SEO is getting more and more competitive every year.
The top page is loaded with results, and there can be fewer clicks from the SERPs so how do you go about creating SEO strategies that will start getting your website more organic traffic?
What is SEO?
Search engine optimisation is focused on optimising your website to be found more in the search engines. A business can have various aims from;
- generating more revenue
- increasing brand awareness
- growing specific parts of a business
SEO is just one part of digital marketing companies can use to rise their profile.
SEO isn’t the minefield everyone thinks however there are certain things you could be doing that are holding you back.
What is an SEO strategy?
A Search engine optimisation strategy is to organise the content on the site to increase the chances it will show up in Google searches (which includes keywords and images).
It is a method for getting organic traffic to a web page.
SEO strategy is essential to ensure the consistency of content within your site’s content creation process.
Instead of merely creating what the user wants it ensures that the content you create is what the user needs. In the case of content marketing, SEO can help you improve the visibility of your website in search engine optimisation.
We find SEO much simpler if you adhere to the following;
Focus on creating high-quality content throughout your website. If your website is brand new, for the first year, try to do one high-quality page per week.
With an average word count of around 3,000, this would mean you’ve got 52 x 3,000-word pages, which if you’ve done good keyword research should get you a ranking for thousands of keywords.
Know your target audience
To get the best results from SEO, you need to understand your target audience. This is done with research and creating customer personas that you can use when creating content.
Creating customer personas, helps you tailor your content to your target audience.
Use these 25 tips to help you create killer SEO strategies that bring results.
Do your keyword research
Is keyword research a good SEO tool? We need more words. Organising content thematically is crucial, but ignore all keyword usage.
The keyword serves as a signal for Google spiders, signalling the content and providing hints about the content on this site.
When researching keywords you can find who has searched for what topic you wish to write, so you can quickly write a blog post that addresses customer queries or increases brand recognition.
Create a list of keywords
Keywords are often a crucial first step in any SEO strategy. Start typing your keyword in the search field in Google to find suggestions.
So you can do the real search on your own. In addition, longer keywords are generally less competitive than shorter phrases.
Even if the long tail search volume is relatively low, they’re more suited to search as they usually have more intent behind them with users ready to buy.
Look at what’s already ranking.
This is one of the best ways to get insight into the pages that are currently ranking however, so many people fail to do this. Search Google for the keyword you want to rank for and make a list of the first page results.
It can also be beneficial to look at what’s ranking on pages two and three also, to see what type of content the search engine doesn’t consider as being worthy of being on the first page.
Create something different or better
You need to create content for the keywords you’re targeting and it has to be better than what’s already ranking.
A lot of businesses don’t invest enough in producing content. They don’t understand what’s needed to rank in the search engines in the top positions.
For great content you need to;
- dive deep into the subject
- engage the user
- keep them on your website
- get them to buy from you
What it comes down to is great copywriting.
Optimise content regularly
You can’t just create a piece of content and leave it. Well, you can if you don’t want many people to find it. One of the best things about creating content is that it’s so easy to add to it and make it better.
Search engines are more likely to reward results that have been updated or regularly edited adding the latest information.
Align your content with search intent
If you’ve learned about search engine optimisation it’s worth quick research to understand its purpose. Search intent (or user intent) is the purpose behind all search searches. The search engine will take care of determining the best search intents of users in the future.
There are different types of keywords, if the search intent is more aligned with informational requests, then it’s going to be hard to rank products for that keyword.
Your content must always match the type of content that’s being displayed.
Focus on page experience
Page optimisation was an unreliable ranking factor, however, SEO specialists never took it seriously.
Yes, it matters, but not more so than traditional website optimisation. SEO life is however fairly quick.
BERT and MUM show Google’s intent on optimising its search engine by using metrics such as page optimisation to increase its rank. Link and tag matter and should be kept in mind as long as possible.
Optimise title tags for conversion
A title tag is a clickable headline which appears on the Search Engine results page and is crucial for SEO. The content in the results is critical for the user to understand the results of their search.
It’s often the most important information when choosing the results that you click on.
You need to choose quality titles for your webpage. Google displays mainly the initial 50-60 characters for a title.
Google will show the complete title on your site for a maximum of 60 characters. How can we improve our title tag?
Meta description
Meta descriptions are the 2nd most valuable tag on pages of HTML. A meta description is an overview of an online site in Google’s SERPs and can appear under titles and links.
The meta description doesn’t impact search ranking directly but it may influence click-through rates.
Google explained this best: “A meta-descriptions tag is usually a summary that informs a particular visitor that this page satisfies what the user wants to find.
Search engine results page.
Create voice assistant-friendly content
What Happens With Words When Someone Says? You might chat on WhatsApp but not typically when working. Are people searching online? And it’s probably never happened.
But voice assisting technology has changed things.
Google’s voice assistant search engines now can search the web for more information. You also need to optimise your site for Voice Search.
Make URLs SEO-Friendly
URLs are sometimes ignored in SERPs and SEO. The right web address provides the user with a clear understanding of the destination site.
A URL structure is a website’s most basic structure.
Consider structuring your site so your URL is constructed in logical terms that are intelligible to the user.
Optimise page speeds
If your website needs to take a long to load it will get annoying and your ranking will drop. The free Google PageSpeed Insights software has many useful tools to monitor your pages.
I would recommend GTMetric for this work.
This software provides an overview of your page speed and suggests ways to improve your loading time. The site can also be monitored using Semrush if necessary. Tell me the process.
Optimise your headings (not just your title tags!)
It can happen in life to someone who is searching for SEO and is frustrated by Google. What do you think? Why Google? Google was shocked at this announcement as it redesigned its H1 page title tags automatically.
Industry veterans said it’s not a new practice and the change has stunned many people. Initially, some questioned if these changes were lasting, but they were sceptical.
Focus on topic clusters instead of keywords
Google’s technology is constantly changing. The goal is to understand the intent and purpose of users. Here is where featured content is important.
We have to take into account the context around the words to understand how they’re used.
You have to pay attention to the user’s desire to find the information. Here is another thing that should be reflected.
Optimise Your Images
Photos can help increase visitors’ experience at your site. Most likely you have the time to choose the perfect image for your blog, or page of products for your website. How can you improve images on websites?
If taken properly, an image is an excellent way to improve your web traffic. Here are some good ideas for optimising your photos.
- Provide Alt Text for Images: Although Google understands images better and has improved the ability to read images, it still requires modifying text on images to make it easier for users to find them. In this case, the image will be more accessible to users and it should be more easily understood by browsers and users who have visited your site.
- Choose the best file format: Page speed is one key indicator of rankings and images contribute much more in terms of page sizes. This allows for faster image processing to enhance site performance as much as it can. The initial steps to optimise images include choosing the optimal file format. The common images on the internet are JPEGs, PNGs and GIFs. Both formats employ different compression technology, so the files can vary greatly between each format. Given a similar size to the file below, jpg is a clear winner image compared to other formats.
- Lazy-load your images: Lazy loading is one technique that prevents the loading of other resources on pages. Images or videos are not uploaded until users have needed them. This link between lazy loading and performance on sites is explained below. You can lazyload photos or videos from WordPress using the free lazy loader plugin.
- Compress your images: As your images get bigger the web pages will be more loaded, therefore it is important to compress the images before they appear on your website. Fortunately, much free software can be used when trying to compress scanned documents.
Test your meta titles to optimise CTR
Title tags are important tags that can improve your site’s content.
What is your description? But no. Google doesn’t care whether meta descriptions are used when ranking pages.
A great meta description can increase the number and quality of visitors and helps you improve your ranking.
Find appropriate word count and keyword density
All SERPs are unique. Usually, a question can be answered quickly in the featured article, but some queries can be solved by selling a page in 500-1000 words.
The second query requires an exhaustive article of 3,000 words.
It doesn’t mean there should be an accurate word count, as this is just contextual in the search results and in the highest-ranked pages of the website that are searched.
Having that incorrect will make the job difficult for rankers.
Increase your Expertise | Authority | Trust
EAT means knowledge, competence and confidence. EAT scores are one factor in the determination of page quality.
You should emulate the person writing the content for more results despite not having to be an expert. Most people will generally read 3-5 pieces of information before speaking to sales representatives.
Developing content that is based on subject matter experts or modifying the content increases the chances that buyers will engage with your content.
You can always consult experts for advice if you are developing thought leadership content for a business.
Create thought leadership and strategic content
Once you have a strong and targeted page, you should think strategically.
The Internet is your primary resource for information, not merely information. You can make this work by thinking and writing strategically.
Approximately 54 per cent of decision-makers read thought leadership articles that are relevant to the business.
However, 71% said that only about half of their reading provided valuable information. This is a big opportunity for content that will continue to evolve. You’re being asked a lot of questions that haven’t even been answered.
Eliminate Spammy Backlinks
Backlinks are the treasure of SEO today.
The backlink has been used for many years, but its importance to search engines is still higher than at any previous time. In 2021, Google released another algorithm tweak aimed at devaluing bad back-links.
Although not all sites were individually penalised during this time, it stopped tracking backlinks which many websites have adapted to impact rankings.
Diversify your Backlink Profile
Too many types of a style of link or a particular anchor text being repeated is a sign that your backlink profile isn’t natural.
It used to be the case you could just add keywords as anchor text and then link to your website and it was all good.
The search engines have evolved now though. Now, the best practice is to have a majority, say 75% of all anchor text be branded.
This is the most likely way people are going to link out to you, using your domain name or the name of the brand.
