Modern consumers are savvy – they research products and brands extensively, compare products, and read reviews before making a purchase decision.
A Google search plays a tremendous role in getting the sale, so all brands – large and small – need to optimize their content to be visible in the consumer research process. Search engine optimization (SEO) is vital for getting content ranked high in the search results, leading to more successful marketing and sales.
Here are some essential tips for a successful SEO strategy:
Focus on High-Quality Content
Every brand wants to be the go-to in its industry and the first pages that pop up in the search results page when users search for relevant information. The best way to accomplish this is with high-quality content that’s targeted to the audience and relevant to the common searches. It’s important for brands to understand what prospects, current customers, and past customers are looking for related to their product or service, anticipate their searches, and address those queries with targeted content.
You should create consistent content on a blog, which can be shared to social media accounts and through email blasts. It’s important to use relevant SEO keywords and phrases that are commonly searched by your audience, improving your ranking for those searches.
Fine-Tune Technical SEO
The technical aspects of your website play an important role in SEO. Technical SEO is more about the structure of the site than the content itself, which may require a developer. Professionals can optimize the site for success and make sure that it promotes a positive user experience with optimal load times, intuitive navigation and layout, and mobile-friendly formatting. They can also ensure your site is crawled and indexed by search engine bots properly, ensuring that users can find you when they search for relevant content.
Improve User Experience
Search engine algorithms evolve constantly, especially Google. The search engine is improving to prioritize pages with high authority and that provide the most value to users, based on search intent. For example, a user may be performing a search just looking for information, which is a different part of the customer journey than when they’re searching for a specific product. Google tries to determine search intent to categorize the search engine results pages appropriately.
Keyword research is valuable for determining search intent. SEO keyword research shows the most popular keywords in your niche and the keyword variations that have the most competitive density, search volume, and cost per click. These insights can help you tailor your content to deliver the most value to your users and answer their search queries.
Another important element of user experience is engagement. Content that’s easy to digest or skim is generally more engaging for users, so include high-quality visual content like infographics, photos, and videos. These elements can be optimized with alt-text descriptions that help search engines crawl and interpret the site. Files should be compressed to ensure they don’t negatively impact loading time, however, which can lead a user to get frustrated and bounce.Â
Supercharge Your SEO
Successful SEO is an ongoing process, especially with the constant changes to the search algorithms and the way users search for content. No matter how the algorithms change, however, evergreen SEO strategies that focus on the customer through value, engagement, and positive user experience will always have importance.