Search engine optimization (SEO) is a vital digital marketing tool that helps develop brand awareness, build relationships with prospects and position your brand as an authority. Furthermore, because the search engines aren’t perfect, SEO makes your website more visible, giving you more opportunities to convert prospects into customers.
Let’s learn more about the crucial elements of SEO so that you know where to focus your attention.
The Right Keywords
While keywords are no longer the only SEO factor, they remain critical. The difference is that today’s keywords should be well-researched, carefully chosen and used naturally in content. These words and phrases tell Google what your content is about so that it can be ranked accordingly. They also help bring relevant traffic to your website.
Relevant, Quality Content
Content is another vital part of SEO because it’s how you engage people, establish yourself as an authority and keep bringing relevant traffic to your site. Be sure to include a mix of content on your website to satisfy all of your readers such as:
- Web page content
- Infographics
- Blog posts
- Short videos
- Podcasts
- Listicles
- Whitepapers
- Ebooks
- Social media posts
- Live streams
Search Engine Marketing
SEM refers to paid advertising such as Google AdWords, pay per click, social media ads, display ads and so forth. The purpose of SEM is to help you reach new audiences so that you can expand your reach and increase conversions and sales. To make your SEM strategy stronger, couple it with your SEO strategy. This could include paid and targeted campaigns and keyword-based copy.
Off-Page SEO
Off-page SEO includes all external optimization practices that happen off your site. The main technique used for off-page SEO is backlink building because these links tell the search engines that you have valuable content. Some of the best ways to build a backlink strategy are by guest blogging, creating infographics and using influencer marketing.
Local SEO
Local SEO is becoming increasingly important as more people use their mobile devices to find information. If you own a local business, such as a restaurant or massage practice, you’ll want to use local SEO to draw in people from the area. Along with using local keywords, claim your business listings, create location specific pages for your website and optimize Google My Business.
SEO remains a vital part of your marketing efforts. The key is to keep up with the latest practices so that you can ensure you’re using SEO effectively. To discuss your SEO strategy in more detail and how to make it stronger, contact WSI Internet Partners today.
