SEO for Artists

Background

I’m Lorna Boschman. I run a website called Digital Stories Canada, a collection of short videos, tutorials and blog posts related to community digital storytelling. I have been trying to figure out how to share my site with artists like me who collaborate with community members. Over time, I’ve learned a few techniques to share about how artists can use SEO to connect with our audiences.

At first, it seemed impossible. How would someone find my site out of the billions of sites online? I realized (after going through a bunch of online tutorials) that my potential audience will use a specific phrase or keywords to find my site. I realized that, with a little effort, my site had the potential to be noticed.

In practical terms, Digital Stories Canada could rank in the top ten for specific search engine keywords or phrases and so, reach a new audience. My goal is to have the site rank for the search term, digital stories. I want like-minded people find out how artists in British Columbia Canada are working with communities.

Top Ten Results for Keywords

Here’s something incredible. When I checked on my keyword phrase “digital stories,” I found that my site was ranking #1 in Canada for that keyword. This is why I care about SEO. Search Engine Optimization. Naturally there are two paid ads that appear before the Digital Stories Canada link appears.

When I looked more closely, I realized that’s likely only the rank in Vancouver due to my site being located here. More accurately, my site is in the top ten for the search term “digital stories.”

Most people do not use the term “digital stories” in daily conversation. It is a specialized term with limited visibility. I had to shift my thinking to understand why people would want to visit. And the route that visitors would follow to find Digital Stories Canada.

Google search results for digital stories
Google search results for digital stories on 21 September 2022

A Google search for the phrase “digital stories” led to #1 result in Vancouver Canada

Give some thought to how folks search for your site. The search terms that visitors use to find you are called keywords. When you use the same keywords on your site as your visitors are searching for, your chance of connecting increases. The more expertise you demonstrate to Google, the more your site is treated as a trusted source of information.

SEO is all about making your website more visible to Search Engines like Google. So folks can find you and come for a visit.

Imagine somebody is searching on the Internet. You don’t know what’s in their mind and you don’t know who they are. Anything that they put into that Search Engine is potentially a doorway into your world.

As you work through the tutorials in my SEO Tutorial for Artists, you’ll develop a clearer strategy. An SEO strategy can help your site place in the top 10 search engine results for your keywords or keyword phrases.

We’ll explore how to figure out the keywords people used to find your site by adapting commercial SEO tools for the needs of artists. Let’s get started.

Below the complete digital stories that I mention in the video introduction:

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts

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