Search engine optimization (SEO) is the vital process of making your business’ web presence as appealing as possible to the secret algorithms that drive results at popular search engines such as Google. The idea is pretty simple: Because so many customers begin their shopping experience online, and so many turns to Google to get started, you need to do everything possible to get your business as high up on the search engine results page (SERP). Makes sense, right?
Well, it’s easier said than done, of course. You are far from the only business owner who would like to see his or her business on the first page of search results for relevant queries. To get from where you are to where you want to be, you’ll need a great SEO strategy.
And to get a great SEO strategy, you’ll need to know what such a strategy looks like. What is involved here? How is this done? Here are some of the features of a great SEO strategy.
It targets both organic and paid results
The core idea of search engine optimization involves the organic results — those results on the search engine results page that Google generates for itself. Following SEO best practices will help you climb up that page. But you have a shortcut.
Google sells ads on its results pages. You can and should target certain keywords to get your brand in front of customers. A complete SEO strategy will include plans for both advertising and organic results because digital marketing is bigger than either of those two things is alone.
It understands the importance of links
Links are central to any great SEO strategy. They always have been and, experts guess, they always will be. That’s because search engines such as Google use programs called “spiders” to crawl the internet, moving from site to site using links. And links aren’t just how Google finds and indexes sites. It’s also how Google decides how trustworthy sites are. Among other factors, the value of a site’s backlinks will determine its authority in Google’s eyes. If you have lots of links from other reputable sites, Google will figure that you know what you’re talking about (or what you’re selling). In other words, both the quantity and quality of links matter.
It considers keywords and blogging
The text on your site is important to Google. Links will help Google find your site and evaluate its worth, but your keywords and the text that surrounds them will be crucial to demonstrating your website’s area of expertise. You want your business to be known for something, and for your search engine results to be focused on keywords that are relevant to you and your customers, the SEO experts at Link Graph explain.
Blog posts are a great way to get extra text on your site, and they can also be great opportunities for linking. Your SEO strategy should involve content. If it doesn’t, it is incomplete.
It’s not your own go-it-alone strategy
It takes a lot to run a successful business, and every small-business owner is a bit of a jack-of-all-trades. But if you’re trying to go it alone in SEO, you’re doing it wrong. Google’s top-secret algorithm is changing all of the time, and the other factors that we’re talking about in this piece are also always in flux. Priorities and best practices shift, and keeping up with all of the changes is a job for a full-time professional. That’s why you should outsource your company’s SEO needs and get back to focusing on the things that you do best.