Casim Khalid
Search engine optimization: if it’s not on your top priorities list, make some room, because it 100% should be. Building an effective, actionable SEO strategy is essential to business success in 2023 and beyond.
Not familiar with SEO? Here are the basics. When someone searches for something using an online search engine (it’s usually Google), the links that appear at the top of the search engine results page (SERP) get way more clicks than anything near the bottom of the page. And you can pretty much forget about anything that’s past the first page.
What does this have to do with your business? You want your company to be at the top of the SERP for searches that are related to things you do. Do you sell car parts? Then you’ll want to be at the top of the page for something like “synthetic oil near me.”
The big question is: what can you do to improve SEO? Check out these tips to find out.
Focus on content
There’s a saying that you’ll hear if you spend enough time with SEO professionals: content is king. What they mean when they say this is that content is easily one of the most important factors that Google uses to determine who gets the top spots in a SERP.
What counts as content? It can be plenty of different things, like written blog posts, resources and online tools, audio and video content – really anything informative that users will willingly engage with. According to digital marketing agency, Inseev, Google often rewards companies that produce high-value content, making it essential to your business that you start producing some.
How can you get started? Try these simple strategies:
- Start blogging. Blogs are useful to your business for a few reasons. They are a great place to pepper keywords related to your business (Note: We said pepper keywords, not overload them. Google knows when you’re keyword stuffing.). For instance, remember that synthetic oil from early? A blog post explaining why synthetic oil is better for your car would be great. Then research related keywords, and sprinkle in around 5 or so for best results.
- Produce how-to content. Let’s keep running with our example. If your company produces high-quality, easy-to-digest videos explaining how users can change their own oil at home, you’re going to look great in Google’s eyes. Users love how-to videos, and they’re great for SEO – a win-win.
- Try the soft sell. Blogs shouldn’t just be extended advertisements. Users will sniff that out in a heartbeat and leave your page the next second. However, they can be a great way to usher users further along the sales funnel. For instance, if someone is reading your blog on synthetic oil, it’s only natural to link them to your product page.
Content may be king, but there’s plenty more to focus on. Let’s move on.
Boost your backlink strategy
Backlinks are links that come from one website and point to another. In this case, you want other sites to link people to your site. This shows Google (and internet users) that your site is trustworthy. After all, other sites are pointing to you as a source for something they’ve claimed, or as a good place to buy a product they mentioned.
Link building is really all about relationship building. For instance, if you have several business friends who also run company websites, you can make an agreement with them to link to each other’s blogs or product pages whenever it’s convenient and reasonable. You can read up on link building benefits on this blog.
You can also cold-call and cold-email businesses or popular blogs and content creators to see whether they would be willing to backlink to your site. Ultimately, the better your business relationships, the easier it is to develop a strong backlink profile. Looks like it’s probably a good idea to go to that networking event after all.
Prioritize quality
This seems obvious, but trust us, plenty of people put quality on the backburner. If your products and services are half-baked and low effort, consumers will notice, and your reviews will suffer.
Brands that people are generally dissatisfied with are often punished in Google’s rankings, as well-reviewed brands climb toward the top. Whatever your business, from bakeries to banking, producing a product people actually want to purchase and use is great for SEO.
In 2023, make SEO your New Year’s resolution. Try implementing these strategies, and watch your site rise the ranks in the months ahead.
