Hi Marketers!
Happy New Year 2019 to all 🙂
Well, I have a very special guest for today’s interview.
You can say it’s a New Year gift from me…
He has created and runs one of the most successful SEO blogs. It’s none other than Matthew Woodward.
It’s been a pleasure to interview him.
Special mention:
He has tremendous SEO knowledge and also he is very MUCH confident about what he is doing.
| [Follow the given instructions by Matthew Woodward and you will be able to get success in SEO]. |
Let’s start with the interview…
| Rintu Biswas: You are a well-known SEO expert. However, please introduce yourself to our new readers (who aren’t fortunate yet to know about you). |
Matthew Woodward: My name is Matthew Woodward, I created and run an award-winning SEO & Internet marketing blog that focuses on producing articles, tutorials and case studies which help anyone who wants to improve their website.
Whether you need help with link building, social media, traffic generation or conversion rate optimization my blog will give you the answers you need.
I started out playing around on the internet when I was 13 and developed a passion for gaming which leads me to create my first community-based website.
Before starting my blog I worked in the corporate world for a number of years but found it to be too rigid with way too many missed opportunities.
I left to pursue my own online marketing ventures and have never looked back!
| Rintu Biswas: What are the 3 key skills a great SEO should have? |
Matthew Woodward:
Patience – SEO isn’t something that has instant gratification but if done correctly the long-term results can be epic.
Problem Solving – SEO is everchanging and what works today might not work next month, so having the ability to adapt, change and find solutions is crucial.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes – Testing, experimenting and trialling strategies are part of being a great SEO. Whatever the results, you are continually growing and learning.
| Want to learn SEO? Check out my SEO course in Kolkata syllabus. |
| Rintu Biswas: Your favorite keyword research tool and why? |
Matthew Woodward: When it comes to keyword research you should always use a couple of tools side by side to get a clearer indication as they are never 100% accurate.
The tools I use are SEMRush and Ahrefs. SEMRush focuses on domain authority and AHrefs looks mainly at backlinks so by using these tools together I can compare and decide on keywords that tick both boxes.
If you are on a bit of a tighter budget there are a bunch of free tools such as CanIRank, Keyword Sh***** & Ubersuggest. Or take advantage of free trials that the paid tools offer.
| Rintu Biswas: How to rank commercial pages like service page, product & category page (as link building for these pages is really challenging)? |
Matthew Woodward: You can rank service, product and category pages easily if you optimize them to their fullest potential.
People love to shop around and see the different options available to them and they will do this through your navigational pages.
Including a good introduction and useful info in these pages gives them a lot more value to your audience and will help Google recognize what its purpose is.
To do this you should follow these simple tips:
- Provide a good overview of the topic
- Answer some FAQ’s
- Include outbound links to other topics and relevant products
- Ensure it is extremely user-friendly
- Optimize with keywords
So rather than just having a list of categories or products, make the most of these pages to get links pointing at them and improve your ranking position.
Take a look at my e-commerce SEO guide for more details on how to do this.
| Rintu Biswas: Why is content marketing so important for SEO? |
Matthew Woodward: Content marketing is massively important when it comes to SEO, the more you optimize your content the more visibility your business will have.
Some would even go as far as to say your content is the most important factor when it comes to ranking your business.
Google searches your content to find answers which will satisfy the needs of their audience so making your content as search engine friendly as possible is what’s known as content SEO.
There are lots of different ways to do this, from keyword optimization & building links to simply knowing what your audience wants and giving them quality over quantity.
| Rintu Biswas: If a small business owner doesn’t have a budget, what he/she should do to rank in Google? |
Matthew Woodward: There are lots of ways to drive traffic to the online business and rank highly without having to spend a huge sum of money however the cost to this will be your time.
There is a cost-effective way to do most ranking strategies it’ll just take you a little longer.
You can still do:
Link Building
Social Media
Content Marketing
On Page SEO
Encourage Reviews & Testimonials
You will just need to be more hands-on and if you don’t know how then learn.
There are a number of free SEO tools available and as I mentioned earlier there are also a number of paid tools with free trials that can be taken advantage of.
| Rintu Biswas: What advice would you like to give who are new to the SEO industry? |
Matthew Woodward: The best advice I could give to someone new to this industry would be simply, to get stuck in.
SEO is changing all the time and no matter how much preparation and training you do, the easiest and quickest way to learn is on the job.
Get a basic understanding of SEO then get started. Make mistakes, be hands-on and practical and you’ll learn what works and what doesn’t in no time!
If you want to learn effective SEO tips and strategies, follow my SEO blog.
[Step-By-Step easy to understand content]
