If you’re doing business these days, having a solid online marketing plan is a must. And in the online world, organic search is super important. That’s where search engine optimization (SEO) comes in. SEO helps your business grow and make more money. It puts your company in a position of influence and leadership in your industry. So, it’s crucial to understand how to make SEO work for you, starting with having the right mindset for SEO success.
Here are some facts you need to bear in mind to achieve excellent SEO results:
1. SEO is a build-in, not an add-on
Nowadays, most consumers check online before buying anything. That’s why organic search is key to any business’s success. Your web pages and brand need to be easy to find on search engines, especially Google, where most people look for info on products and services. That’s also where you’ll get most of your website traffic.
That’s why SEO shouldn’t be an afterthought in your online marketing plan. It should be part of everything from the beginning. When your SEO team works closely with your marketing team, you can make the most of the whole process and build a strong online following.
In today’s online marketing world, there are three big things in SEO you need to focus on: content, links, and social media. Your content needs to be top-notch, you should get links from respected sites, and you should boost social signals like likes, retweets, and +1s. If you can bring all three together in your online marketing plan, you’ll have the best shot at reaching the top of search engine results pages (SERPs) and achieving SEO success.
Content – Content became a buzzword in the online marketing world after Google updated its algorithms to give more value to quality and penalize sites with low-quality content. When you create and post content, therefore, you should make sure that your target customers’ needs are truly met. The necessary first step in content marketing is therefore research. You need to know what kind of information your target market regularly searches for online, what kind of content they typically consume, and when they usually conduct online searches. This will be the basis for the kind of content you put out and the schedule you need to follow when posting content.
Note as well that you can’t just focus on posting content on your website. You should also make it a habit to post content on other platforms. You could, for example, maintain a blog, guest post on other blogs, or actively post on social media platforms. It is also a good idea to diversify your content by posting a healthy combination of text articles, video content, podcasts, infographics, etc. But whatever type of content you post and wherever you choose to post it, you have to make sure it is relevant to your target audience, well-planned, and generally of high quality.
Links – Some business owners choose to pay for links in hopes that it will aid their SEO campaign. Do NOT make the same mistake. Paid links are among the things Google especially hates; not only will they yield no results, but they may even hurt your business. Instead of paying for links, therefore, you should focus on earning authority links and the best way to do this is to constantly put out excellent content and promote it extensively. Yes, effective link-building still points you back to content marketing, which drives home the fact that high-quality content rules today’s SEO landscape.
Social Media – In a 2013 survey, Moz found that there was a high correlation between web pages that rank high on SERPs and +1s, which is equivalent to a “like” on Google+. In that same year, search analytics software company Search Metrics also noted that Google+ in general and +1 shares in particular are growing in importance where Google search rankings are concerned. Considering these, it has become important for businesses to share content on Google+. Of course, other social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are also useful, since they are generally more popular. But Google+ is owned by Google, so it definitely won’t hurt to build a community there as well.
2. SEO should be data-driven
Planning is crucial for SEO success. If your SEO strategy hasn’t worked before, it might be because you didn’t plan it well. Many failures happen because people just go with their gut instead of using real facts. Digital analytics is important for SEO. You can’t just rely on your instincts; you need solid data.
Gather data about your target audience (what they want and how they act online), your competitors (what they’re doing well and where they’re falling short), your industry (the latest trends), and the online marketing world in general (it’s always changing, so you need to keep up). Also, keep an eye on your performance (like website traffic and conversions) and make changes when needed. This data-driven approach is key to achieving SEO success.
3. Automations and plug-ins can never replace an SEO professional
There are plug-ins and automated tools that can help make your SEO work easier. That much is true. However, you should never think that having these plug-ins and tools is enough to launch a successful SEO campaign. Bear in mind that SEO is a complex process that requires a lot more than ticking off boxes in a computer application’s settings. Many business owners have failed at SEO and online marketing simply because they made the mistake of thinking that plug-ins can do the work for them.
In recent years, Google has launched one algorithm update after another, and there’s no telling when they’re going to stop making such major changes. The problem with plug-ins is that they cannot tell when changes have been made, nor can they adjust accordingly. This is why, no matter how many tools and plug-ins may be at your disposal, it is still advisable to get a professional to handle SEO for your business. You can hire an in-house SEO specialist or outsource your SEO campaigns; what matters is that an expert handles it.
An SEO expert can help ensure that you do not make costly mistakes. He/she makes it easier for you to avoid common errors such as neglecting to run occasional SEO audits, installing plug-ins that cause your website to slow down, and making website code changes that harm your SEO efforts. Additionally, your SEO specialist can strengthen your online marketing strategy by effectively planning and implementing such things as information architecture, internal link architecture, website structure, and site navigation. These are all important aspects of an effective website, which no plug-in can truly address.
4. SEO can never replace a good product/service
Having a great SEO specialist is awesome, but if your product or service isn’t up to snuff, your SEO efforts might not do much for you. Sure, we can talk about creating top-notch content, getting valuable links, and promoting your brand on social media. But none of that matters if you don’t deliver on your promises in terms of product or service quality.
You might see some success at first with really good SEO, but if your product or service isn’t great, you’ll probably lose that success in the long run. SEO isn’t a quick fix. Thinking that way will hold you back from reaching your full potential and meeting your business goals. In the end, what really matters for success is what your customers think of your product or service. So, keep working on making your product or service even better. That’s the key to long-term success.
If you keep these four things in mind, you’re on the right track to SEO success. But remember, SEO is all about trust. To rank well in Google, you need to earn its trust by consistently putting out great content and building quality links. You can’t trick Google into thinking your website is something it’s not. Just focus on providing excellent content and a great user experience, and you’ll see the rewards soon enough.