Today’s blog is a guest blog. For the 2nd time in five days, my wife is having surgery, and I need to be there (not related to last week, and not terribly serious — still, she’s under anesthesia). So I’m offering an article sent to me recently by Sarah Williams, a writer at Gloc Media in the UK.
Williams’ article is written for voice-actors, but the points could be applied to any freelance occupation.
Thanks, Sarah!
CourVO
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Keywords and Search Engine Optimization for Voice Actors
To succeed at acquiring a new job one must attain prominence above the crowd. This is no different for voice actors, from distributing demo tapes to attending auditions, recognition is key to granting the desired outcome of being hired. Time after time, it those who boast their skills and potential that remain the most prosperous. However, such tactics are not merely employable only within the physical setting.
With social and technological constructs altering and a wavering financial climate, a cultural shift towards the digital landscape has occurred. In correlation with this, digital marketing is seen to be one of the few industries to increase during this period of recession. Individuals, small groups and corporations are utilizing the vast capabilities of the Internet to benefit their products, services and brands through a multitude of techniques. Aside from the current hype surrounding social media networking and mobile/app-based browsing, there is one field that has been of constant importance since the inception of the Internet.
Search Engine Optimization (or SEO for short) is the practice of creating and altering content in order to increase its visibility through higher search engine rankings. SEO is a large field comprising of numerous procedures, tactics and strategies unto itself. As previously mentioned, social media now plays a large component in the gaining, connection and reach of an audience. However, SEO continues to play a vital role in garnering a larger and stronger online presence. Even though Search Engine Optimization can require considerable knowledge to fully harness its power, there are a few approaches to SEO that even the novice can employ. Utilizing such tools can enhance traffic and rankings substantially, ultimately leading to greater exposure and heightening the frequency of opportunities.
As apparent in any specialized sector, technical terminology becomes a second language. While this can be daunting, some easy-to-understand disciplines inherent to SEO become masked in complexity due to the phrase being foreign to the average, uninformed reader. Although such practices can be exposed and thus understood by those new to Search Engine Optimization, even concepts available to the beginner should be viewed as, ‘A day to learn, years to master.’ However, this should not deter the professional voice actor, as positive and noticeable results will be seen promptly even through seemingly basic and foundational SEO conventions. Below is a critical factor and element that is, and forever will be, addressed in all SEO-based strategies.
‘Keywords’ and their attached disciplines constitute the prime makeup of a successful SEO campaign. The term ‘Keywords’ is fairly self-explanatory, in that it represents the fundamental words or phrases that are associated with a designated field. When an individual inputs a query into a search engine, they are doing so by typing keywords. It is their hope that the keywords they have searched with will guide them to a place on the Internet that fulfils their desired location and result. Think of keywords as encompassing and advertising your primary content, as well as providing roadmap-like directions for Google and such to locate you.
With this in mind, voice actors should use niche and industry specific keywords throughout the content of their website. In order to uncover which keywords to use on a site or blog, keyword research should be undertaken. Focusing on which keywords to associate with your website is a crucial step to take in order to progress your online presence. There are many online tools to help you uncover trending and frequently searched for keywords relevant to your occupation. Previously named Keyword Tool, Google’s Keyword Planner is an excellent place to begin your research. Whilst Google provides detailed tutorials and FAQs on how to use Keyword Planner, you will find numerous hints, tips and tricks regarding this platform across the Web.
Once you have complied a list of keywords and phrases applicable to Voice Over, now is time to deploy such data to your advantage. There are various sections of a website that can include keywords, all of which should be utilized in order to create SEO benefits. However, be respectful towards keyword density, frequency and prominence. Guidelines and and structures relating to these three principles are widely written about, a general search querying ‘SEO copywriting’ or ‘SEO Keyword density’ will draw you a library of helpful resources. Preferably, one should disperse and incorporate chosen keywords into the following areas; title of the page, the URL, anchor text (word or phrase containing a hyperlink), within the general body of the text (most commonly found amongst sections such as About Me, Past Experience, Skills etc), and META description.
The latter might sound fairly technical, however the META description is an imperative component to your website. The META description attribute is a piece of code that describes your page to search engines. It acts as the snippet or abstract that readers see in search engine results underneath the link to your website. With having already acquired relevant keywords through keyword research techniques, be sure to create a META description that heavily uses your keywords. Inputting a META description into a website’s HTML differs depending on the platform used for hosting and publishing your content. Simply search for your content management system’s name (e.g. WordPress.org) and “insert META description” to find out how to complete the process.
Tackling and understanding search engine optimization can truly increase a voice over career through broadening its online reach. With largervoice over agencies fully exercising digital marketing’s potential, take it as a sign that you should too. Refrain from worrying about fancy page design and flash videos for now, it is the bare bones of a website located within its HTML structure and body of text that will generate you visitors if constructed properly via SEO tactics.
