Search engine optimization (SEO) is a great digital marketing approach, allowing websites to become more searchable online. However, it is a dynamic industry, and simply adding random keywords and many links from other websites without proper planning will not show the desired results.
According to Forbes, Google controls over 85% of the search market, calculating over 200 factors like domain age, relevant links, and authoritative and engaging content before ranking a website. Reaching the first page on search engine results pages (SERP), including the top five positions that hold 70% of the rankings, means having a well-rounded SEO strategy.
If you want to have a great start with your website’s SEO campaign, here are five tips on how you can create an effective SEO strategy.
Identify Short-Tail Keywords
Keywords will always be vital in SEO rankings. Short-tail keywords are search terms that are made up of no more than three words and tend to be broad. They are a starting point for searches.
If you want to find effective keywords to use for your website, create a list of words and terms related to your products and services. Use SEO tools like Google’s Keyword Tool, Ahrefs, SEMRush, and GrowthBar to identify the search volume of these keywords and create variations.
For instance, “fiberglass pools” receive about 110,000 searches per month. You can also add variations in the content like “fiberglass pool costs” to achieve additional rankings. It also allows you to add around ten more keywords to your list.
Create Topics Out of Long-Tail Keywords
After identifying short-tail keywords, create from those short-tail keywords, five to ten long-tail keywords to create unique content for your site. Long-tailed keywords are longer and much more specific keyword phrases. These are phrases that will have better conversion rates because they are so specific.
Use the long-tail keywords to create blog posts or web pages that could answer questions, provide more information, or have an opinion related to the topic keyword. Since it uses a more distinct keyword, the post will have less competition in the SERPs.
This approach allows your website to attract more people with varying interests and concerns, creating more opportunities for potential customers interested in your products and services.
Optimize Your On-Page SEO Properly
SEO marketing is ever-changing because search engines like Google are constantly updating their algorithm to understand searcher intent better to deliver the correct results.
On-page SEO allows you to adapt to the constant changing of algorithms. It helps search engines analyze your website and its content to identify its relevance to a searcher’s query.
You can use on-page SEO tools like the SEMRush On-Page SEO Checker to receive recommendations. You can improve your on-page optimization and information on how it helps your content become more present in SERPs.
Create a Link-Building Plan
Keywords and topics for webpage content focus more on on-page SEO. Meanwhile, link-building concentrates more off-page SEO to attract inbound links or backlinks, one of Google’s top three ranking factors, from other sources that lead to your website.
There are various techniques to attract inbound links like guest blogging with other blogs, which you can link back to your website, creating link bait and promoting it via outreach, broken link building, and resource link building, among others.
Analyze and Improve Your Content Strategy
After implementing the strategy, start analyzing the Key performance Index (KPI) of your content and research how you can improve it. There will always be opportunities to grow, like creating new content, improving or optimizing old content, or ensuring no technical issues arise.
You can create a dashboard using Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets that contain metrics like search visibility, search rankings, organic and branded traffic, bounce rates, and links. You can set a specific KPI at the start of your campaign as a goal for the content and then improve upon it monthly.
Create Strategies with an SEO Expert
Digital marketing experts can help you come up with strategies to improve the SEO rankings of your website. Sievers Creative, an SEO marketing expert in Minnesota, understands the struggles of competing in dense search markets and gathering potential customers online. We help you integrate thorough keyword research, website auditing, and on-page optimization to drive more traffic to your websites and achieve your goals.
Get in touch with us today.
