Why does your company need it? Simply put, it is the foundation for digital marketing. These efforts lead to your website being found online and users clicking through to learn more, which can ultimately result in conversions and/or purchases. Without an effective SEO strategy, it’s practically impossible to have a successful web presence.
As we progress more into the digital world, SEO is becoming much more competitive. Both large industries and smaller firms are on the same level, tools like SEO can make a radical impact on your business. This doesn’t mean that you need the marketing efforts of massive companies. They have the ability to work effectively with large resources, but you can achieve a similar direction by simply being smart with how you implement SEO. When people think of SEO, they think keywords. While they are important, it isn’t the only aspect to SEO and digital marketing.
Keywords
Keywords make up the foundation for SEO as keywords were the focus of marketers in the early days.Keywords reflect search queries that you want your website to rank for, and can be either short-tail or long-tail. Short-tail keywords are very concise, often more general terms, whereas long-tail keywords are typically phrases, questions, or sentences.To increase the chance of ranking for a particular search,keyword should be incorporated within the page’s content and headings as well as in your social media. This tells Google that your content is relevant to the search being conducted and should appear in results returned to the user.
It’s important to be careful what exactly you are doing. It’s easy to think that by simply plugging a keyword into a web page as many times as possible will increase your chances of ranking. That tactic could have gotten by 10 years ago, but search engines have come a long way in that time and it’s no longer that straightforward. You should find ways to incorporate the keyword naturally into the content a few times, but like anything else overdoing it will just ruin it for the reader.
Content
One main area that you can focus on for keywords is by buffing up your digital content. Website content quality has become one of the more important areas of focus for SEO, as shadier tactics have gone by the wayside. Content that educates and engages an audience is widely more favored as this is going to give you a better likelihood of matching with a relevant user.
You can develop quality web pages by utilizing a variety of content types, such as blogs, images, and videos as well as making the message and goal of each page’s content unique. By informing your visitor about something thing they didn’t already know while avoiding looking too pushy, you’ll encourage them to dig deeper into your website and learn more. It’s all about adding value, so write content for your users, it’s easier for both search engines and your potential audience if you keep your message informative and consistent.
User Experience
One of the more recent addition to the growing list of SEO factors is user experience, which refers to the positive or negative experience a visitor has while on and interacting with your website. Having an organized layout ,easy navigation and clear calls-to-action create a better user experience and encourage people to stay and explore more of your site and content.
With an increase in searches and website visits coming from mobile devices, a mobile-friendly site is no longer an option; it’s a necessity. If users have to pinch the screen to zoom in and out in order to read your content, they’ll likely give up before completing a conversion and maybe even seek out a competitor’s help.
Aside from the mere functionality of your website, user experience is highly dependent on how your company’s personality comes across. Content that is personable and focused on meeting a consumer’s need will create a more positive experience and indicate that you’re a trustworthy and approachable company to work with.
How To Start
It’s important to first take a look at your current site and think of a hashed through SEO strategy. Is your current site targeting the users you need to be targeting? Does each web page within your site have a specific goal or purpose? After you’ve given an honest assessment of your site, you can then begin the process of promotion. Social media in particular is critical because your target audience is likely on at least one social network and there are SEO benefits associated with a social presence. If search engines see that you’re regularly updating your profiles and sharing helpful information via social channels, they’ll take that into consideration when it comes to your rankings.
The most important takeaways are to always adhere to SEO best practices and to put yourself in the position of the audience you’re marketing to. If you’re bored or turned off by the content or structure of your website, there’s a good chance visitors will be too.