Story: How does your target audience find your business?
In 2025, having a strong online presence is no longer optional—it’s essential for business success. While trends like AI continue to dominate the tech landscape, being online and easily discoverable remains critical for connecting with potential clients. Whether you’ve built your website using a template or collaborated with a web designer, there’s one thing you can’t afford to overlook: SEO.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of improving your website’s visibility in search engine results, making it easier for people to find your business online. It involves strategies like optimizing content, improving site speed, and building links to boost your site’s ranking and attract more visitors.
Your website holds no value unless your target audience can find your business online.
As someone who regularly reviews and updates my SEO knowledge, I’ve learned valuable insights that I want to share with others—especially those who’ve taken the initiative to develop their own website. Let’s explore some essential SEO tools to help you improve your search engine ranking and drive success online.
Google Keyword Planner by Google Ads
Google Keyword Planner is a free tool that helps you discover relevant keywords, analyze search volume, and assess competition. It’s perfect for optimizing your content to attract the right audience and improve your search engine rankings.
Google Search Console by Google
Google Search Console is a free tool that monitors your website’s performance, tracks search traffic, and identifies technical issues. It helps improve visibility and ensures your site meets search engine guidelines.
Google Analytics by Google
Google Analytics is a free tool that tracks and reports website traffic, user behavior, and performance metrics. It helps you understand your audience and optimize your site for better results.
XML-Sitemaps
An XML sitemap is a file that lists your website’s pages to help search engines crawl and index them effectively. It improves your site’s visibility and ensures all important pages are discoverable in search results.
Yoast SEO
Yoast SEO is a popular plugin for WordPress that helps optimize your website content. It provides tools for improving readability, targeting keywords, and enhancing metadata to boost search engine rankings.
SEOquake
SEOquake is a browser extension that provides instant SEO insights. It analyzes website metrics, compares domains, and checks on-page SEO elements to help optimize your site and track competitors effectively.
Wayback Machine
The Wayback Archive is a digital tool that allows you to view archived versions of websites over time. It helps track a site’s history, monitor changes, and recover lost content for SEO or research purposes.
Keyword Density Checker
A Keyword Density Checker is a tool that analyzes the frequency of specific keywords in your content. It helps ensure your keywords are used effectively without overstuffing, which can improve your content’s SEO performance.
Revive Old Posts
Revive Old Posts is a plugin that automatically shares your old content on social media. By reintroducing older posts, it helps drive traffic, boosts engagement, and improves your website’s SEO by keeping your content active and visible.
Keyword Cannibalization
Keyword cannibalization occurs when multiple pages on your website target the same keyword, competing against each other in search rankings. This can dilute your SEO efforts and reduce the effectiveness of your content.
EAT (expertise, authoritative, and trustworthy)
E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) is a set of criteria used by Google to evaluate the quality of a website’s content. Websites that demonstrate expertise in their field, authority through credible sources, and trustworthiness are more likely to rank higher in search results.
YMYL (Your Money or Your Life)
YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) refers to webpages or content that can impact a person’s financial well-being, health, or safety. Google holds these pages to higher standards of expertise, authority, and trustworthiness because they can significantly affect users’ lives.
On-Page.ai
On-Page.ai is an advanced SEO tool that analyzes your website, provides optimization recommendations, and enhances content for higher search engine rankings and improved visibility.
On-Page SEO Tips
- Develop a content strategy to make your page the best resource on the topic, potentially using the Skyscraper method.
- Research the topic and related sub-topics to ensure comprehensive coverage.
- Identify short-tail and long-tail keywords to target for the page or cluster of pages.
- Add high-quality photos and videos to enhance the page.
- Write a compelling meta title, description, and page title, incorporating keywords.
- Use keywords in H2 tags and image alt tags.
- Link to the page from other pages on your site using keyword-rich anchor text.
- Submit the page URL to Google Search Console for faster indexing.
- Optimize the page for fast loading.
- Gradually add content to the page.
- Build your site’s authority in Google to improve overall rankings.
Keywords in Domain Name
Including keywords in a domain name can boost relevance and SEO, but it’s not a major ranking factor. Focus on a memorable, brandable domain that aligns with your business.
Even so, I’ve seen many positive results when clients include keywords in their domain names. I cannot ignore it.
Country code top-level domain (ccTLD)
A Country Code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD) is a domain extension specific to a country or region, such as .ca for Canada or .uk for the United Kingdom. It signals to search engines and users that the website targets a specific geographic audience.
Managing multi-regional and multilingual sites
Types of Locale-Specific URLs:
- Country Code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs)
Example: example.ca or example.uk
Pros: Strong geographic targeting, clear user intent.
Cons: Expensive to maintain multiple domains and harder to scale globally. - Subdomains
Example: us.example.com or fr.example.com
Pros: Easier setup, can separate regions within one domain.
Cons: Weaker SEO signal compared to ccTLDs. - Subdirectories
Example: example.com/us/ or example.com/fr/
Pros: Easy to manage, strong authority consolidation under one domain.
Cons: Requires careful structure to avoid duplication or confusion. - URL Parameters
Example: example.com?lang=us or example.com?region=fr
Pros: Simplest to implement technically.
Cons: Poor SEO and user experience compared to other methods.
Using locale-specific URLs is effective for international SEO, but the best choice depends on your goals, resources, and audience. ccTLDs work well for strong country-based targeting, while subdirectories are ideal for scaling globally under one domain. Subdomains and URL parameters are less effective for SEO but can work for simpler setups or smaller budgets.
robots.txt
A robots.txt file is a website’s directive for search engine crawlers. It informs crawlers which pages or sections to access or avoid, helping to manage crawling and indexing while protecting sensitive content.
Canonical URL with rel=”canonical”
A Canonical URL is the preferred version of a webpage that search engines should index. It prevents duplicate content issues by consolidating ranking signals to a single URL, improving SEO efficiency.
Siteliner
Siteliner is a tool that scans your website to identify duplicate content, broken links, and other SEO issues. It helps optimize your site’s performance and improves its search engine ranking.
SEMRush
SEMrush is a versatile digital marketing platform offering tools for SEO, PPC, content marketing, keyword research, site audits, and competitor analysis.
Example
- Keyword Research: Find profitable keywords for SEO and PPC through volume and competition analysis.
- Competitor Analysis: Explore competitors’ tactics, key traffic sources, and backlink profiles.
- Site Audits: Detect and resolve technical SEO problems to enhance site performance.
Ahrefs
Ahrefs is a powerful SEO toolset focused on backlink analysis, keyword research, rank tracking, and site audits to enhance organic search performance.
Off-Page SEO Tips
- Build High-Quality Backlinks
Focus on earning backlinks from authoritative and relevant websites through outreach, guest blogging, and content promotion. - Leverage Social Media
Share your content across social platforms to increase visibility and engagement, driving indirect traffic and brand mentions. - Engage in Online Communities
Participate in forums, groups, and Q&A platforms like Quora or Reddit to build credibility and link opportunities. - Optimize for Local SEO
Claim and optimize your Google Business Profile and encourage customer reviews to improve local search rankings. - Collaborate with Influencers
Partner with influencers in your industry to amplify your content and gain high-quality backlinks. - Create Shareable Content
Publish infographics, videos, and unique resources that naturally attract shares and links. - Monitor and Repair Backlinks
Use tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to identify broken or low-quality backlinks and replace them with stronger alternatives. - Focus on Brand Mentions
Monitor unlinked mentions of your brand and request a backlink where appropriate. - Build Relationships with Industry Experts
Network with bloggers, journalists, and professionals to gain links and referrals over time. - Host or Sponsor Events
Organize webinars or sponsor local events to gain exposure and valuable backlinks.
Citation
In SEO, a citation refers to any online mention of a business’s name, address, and phone number (NAP). Citations help improve local search rankings by building credibility and ensuring accurate business information across directories, websites, and platforms.
- Ensure NAP consistency: Make sure your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) are consistent across all of your listings. Incorrect, incomplete, or duplicate NAP data can be a red flag for Google’s algorithm.
- Use data aggregators: Data aggregators like InfoGroup, Neustar Localeze, and Factual collect and distribute business information to various websites.
- List in local and niche directories: Many consumers use directories to find specific services or products.
- Join a local Chamber of Commerce: Membership in a local Chamber of Commerce is a low-cost way to build local citations. Your listing will be added to the Chamber’s website, giving you exposure and backlinks.
- List in industry-specific and localized listings: Look for places that are big deals in your industry.
- Use citation auditing tools: You can use tools like Whitespark or BrightLocal to manually clean your citations or pay them to handle the process for you.
External link on Wikipedia
An external link on Wikipedia is a hyperlink that directs users to a page on a different website, providing additional information or resources related to the article. These links are typically added to the “References” or “External links” sections and must meet Wikipedia’s guidelines for reliability and relevance.
Guest Posts
In SEO, a citation refers to any online mention of a business’s name, address, and phone number (NAP). Citations help improve local search rankings by building credibility and ensuring accurate business information across directories, websites, and platforms.
Disavow links to your site
Disavowing links is the process of telling search engines, like Google, to ignore specific backlinks pointing to your site. This helps prevent penalties from harmful or spammy links that could negatively impact your SEO rankings.
Free Domain Authority Checker by moz
Moz is a leading SEO platform that provides tools and resources for improving search engine visibility. It offers features like keyword research, site audits, backlink analysis, and rank tracking.
Moz is known for its proprietary metrics, including Domain Authority (DA) and Page Authority (PA), which help users evaluate the ranking potential of websites and pages. Additionally, Moz offers a popular blog and educational resources for SEO professionals.
ICANN
ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is a nonprofit organization responsible for coordinating the global domain name system (DNS). It manages the assignment of domain names, IP addresses, and top-level domains (TLDs) like .com, .org, and country codes. ICANN ensures the internet remains secure, stable, and interoperable, playing a key role in maintaining the infrastructure that connects users and websites worldwide.
Linkable Assets
“If you want to increase backlinks, share valuable information.”
Linkable assets in SEO are high-quality, valuable content pieces (e.g., blogs, infographics, tools) created to attract backlinks and improve a website’s authority and rankings.
Link Building Tips:
- Host Events: Organize webinars or local events to earn mentions and backlinks.
- Be a Radio/Podcast Guest: Share expertise on shows and secure links from their websites.
- Gain Publicity: Submit press releases or pitch stories to media outlets for coverage.
- Create Shareable Content: Publish infographics, research, or tools to attract natural backlinks.
- Collaborate with Influencers: Partner with industry influencers to share and link to your content.
- Job postings or direct contact with colleges/universities (job board)
Just an idea:
- Share memes on social media to create viral content, though I’m unsure about the business aspect.
- Press release (low value)
- Buy expired domain (low value)
Top 5 Google SEO Ranking Factors
- High-Quality Content: Relevant, well-written, and valuable content that satisfies user intent.
- Backlinks: Strong, authoritative, and relevant links pointing to your website.
- Mobile-Friendliness: Responsive design ensuring optimal performance on all devices.
- Page Speed: Fast-loading pages for a better user experience and lower bounce rates.
- On-Page Optimization: Proper use of keywords in titles, meta tags, headers, and content.
SEO Thumbnails
“A good blog has a good thumbnail.”
Thumbnail SEO involves optimizing thumbnail images to improve visibility and click-through rates (CTR) on platforms like YouTube and Google. It includes using clear, engaging visuals, descriptive file names, proper alt text, and ensuring fast loading times to attract more viewers and enhance user experience.
Where Thumbnail SEO Works:
- YouTube: Optimized thumbnails boost video visibility and click-through rates.
- Google Image Search: Properly optimized thumbnails can rank higher in image search results.
- E-commerce Sites: Eye-catching thumbnails increase product click-throughs and conversions.
- Social Media Platforms: Engaging thumbnails enhance content performance on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
- News Websites: Optimized thumbnails attract readers to articles and breaking news.
- Portfolio Websites: Thumbnails showcase projects effectively and draw attention to individual works.
- Online Courses: Appealing thumbnails increase enrollment in video-based learning platforms.
Top Search Platforms by Global Ranking
- YouTube (owned by Google, second-largest search engine)
- Amazon (dominates product searches)
- Bing
- Yahoo!
- Baidu (popular in China)
- Yandex (dominant in Russia)
- DuckDuckGo (privacy-focused search engine)
- Ecosia (environment-focused search engine)
- Naver (popular in South Korea)
These platforms cater to various user needs, from general web searches to videos, shopping, and regional preferences.
Local SEO
- Optimize Google Business Profile: Keep your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) accurate and updated.
- Use Local Keywords: Include location-specific terms in your website content, titles, and meta descriptions.
- Get Online Reviews: Encourage customers to leave positive reviews on Google and other local directories.
- Build Local Citations: List your business in relevant local and niche directories.
- Create Location-Specific Pages: Develop pages tailored to each area you serve.
- Leverage Social Media: Post regularly and tag locations to engage the local community.
- Optimize for Mobile: Ensure your website is mobile-friendly for on-the-go searches.
- Add a Map to Your Site: Embed Google Maps on your contact or location pages.
- Post Local Content: Write blogs or updates related to local events and news.
- Monitor Performance: Use tools like Google Analytics to track local SEO progress.
Voice SEO
Voice SEO involves optimizing your website to rank for voice search queries by focusing on natural, conversational language often used with devices like Google Assistant, Siri, and Alexa. It works by targeting long-tail, question-based keywords that align with how users speak their queries, such as “What’s the best pizza place near me?” Additionally, creating concise, clear answers that can be featured in snippets—commonly referred to as “position zero”—helps your content stand out as the top choice for voice search results.
Site Speed
Site speed is the time it takes for your web pages to load, and it plays a crucial role in SEO. Search engines like Google prioritize fast-loading websites because they enhance user experience. A slow website can lead to higher bounce rates, where users leave before the page fully loads, signaling to search engines that your site might not meet user expectations.
Fast sites improve rankings, especially on mobile devices, and contribute to better engagement and conversions. To optimize site speed, compress images, use a reliable hosting provider, enable browser caching, and minimize JavaScript and CSS files. A faster site not only ranks higher but also keeps visitors satisfied and engaged.
*If site speed is a high priority for you, please review your hosting provider. If you are price-conscious and using a cheap hosting option, it can negatively impact your site’s performance.
Here’s a concise list of hosting types:
- Shared Hosting
Affordable option where multiple websites share the same server resources. - Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting
Offers dedicated resources within a shared environment, balancing performance and cost. - Dedicated Hosting
Provides an entire server exclusively for your website, ideal for high-traffic sites. - Cloud Hosting
Uses a network of virtual servers, ensuring scalability and reliability. - Managed Hosting
Includes server management and maintenance, suitable for businesses needing technical support.
Google penalties
- Google Panda: Targets low-quality content and duplicate content.
- Google Penguin: Penalizes sites with spammy or manipulative backlinks.
- Google Hummingbird: Focuses on relevance and semantic search, though less penalty-oriented.
These algorithms automate penalty-like effects, impacting rankings when guidelines are violated.
Google penalties are sanctions imposed by Google on websites that violate its guidelines, negatively affecting search rankings. They can be manual penalties (applied by a Google reviewer) or algorithmic penalties (triggered by updates like Panda or Penguin). Common causes include:
- Keyword Stuffing: Excessive use of keywords in content.
- Spammy Backlinks: Acquiring low-quality or manipulative backlinks.
- Duplicate Content: Using non-original or plagiarized content.
- Cloaking: Showing different content to users and search engines.
- Hidden Text/Links: Using invisible elements to manipulate rankings.
Recovering involves identifying the issue, fixing violations, and submitting a reconsideration request if it’s a manual penalty.
SEJ: The Complete List of Google Penalties and How to Recover
Google’s featured snippets
Google’s featured snippets are concise, directly relevant answers displayed at the top of the search results page, often referred to as “position zero.” These snippets are designed to quickly address the user’s query without requiring them to click through to a website.
Structured Data Markup Helper
The Structured Data Markup Helper is a free tool from Google that helps web developers and content creators add structured data (schema markup) to their webpages. This markup makes content more understandable to search engines, enhancing features like rich results in search.
Digital Marketing 101 for Graphic/Web Designer – SEO Checklist
I previously wrote an SEO blog for my SEO services and realized that SEO knowledge and execution are essential for freelance web designers. Clients often request web design, but design alone isn’t the solution. They seek redesigns because their websites fail to reach their target audience and generate new leads. Most web designers should prioritize this, unless their focus is solely on artistic design.
Conclusion: To Be Updated
In conclusion, SEO is a crucial element for your online success, helping your business get noticed by the right audience. While you can definitely manage SEO on your own, it requires time and consistent effort to achieve the best results.
I’ll be updating these SEO tool tips regularly, so stay tuned for more insights. If you need help or have any questions, feel free to contact me anytime—I’m here to assist you in optimizing your website and driving traffic to your business.
