt texts Related phrases sprinkle wherever and whenever they make sence 1x photos alt text layer in keyword phrases from the original content on your website. Eg of how they changed the landing page from above to include location keywords SEO and Websites Course 12

Youtube video - keyword phrase + your company name + key phrase in description (google owns youtube remember) dont use same alt text on multiple images utilise your testimonials for extra words SEO and Websites Course 13

wordcounter.net gives you the word count of your website Tips for adding length and key words: try adding a few more FAQs add a few more testimonials (but not as good because you cant really ad words ethically) add a new section at the bottom of the page between the CTA block and the footer Rinse and repeat this system for all key product and services pages 5. Supercharge your SERP Optimising your meta-titles and descriptions for search results,. balance keywrods and persuasive messaging SERP = search engine results page use keyword phrase to create sense of relevance to google you can;t just rank 1 but have no one click through. you want to pack a punch without sounding like a gronky AI that people wont actually click on. Benefit driven and customer focus while trying to incorporate a few key wrods IF you dont make your own meta title - google makes one for you which often ends up being really strange sounding. SEO and Websites Course 14