Basic Fundamentals of a Successful SEO
In today’s digital age, SEO marketing is vitally important as people are turning to search engines for almost everything. Search Engine Optimization or SEO is vital for modern businesses to succeed, regardless of their industry of operation or the scope of their business. With businesses and brands competing intensively for top ranks on search engine results pages, the job of digital marketers and SEO engineers is vital.
SEO is mainly known for improving businesses’ searchability and visibility, however, it is far more complex than just implementing some simple strategies and getting immediate higher rankings on result pages. In order to appear in the top positions on Google, Bing, and Yahoo, SEO experts apply well-integrated strategies that incorporate various factors such as on-site and off-site SEO as well as link building and social media. This article is a guide to the basic fundamentals of a successful SEO.
1. Technical On-Site SEO
On-site SEO (also known as “on-page SEO”) aims to optimize the website content to boost your website’s search engine results page (SERP) rankings. It focuses on elements of your website, such as title tags, internal links, content, and URLs which are important for both site visitors and search engine algorithms. According to this useful and interesting SEO blog, on-site SEO involves more than simply putting as many popular keywords as you can into your website’s HTML; it involves optimizing the content on your web page to maximize user experience, and improve page loading speeds, click-through-rates, and bounce rates. Remember, on-site SEO is not limited to optimizing your content for search engines only but is also important for attracting visitors to your site and then keeping them engaged once they visit.
Here are two SEO factors that you should consider when working on your on-site SEO:
Organized Content and SEO Tags
Aside from semantic analysis, SEO tags play a crucial role in creating quality content. SEO tags such as your title and header tags can assist you in communicating your website’s intent and syntax. It is important to keep in mind that organized content is easier for search engines and users to read which makes it easier for search engine spiders (the algorithms which rank websites on SERPs) to scan and rank. Recommended things to focus on are title tags, page titles, URL slugs, and header sections.
Users and Their Engagement
Search engines and users respond differently to website content and website designs. In order to foster user engagement (also known as “user signals”) and increase your ranking in SERPs, make sure that your content and user interfaces are engaging so that visitors want to spend time on your website and click on all your pages. This involves paying attention to a metric called “pages per session”, which includes information such as the average amount of time users typically spend on your site and the number of pages they view before leaving. This metric can be analyzed using software like Google Analytics. To maximize engagement with your visitors, place call-to-action buttons on your site to increase conversions; you should also insert interlinks in your content. To get a better idea of potential improvements to your website, spend some time researching successful websites in a similar area of business or content like yours.
2. On-Site Content SEO
The importance of content cannot be understated. Many digital marketing experts argue that quality content is the number one key factor in having a successful website. However, creating SEO friendly content requires far more than randomly scattering popular keywords on your website. According to a study by Ahrefs, around 91 percent of content online receives zero traffic from Google.
The challenge for SEO practitioners lies in creating content that is relevant to user intent, which as a result ranks higher on result pages thanks to search engine algorithms. With search engine algorithms constantly changing, your content should be improved with a focus on providing higher relevance to your visitors that is also recognized as high-quality by search engines. It is so important that you understand the relevant keywords and use them effectively. You must analyze search engine result pages to identify the type of content that is in the top rankings and optimize your content based on those keywords and similar search terms.
Content can be presented in many forms such as text, audio, or video and there are various types of content available online. The challenge that faces every business and website owner is creating content that is both engaging to the audience and will be effective in SERP rankings. It is not easy to tick both of these boxes which is why it is often worth bringing in a professional SEO technician to help you.
First of all, good content must be useful and relevant to their intended readers. Secondly, your content should provide your website’s visitors with valuable perspectives and information on your selected topics that are superior when compared to other articles already available on the Internet. Remember that mass-produced low-quality content can result in negative user experience and low engagement rates. SEO experts advise that you make sure that your website is visually engaging and free from spelling mistakes and factual errors to avoid turning visitors away. Widgets from social media platforms and interactive comment boxes are recommended to increase user engagement as well.
3. Off-Site SEO and Link Building
Off-site SEO (also known as “off-page SEO”) involves various digital marketing strategies that are implemented on third-party websites and blogs with the goal of improving your rankings on search engine result pages. Link building is a major part of off-site SEO and this is a very complex and nuanced marketing tool to implement.
Link building focuses on building backlinks (also known as “one-way hyperlinks”), which aim to improve websites’ visibility and authority. Link building involves various marketing strategies such as content marketing, email outreach, guest postings, and public relations. For the best results, you should focus your efforts on link quality rather than quantity since scanners like Google Penguin can analyze the quality of your links and alter your rankings on search engine result pages. On the other hand, PageRank from Google is an algorithm that takes into account the quality and quantity of your backlinks from off-site SEO to rank your website. But brand mentions without a hyperlink is also a factor that can affect your off-site SEO efforts
Normally, marketers focus on on-site SEO more than off-site SEO factors because off-site SEO is more difficult and expensive to implement. According to a study from Moz, website owners typically spend 30 percent of their time working on off-site SEO while spending around 70 percent on on-site factors. Depending on your goals, distribute your time and resources working on both on-site and off-site SEO.
4. Social Media SEO
Social media can greatly improve your SEO by driving more traffic to your site, increasing your ranking in search engine result pages, magnifying the reach of your content, and boosting your reputation in the industry. Increasing visibility is one of the key goals of SEO as it leads to increased traffic, which is the whole point of search engine optimization. If you crack social media it can have an incredible effect on the traffic that your website generates.
In branded search results, social media profiles often appear on the first page of search engine result pages as well. For instance, companies’ social media profiles can be visible in search engine results with page ratings and customer reviews, which give Internet users access to valuable content and insights into previous customers’ experience with your business or brand.
Social media platforms enable content creators to reach a huge audience. In contrast to search engines where gaining a significant audience can be very difficult, your content has a higher chance of reaching your targeted audience through social media. What is really important when it comes to social media, however, is that you provide quality content. This will not only please your regular audience but will also give you the opportunity to link up with social media influencers who will be keen to get on board. Social media influencers can share your content organically or through brand partnerships as well. There are platforms available for you to discover influencers that are relevant to your brand by viewing their accounts and investigating previous brands that they worked with.
Another reason you should implement social media in your SEO strategy is that social media platforms are now taken into account when a search engine is calculating the authority of your linked website. The same rules apply to social media when it comes to keywords so don’t neglect to do your keyword research as this will increase traffic to your social media platforms and improve your website’s rankings.
The potential for local SEO success is always increased by well-considered social media practices. In local search rankings, it is really important that you include information on your social media regarding your business’s name, address, and phone number as this will have a positive effect on your rankings. Consistency is key so make sure to keep your information consistent across all of your social platforms and websites. This will ensure that search engine algorithms rate your business as being highly credible.
On social media platforms, you have the option to put geographical tags on your posts, which will make your business gain more local visibility. Moreover, customer reviews on your social media profiles can encourage local customers to contact your business. According to a survey by BrightLocal, roughly 86 percent of people surveyed read social media reviews and take them into consideration when evaluating local businesses. Therefore, use social media effectively to take full advantage of your social media profiles when it shows up in search engine result pages.
5. Paid Ads
Whilst Google may say that businesses that advertise with Google AdWords will not necessarily get improved results in improved organic search rankings on Google’s result pages. However, there are various ways for you to take advantage of Google AdWords and improve your SEO results. For instance, pay-per-click (also known as “PPC”) can be used to help you gain insights and data that can benefit you in organic search rankings. Specifically, a Google AdWords campaign can easily drive traffic to your website compared to using organic SEO efforts. It is suggested that you use paid advertisements to test out your SEO strategies, and mine data from PPC to further improve your ongoing SEO strategy and enhance your organic results.
Approximately 1 trillion online searches are made daily, of which roughly 75 percent are made through the Google search engine. Specifically, more than 50 percent of website traffic for businesses comes from online searches. Paid advertisements are a good strategy for businesses to ensure growth and long-term development, depending on their marketing activities and business goals at different stages of their progression.
Businesses can use paid advertisements to foster organic growth through remarketing. Remarketing (also known as “retargeting”) is the practice of showing advertisements specifically customized for people who have previously visited your website and engaged with your business. Remarketing is highly effective for potential leads that have not yet been converted to sales. Because these leads already have knowledge of your website or brand, there is a better chance of converting them into customers than there is with random internet users.
Moreover, analyzing your list of potential customers from remarketing efforts and paid ads can help you create better content and target better keywords. According to multiple studies, people on average need at least 5 brand impressions or engagement experiences before finally making a purchase or committing to a deal. Remarketing is a tool that you can use to effectively make your website more visible to your target audience and fully take advantage of organic visitors to your site. Moreover, visitors will return to your website through organic searches as paid advertisements and your remarketing efforts will make customers more likely to trust your business and your content, which will benefit your search engine rankings.
SEO requires a long-term effort, through which businesses can gain a competitive edge over their competitors. Effective SEO requires a comprehensive strategy that addresses all of the different SEO tactics available. Through successful search engine optimization, your website and business can really make a big leap forward.
