How to Optimize Your Proz Profile. Part 2
(improving SEO of your page)
Once I wondered why Proz.com profiles of some translators rank better than others in search results for the same keywords. So, I combined the knowledge gained from the University of California course on search engine optimization with my experience of using Proz.com. As a result, I found out proven ways for improving the SEO performance of a Proz.com page. Here they are, and I hope they will help you to attract some valuable cooperations.
Related post: How to optimize your Proz profile. Part 1.
Table of contents:
Tagline
What I’m Working On
Tags
Links
Professional membership
One of the most significant aspects of Search Engine Optimization are keywords. They're words and terms which people use to search for content they need online. For your profile to be found online, it needs to contain relevant keywords for your business. Hence, in the three first chapters, I talk about where on Proz.com profile page you can place your keywords.
What words or phrases potential clients could be using to search for language services you provide? The more specific your keywords are, the better. Ideally, they should include your language pair and area of specialization. E.g., Italian to German legal translator or English to Ukrainian subtitles translator.
Search engines see your tagline as the main keyword of a profile, so it’s essential to have one. Your tagline should match search terms by which you’d like to be discovered by potential clients. With a professional membership, you can add a tagline in multiple languages. This way, clients from different markets can find you online.
Moreover, a tagline is required for your profile to be complete. Profile completion is another essential factor for visibility of your name on Proz. To find out more about this, check this post: How to optimize your Proz profile. Part 1.
What I’m working on is a section of your profile where you can tell the world about your current projects. You can opt for posting this information privately for your reference. I would recommend doing it publicly, so search engines can see it too and help you drive traffic to your profile.
WIWO helps you meet another SEO requirement for ranking well. Search engines like sites and pages which are regularly updated with fresh content. Since WIWO is basically a mini blog of your profile, it can be a pretty powerful SEO tool. It will make your profile more appealing for the search engines and might help it rank better in results.
You can focus on posting about your projects in a particular field if that’s the kind of work you are trying to get more of. WIWO posts don’t have to be long — one sentence is perfectly enough. Make sure to include very specific keywords. Here’s a link to a page with all WIWO posts feed for you to get an idea.
Another place for including keywords on your profile is at the bottom of your page, under the Bio section. You can add as many keywords and in as many languages as you need. That way, clients from different countries can discover your profile.
The more websites link to your page, the higher the SEO score of that page is. This helps you get more visibility in search results and profile visits from potential clients. You could insert a link to your Proz page in different places to increase the number of links leading to your page. This can be social media bio, website, email signature etc. It can also help drive traffic, which is good for SEO too).
By the way, here’s a fantastic tool for generating cool email signatures (not sponsored).
You can get a “full benefit of Proz.com's high rank in Google and other search engines” (source) if you become their professional member. Basically, your page will appear higher in the search results for relevant requests. This can help you land more interesting cooperations. I regularly see traffic coming from search engines since becoming a paying member. Besides that, my Proz page ranks among the top 5 search results for my main keywords in major search engines since then.
Related post: Is Proz Membership Worth It?
