How do I optimize my site for different search engines?

Optimizing for all of the various search engines comes down to producing high quality content, prioritizing site architecture, and ensuring that your site metadata has been properly prepared.

Remember that although Microsoft sites control a significant portion of search traffic, Google does still strongly dominate the field. Therefore, when it comes to optimizing, Google should be a top consideration of websites created for United States audiences, as well as targeted audiences in most other countries as well.

There are a few subtle differences when optimizing for Bing versus Google however, that brands should be aware of. This includes Bing’s tendency to place more of an emphasis on exact match keywords instead of semantics, as we tend to see with Google. Brands that want to make sure they rank well on both search engines will want to have a combination of some exact keywords as well as semantic matches to meet the needs of both search engines.

How do I target my country for SEO?

On an international scale, brands will want to investigate precisely how to optimize for the search engines prominent in that particular country. For many countries, the most common search engine will still be Google. There are, however, a few notable exceptions, including Russia (Yandex), China (Baidu), and South Korea (Naver).

From a broader perspective, however, you will want to place a big emphasis on working with local, native language speakers regardless of the country you target. Do not try to optimize content by simply translating existing content from your US-based site. Different cultures will have unique ways and vocabulary for describing a particular pain point. These words might not be direct translation of the terms and vocabulary used in the United States. Additionally, search engines tend to be sensitive to well-written content, which means content should be written by someone who speaks the language completely fluently - ideally a native speaker. Someone who has learned the language or who does not live in the country itself could easily miss optimization opportunities and fail to produce the high-end content that all search engines want to see.

How to optimize for content in other countries?

To create content that has been developed and fully optimized for people in other countries, you will want to make sure that you fully understand the needs and vocabulary of the local population, which requires working with local native speakers of your target language.

Like any optimization strategy, optimizing content for people in other countries requires a firm understanding of pain points and proposed solutions.

To create optimized content for other countries, you must begin by conducting market research of the target population within this precise country. You want to know their pain points, their obstacles, the channels they use to find solutions, and what vocabulary they use throughout this entire process. Due to this necessary intimacy with the language and the journey of these prospective customers, working with native speakers who live in the region tends to be best. People who speak the language but live elsewhere might be helpful with translating, but they can easily miss subtleties in the language and the overall buyer’s journey that can only be seen within the country. This can result in missed optimization and engagement opportunities.

The content should also be properly structured for international audiences. Make sure that your hreflang tags have been set appropriately for the correct language and country. This will help ensure that Google knows exactly who should view this particular piece of content. If you're optimizing content for other countries, here are some tips to get your started on specific search engines:

1. Baidu: For Baidu, you'll need to be very familiar with them to optimize for the right audience. They consider local contact information, title tags, meta descriptions, meta-keywords, alt-tags, and H tags to rank in their SERPs.
2. Yandex: To optimize for Yandex, you'll need to know that it takes a little longer. Spiders crawl websites more slowly than Google does. Yandex considers user behavior, domain age, and fresh contnet all as a ranking factor.
3. Naver: For Naver, you must sign up with the search engine and create accounts to appear in their SERPs. You'll need to write copy in Korean, submit relevant categories, and use basic on-page SEO best practices including keywords to rank in their SERPs.

As you begin to build your international marketing strategy, you will also find that your competitors may change. As you begin to build your site and optimize content for people in different countries, make sure you take into account the local competitors. This will likely require considerable market research for your precise area, but it will empower you to determine exactly who your content must compete against. This will, in turn, help you create an improved optimization strategy targeted at this precise region.

Optimizing content for people in other countries can help you build a strong content strategy as you work to engage customers overseas.

What is SEO certification?

SEO certification is the education of search engine optimization that is later evaluted through testing for a person to become industry recognized on the key points and best practices of SEO. Knowledge and credentials are validated through SEO certification.

How can I learn SEO?

An SEO certification can help you quantify your studies and show others what you have learned regarding the subject. In such a rapidly changing field, staying current on certifications remains an important part of any career path that involves SEO.

To become a certified SEO, you will need to think first about your goals with the certification. Your goals will help you identify the certification program that will work best for you. For example, if you want to obtain a certification to help you get a job in the field, then looking at the options offered by various colleges and universities as well as those offered by major SEO platforms, such as BrightEdge, will help you stand out to employers.

On the other hand, if you already work in digital marketing, but you want to find a way to keep yourself fresh to make sure that you perform well for your organization, then you might find it helpful to pursue any one of the number of different certification programs that reputable agencies and firms offer. These certifications may be a little shorter than the ones offered by colleges or universities, but they also tend to be a bit cheaper and some might even be free.

Once again, many professionals interested in building their capabilities for their organization will find the BrightEdge certification to be a good fit. This course will help them improve their ability to use the platform as well as their SEO knowledge, which in turn will help them give their brand a big digital boost. BrightEdge customers can find the preparation and certification assets on the platform in Settings > Profile > Get Certified.

Preparing to be SEO certified

When you find a course that fits well with your SEO goals, then you want to take the time to prepare for your certification. SEO offers brands a powerful means to building a digital presence and therefore, the information presented during your certification will have a noticeable impact on your own capabilities and how to help your organization. Therefore, we recommend during your certification you:

• Come to each class or lesson prepared with a way to take notes so that you can review what you learned later on. You will likely receive a lot of information quickly, so notes can help you keep everything straight.
• If your lessons are online, make sure that you find a quiet area to do your studies where you can easily focus and pay attention to the course.
• Supplement your course with reading popular blogs and publications in the industry. This will help you see how your lessons pertain to real-world practice and how it fits into the wider digital marketing strategy.
• Once you finish your certification, look for any groups or clubs of people who have obtained the same or similar education. For example, those who have obtained their BrightEdge certification can join a private LinkedIn group, like BrightEdge Certified group. These types of organizations help you remain connected with others interested in similar goals, helping you remain current on some of the latest developments in the industry while also building your professional connections.

An SEO certification can provide you with valuable insight into the digital marketing industry and help you build a stronger resume in the field. If you want to build your credentials, either for a new job or to help your existing company, use the advice above to guide you in the right direction.

The basics of learning SEO

You can learn SEO in a variety of ways. Following popular and reputable publications and blogs in the industry can help marketers site owners learn the current strategies and tactics applicable to SEO and remain abreast of the latest changes and advancements in the industry. Stay on top of industry trends to avoid falling behind your competition when SEO evolves as it does every few months.

SEO learners can also take advantage of a variety of paid and free classes available to help them learn more about the industry. Before you decide to commit time and money to learning SEO, you'll need a strategy for creating a website if you don't already have one. Build out pages and explore keywords that pertain to your industry and for which you want to appear in the SERPs. SEO is a major point of entry for your future customers, and once you start seeing results, you'll want to create more content and optimize around specific keywords, providing unique and informative content for your users. You'll need to pin down who your audience is and create optimized content, whether text, video, images, or audio that is relevant to them.

You can learn SEO before you've created a website, you can utilize SEO best practices to optimize the content you already have published, or you can learn SEO before embarking on a site migration or redesign.

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How do I start learning SEO?

We recommend that people who want to get started in SEO begin by identifying a few blogs and publications they can follow to help them start to learn about the industry. Search Engine Land, Search Engine Watch, and Marketing Land, for example, can provide excellent insight into different tips and strategies related to SEO. Our own blog at BrightEdge, works to provide users with a firm grasp of SEO best practices and how to put these ideas to use in their own content.

These sources all regularly publish updates related to the latest changes, news, and algorithm adjustments made within the industry. This will help learners feel confident that they remain updated on the latest strategies and best practices.

You can read BrightEdge's reviews of the available SEO books in our blog, Best SEO Books and find a book or to two to help guide you in your development. 

Classes have also been produced by a few different sources. At BrightEdge, we offer courses on SEO that help people learn how to effectively optimize content on the BrightEdge platform. This hands-on course makes it easy for people to learn how to effectively use the platform to maximize the visibility of their content and bring in more traffic and leads. Start with our SEO Explorer and Traveler quizzes.

In addition to all of these resources, one of the best ways to learn SEO is also through working on and refining your own site. Your site plays a unique role in the digital ecosystem and you have to take into account the intent of your target customers as well as the strategies of your competitors. As you begin to optimize your own site, you will learn more about which best practices and strategies make the biggest difference for your specific domain. You can fully understand your progress by tracking it in the BrightEdge platform with dashboards and real-time reporting.

What is a content management system?

A content management system, or CMS, is an application that you can use to create and modify the content for your website. Your CMS will allow you to manage your website without the need for highly technical insight related to website code. You can create, update, and maintain a sophisticated site without having to build the entire site from scratch.

Although a basic knowledge of coding may be helpful when updating certain aspects of your website, a content management system allows you to do most tasks for your website through a WYSIWYG, or What You See Is What You Get, system. This simplifies many jobs.

A CMS also makes it easier for multiple people at your organization to add and edit the content for your website. This means that people who might not be associated with website coding and design can still be involved in the content creation process. It is this collaborative feature that many cite as one of the biggest benefits of using a CMS.

Your content management system will offer you a few basic features including:

• The ability to create, store and edit content
• The ability to set up workflows and collaborate with others on the content
• The ability to publish content directly to your website

Content management systems can vary widely in what they offer users with some offering basic packages to allow brands to create quality websites, while others may offer additional features, such as more sophisticated analytics or additional templates. Brands will need to carefully consider which content management system will best fit their needs in order to make the right selection for their website.

What is the best CMS?

To select a good content management system, you will have to think about a variety of different factors, including your budget, the purpose of your website, and the technological capabilities of the people who will be working on your website.

Different CMSs, and even different subscriptions within the same system, will offer varying features and abilities. This means that brands should carefully look at the different options available to them within their target price point. Those in charge of making the CMS selection should pay close attention to these factors:

• The skills of people involved with the site
• The purpose of your website
• The speed of your website

1. The skills of the people involved with the site. Consider how technologically confident the people who will work on the site feel. Use this to guide the capabilities that you will look for in your content management system. You want to find one with good WYSIWYG editing and publishing capabilities.

You also want to consider what features you want to see for your site. Consider how many users your site will have, what technology you will need your platform to integrate with, and how easy it is to use the platform to create SEO-optimized material.

2. The purpose of your website. Depending upon the capabilities you need your site to accomplish, you may also want to consider different content management options. For example, an ecommerce business may find themselves needing to create thousands of pages of content for different products and then be able to manipulate large groups of pages at once - such as for an upcoming sale. Another brand might need to post large amounts of content each day. Know what you will need your CMS to help you with and make a selection that makes sense for you.

3. The speed of your website. When it comes to selecting your content management system, you will also want to take into account your site loading speed. Google uses page loading speed as a ranking factor to help them try and create a positive user experience. Your CMS can be a factor in determining how quickly your site will load. Look for a content management system with a good reputation for page load speed. If you find, in the future, that your page does not load as quickly as it should with your other optimization efforts, you may also want to consider making a switch.

Selecting a content management system can have a big impact on your site and your ability to run your business. It is not a one-size-fit all situation. Carefully consider the advice above and see how you might be able to select the one that works best for your organization.