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What’s The Difference Between Keyword Research and Prompt Research?

Over the years, we’ve talked a lot about both keywords and keyword research in our digital marketing agency’s blog (you can view a list of those keyword-related blog posts at https://allintheresults.com/category/keywords/), so we won’t repeat all of the valuable information about the keyword-research benefits shared there. Such research is just one piece, but an important piece, of an overall SEO/GEO/AEO strategy, and often is the foundation of all other SEO/GEO/AEO (search engine optimization/being found online) tactics, particularly when it comes to being found in traditional search engines.

Keyword research and prompt research differ on a number of fronts, including the factors outlined below.

How Keyword Research and Prompt Research Differ

  • Nature of What Is Entered In Search Tool By Searcher/Prompter: Traditional keyword research is/was all about discovering what topics (in the form of one word or several words (a phrase or statement)) individuals, in geographies your organization serves) are/were entering into traditional search engines on an average monthly basis. Eventually, keyword research expanded to “light” question research, using tools like Answer The Public. Prompt research is about discovering the various questions vs. statements or phrases that individuals are putting into an AI search/answer engine, like Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, or ChatGPT, to get an answer to a specific question.
  • Geographic Focus: as discussed above, keyword research is/was focused on understanding what terms/phrases/words target audiences in an organization’s geography were entering into traditional search vs. AI search tools to determine which phrases the target audiences were using most. With prompt research, there is far less geographic/physical-location focus, and it is far more difficult to obtain what questions individuals specifically in your geography are putting into an AI search tool, like ChatGPT, to get their question answered.
  • Ultimate Search Engine Optimization (SEO/GEO/AEO) Goal/Objective: Keyword research is all about helping an organization “rank well” in relevant search results fo relevant searches. Prompt research is about identifying the types of questions anyone anywhere is entering in an AI/answer engine that are either directly, tangentially, or very indirectly related to the products or services your organization offers.
  • How Research Is Used: Keyword research is used to inform the content that one includes on their website — whether it be post or page content — but particularly, the words used in/the phrasing of headers and subheaders, and behind-the-scenes meta/SEO tags. Prompt research is about identifying which content on your own website or a competitor’s website is being cited (linked to) by AI search engines, and therefore, being served up to “prompters” in the answer they spit back. This research can help inform the format and content nature of future blog posts or Q &A (housed in an FAQ website page). In addition, a different set of prompt research should be conducted to learn the exact phrasing/the nature of prompts that your target audiences are regularly putting into AI search/answer engines.
  • Tools Used To Conduct Research: Free and paid tools exist to conduct keyword research, and our team uses the free keyword planner tool in Google Ads to conduct such research. Prompt research involves the two types/branches described above and can be conducted by 1) adding the “first user source” dimension to your Google Analytics “pages and screens” report (see image below) and entering the names of various AI search engines, such as Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Copilot, and Gemini, into the search query bar so you can see to which pages/posts on your site AI search engines are referring visitors. If you have a visitor coming to a specific post/page on your website, then the AI engine in-question must have cited (provided a link to) the website page or post in-question; and 2) using a paid tool like SEMRush which has a distinct “prompt research” tool within it to gather broader/more general target-audience prompt behavior, and therefore, behavior that goes on beyond your particular website.
This image is a print screen from a Google Analytics report where the page report has an added dimension of the first user source name so the user can see what AI search engine is referring traffic to which pages and posts of their website.

Need Help Conducting Prompt Research Or Keyword Research?

Reach out today for a complimentary discussion regarding keyword research and prompt research to support an overall SEO/AEO/GEO strategy!

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A Comfy-Cozy Recipe For Being Found Online That Any Level Of Cook Can Follow

There’s so much talk these days about what tactics to use to be found in answer engines or AI tools. I like to refer to solutions like Google AI mode, ChatGPT, and Perplexity as answer engines or AI tools vs. search engines because these tools go far beyond search. Many individuals are using such tools to complete tasks, such as asking them to create formulas or work plans for them, or to come up with trip itineraries or write content/copy for them.

I wanted to come up with and share a recipe for being found in both traditional search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.) and answer engines that felt authentic to those following the recipe. Something that felt comfortable and right vs. complicated and didn’t leave the cook feeling stressed out and confused and wondering how to “game” the answer engines. Below is a simple recipe for SEO (search engine optimization) and AEO (answer engine optimization) success that I came up with.

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A Simple Recipe For SEO and AEO Success

  1. Start by answering questions via a main FAQ page, or in shorter FAQs housed within main pages of your website, that target audiences have about your organization and your specific products and services.
  2. Add in answers to questions that target audiences have, in general, about your industry/business line and the different products and services associated with it – again, these should be more general vs. about your specific products and services and could be answered in an FAQ, or in one or a series of blog posts.
  3. Sift in some website blog post content that is helpful to your target audiences that is “tangential, i.e., not directly related to your products or services, but information that would be valuable to your target audiences.
    • A great example of this is an estate planning law firm client who is sharing information about aging well with clients since many are seniors.
  4. Sprinkle in a synopsis at the beginning or end of any blog post you create, so search engines, answer engines, and readers know what they will learn about when they read that blog post. Then, use that synopsis to inform your meta description tag for that blog post.

And, voila, you’ve created a recipe that all adds up to being helpful and kind, and created an approach that should feel comfortable and authentic to every organization!

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What Does An SEO Audit Reveal?

One of the services we offer our clients — on both a one-off/one-time and monthly/ongoing basis is conducting an SEO audit that, then, allows us to make recommendations for what our client might do differently on the SEO (search engine optimization) front to be better found online by target audiences for relevant keywords (search terms) in relevant geographies.

What Can You Learn From An SEO Audit?

As we explained in this previous blog post about the mistake most people make when they manually conduct an SEO audit, your organization is better off hiring an SEO expert to conduct an audit, so that the results you get are unbiased. For most businesses/organizations, i.e., ones that have both a website and a Google My Business Profile, an SEO audit will provide information related to both your website and your Google My Business Profile, since Google may serve up either in search results (and as of the date of this post, the traditional Google search engine is still the one most used by search tool users, followed by YouTube, and ChatGPT.)

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Peeling Back An Onion Skin To See What Lies Beneath

Listed below is the information you can glean from having an SEO company or digital marketing agency, like ours, conduct an SEO audit for you:

  • what external websites and certain other digital properties (not owned by your organization/business) have links on them to your website, and therefore, are providing “referral” traffic via backlinks to your site — these may include other websites or discussion-forums like Reddit
  • as of the date of this post, any website traffic coming from searcher clicks on links to your website that appear in AI/chat/answer engine content is reported as referral traffic in Google Analytics, and information on how much traffic you’re getting from AI engines such as ChatGPT and Perplexity are included in an SEO audit
  • does your website and/or Google My Business Profile rank differently in Google in a particular geography for a particular keyword (search term), based on the device used by the searcher, i.e., mobile phone vs. desktop/laptop
  • what keywords your website and Google My Business Profile are ranking best for on Google and in what geographies
  • whether your Google My Business Profile or your website is being served up higher in search results in certain geographies for certain search terms — this will help you determine whether or not you should be putting more energy into getting your Google My Business Profile ranking better (you always want that to be served up for “near me” searches) and/or your website ranking better (ideally this would rank better for non-near-me terms)
  • missed SEO opportunities — these include best practices which haven’t been implemented by your organization, such as writing and entering SEO page title and meta description tags on your website platform/CMS for every page and post on your website, and writing an entering image alt-tags
  • mistakes/issues/challenges with your website that are likely causing it to be served up less than it could/should be in relevant geographies for relevant search terms, such as slow site load speed or broken links on your website
  • how much organic/search-engine traffic your website is getting from traditional search engines like Google, and how much website traffic you’re getting from AI search engines, and what traditional and/or AI search engines drove the most traffic to your website during the audit timeframe
  • what are the top 10-20 search keywords that Google is serving your website up most for
  • how many individuals are clicking on a link in your Google My Business Profile to arrive at your website
  • what are the most-viewed pages of your website
  • what pages of your website are being served up the highest in search results by Google
  • what marketing activities/vehicles are driving website traffic and what percentage of your overall website traffic is coming from AI or traditional search tools
  • what geographies/locations are your website visitors coming from
  • what devices do people use most to access your website, i.e., laptop/desktop vs. mobile

Hire An SEO Expert To Conduct Your SEO Audit

Want to learn more about our SEO audit services or ready to have us conduct an SEO Audit for you and to provide recommendations on SEO steps to take next, based on what the audit reveals? Reach out today to schedule a complimentary discussion about SEO audits.

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Why Meta Description Tags Still Matter, And May Matter More, When It Comes To Being Found Online

Prior to the introduction of AI search engines, we always advised our clients to be sure to complete both their SEO page/post title tags and their SEO meta description tags for any page or blog post on their website. Both tags are known as “meta tags” and both support websites being found online in relevant geographies by relevant searchers.

The History Of Meta Description Tags And Their Role Related To SEO

It used to be that, instead of creating and serving up their own description with a link to an organization’s website in search results, traditional search engines (like Google and Bing) would rely on the meta description tag associated with an organization’s website page or blog post, and therefore, automatically serve the content’s tag up along with a link to the website blog post or page in-question. This gave website owners control over what content was shared with a link to their website by search engines.

We don’t know the exact timing, but estimate the above scenario changed five or more years ago when search engines discontinued defaulting to the meta description tag provided by the content owner and starting creating their own “blurbs” to serve up with website content created by various website owners. This meant website owners never knew, and no longer had control over, what content was served up in search results with a link to one of their website pages or blog posts. Regardless, we still continued to encourage clients to fill in meta description tags using whatever fields their website platform/content management system (CMS) provided, or a website plugin used with their website provided, so that traditional search engines could serve up meta description content in search results listings if they chose to do so.

Image shows All In One (AIO) SEO plug-in used with WordPress to house a meta description tag. The meta description tag reads "Learn why meta description tags may matter more related to being found on AI vs. traditional search engines and how & why to complete and structure these tags.
Image of AIO (All In One) SEO WordPress Plug-in Field For Entering Meta Description Tag

In the days before AI search engines, we always said to our clients that, “while meta descriptions weren’t used by traditional search engines to figure out what a page or post was about and, therefore, what to index a website page or website post for (the way that SEO page and post title tags were and currently are used), they indirectly influence SEO (search engine optimization and being found online) since, if they are well-written and served up in search results listings, they may encourage a searcher to visit your website and that leads to more website traffic. And, more website traffic leads to search engines thinking your website is creditable/reputable and makes the engines more comfortable serving up your website in relevant search queries in relevant geographies.”

Use Of Meta Descriptions By AI Search Engines

We recently heard at an SEO conference and read online in an SEO expert’s website content that meta descriptions were making a comeback with AI-search engine/answer-engine optimization (AEO). Why? Because AI/answer engines are reading meta description tags, and sometimes, serving that content up in the answers they provide to questions posed to them by tool users.

How To Write An Effective Meta Description Tag To Support Being Found By Target Audiences

Here’s how to write an effective meta description related to use by both traditional and AI search engines:

  • Keep your meta description tag to 160 characters or less (including spaces).
  • Spell out what visitors will learn and/or the information they’ll have access to if they visit your website post or page — therefore, what answers will they get or actions will they be able to take by visiting your post or page
  • Don’t use “internal speak” or acronyms in your tag that your target audience/laypeople wouldn’t understand or use
  • Walk in your target audience’s shoes
  • Do use call-to-actions in your meta description tag, like:
    • Learn how
    • Read about
    • Get answers to
    • See how
    • Read how
    • Check out
  • Never use the same meta description tag (and for that matter, SEO/meta title tag) for more than one page and/or post on your website. That will just confuse search engines and make them less likely to serve up/share your website content!

Meta Description Tag Examples

Some examples of meta description tags include:

“Learn about products offered by our durable medical equipment company that provide greater mobility and independence to those challenged by disability and aging”

“Read about tactics to implement on your website to support it being found by relevant searchers in relevant geographies, including in AI search results”

“Learn how our estate planning law firm creates estate plans that include the documents you’ll need in case of serious illness and ensure last wishes are honored”

Need Help Writing New Meta Description Tags Or Rewriting Old Ones?

Use our calendar app to schedule a complimentary SEO/AEO discussion today with an SEO expert to discuss your particular marketing opportunities and challenges. Or, check out our list of SEO/AEO services!

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Like SEO, Keyword Research Is Not Dead

Some SEO experts are saying identifying and focusing on ranking for keywords, i.e., high-volume appropriate search terms your organization wants to be found for in search engines in relevant geographies, isn’t as critical to SEO success as it used to be. In keeping with our recent blog post about SEO (search engine optimization) still being relevant, keyword research is still quite relevant to both for-profits’ and non-profits’ success.

Here at Results Communications & Research, we still believe and see evidence from the SEO rankings audits of clients’ websites that we conduct, that understanding the search terms that target audiences are entering into Google, Bing, and other search engines and capitalizing on them (as explained in this previous blog post about how to interpret and use keyword research) is still an important SEO tactic and one that moves the SEO needle.

We don’t see the day coming (for a long time, if ever) on the SEO front where clients aren’t going to want and need to remove their blinders and not rely on internal speak and internal knowledge to inform both their SEO and their overall business strategy. Keyword research allows them to take those blinders off.

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Non-SEO Benefits Of Keyword Research

Keyword Research Is Not All About SEO, It’s Also About Your Marketing and Business Strategy

Even if keywords were no longer important to SEO, keyword research still allows you to determine:

  • What products and services target audiences are searching on which can help an organization to decide to eliminate products or services or add new ones
  • The volume of individuals who are searching in an organization’s market area (geography) to help inform whether push or pull marketing is warranted

Read our blog post about why keyword research informs more than an SEO strategy.

Need Help Conducting Keyword Research?

Our team regularly conducts keyword research to inform our clients’ marketing and SEO strategies. Reach out today to schedule a complimentary discussion about our keyword research services.

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A Body In Motion Stays In Motion

My blog title is a quote I plan to use this year to inspire myself as well as others — on both the work and personal fronts. You can see I’m already adhering to it on the personal front related to keeping a daily exercise routine going. But, what does it mean related to the SEO work I do for clients and for the SEO clients themselves?

Like Many Other Marketing Activities, SEO Should Be An Ongoing One

I’ve said countless times in meetings with clients and prospective clients that SEO is not a “one and done activity.” Slow, but steady progress is made on the “being found on Google” (and other search engines, of course) front if one keeps at it, as we reinforce in our blog post about why SEO needs to be a constant marketing activity vs. a one-off.

Many organizations get the ball rolling on their SEO — often in conjunction with launching a brand new website or in conjunction with revamping an existing one — but then, don’t keep the momentum going. I refer to the SEO work that gets done at the time of a new or revised website launch as “initial SEO” work. But, for-profit and non-profit organizations often lose site of the fact that they are going to need to continue to implement the following SEO tactics, on an ongoing basis, in order to ensure they make steady, positive progress as far as how their website ranks in search engines for relevant terms used by desired target audiences:

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Non-Website SEO Tactics

In addition to the above ongoing website-related tactics, as part of an ongoing SEO strategy, organizations should execute the following:

Get Customized/Personalized Help From An SEO Consultant

The above list of ongoing SEO tactics to implement is not inclusive and all of the tactics cited may not be appropriate for each & every organization. Schedule a complimentary discussion of your organization’s specific SEO needs today!

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A Day In The Life Of An SEO Consultant

If you’re considering a career in digital marketing, and particularly within that, a specialty or expertise in SEO (search engine optimization), read on to learn what a typical work day look likes.

How An SEO Consultant Starts Her Day

8:30a.m. – 9:30a.m.

Check/read (and send response e-mail) e-mails, which inevitably include the following:

  • Notifications from paid search (SEM) ad platforms (Google Ads or Microsoft (Bing) Ads) about:
    • Policy changes that have caused a Google or Bing Search Ad to be disapproved
    • Ad extensions and ads that have become disapproved because “page destinations” are no longer working (sometimes, clients of ours take down or move website pages to which site links (one form of ad extension/asset) point or ads point and forget to let me know that pages have been taken down, moved, etc.
    • Payment form (credit card) can’t be charged — therefore, the credit card information that a client provided to Google Ads or Microsoft Ads is no longer accurate/has changed
  • E-blasts and e-newsletters about SEO and invites to various SEO webinars and classes (due to the large # of search engine optimization experts we follow)
  • Client questions about how well their website is or isn’t ranking in search engines, particularly Google
  • Questions or comments from other marketing professionals with whom I collaborate, including social media specialists, branding/graphic design specialists, and website designers and developers
This is an image of Gail Snow Moraski, our Boston SEO Company's Founder/Owner Who Is An SEO Consultant. Gail has blonde shoulder length hair and is waring and orange crew-necked sweater that reads "Carpe Diem" She is wearing classes and smiling and is standing in front of a field of black-eyed Susans in her backyard.

9:30 a.m. – noon

  • Use Google Analytics data, Google Search Console data, paid search platforms, and SEO rankings audit reports to analyze and document KPIs (key performance indicators) for upcoming monthly/standing client meetings
  • Have a mid-to-late morning #SEOStrong snack, particularly one with lots of protein like swiss cheese or hummus because you definitely need a sharp brain and a lot of energy to do SEO work!
  • Employ “Answer The Public” and Google Ads keyword planner tools to conduct keyword research in relevant geographies using approved “inputs” from client about what terms they believe their target audiences would use to identify someone who offers the services, products, and solutions to problems they offer
  • Check client Google Ad and Microsoft Bing Ad campaigns (including Google Nonprofit Ad Grant ones) to see how they are performing, including reviewing cost-per-click (CPC) and click-thru rate (CTR); plus, review and apply or dismiss recommendations from Ad platform to improve optimization score, and check for appropriateness of “search terms” for which ad platforms are serving up ads.

12p.m. – 6:00p.m.

  • Review SEO diagnostics reports to determine possible website issues and/or missed SEO opportunities related to a particular client’s website ranking situation.
  • Facilitate client discussion about next steps/implications of their SEO rankings audit, diagnostics reports, and/or monthly KPIs. Where do we go from here to move the SEO needle and drive more relevant searchers to the client’s website in the month ahead?
  • Write a blog post for my own website or for a client website to support SEO by addressing topics and answering questions that are important to clients, but also to show search engines, that the website in-question is being kept “fresh”
  • Write and enter SEO page/post title tags (this might be in WIX, GoDaddy, Joomla, WordPress, Expression Engine, or a propriety software such as a CMS platform used in a particular industry), and submit the revised pages/posts for indexing by Google and/or Bing using Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster tools.

7:00p.m. – 8:30pm

Check e-mail again and/or continue to complete client SEO work of the nature outlined above. Being an SEO consultant is not just a 9 to 5 job!

Considering Hiring An SEO Consultant/SEO Expert?

Reach out today to schedule a complimentary discussion about your particular organization’s marketing challenges and opportunities!

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What Do Website Diagnostic Tools Help Reveal?

At Results Communications and Research, we often use two distinct website diagnostic tools to run website diagnostic reports for existing clients and prospective clients. These reports include:

  • Google Lighthouse Reports – these reports provide feedback — both an overall score for each category as well as detail on website factors, features, issues, etc. that contribute to the overall score — on the four broad categories below:
    • Performance
    • Accessibility
    • SEO
    • Best Practices
  • Site Auditor Reports – similar to Google Lighthouse Reports, these reports provide an overall score (but just one), but also give you all the behind-the-scenes detail, so you know what needs to be adjusted on your website, and why, to improve your score. What we love about this report is that it reports factors/issues that should be addressed into these three categories, so you know which ones are most important to address first, i.e., those that are most likely most contributing most to your site not ranking as well as it could in search engine results:
    • Critical – these should be addressed immediately
    • Error – these should be addressed after the above
    • Warning – these you can slowly chip away at
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Why Run Website Diagnostics Reports?

If you’re a follower of our blog or a frequent visitor of our website, you know that our Boston digital marketing agency has an expertise in SEO (search engine optimization). We are super passionate about helping organizations be found on search engines for appropriate terms in relevant geographies. There are an extensive list of factors that can influence how likely Google or other search engines will be to serve your website up in search results. Ultimately, search engines want searchers to find what they need and have a good “user experience” when they visit a website that the search engine serves up in search results.

The two reports mentioned above can help you determine both SEO challenges and opportunities. We like to say, “they help you both identify issues with your website that are likely causing search engines to “ding” it and make them less eager/more reluctant to serve your site up in relevant search results, and identify missed opportunities related to being found on search.” The latter category reflects items that search engines aren’t necessarily dinging your site for, but if your website employed best practices related to them, your site would likely rank better in appropriate search results.

Examples Of SEO Challenges and Opportunities Revealed By Website Diagnostics Reports

There are a large number of factors and issues on which the above two diagnostics tools report, so the following list is far from exclusive. But, some examples of critical SEO challenges and opportunities that are revealed by the reports include:

Factors/Features That Likely Cause Your Site To Be “Dinged” By Search Engines:

  • Slow Site Load Speed – search engines do not like to serve up websites that are slow to load.
  • No Image Alternative Text Tags (Alt Tags) – search engines want site visitors to have a good “user experience,” as we mentioned above. If a site is not accessible, i.e., not able to be read by screen users used by those with visual impairment or other physical disabilities, how can the visitor have a good experience? Incorporating alt tags when you include an image on a website page or in a website blog post is just one of many factors to be addressed to ensure your website is accessible.
  • Pointing to internal or external website pages that have an http:// (non-secure) vs. https:// (secure) address. Search engines do not like to send visitors to insecure websites.
  • Broken links/missing pages – often pages to which website content links are removed/taken down — whether the links point to internal pages/posts or to external ones. Search engines see this as neglect and not keeping an eye on your website and will view this negatively.

Missed Opportunities That Cause You To Miss Out On Ranking Well In Search Engine Results:

  • Not employing SEO meta page/post title tags: we always call these “your most important piece of SEO real estate” as they are crawled by search engines and tell them for what topics/search terms to index a particular page or post on your website.
  • Not completing SEO meta description tags: while it’s unknown for certain how directly these tags influence how your website ranks, they indirectly do, at a minimum, since they let potential visitors know what a page of your site is all about when it is served up in search results. Ultimately, this causes your pages to have a higher click-thru rate, and Google and other search engines view sites that have more website visitor traffic as more credible ones, and therefore, ones they are more comfortable serving up in relevant searches.
  • Publishing duplicate website content: we won’t re-create the wheel since our most recent blog post speaks to the downfall of having too much duplicate content, but the takeaway is this: when you repeat the same or very similar content in numerous places on your website, search engines get confused and they may not serve up those pages in relevant search results, nor index that content to begin with!
  • Publishing content that is too short or that doesn’t contain enough true crawlable/indexable content: As we expressed in this blog post about an important Google Core Algorithm update, Google and other search engines do not like to serve up low-quality, unhelpful content. They want to serve up meaningful content that allows visitors to take action to address their particular concerns. In addition, search engines can’t crawl/index pdfs, so if a lot of a page’s content is housed in an infographic or image, that is content that search engines will not serve your site up for. Sure, you can tag the image on the back end, but it’s unlikely your tag can incorporate everything an infographic or an image with a lot of content, or a pdf, has to say.

Not Sure How To Run, Interpret, Or Respond To Website Diagnostics Reports?

As SEO Consultants, we can help you with all of the above, so reach out to our team of search engine optimization consultants today to schedule a complimentary discussion.

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When You Should and Shouldn’t Repeat The Same Content In Several Places On Your Website

As an SEO consulting firm who has access to Site Auditor diagnostics reports thru a subscription, we are seeing that, when we run a website thru the aforementioned diagnostic tool, if the site shares certain content in two or more places (think on different pages or different blog posts within the site), the site receives a negative search engine optimization (SEO) warning for that. That’s because of the SEO implications of having “duplicate content.” When search engines, like Google and Bing, crawl a website and run into the exact same, or pretty identical, content blocks on more than one page of/post on your site, they may not end up indexing any of those pages (and therefore, won’t serve them up for relevant search terms) because they are confused about which page they should index related to certain topics to begin with. Or, if they do index pages/posts that have identical content, both pages or posts may rank poorly because of competing with each other, or search engines just feeling confused about when to serve them up.

You really need to think of search engines as entities that file and store information and who need your help to figure out where to file particular website pages or blog posts, i.e., what topic folder they should put them in. That’s where meta page and post titles come in, and really help search engines do their jobs!

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When You Should Share The Same Content On Several Pages Of/Posts On Your Website:

  • When it’s contact information, such as:
    • e-mail address
    • physical address
    • phone number
    • social media icons that link to your social media media profiles
  • When it’s critical to website visitors’ health & safety, such as:
    • needing to wear a mask when visiting your physical location
    • needing to call 911 or call a doctor in case of a health emergency vs. making a health decision based on visiting your website
  • When you need to include an important disclaimer, such as legal ones or ones required by a regulatory body:
    • before trying this, speak with your doctor
    • we are not medical or health professionals, or licensed xyz professionals
    • all users of our product/service may not experience the same results or results may vary

When You Shouldn’t Share The Same Content On Several Pages Of/Posts On Your Website:

  • When you’re posting detailed content/information on a particular topic (including information about your products or services, or about your organization) that is more than a couple of sentences, and particularly when it’s several paragraphs or more.

Instead Of Sharing The Same Content On Several Pages Of Your Website:

When All Else Fails:

If there are reasons why you must post the identical or almost-identical lengthy and/or detailed content in more than one place on your site — unfortunately, we couldn’t think of any examples for needing to do this at the time of writing this post — then, you can use what’s known as a “canonical tag” to help identify for search engines, which is the main/master version of the content.

Need Help Identifying If There Are Any Issues Related To Your Website That Are Negatively Impacting SEO And How Your Website Ranks In Google?

As SEO consultants, we can run a couple of different diagnostics reports to help you identify current issues with your website that may be harming how high up in search-engine results your website is found for relevant search terms known as keywords, in relevant geographies. We, can, then, help you interpret the implications of the issues and possibilities for resolving them.

Schedule a free, no-obligation about our SEO services today!

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What Is An SEO Consultant?

While I’ve referred to myself and my business as a marketing consultant or marketing consulting firm, it never struck me that individuals would use the term “SEO consultant” to refer to someone who offers the SEO services (search engine optimization services) that I and my firm does.

Just by chance, while conducting some keyword research for a client that offers business and management consulting services, I stumbled across the term and the average monthly search volume for it. Did you know that 27,100 individuals a month, across the whole U.S., search on this term in Google? That’s a lot of searches on an annual basis!

So, I’m using this blog post as an example of how you can write a blog post to support being found for a term relevant to your business and services you offer, but also to explain to individuals who are searching on the term, what “SEO Consultant” means and what an SEO Consultant does.

An SEO Consultant is an individual or firm who can help your organization be found on Google and on other search engines for relevant terms, and in relevant geographies.

This is a square gray image with black and turquoise and blue text which reads "Did You Know That There Are Consultants Whose Sole Or Primary Focus Is To Help Your Organization Be Found in Search-Engine Results Listings By Your Target Audiences? They Are Known As: SEO Consultants. The image also contains the logo of our Boston SEO Company, Results Communications and Research.

So, What Exactly Do SEO Consultants Do?

Every SEO consultant’s approach to SEO is likely slightly different, but, in general, SEO consultants not only help your website rank well “organically (via unpaid/non-advertising tactics)” in search engines, but also your Google My Business Profile or Bing Places Profile (collectively referred to in this post going forward as “Business Profiles”). In addition, they may also help you identify presences you can have on social media platforms and discussion forums, like Reddit and Quora, to support your organization being found in search engines, since social media presences and discussion threads can also be served up in search results — not just your website or Business Profiles.

We believe that, ideally an SEO assessment to arrive at an SEO state-of-the union (an understanding of how your website and Business Profiles already support or don’t support your being found on search engines) should be completed first. Hey, we and you don’t want to break something that’s already working and doesn’t need fixing, right? That, should, then, be followed by implementation of various SEO tactics and best practices, based on what the audit/assessment reveals is warranted and appropriate.

Step 1: Initial SEO Assessment/SEO State-of-the-Union Evaluation

To achieve the objectives above, common initial activities that an SEO consultant may complete to arrive at an SEO state-of-the-union include, but are not limited to:

  • Conducting keyword research to identify what terms your target audiences are searching on most to identify someone who offers the services, products, and solutions to problems your organization offers — and in the right geographies.
  • Employing website diagnostics tools to run reports that assess how well your website employs best practices, including what’s known as technical SEO practices (think your website performing well and loading quickly), and provides for a good user experience.
  • Reviewing what’s known as your “behind-the-scenes” meta tags to ensure that they inform search engines and searchers what your website is all about.
  • Analyzing your Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Bing Webmaster data to see what percentage of your website traffic comes from search engines, and for what terms Google and Bing are serving up your website most.
  • Conducting an SEO rankings audit to see just how well your Google My Business Profile and website rank on Google, and how well your website ranks on Bing.

Step 2: SEO Tactic Implementation To Address Areas For SEO Improvement Revealed By An SEO Assessment

Once the analyses listed above are completed, an SEO consultant will come up with a list of one-off/one-time SEO tactics and ongoing/regular/monthly tactics that should be implemented to support your website and various Business Profiles ranking better, plus your organization being found more online. These may include, but are not limited to the following:

One-Off/One-Time SEO Tactics To Support Being Found On Search Engines

  • Making your Bing Places and/or Google My Business Profiles (Business Profiles) more comprehensive.
  • Rewriting, or if they are missing, writing your meta tags for various website content (pages, posts, and images), and implementing and/or working with you or your website developer to implement them on your website.
  • Suggesting and/or writing new blog, FAQ, or website content to support your site ranking better in search-engines for certain high-volume keywords (search terms.)
  • Submitting any revised website pages and posts for indexing/crawling by Google and Bing by using Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster tools.
  • Developing and implementing paid search/search-engine advertising via Google Ads, Microsoft Bing Ads, or both, for organizations who don’t have the luxury of the long window required to rank better in search results, and need to rank well immediately!

Ongoing SEO Tactics — Since SEO Is Not A One And Done Marketing Activity!

  • Posting content regularly, including new blog post links, on Business Profiles
  • Writing, or making suggestions for blog topics, plus ensuring meta tags are appropriate and new website blog content is submitted for crawling/indexing by Bing and Google
  • Using Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster, and SEO rankings audit tools and diagnostic reports to monitor how your website and aforementioned Business Profiles are ranking in search-engines and making regular recommendations about tactics to improve rankings, as necessary

Speak With An SEO Optimization Consultant To Learn More

Want to learn more how we help and collaborate with organizations to ensure their websites, Business Profiles and other online presences are optimized for search? Reach out today to schedule a complimentary, no-obligation discussion with an SEO consultant!