Wondering how to improve your website’s SEO and increase web traffic fast? There are plenty of actionable steps you can take today. Most don’t even require a web developer or coding knowledge to get started.

Below we’ll review 12 best practises you can easily work into your business plans to help you:

• Rank higher in search engines
• Grow your audience
• Attract more leads

We’ll also give you tips on how GoDaddy can help you on your journey, plus share plenty of free resources you can refer to along the way.

1. Optimize your URLs

Optimizing your URLs is a good way to improve SEO quickly. It’s something that takes little effort but can help boost your rankings when done right. Here are a few best practices to look out for.

Go for shorter URL titles

When it comes to URLs, you want to keep them short and compelling. Shorter URLs are often easier to remember, which makes them more shareable and higher ranking. Make sure your URL is free of fluff words (like “and” or “for”) and easy to understand.

Note: GoDaddy’s Website Builder automatically optimizes your URL title for you by limiting it to 25 characters. Simply type in your URL title into the designated text box for “Page Title” and you’re done. It also fills in any spaces with hyphens following web convention.

Include primary keywords

Adding a primary keyword to your URL is another best practice for optimization and should also be applied to your:

• Meta title: This is the blue header in the search engine results page
• Meta description: This is the copy that sits beneath the meta title
• On-page title: This is the actual title of your work at the top

Aim for placing your keyword closer to the beginning of your URL title for optimal results.

Keep it relevant

URLs should also be relevant to the content you’re displaying on that specific page. Keeping them aligned with the page copy allows Google’s search bots to easily understand and identify the information for search queries.

The more relevant your information is to a search query, the higher it ranks on Google.

Think about how relevant it will be for future use. You don’t want it to be overly specific that it becomes less relevant over time.

For example, you can make a URL more applicable for future use if you avoid adding a specific year at the end. Peek the following URL endings to see how they contrast.

Instead of a URL that ends in: .com/best-fathers-day-gifts-2022

Go for something like: .com/best-fathers-day-gifts

If other websites link to your page, the URL without the year enables that page to keep hold of any authority and associated rankings in the future.

A note on changing URL titles

Editing your URL title is an option using GoDaddy’s Website Builder, but it’s not recommended you make any changes when dealing with older existing pages.

Changing an existing URL can hurt your SEO and result in decreased traffic, since it’s likely you have backlinks attached to the post you’re trying to change. This means that anytime someone finds the old link through a partnering site or newsletter, they might end up at the dead link instead.

Unless you really need to for rebranding purposes, it’s best you avoid this route to prevent any damage to you SEO.

2. Optimize metadata

The term “metadata” comes up a lot when researching how to improve SEO quickly. It refers to the data on a webpage that provides Google with information about a particular site. In other words, it’s data that describes other data.

By itself, metadata won’t affect SEO rankings. But it can help in the following areas:

• Boost engagement
• Increase click-through rates
• Give you the upper edge over your competitors

It’s a small piece of the SEO puzzle that is often overlooked but can be beneficial when combined with other best practices. Let’s look at two ways to improve your meta data below.

Meta descriptions

Meta descriptions appear in the search results page underneath the meta title. It often gives a quick snippet of what the web page is about and typically includes a call to action (CTA) to encourage more clicks.

Examples of these CTAs could look like:

• “Shop now”
• “Schedule an appointment”
• “Click here to read more”

As noted earlier, you’ll want to include a primary keyword within the description and keep the copy to 155 characters or less. The primary keyword will also appear in bold anytime it matches a searcher’s query.

Meta titles

The meta title (aka title tag) is the text shown in large blue font in the search engine results page. It’s often the first thing searchers will see and can sometimes be confused with the H1 tag.

However, the meta title and H1 tag are two separate things.

The meta title is named with SEO and Google in mind, while an H1 tag is more for the user’s benefit. A lot of times digital marketers will use the same title for both the meta title and H1 tag to cause less confusion for users.

When naming your meta title, you should always:

Editing the meta title and meta description is easy using GoDaddy’s Website Builder. Simply use the editor and go to the page you need optimized. Click on Settings (cog symbol) and then select Get Found on Google to edit what you need.

3. Check your speed

An important element of improving SEO is speed. The time it takes for your webpage to load will affect whether your users stay to engage or bounce back in search of something better.

Between July and August 2021, Google rolled out a measure of core web vitals (CWV) to help website owners evaluate their overall page performance.

This report is based on real-world user data (or field data) and includes three segments that evaluates a user’s experience loading a webpage — two of which are related to a site’s speed.

Here’s a quick breakdown of each one for reference:

• Largest contentful paint (LCP): This refers to the largest block of text, video, or visuals that take up the most amount of time to load after a user clicks on your site.
• First input delay (FID): This is the amount of time it takes for a browser to respond to a user’s first interaction on your site (typically when they click on a link or tap on a button).
• Cumulative layout shift (CLS): This has to do with any layout shifts your user be experiencing as they interact with your page. Too many unexpected shifts could result in a bad user experience if left unchecked.

One best practice is to score below 1.3 seconds when reaching the First Byte. This means that the overall responsiveness and speediness of your website should fall within this time frame after a user clicks onto your site from a search query.

How to optimize your CWV score

Rankings are affected by a CWV score, so it’s best to aim high in good rankings to increase web traffic.

Google’s search advocate, John Mueller, noted in a recent YouTube discussion that if a site had lost or gained traffic steadily over the period of the CWV roll out, then it was likely related to the website’s CWV score.

GoDaddy’s Website Builder scores nearly 68% in good CWV rankings and outperforms most other competitors. It’s a great option to consider if you’re looking for low-hassle performance speed on your site. Plus, it includes other fool-proof elements like SSL certificates and more.

For non-GoDaddy sites, your biggest priority is to minimize image sizes before uploading to your site. Try using an image compressor to cut down on load time and apply a lazy loading plugin if you have a WordPress site. This will display all images below the fold only when the user scrolls down.

4. Find the right keywords for your content

Improving SEO means creating content Google can easily comprehend. That’s why optimizing with keywords helps. It allows Google bots to decipher what your page is about so that it can provide relevant results to search queries.

Let’s take a look at some best practices for keyword usage.

How to choose the best keywords

When creating content for your site, try to think of phrases and terms your target audience may be typing into a search query. For example, if you’re a retailer that specializes in kid’s clothing, you could aim for keywords like:

• Toddler girl dresses for spring
• Zipper onesies for baby boys
• Activewear for boys and girls

Keep an eye on your competitors and note how they utilize their keywords for search queries.

It’s important to know the keywords your competitors are ranking for that you are not.

Let these findings guide you when deciding what keywords to create for your own content. Ensure your version is better optimized and more informative to win the upper edge.

Where to include primary keywords

Here are other areas where you should include primary keywords throughout your text:

• Each page on your site: Include a primary keyword for every 60 – 150 words in each of your posts. Ensure they sound natural and avoid keyword stuffing to prevent Google from penalizing you.
• On-page title: Make sure each page on your website has a primary keyword within the on-page title at the top.
• First 100 words of every page: Include a primary keyword in your opening paragraph for each post. The sooner you introduce it, the better.

It’s also best to add a secondary keyword that’s similar in meaning to your primary keyword. This provides Google with extra information (or clues) to what your page is about.

Editor’s Note: GoDaddy’s website builder automatically assigns your primary keyword as a required H1 header tag in the backend, so there’s no extra coding necessary for you. This makes things easier any time you want to adjust the font size or style. Simply edit as you go.

Keyword length

When it comes to keyword length, there are two things to remember:

• Short keywords with a large volume are harder to rank for and are more competitive
• Longer keyword phrases with three to five words are easier to rank for and are less competitive

Let’s imagine you run a clothing shop. Instead of choosing a generalized keyword like “T-shirts,” you can opt for something more specific like “cruelty-free vegan T-shirts.” The competition for the longer phrase is lower and has a better chance at ranking higher on Google.

Duplicate keywords

On a similar note, you want to avoid including the same keywords and phrases on multiple pages of your website. This is known as keyword cannibalization and could lead users to the wrong page when they enter your site from a search query. It’s also not good for bounce-back rates.

The same goes for duplicate content. Try to avoid creating posts that are similar in topic, since this could confuse the search engine bots.

An example would be targeting “divorce lawyer near Los Angeles” on one page and “how to find a divorce lawyer near me” on another. The angles are too similar for Google to recognize the difference.

Helpful tools and resources

To help you optimize strategically, you can use the following tools when deciding which keywords to go for:

• Google’s Keyword Planner: This is a tool for finding keywords that many digital marketers tend to utilize – especially in advertising. But you don’t need to be an advertiser to use it. Anyone can sign up for free and use it for insight on keyword search volume.
• KWFinder: If you’re looking for a tool with more advanced features, try KWFinder. It offers a free trial and helps you find keywords that are easy to rank for.
• Keyword Tool: Ecommerce store owners can find extra ideas using predictive search tools like this one. It gives you free keyword search suggestions for Amazon, eBay and more.

Remember, it’s best to avoid using keywords that have volumes in the highest and lowest categories. Refer to these tools any time you need help.

5. Write for your audience

Developing content that improves SEO quickly should be centred around your audience first and foremost.

You need to know who you are trying to target before you begin writing posts for your website.

This will allow you to create content that is genuinely helpful to potential customers visiting your site. It’s also something Google will reward you for in rankings and will lead users to CTAs that apply to:

• Purchases
• Email sign-ups
• Inquiries and more

When drafting content for your site, you should note that there are two main categories to consider:

• Standard pages and blog posts: These typically consist of informational content. A standard page should have a minimum of 300 words, while a blog post should have 700 or more.
• Ecommerce product pages: Ecommerce pages focus more on product details. The recommended word count for these pages should range between 120-200 words.

Let’s discuss them even further to help you better understand why both are important for improving SEO.

Pages and blog posts

Pages and blog posts provide informational content to users but differ in the type of content displayed. Pages are more static and don’t often need updating (like About Me or Contact pages), while blog posts provide constant updates to queries that are relevant to your product or service.

Google ranks all web pages according to a mixture of:

• Relevancy for the searcher
• Value of content on a page
• The page’s uniqueness
• A website’s overall authority

Authority takes time and is something you earn as your audience grows. It’s not something you can control right away. But optimizing the other categories can help you achieve authority success down the line.

Dwell time

Google rewards websites with higher rankings if searchers stick around for a while (aka dwell time).

To increase dwell time, owners should write for their prospective customer and not for Google.

Write as if you are encouraging a friend to take the next step with your business offer. Use words that inspire and provide informative content that helps users with pain points.

Ecommerce product pages

Ecommerce pages provide users with information about your product or service, but also convinces them to follow-through with a purchase.

Many ecommerce sites miss out on visibility due to lack of content, which makes it hard to rank.

A general recommendation to improve SEO is to start by optimizing product and service pages first. You can do this by:

• Using long-tail keywords: This helps increase opportunities in competitive spaces and even converts better with keywords that are low in search volume. It’s better to have a small increase in web traffic and sales, rather than none.
• Hitting the 120-200 minimum word count: Do this for all products in your online catalogue and avoid writing beyond this range. Writing too much could be a distraction to the potential sale.
• Uploading enticing images: Try to aim for at least three images per product, including one that shows it in use. You might also consider adding product-specific text to images that highlight dimensions and special features.
• Avoid copying manufacturer descriptions: Google will consider this duplicate content and you’ll end up taking a hit to your SEO.

Related: How to boost ecommerce search rankings in 8 steps

6.Leverage SEO with a blog

Blogging is the most efficient way to increase web traffic online. They serve many purposes but are often used for informational content. Even Airbnb and Paypal use blog posts to attract visitors to their site.

Here are just a few ways blogs can improve SEO rankings for your site:

• Drive organic traffic to your site: Incorporating long tail keywords into your posts can help bring new users into your site via Google.
• Increase dwell time: Posts that have engaging content will keep users on your site longer.
• Boost authority: Informational posts are often picked up by other sites who want to linkback to your site as a source.

Focus on quality over volume

When it comes to blog content, you want to ensure your posts offer users valuable information that’s helpful and relevant.

Don’t post articles for the sake of filling up space on your site.

Instead, aim to solve customer problems by answering common questions they might have.

For example, a wedding planner might write a long form article titled “What does a wedding planner do?” to address a common query users search for.

Remember to focus on one primary keyword per blog post and scatter it throughout the text naturally. Combining words like “How”, “What” and “Why” with your keyword will make it sound more helpful for users and Google alike.

Ensure your posts are easy to read

You can make readability more convenient for your users by:

• Using short sentences
• Keeping paragraphs concise
• Optimizing images for quicker page loads

This will allow users to quickly scan the text for information they need. Plus, it makes it easier for Google bots to crawl you site for ranking purposes.

Another best practise is to highlight important information by:

• Adding bold text
• Making bulleted points
• Italicizing blocks of text

Google’s John Mueller confirmed that bolding important words in a paragraph can improve SEO.

It’s also useful for ecommerce sites to include links to priority products and category pages on relevant blog posts. Just remember to make it sound natural and not too spammy.

Continue to audit older posts

Do revisit your old blog posts on a regular basis and update or extend them when possible. Google hates inactive dusty sites and will reward sites with fresh new content.

Don’t forget that your blog posts must also include a title tag and meta description. Be sure you include your keywords in the meta data and that it is up-to-date with Google’s standards.

Related: Blog post SEO: Step-by-step guide to writing a search-friendly blog article

7. Optimize images

Images are the second-most popular way to search online. They help users find what they’re looking for and serve as a visual guide in their buying journey.

But if you’re not optimizing your images before uploading, you might be missing out on valuable SEO rankings.

A couple of good ways you can improve SEO using images is so to:

• Include alt text: Alt text (aka image alt or alt attributes) helps search engines understand what the image is about. It also helps with accessibility for users with screen readers and displays when browsers can’t process images correctly.
• Compress images: This helps boost your on-page loading speed and can be done using Photoshop or by using a site like TingPNG before uploading.

Optimizing for both areas will make it easier for Google to crawl and decipher your site. But if you need a little more help with alt text, read the section below.

Key notes for writing alt text

Despite the latest advances in technology, search engine crawlers can’t see images like humans do. They must rely on the accompanying alt text to help them out.

One best practice for alt text is to keep it simple. These descriptions are meant be short and should include 125 characters or less (including spaces). There’s no need for gimmicks or extra filler worlds like “this is an image of …” Simply describe what the image is about in the most direct way possible.

For example, the alt text for the image above could be, “Close up of someone holding a pair of glasses.”

Image optimization made easy

GoDaddy’s Website Builder makes it easy to edit alt text on images. Simply click on an image insider the editor and write your alt text in the box designated for “Image description.”

You can also use GoDaddy’s Website Builder to automatically compress your images, along with any other large files you may have already uploaded.

8. Is your site mobile friendly?

Making your site mobile-friendly is an important factor for Google rankings. It’s a primary reason why mobile-first indexing was created and adds to the overall convenience for users on-the-go.

Users should be able to experience your website on a mobile or tablet device the same way they do on a desktop.

It needs to be easily accessible without needing to pinch or squeeze to view your content.

Google’s Mobile-Friendly tool is a great way to test your website when optimizing for mobile devices. Or if you don’t want to hassle with checking yourself, GoDaddy’s Website Builder has standard built-in mobile responsiveness.

9. Submit your sitemap

A sitemap helps search engines crawl your website and index it faster. It consists of a file that contains all the URLs on your page, plus metadata that shows each one’s importance and the date they were last updated.

If you’re not using GoDaddy or a content management system (CMS) like WordPress, you’ll need to create one using a tool like XML sitemap generator.

Submitting your sitemap to Google is the last step in this process. You can do this by logging into your Google Search Console (GSC) account and entering it in the “Sitemaps” tab in the side bar.

Backlinko has a great step-by-step guide if you need extra help importing your sitemap link into your account.

10. Experiment with backlinking

Sometimes other websites will link to your site when they want to refer to you as a source of information. This is considered backlinking and it helps boost your authority when Google notices they are coming from relevant and reputable websites.

Another tactic is to partner with other websites in your industry and guest blog on their site. This allows you to share your expertise with similar audiences so that you can backlink and gain new leads.

It also helps to include links to other relevant blogs on your site whenever you find valuable information you can share with your audience.

Additionally, Google and major search engines consider a backlink from a site you don’t own as a vote for your business. Numerous studies suggest that backlinks from quality websites can help increase a site’s rankings and traffic.

Related: How to get backlinks to a small business website

11. Local business

Local businesses can make use of additional opportunities in search engines with things like Google My Business (GMB). This allows brick and mortar or service businesses to reach local audiences in the surrounding area through rich search results.

In other words, your business can have a dedicated profile with Google that appears any time someone submits a query for relevant businesses in their area. It typically includes things like:

• Your website’s URL address
• Photos that highlight your business or services
• Customer reviews and more

All of this info can be optimized to improve SEO and there are plenty of other distinct things to do to increase website’s traffic locally. You can find more information about local SEO with this handy guide from our blog.

12. Measure your success

Google Analytics (GA) is a free tool for monitoring website traffic from any source. Many digital marketers use it to collect insight on:

• Target audiences
• Website performance
• Ad campaigns

However, it can be a bit intimidating if you’ve never used it before. GA contains a wide variety of reports and data that take time learning how to navigate.

It can also be a challenge to set it up, since it requires a bit of coding knowledge to get started.

To make things easier, GoDaddy’s Website Builder integrates with Google Search Console to track search engine performance for you. It also provides technical SEO suggestions to help improve your website.

Most plans for GoDaddy’s Website Builder also include a simplified window inside the platform for essential organic performance. This makes is so there’s no need to log in anywhere else until you’re ready for more advanced steps. It’s a great launching point for beginners interested in learning more about GA.

Check out Google Analytics’ Analytics Academy playlist for more information.

Final takeaways

If you want to have a competitive edge in today’s online marketplace, you need to ensure your business is ranking on search engines. The best way to do that is to improve SEO on your site, so that search bots can crawl it and easily determine what your site is about.

The more SEO-friendly your site is, the higher it’ll rank in search queries.

Users with GoDaddy’s Website Builder have the upper hand since it includes built-in benefits like:

• Standardized mobile optimization
• Automatic XML sitemaps that don’t need to be maintained
• SSL certificate with HTTPS for data encryption
• Access to Google Search Console

You also get the added benefit of 24/7 support in case you need extra help determining your next move. And you can even opt for additional plans (like GoDaddy’s SEO Services) to help boost your online presence even more.

Remember, improving SEO for your site is all about time and dedication. Now’s the time to jump in and capitalize on opportune moments that get your business noticed online.

Whether you’ve been an entrepreneur for five decades or five weeks, you know the importance of getting the word out about your business. One way to earn credibility and set yourself up as a subject expert is to get featured in the media. If you know how to use HARO (an online service that connects journalists and sources), you’ll be better equipped at getting your business noticed both offline and online.

But, what is HARO and how can it get your business media attention? I’m sharing everything you need to know about HARO below, along with how you can use it in your business practices. Keep reading to learn more.

What is HARO?

HARO stands for Help a Reporter Out. It began as a Facebook group in 2008 to help reporters and journalists gain feedback directly from the public. It later transitioned into a mailing list and was ultimately acquired by Vocus, Inc., which later merged with Cision Inc.

Before HARO was around, businesses often had to pay a publicist or public relations firm thousands of dollars to be featured in a media outlet. They may have also written and sent out their own press releases in hopes of getting lucky enough to get the attention of a journalist.

These days however, getting media attention can be as easy as answering queries sent to your email via HARO. It’s essentially a media and source matchmaking platform, where people can sign up as either journalists or sources.

A business can benefit from both options by strategizing connections accordingly. I’ll explain how to use HARO in more detail below.

How to use HARO as a journalist

When journalists sign up for the platform, they can post queries related to content they are developing. This content can be:

• Podcast episodes
• Radio programs
• Web content
• Newspaper articles
• Magazine articles
• Television programs and more

If you’re learning how to use HARO for the first time, it might help to view a visual breakdown. Here’s a peek at what a blank query looks like from my own account:

The journalist shares what media outlet the content is for and the outlet’s URL. They can then choose whether to remain anonymous or publicly share where the content will be published.

Next, they will include a short summary of what they are looking for, followed by a more in-depth query. The section beneath the query is reserved for requirements that sources must meet if they hope to be selected as a contributor.

Finally, journalists will fill out the deadline and submit their queries to HARO for approval. If they are approved (and not all of them are), the queries are then sent out to an email list of potential sources.

Typically, HARO will approve or deny the query about one or two business days prior to the deadline. If a journalist has a quick deadline and needs answers the same day, they can click “Urgent” and HARO will post the query on Twitter to get instant responses.

How to use HARO as a source

When a source is exploring how to use Haro for the first time, they’ll begin with the three step sign up form. Here, they can choose the frequency of emails they receive. Emails are sent out Monday through Friday in the morning, afternoon, and evening. They are then broken down into different categories that include subjects like:

• Business and Finance
• High Tech
• Biotech and Healthcare
• Energy and Green Tech
• Lifestyle and Fitness
• Sports
• Entertainment and Media
• Public Policy and Government
• Education
• General
• Giftbag
• Travel
• UK

The queries in the emails vary greatly depending on what journalists are seeking sources for. Some sample topics might include:

• How to be successful with cryptocurrency
• The best holiday gifts for men over 40
• Tips from relationship counselors on how to find a date using online dating services

I’ve also seen generic queries and ones that are so hyper-specific, I wonder if the journalist was able to even find a source at all! You honestly never know what will pop up as a query. Plus, anyone can sign up and learn how to use HARO for free.

Alternatively, Cision also offers premium subscriptions starting at $19 a month. This paid option gives you additional opportunities to increase your chances at getting featured. But It’s worth noting that a paid subscription doesn’t guarantee you’ll be chosen as a source.

My experience using HARO

As a journalist, I’ve learned how to use HARO for many different types of stories — including this post. Some of the queries I’ve sent out include:

• Podcast promotion tips
• Travel agent success ideas
• Tax deduction advice for small business owners and more

The reason I love HARO so much is because you can be as specific as you’d like with your query. You can then find the exact sources you’re looking for to help enhance your content and add credibility to your posts.

Why I like HARO’s anonymous feature

One you understand how to use HARO a little better, you might decide to utilize their anonymous feature in the settings. I always opt to make the outlet I’m gathering materials for as “anonymous” because I don’t like to share posts until they are live – or at least guaranteed to go live. Sometimes stories get killed midway through production and it can be very frustrating when you get an email from a source wondering what happened to the post.

Breaking the news that a post never went live could be quite disappointing for any sources involved.

I’ve also noticed that disclosing your outlet’s name sometimes skews the responses you get. For example, everyone wants to respond to a query from Forbes, but they may not want to respond to a query from a smaller website.

Note: If you are a journalist representing an online-only or business website, make sure to check out the HARO rules for journalists before getting started — especially if you’re not sure how to use HARO. You don’t want to violate any rules that could deny your query or ban your account.

Keys ways HARO has helped me

I’ve also used HARO as a source for both myself and for clients I ghostwrite for. It’s a fabulous tool for:

• Getting backlinks to your website
• Establishing yourself as an expert in your field
• Contributing to the content that matters to your niche

When the  queries go out in the morning, afternoon, and evening, there could be 50 or more responses per email. Again, queries are all broken down by category, so sources can skip to the subjects they want to contribute to.

I’ve never personally paid for HARO’s premium plans, and don’t know anyone who has either. But if you want to know how to use HARO with additional subscription-based features, here’s a glimpse at what they look like and what they offer:

What niches benefit the most from HARO?

I’ve yet to see a niche that wouldn’t benefit from learning how to use HARO. Because of the different categories, and the wide variety of queries created across all of the categories, I would bet that any business could find some kind of query to respond to – even if your business isn’t directly related to a category.

And, if your business doesn’t have anything to contribute the first time, you can always expect a new query within the next day, week or month.

It’s okay to hold out for the best queries you feel are a match.

Now that we’ve covered the basics of HARO, let’s take a closer look at how to use it to get your small business in the news!

How to use HARO to benefit your small business

First, the bad news. Don’t jump into HARO expecting to land a feature in Forbes the first day. While this can certainly happen, it’s highly unlikely. There are many small business owners just like you who know how to use HARO to get media attention.

Perhaps Sharon Geltner, a successful multimedia journalist who’s written for publications like Forbes and the New York Times, says it best:

“I won’t kid you, using HARO means I kiss a lot of frogs before I meet the prince. But it is well worth sorting through amphibians to eventually ascend to national media outlets – which would otherwise be very hard to do.”

With this in mind, here is my best advice on how to use HARO to get in the media:

1. Have a website up and running. Make sure to have an “about” page available, so journalists can learn more about you.
2. Sign up for an account as a source on HARO. This will grant you access to media queries you can respond to.
3. Choose the frequency of emails you would like to receive. Email newsletters are sent out to sources three times a day and can range from 10-100 queries.
4. Create a plan of attack. Think about what your business is all about, what market you are trying to serve, and which outlets align with your business values.

Editor’s note: If you need help setting up a website, check out GoDaddy’s Website Builder to easily get started with no tech experience necessary.

Pro Tip: Don’t respond to every query!

Instead, choose the ones that most resonate with your ideal audience. Seek out queries that you would be best suited as a source for.

Once you start receiving queries, read them carefully and start responding.

Be prepared to respond quickly!

Some journalists get dozens of pitches and don’t have time to read each one. They may decide to stop accepting pitches after receiving a few decent responses. Pitches that come in too late risk getting buried at the bottom of their priority list.

For example, one of my most recent HARO queries had 56 responses and I was only able to use 11. Though I got a lot of great responses, I went in the order I received them and chose the first 11 that worked for my content. I didn’t even read the rest!

However, that’s not to say you should rush when responding to queries – not by any means. Always give thorough and well thought out responses, but don’t wait several hours to figure out who you want to respond to.

Real world examples of how to use HARO for your business

To help you determine your plan of attack, let’s look at some real world examples of sources that know how to use HARO successfully.

Hugo Guerreiro, The Men Hero

Hugo Guerreiro, founder of lifestyle and men’s fashion blog The Men Hero, says that HARO has been wonderful for building his domain authority with backlinks. He says, “It’s free and takes less time than pitching to other websites to provide you with a link or write a guest post. I have built all my backlinks with HARO, since my answers have been chosen multiple times. I would advise anyone who wants to improve their blog authority to answer HARO questions.”

Jackie Blanchard, Fortress Development Solutions

Jackie Blanchard is a social media marketing specialist for the construction development company, Fortress Development Solutions. She says HARO has been great at getting “niche industry opportunities” and adds that it has also helped her company “get in front of a national audience.”

“The more articles we can collaborate in, the more opportunities our potential customers will have to find us. HARO is very user-friendly and we get emails daily with potential opportunities. I scroll through and if we’re a good fit I reach out and share our story.”

Her best advice for sources looking to get selected is to be open. “The more information you share, the more likely you will get chosen for follow-ups.” She also notes that it helps to get email notifications, so you can be among the first to respond. “Always answer all questions and offer your company for future needs.”

Additionally, your response should be thorough, yet straight to the point. I’ve gotten responses that were as short as one sentence and as long as three pages. The three pages were overkill!

Stephen Curry, CocoSign

Stephen Curry is the CEO of the online signature platform, CocoSign. He says that HARO has become the best means of getting his business featured in the media and that it has “proven to be the best backlink generation technique.”

His best advice for sources is to:

“Read the requirements that the reporter has given. If you feel that you have a unique point of view and insight on that query, use your best words to describe it as clearly as possible, and you’ll see that query getting accepted in no time. The chances of getting selected as a source get much higher when you provide credible content in less time.”

Related: How to get backlinks to a small business website

Patty Malowney, Badass Web Goddess

Patty Malowney is the social media marketing and SEO expert for Badass Web Goddess. Her best advice on how to use HARO is to:

“Use HARO consistently every day. They send out queries three times a day. Go through every single one of them. If you miss one, you could miss an opportunity. When you find a query that interests you, respond back promptly. Make sure what you write is quote-worthy. Think about whether or not the author can easily use what you say in a quote. If not, condense what you have to say into a bite-size quote.

Don’t get discouraged. You have to send pitches regularly and be patient. Sometimes you won’t hear anything back for a month or longer. If you stick with it, you’ll get better at your pitches and will be selected more often.”

Alex Shute, FaithGiant

Alex Shute, founder and chief editor of the Christian lifestyle website FaithGiant, says, “HARO has been a reliable source of media attention for our website and the best way to utilize HARO is to choose queries that are related to your website’s main topic and interest.”

His best advice for getting selected as a source is to write answers that are “straight to the point yet incorporate your own experiences related to the queries.” He also adds that your goal for answering should be “both helpful and genuine.”

When it comes to the length of your answers, Shute recommends aiming for a happy medium:

“It’s all about finding the right balance between one that’s short enough for both the recipient and the would-be readers to not lose interest easily, but also be long enough to be informative, engaging, and compelling. This can be the difference between someone opening it or sending it to the trash. A well-written answer to the HARO query can save the day.”

Remember, the end-game is to offer answers with substance in a timely manner.

Greg Jenkins, Bravo Productions

Greg Jenkins, founder and partner of Bravo Productions, has been using HARO for the last 13 years. He says “it has been a great experience in not only getting our company’s name out to global audiences, [but] it’s also been beneficial in educating consumers and various audience demographics about the profession.”

To highlight his point, Jenkins notes that “topics run the gamut” and can include examples like:

• Quick party fixes for Health & Fitness Magazine
• Budget tips for websites like Brides.com
• Super Bowl party tips for publications like the Atlanta Journal & Constitution
• Party planning advice for Costco Connection Magazine
• Security and risk management advice for publications like Smart Meetings

He takes things a step further by sharing any content his company is mentioned in on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and more. This helps Jenkins:

• Build up his social fan base
• Set himself up as an expert in event planning
• Increase brand awareness

Knowing how to use HARO helps give your small business the upper hand in marketing and Jenkins reports:

“We find using HARO is a means to distinguish our company from the masses and competitors. There are a plethora of event and party planning companies in every city. When included in an article, it’s one way to distinguish our company from those who may not receive the same media exposure.”

His best advice for a source is to, “Be specific in your answers. Vague responses to questions will not help the journalists or the end reader if your input adds little to nothing in the story.”

Jenkins also adds that you’ll want to make sure you edit and utilize spell check for grammar before sending responses to journalists. He suggests keeping an eye out for typos and making yourself available for any follow-up questions.

Linda Pophal, Strategic Communications

Linda Pophal, founder and owner of Strategic Communications, uses HARO as both a source and a journalist. She says the most important thing is to “only respond to pitches that you are truly qualified for.”

Pophal also notes that HARO, in her opinion, has been overrun “by trash responses from people [clearly] seeking only to attain backlinks.” She adds that these responses often use content generation tools to develop their responses, which typically don’t offer any valuable insights to her queries.

“If you don’t have the credentials [or] expertise the reporter is looking for, don’t respond. If you do, and do so repeatedly, you’ll fall off their radar screen and likely be blocked. I have a number of names I’m now familiar with that I now delete responses from without even looking at them because their input has been so irrelevant or off the mark.”

Finally, she acknowledges that journalists are busy and more likely to use “detailed written responses than to take time to interview sources.”

“Providing relevant detailed information can boost the odds that your input will be used. A side benefit is that, since you’ve actually documented your response you’re more likely to be quoted accurately.”

Ryan Stewman, Break Free Academy

Ryan Stewman, founder of Break Free Academy, reports that the two most important things for him are consistency and delivering value. He says:

 “I’ve been using HARO for three years now. I answer one to two email queries daily. If you add it up, that’s 700 or so opportunities per year to get published from HARO.”

When it comes to getting published, Stewman says his experience as a source is to “give the reporter the information they are looking for.”

“Most people fail to get published because they made their replies about themselves, instead of about the needs of the reporter. The key to getting the most out of HARO is to consistently answer queries daily, and answer them according to what you think the reporter wants information on, not about yourself.”

Key takeaways and next steps

To close things out, I’ve rounded out some final tips to get your business featured in the media using HARO:

1. Don’t wait. Start learning how to use Haro right away. There are hundreds of opportunities every week, and your business might have the exact insights journalists (like me) are looking for.
2. Give thorough and valuable responses. Read queries carefully and answer all questions appropriately. If you want to get selected, holding back won’t do you any good.
3. Answer truthfully and don’t hype yourself up. No one likes to find out their source isn’t as amazing as they claim to be. It’s also a quick way to land yourself on a blacklist for many websites.
4. Have a bio and headshot ready. Many journalists will want to feature your information alongside your quote or answer to a query.
5. Don’t forget to include contact information. Add this to your emails in case a journalist wants to follow-up.
6. Keep pitching via source requests. You never know who is looking for a source, or which pitches will be selected.

What are you waiting for? Sign up for HARO and start working on getting your business in the news today!

A website is good for business. But, a strategic website that aligns with your business and marketing goals is great for business. Whether you are getting ready to launch a website or you already have an existing site, your business needs to develop a website strategy that elevates the effectiveness of your website and makes it more useful to you and your customers.

Let’s look at what a website strategy is, why you need one, and how you can develop one in four simple steps.

What is a website strategy?

It’s not enough for your website to look good. It also needs to work well — and that means successfully engaging audiences and driving them through a funnel that leads them to take steps toward working with your brand.

That’s where a website strategy comes in.

A website strategy is a plan of action that directs the content, layout and funnel on your business website.

It considers your business objectives and then outlines the ways your website can align with those plans to actively help you reach your goals.

When you develop a website strategy, you answer questions like:

• Who will visit our website? How will they find it?
• What do audiences need when they visit our website? What information are they looking for?
• What messaging would resonate with our target audience?
• What do we want people to do when they visit our website?
• How can we move people through the website page by page?
• How does the website move our business closer to our goals?

When you have answers to these questions, you can determine what content, messaging and calls-to-action you need on your website so it can effectively help you reach your business goals.

How to develop a website strategy in four steps

Whether you are starting a new website or updating an existing site, here are four steps to develop a website strategy that can make your website more effective. Consider these website strategy examples as you lay out a plan for your site.

1. Define your website goals

It will be practically impossible to develop a website strategy if you don’t know the goals for your website.

If you don’t know what you want your website to do, how can you set it up to drive action?

Goals are the foundation that directs your website strategy. There are a variety of goals for a website, and the type of goals you have will direct the approach you take with your website. Goals in website strategy examples might be:

Goal: Increase organic search rankings.

Approach: Create a content strategy for SEO.

Goal: Build trust and educate your customers.

Approach: Develop sales pages and educational, thought-leadership blog posts.

Goal: Showcase your work.

Approach: Build a portfolio or case study library.

Goal: Generate leads.

Approach: Build gated content assets.

Goal: Drive sales and online orders.

Approach: Build an online store.

Keep in mind that there are many goals for a website. Don’t be too broad with your goals, and don’t set too many.

Identify two or three primary goals, and optimize your site to reach those objectives.

Giving your audience too many things to do or filling your site with too many options can lead to lower effectiveness.

As you develop a website strategy, make at least one of your goals aligned with driving customers toward doing business with you, such as joining your email list, contacting you, or buying or scheduling. Outline an on-site funnel to lead them toward that action.

2. Outline your on-site funnel

An on-site funnel is a series of steps you present to website visitors to guide them closer to working with your business.

You want a website visitor to do something to help them on their customer journey  before they leave your site. This may mean entering their email address and becoming a lead or making a purchase and becoming a customer.

Whatever your intended goal, create an on-site funnel that guides website visitors closer toward doing business with you.

Start with the pages that a new website visitor lands on and then use calls-to-action to lead them page by page to where they can take the final action. A website strategy example might be a lawn and garden business that wants to drive website visitors to schedule a service. The on-site funnels for this site might be:

• A homepage that starts by funneling website visitors to either a residential or commercial landing page that explains the details of the service and has a button to schedule.
• A blog post that speaks to homeowners about the best way to keep their yard properly watered and ends with a call-to-action button to schedule a residential lawn service.

End each page on your website with a call-to-action that guides visitors toward the next step to working with you.

3. Define your target audience

Many businesses miss this step in their website development process. Or, they make their target audience category too broad.

For example, a hair salon might say anyone who needs a haircut and lives near their business is their target audience. This is a mistake. The salon likely caters to a specific type of clientele (it may be kid-friendly, specialize in up-dos for women or great at razor cuts for men). The website should speak to that specific audience.

Avoid filling your site with generic copy that speaks to all audiences.

Hone in on your ideal customer and create copy that resonates directly with them. When they land on your website, let them know your business is the place for them and what they need to do to work with you.

Related: Build and use your ideal customer profile and personas

4. Create or update your pages and posts

Once you have your goals, on-site funnel and target audience, you can start the content creation and optimization process. Start creating and updating the pages and posts you need to align with your website strategy.

• Outline the pages you need on your site to guide website visitors toward the primary end goal of your site (becoming a lead, buying something, etc.).
• Create content that speaks directly to your audience.
• End each page and post with a call-to-action that drives website visitors through your on-site funnel.
• Do keyword research to find terms that might attract your audience, and optimize your pages to match those keywords.
• Remove pages that don’t serve your goals or on-site funnel.

Also, consider if you need to modify your site structure and navigation to make it as easy as possible for website visitors to find what they need, take the steps toward working with your business and help you reach your business goals.

Develop a website strategy to drive better business results

Setting up a website for your business is more than buying a domain, setting up hosting and building a few pages. You also need to develop a website strategy that guides the direction, purpose and planning of your new site.

Follow the steps in this post to develop a website strategy for your business. Then, get to work on updating your existing site or planning your new website.