My Grandma Ida used to say “If you can read, you can cook.” When it comes to SEO for freelancers and getting found in search, the same is true.

Last week one of my clients got in touch to tell me a blog post I’d written for her a few months ago was now ranking her website at #1 in Google search (above Amazon) for a product she stocked. Since I love independent brands getting found and doing well I really liked that.

Am I an SEO specialist with loads of secret tips and tricks up my sleeve and a magic wand over Google? Nah. I’m a copywriter who likes to read and has consumed A LOT of articles about SEO, putting everything into practice along the way. I used to think it was outstandingly dull but believe me, there is nothing boring about people getting to see more of your work and fall in love with it.

If you want to know how SEO for freelancers and creatives can work for you in 2021, I’ve read what “the experts” have to say so that you don’t have to. Here are 17 practical things you can do to get found online this year.

So where do I start with SEO on my website?

The range of things you can do is huge. It spans from some super-simple changes you could make right after you’ve read this post to calling in a UX designer or PR expert to help you with all the SEO-related things that actually happen off your site.

But here’s the main thing you need to do…

**1. Understand why people search**

Behind every search is a person who either wants to find something out, buy something or find a place. It’s key to understand WHY someone searches so that you can satisfy their query. For example, if you type in the query ‘pendant necklace’ you’ll get a whole load of results showing you where you can buy one.

But once you start to scroll down results you’ll also see a list of questions people are asking and at the very bottom of the page, some related suggestions. It’s these intentions behind the search that you should write to satisfy.

I wrote a lot about this in last year’s post on SEO. Read part one then go to Google and practice. If you don’t do anything else off the back of reading this post then do this.

2. Use keywords naturally

Google is still more about user intent and why people search over the keywords it used to prioritise although keywords still matter. But if you did your homework and read part one of last year’s guide then you already know that… Right? ; )

3. Now you know why, update old content

Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, update the content you’ve already got. Look at what’s already pulling in traffic and revisit it, adding in new links to match the reasons someone is searching as well as updated internal links to your own web pages. Don’t change the url, keep it on the same one and bring things up to date.

Similarly, think about where you don’t really need links. Do you really need a link to a contact form on every page of your site? Think seamless, baby, seamless.

4. Write big, deep excellent blog posts not short, thin, frequent ones

In my interview with Beth Gladstone, we talked about it being much better for a business to put out a few really in-depth, brilliantly researched blog posts over lots and lots of quick, short, frequent ones. Why? Because when it comes to search results, quality beats quantity every time.

Long, in-depth blog posts of 2,000 - 3,000 words are much more read, shared and engage people for longer on a page. When people stick around Google sees that as quality and pays attention.

It also has the ability to pull out passages from a long blog post and bring those up as answers in search, rather than the entire post. Put out words that really address your visitors needs and concerns, not just that talk about your own products or company and once you have, make it easy to share with links to social media.

5. Structure your content

Once you’ve got the meat of your blog post, make sure you structure it. Use sub-headings to break up your text and put keywords and key phrases in them with the sub-topics written underneath. When you post the actual words into your site, choose the H2 or H3 option to highlight your sub-headings because Google still pays attention there.

Find out all the questions people are asking on a given topic and answer them, broken up into nice, easy chunks for the rest of us, and Google, to digest. Google is super-scary-smart and it can pick out passages from pages and rank them, rather than the actual page itself as long as it’s all structured, optimised and organised right.

6. Spend the most time on your headline

I spend ages on headlines and titles. Like, AGES. Because if you can’t write something compelling enough for someone to want to click on then no one will even get as far as all that hard work you put inside your page or blog post.

My tips for headlines: use emotion, use numbers (old school but apparently we still click on them more), tell us part but not all of the story in the headline and if it sounds like a human talking, slide a key phrase in there.

A headline might not seem directly related to SEO but it is because Google will take notice of how many clicks your page is getting.

And how do you get those clicks? With a darn good headline.

7. Ask what format works best

Ok, so you sell vegan cosmetics and you discover that your target customer spends loads of time on Youtube. So answer the questions they want to know in a video on that channel they spend time on.

Whether it’s SEO for freelancers or something totally different, think about the format and what will serve your target audience best. Will a podcast work better than a pdf? Will an interview work better than a video? Act accordingly.

8. Go old-school with meta descriptions

Google is crowding out answers with things like featured snippets, answer boxes and ads. This is why going old school and writing meta description still matters so that people really want to click on a given result.

If you aren’t sure what a meta description is, it’s the bit of text that Google pulls up as the couple of lines of text of search result. It’s the part you’ll be scan-reading to see if you want to click on it or not. So make sure yours is good!

SEO With Video, Visual & Voice

The 3 ‘V’s were killing the SEO game in 2020 and this year they’re still here and on the up.

**9. Write for voices and fingers**

Voice search is massive and getting more massive so consider the differences when people search with it.

If you’re typing into search you might put “best holiday California” but if you’re talking to Alexa then you’re much more likely to ask her “Where’s the best place to go in California?” Consider that when you write content and start answering questions in ways that folks might ask them.

I can’t believe I just referred to a search engine as “her”.

10. Make a video

We're still all over it like a nasty rash, consuming video like it’s going out of fashion. If you can invest the time to make video well then you should. Lots of people won’t - and that gives you an edge.

Did you know that Google owns Youtube? (Pause here for a moment and just think about that in terms of internet domination then tell me you don’t find it terrifying…?!) So of course, Google loves to bring Youtube videos up in its own results.

If you’re going to make video then make sure that you write a great title with a keyword in it. Make sure you fill in the video description box in a compelling, detailed but non-waffly way. You can also split your video into separate parts with questions for Google to pick out and write a transcript for it to read. Embed it in blog posts too.

Google can also pull out sections for snippets so organise into clear sections. Google will use your title, description and tags to figure out what your video is all about so make sure they’re all filled in. Put a keyword in the title and provide a transcript to make sure that Google and Youtube can understand every word.

11. Go old-school with images

Just like voice search, searching by image is a big deal in 2021. Old-school SEO, like optimising image file names and using the alt text, still applies.

And have you heard of Google Lens? (Read all about it here.) Google Lens can use a smartphone camera to recognise objects in front of it when you point it at them. It’s ridiculously clever, deep-learning AI tech.

What do you do to get your image ranked with Google Lens? According to BackLinko, over 90% of all Google Lens images come from sites that the search engine determines to be ‘mobile-friendly’. It tells us that pages with over 1,600 words and higher page and website authority are also more likely to be pulled up.

So, I know I’m repeating myself but image search is a huge opportunity for a brand like yours. Think mobile-first. Think high quality content. Think of creating an overall picture of quality in fact, in order to get found.

Oh, and don’t forget about Pinterest either. Pinterest is a search engine too with more millions of searches a month than I know how to write in numbers.

So can I do SEO on my own?

The answer is yes - and no. There are lots of things that you can do yourself like understanding why people search or updating old content. But let’s put our positive pants on and talk about the more technical bits too, just to prove they ain’t that scary.

12. Forget about desktop

I love a great Squarespace theme as much as the next gal but in 2021, get thinking of your mobile site over your desktop version. Why? Because Google knows that the entire universe is accessing the internet on a phone and that’s the version it’s prioritising.

13. Don’t have an annoying website

From May this year Google is going to start considering things like how fast your site loads, how fast it becomes interactive and how stable and smooth that whole operation is. If you have annoying pop-ups on your site it might be time to kill them. The proper name for this is ‘core web vitals’ and it’s about to become a thing.

Basically, Google is so sophisticated that if it finds two pieces of content that are an equally good answer to someone’s search, it’s going to choose the one that’s smoothest to use to rank higher. And that’s why you need to…

14. Make peace with Google Search Console

I totally get it. Google is the master of providing you with a trillion stats when you only need about five. Some people love their stats and spreadsheets, some don’t (I’m mainly in the latter category) but a few minutes on the search console will start to tell you just how slow, fast, annoying, lovely it considers your site. Once you know, you can do something about it.

Yoast has a beginner’s guide here. You can google the search console to find it and once you’re signed up, just navigate to ‘core web vitals’ on the left hand side - make sure you tab to the mobile option to uncover the speed of your mobile site. You could also go to ‘mobile usability’ where Google will tell you the specific problems it doesn’t like.

If you discover (as I did) that the mobile version of your site runs super-slow, consider calling in a UX web designer who knows all about SEO to do something about it.

15. Rank with a ‘featured snippet’

This is a bit of a stupid suggestion because of course, now that Google squashes out position 1 results with image boxes and ads and answer boxes and featured snippets, being top isn’t even enough!

But to rank with a featured snippet you need to have already been dominating the top few search results - that’s where Google’s going to pick a featured snippet from on any given topic. So let’s concentrate on that by doing the next batch of suggestions.

Above All…

16. Build your rep

Google loves expertise, authority and trust (‘E-A-T’). This is not new news. It’s another reason to write superb, transparent content but did you know that a lot of your perceived authority comes from places away from your site?

If other reputable sources also say your site is good, that holds weight. It’s why things like external review sites will help your authority. It’s why getting backlinks from other sites (part of your PR strategy) is a great plan.

It’s all very well to blow your own trumpet but what the rest of the internet thinks really matters too.

17. Think about your customer journey

As you’re writing all this wonderful content, there’s one golden thing you don’t want to forget - your dear customer.

From their first arrival on your Instagram post make sure you lead them sweetly from caption to profile to links that work. Take them into a site that’s beautifully set up to navigate and carry them seamlessly through it at every step. What would you like them to do? How would you like them to do it?

And for goodness sake, once you’ve worked your backside off to get customers, keep creating great value for them and hold on to them instead of chasing more. Answer every question and concern they have with fantastic content that builds your reputation.

So, there we have it. Another year, another 17 ways to get to grips with SEO. Which one are you going to try first?

And if you need a hand with one, any or all of this then get in touch here. I’d love to help.

With thanks to SEO experts far and wide for all the info which you can read on Moz, on Backlinko, on Wordstream, on SEMrush and The Keyword.

17 Ways to Get Your Creative Head Around SEO for Freelancers in 2021