SEO strategies for the trained eye can be seen on the first pages of a search engine. However, an ordinary web user, they’re simply browsing through their gadgets and finding something interesting. Taking advantage of a web user’s habit of looking around the internet is the highlight of digital marketing.
However, to catch their attention you will have to make use of different methods and ways to keep them engaged in your content and ultimately lead them to the path of a purchaser or client.
How do we do that? Using Search Engine Optimisation of course. Listed below are 9 powerful strategies for SEO that can help you reach the full potential of your content and create brand awareness for your company while increasing organic traffic.
What is SEO?
Before learning about SEO strategies, it’s important to understand what SEO stands for. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of increasing your brand’s visibility in search engines such as Google and Bing.
When people search for products, services, or information on topics you provide, the goal of SEO is to improve your ranking on search engine pages to increase traffic within your information and have them engaged. It’s a form of digital marketing that attracts users to become regular customers and generate traffic to your website.
However, it’s also possible to use paid search, called Search Engine Marketing (SEM). Unlike SEO, which deals primarily with optimising your content through organic traffic, SEM refers to paying for search engines to promote your content depending on the keywords that users search for.
Why is SEO important in your business?
The reason why SEO is important is because of its capability to increase your visibility to potential customers online. With an excellent search engine ranking, users who use search engines to look up products or services will see your company’s related products first before anyone else's.
Of course, with or without paid search, content optimisation is still required. This means that placing relevant keywords, link building, and giving factual information on your products and services will boost your ranking. High-quality content with the perfect tone, visual aid, and updated information is required to maintain your spot in the search engine ranking pages (SERP).
Not only will it allow you to be more visible to your target audience, but it can also improve your brand’s reputation online and attract multitudes of customers you wouldn’t be able to attract without proper optimisation.
9 SEO Tips to Maximise Its Power
Despite all this information on SEO, there are still a few things you need to learn before you can fully maximise its potential for your brand. Here are 9 SEO tips that can increase your brand’s ranking and develop your content in the digital world.
Keyword Research & Targeting
The backbone of SEO strategies always includes keyword research and targeting. The potential of your optimisation won’t have a path to focus on if you don’t have an ideal target in mind. Backed up by research on your business and your audience, consider creating an ideal target for your company and understand their interests and personality.
An example of this would be a business that sells pet goods. Your ideal target would be someone who adores their pets. Does your business cater to all kinds of pets? Are your products more medicinal, food-related, or grooming? The prices are also something you should take into consideration.
Once you have all that in mind, create interesting topics and content to boost your brand’s visibility. While doing so, utilise SEO tools such as Ahrefs and SEMRush to learn the keywords related to the topics you create. Make sure not to keyword stuff and spread them out evenly to create more chances of ranking up, thanks to high-quality content.
Content Creation for SEO
SEO strategies can go far depending on the different combinations of the methods put together. However, the content itself is what pulls viewers towards the brand as well. Even if you rank high up on SERP, if your content has little value users will likely leave your website quickly.
Focus on creating unique content that caters to your targets. Make sure that each piece of content is original, empathises with your audience, and is visually appealing to the users.
Having content that is original and backed up on facts is also more believable to users than those without any backed-up sources. Research the topics you discuss in your content first before creating anything else. Remember, your brand’s credibility also stands on the line. If users find out that what you’ve written on your content is false, they lose their trust or any relationship that was painstakingly built.
In terms of appearance, it also has to relate to your ideal target’s interests and personality. Some prefer an organised and minimalist design. Meanwhile, others like colourful and loud designs. This all depends on their interests, the nature of your business, and what the content itself is about.
Once you have an eye-catching visual presentation (whether video or image) combined with factual information, your content will boost in ranking.
Analyse the First Page
SEO strategies also include comparing and analysing the work of your competitors. Specifically, ones that have ranked first on search engines. What did they do right? Or what are the keywords they used? What about the links?
Understanding and analysing your competitors does not mean you should directly copy what they did. However, it does give you a headstart on what to do. This means you can either create more unique content about a similar topic or take it up a notch and make a wider or more specific variant of the topic itself.
What we mean by a wider or more specific version relates to lists in general. Having lists that say “10 best…” or something of that nature are called lists. If your competition dominated the SERP by using lists, consider adding more entries to your content.
However, sometimes it’s better to create unique content rather than trying to outshine your competitors. Judge your options accordingly before committing to any actions.
Mobile-Friendliness
SEO strategies can only go so far without mobile optimisation. Why? Because of the evolution of modern society’s habits. Modern humans rely on the Internet more heavily than ever before. Its convenience and easy access has also evolved since its invention.
That means people no longer have to use their desktops or laptops just to access the Internet. They can simply turn on their phones or tablets anywhere at any time.
If a user has your attention on your SEO content, they will naturally become more engaged as they read through or learn more about your business. However, if the content itself isn’t optimised for mobile phones or tablets, they will immediately retract.
To prevent unnecessary loss of engagement, it’s better to solve the issue beforehand. Optimising your content in a way that it won’t be difficult to read both on desktops and mobile gadgets will increase your ability to reach your target audiences and overall engagement.
Backlinks that Promote Your Content
Backlinking may not be the most glamorous of SEO strategies, but it’s the key to creating a domain authority for your content. Backlinking is when websites link your content to their websites or vice versa.
Doing so creates something similar, like a “popular vote” on the content linked as a bridge between two websites.
Depending on the number of backlinks you receive on your content, search engines will automatically understand that your content is the main source of information for other websites. This will greatly increase your ranking and help you dominate the SERP.
User Experience (UX) and Voice Search
The world today embraces inclusivity, and so do SEO strategies. Every user counts when it comes to engagement, promotion, and purchasing power. That’s why tools such as voice search have become available to everyone.
When people are having difficulty typing what they want to look into because of various reasons, voice search is usually the answer. A hands-free way of speaking to your AI assistant on your phone who automatically looks up the results of your search from the search engines will appear.
When done right, you can have all voice searches looking into the topic of your content to respond with yours and not your competitors. Utilise voice search that can analyse locations, increase your brand’s reputation and become more compatible with your user’s experience.
Continuous Update of Content
Outdated content will do no good for you or your SEO strategies. Remember that content, no matter how visually appealing or optimised, won't rank long if the content itself is outdated. This includes new changes to specific items or news of the content being discussed.
Time eventually catches up on information that is written in your content. Remain up-to-date with your products, services, and the news or trends within your company’s market to stay ahead in the game.
EEAT
For a long time, SEO strategies followed the phrase “EAT” as a rule. However, there has been an upgrade to this phrase. Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (EEAT) is now the new phrase.
Your content must have a tone of authority regarding the content you have written. Having a sense of confidence and understanding about the topic at hand gains a sense of trustworthiness to what is written below.
That being said, the most important thing to gain such authority is to provide your expert knowledge of the topic at hand. This also means using your experience handling previous customers or their concerns. Building a relationship with the users wherein they acknowledge your understanding and their needs of the topic will keep them engaged. Meanwhile, misinformation and lack of any of the “EEAT” principles will have an adverse effect.
Technical SEO Optimisation
We know what you’re thinking. Technical? Isn’t SEO the peak of technology by optimising user search intent on itself? Yes, it is. However, there are even more technical aspects that directly affect your ranking on search engines that don't involve your content at all.
Let’s say a user has become engaged with the content you’ve written down which they found on the search engine. They click on the link to learn more about your information, products, and services. However, if the loading speed is slow or the functions of your website’s navigation are malfunctioning, what would they do?
Of course, just like any other person, they would likely leave your website and look into your competitors.
That’s why optimising your website and creating seamless functionality is a necessity. Making sure that your website has easy-to-understand navigation with visually appealing designs can keep your potential customers reading through your articles and products without losing faith in your credibility.
Conclusion
Concluding these 9 different methods of maximising SEO strategies won’t be enough to dominate search engines. However, it’s a great head start to prepare these methods and begin your SEO journey.
All of these combined can create a foolproof ranking that can get your company on the top searches which eventually creates a wide target audience and presence difficult to ignore for consumers.
The process of using SEO alone can be daunting for those just beginning to scratch the surface. If you require SEO specialists to assist with your website’s traffic goals, feel free to contact us today for a free consultation!
