When it seems like everyone is on the internet, your business needs to be there, too. But with so many products and services available online, how do you stand out from the crowd? Thankfully, the answer is simple: SEO (search engine optimization).
But how can you use SEO effectively and simplify your strategy to boost business? Learn critical insights into the SEO process here.
The Basics of SEO
SEO is the process of improving your website to meet search engine standards and increase your visibility with users.
When people search for services and products related to your business, SEO strategies increase your likelihood of appearing at the top of search results. This then gives you more of a chance of attracting more customers, generating more leads and sales, and expanding your brand as a whole.
And in the 21st century, neglecting search engine optimization is not an option. As the digital world evolves and is fixed as an integral part of the generation we live in today, SEO can make or break your business.
SEO includes various aspects of your online presence. This includes how your website is designed, the keywords you use, who links to your pages, and more. And from a monetary perspective, your approach can be the difference between converting those numbers into sales or, quite simply, the opposite.
When you’re new to the SEO world, hiring an agency like BRANDefenders can help you navigate all these tactics.
How Does SEO Work?
Search engines use internet bots (automated software applications programmed to do specific tasks) to crawl through different pages on the web. They go from site to site, collect lots of information about each page, and put them in an index. In simple terms, the index houses all of this data so that search engines can easily pluck out the web page containing the information that a user searches for.
Algorithms evaluate the pages in the index and consider many different factors to determine which web page should rank the highest on Google for that particular search query. This is why a smart SEO strategy is so important, as the key tactics can play a significant part in how high your website and content rank online.
To split this into simple sections and for you to get the most out of your SEO game plan, you’ll need to be aware of some of the best practices of SEO. Understanding and incorporating these characteristics will help you increase your organic rankings on Google and avoid spammy SEO tactics. All of which can have the capacity to penalize your content and decrease how high you rank in search engines.
Ready to take your optimization knowledge to the next level and implement it into your digital marketing strategy? Below is a simple guide of 3 factors that will help you to stratosphere your business to success and that we use here on the BRANDefenders team:
1. Choose Keywords Carefully
Every brand has it’s own demographic, and you must cater to that for your business to thrive. Knowing your demographic allows you to tailor your marketing efforts to these customer base segments. This is why it’s so important to optimize your content with targeted keywords. Otherwise, you won’t reach your audience.
Putting it simply, targeted keywords are terms and phrases that your customers search for regularly. They should also be directly tied to the products or services you offer.
Not sure what keywords to use? Speak with the BRANDefenders team to learn more. But here are some places you can start your hunt for your digital marketing words.
Keyword Research
This is locating relevant, effective, and profitable keywords that relate to your brand, website, and the search intentions of your audience. Here at BRANDefenders, we conduct keyword research to determine what your demographic is actively searching for on Google.
We then identify the most appropriate and low competition choices for your digital marketing goals. This allows you to sprinkle these targeted keywords throughout your content in a natural manner. Just be careful not to overuse the keywords and phrases, as too many are seen as spammy and can sometimes cause search engine rejection.
Topic Research
When you’ve got all of your targeted keywords, think of some topics for which you can create relevant SEO content. These keywords will help you build high-ranking, quality content that your demographic is actively looking for when heading to a search engine.
Audience Research
Audience research is when you discover your demographic’s behaviors, habits, and attitudes for you to understand them better. Remember those wants and needs from before?
This research allows you to identify what your audience wants to see, which will enable you to cater to their preferences.
2. Improve Readability
Readability should be a priority when it comes to online content, as it can increase the visibility of your website massively. When creating content for your site, make sure it is written with a specific purpose in mind. Once you know your demographic, make sure the content is engaging and speaks to your audience’s interests. Here are some top tips for readability:
Keep it Concise
When it comes to achieving great SEO, keeping your sentences and paragraphs short is necessary. This makes your content easier to read and allows your website visitors to digest the information quickly without feeling overwhelmed. Short paragraphs also help readers think there is less to consume, which will enable you to keep them engaged for longer.
Avoid Writing Too Much
In the age of technology, people are not as interested in reading excessively long pieces of content. Instead, you want to give them short and snappy information that doesn’t require too much brainpower and can be read and absorbed quickly.
It was found that 55% of readers only look at online content for a maximum of 15 seconds before they lose interest. This means you need to make sure the most important and interesting part of your content is at the top. And, if your content requires an answer to a question that your audience has specifically searched for, you need to make sure it is located in the first couple of paragraphs of text.
Use Subheadings and Headings
When you use subheadings and headings in your online content, it increases readability.
Search engines also appreciate this as it allows them to categorize information and identify if your content contains the specific information they are searching for. Use targeted keywords in your header tags to improve readability and SEO rankings further.
3. Aim For Organic Backlinks
Backlinks are created when a website includes links in its content to another site’s blog post, product, article, etc. Backlinks are essential for search engines’ algorithms because they confirm that a website is authoritative, legitimate, informative, and reputable.
If your website has a high number of backlinks, Google will reward this by boosting your search engine rankings.
They Organically Improve Your Rankings
Once a search engine views your site as authoritative and trustworthy, they’ll rank it higher on the SERP (search engine results page). As you build up the backlinks, they’ll trust your website is credible and organically rank it higher as a helpful page that provides accurate information on specific subjects.
However, know that it takes time to acquire quality backlinks, so you must avoid using deceptive methods (black hat SEO techniques) to win them. For example, self-creating or buying backlinks breaches Google’s guidelines, and you will be penalized.
It’s better to play the long game with backlinks and stick to natural or manual ones to try and earn them. At BRANDefenders, we can help you find opportunities for backlinks efficiently without taking any shortcuts that would ultimately hurt your site’s reputation.
They Increase Your Referral Traffic
When you naturally earn backlinks, your website will experience a boost in its referral traffic. For example, if someone discovers your site via a backlink, Google Analytics will track the click down automatically and note it as a referral visit to your web page.
Referral traffic is also more targeted and relevant, as the bounce rates are typically much lower than web traffic from other digital marketing strategies.
Why is SEO Important in Digital Marketing?
SEO can take a digital marketing campaign to the next level by increasing a website’s online visibility. It helps websites and pages reach a much higher status than a campaign without it, and it helps to increase conversion rates and web traffic.
A website that ranks well is priceless to a brand as it is made much more public to web users than other sites that are not ranked as highly.
And by now, you should know the bottom line: The higher you rank, the more consumers you reach and the more money you make.
Get in Touch With Us About SEO For Your Website Today
If you think you need some help with SEO, look no further. As a knowledgeable and results-driven digital marketing company, we can help you grow your business and organically sit at the top of the search results. Get in touch with us today, and our team at BRANDefenders will create some SEO magic.