Did you know that Google plays host to over 3.5 billion searches every, single day?
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is how you get your business or brand in front of those searchers’ eyes. But there are things you need to know about SEO before you can just dive right in.
Table of Contents
Have you given any thought to what the end game will be for your SEO campaign?
SEO can definitely give your business the growth it needs, so never fear, we’ve got you covered with everything you need to know before starting your SEO campaign.
1 . The Importance Of Keywords
Keywords are one of those buzz phrases that jump right out at you, the minute anything ‘SEO’ comes up. There’s a reason for this.
Keywords are the foundation for any successful SEO campaign. A brand or business needs to understand the industry and the market that they operate in, this is going to help them to identify the keywords that they should be using.
Keywords are like the little nuggets that your website leaves for search engines to find what your website is about. For example, if you’re a car dealership, you may have keywords such as ‘car sales’, ‘secondhand cars’, and even ‘Mercedes certified’.
The underlying importance of the keywords you choose cannot be stressed enough. You don’t want to select keywords that are too difficult to rank for, this can be because thousands of websites are trying to rank for the same search terms.
There are great tools out there to help you ‘research’ potential keywords and search phrases, such as Google Keyword.
2 . Website Evaluation
In order to have a clear vision of where you want to go with your SEO campaign, you need to do an in-depth investigation of where you currently are, and this means one thing: evaluating your website!
Start with the layout of your website, and try to analyze it from the viewpoint of one of your website visitors. Is your website user friendly? Is it laid out logically and easy to navigate? Is your content interesting and relevant to your ideal audience?
And rather importantly, how does your website look on a mobile device or smartphone? Your website needs to be responsive to the device it is being used on, otherwise, you could lose website visitors faster than you can find them.
Put together all your notes and make relevant changes on your website before you launch your SEO campaign. It’s important that you start off on the right foot.
3 . It’s True: Content Is King
It’s one of those phrases that you hear over and over and over again when talking about SEO. Content, truly, is king.
You’re going to want to place a high priority on your content marketing strategy, and how it will tie into your SEO strategy. The thing about content is that you can’t just be posting simply for the sake of posting. Your content needs to be relevant, interesting, and eye-catching in order to add value. While it needs to be all these things, it also needs to be adding value to your SEO campaign.
What exactly does this mean?
Imagine this scenario. You own a coffee shop in Seattle, and you want more customers. Now, simply posting image after image of great coffee shots might get your attention, but it’s not going to get you showing up in search engine results. Your content plan needs to include keywords such as ‘coffee in Seattle’ and be combined with beautiful, eye-catching imagery that will draw your potential customer in.
Take some time to research what your direct and indirect competitors are doing with their content. Pay special attention to those that appear above you in search engine results. Make notes on the things you like, and the things you feel you could perform better in.
And always. Always! Create content with your ideal target audience in mind.
1 . Location Is Crazy Important
You may be thinking, oh this is an obvious one, but sometimes it can be forgotten. Prioritize showcasing where your business operates. Why?
A large portion of SEO is focused on local business. People using a search engine would type in something like, ‘mechanic near me’, and Google would churn out results based on their proximity to where the client is at that precise moment.
Did you know that a whopping 76% of people who search for something nearby visit a business within a day?
Can you really afford not to be tapping into these results?
Ensure that your operational locations are clearly visible on your website and social media pages, this is will help you show up in ‘near me’ searches as often as possible. A local SEO company would be able to help you rank in these types of searches, as they will know the SEO landscape of that geographical location better than most.
2 . Definitely Have Goals
Any marketing initiative is backed by measurable, achievable goals, always. The same goes for your SEO campaign. Before you launch anything, ensure that you know what it is that you want to achieve with your SEO campaign, and put in timelines for milestones along your SEO journey.
The goals you have will largely determine the tools you use as well. If you’re wanting more organic traffic, then you’ll need to have Google Analytics in place in order to analyze the results you’re getting.
SEO Campaign Success
Finding success with your SEO campaign is not going to happen overnight. We want you to know that SEO is a journey and not a destination.
You’re going to need to go into this with an open mind and be negotiable to change, what works for the first six months of a year may not work for the second half of the year. As you launch your SEO campaign, keep measuring your performance, and make decisions based on the facts, and you’ll find success.
Head on over to our marketing section to get more great content for your brand.
