5 Simple SEO Strategies to Improve Your Rankings Every online business needs to integrate an SEO strategy into its marketing plan. And no, it isn't all about stuffing your page with keywords.
By Nick Brogden Edited by Maria Bailey
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Search engine optimization (SEO) affects your website's visibility online. Good SEO means more page traffic and higher chances of selling your products and services to a broader audience. No matter how great your products are or how well-designed your website is, without an SEO strategy, your chances of ranking on Google or any other search engine are slim.
How important is SEO?
Sure, you're already making other marketing efforts to lead your audience to your website. You're spending on ads and perhaps partnering with content creators to post links to your page. But that's not enough.
If you're getting traffic from other sources, that's great! But did you know that organic search is five times more valuable than Google ads? This is because over 90% of website traffic comes from search engines.
Users who land on your page from a search engine have higher chances of converting because they specifically searched for your brand, products, or services. On the flip side, someone who ended up on your page after coming across your ad may not have had any prior intentions to check out your website.
Unlike organic search, that's intentional, paid marketing efforts may disrupt someone's experience. Besides, any website that's too deep into the Google search page may lose its credibility.
Related: 7 Reasons Why SEO Matters for Every Startup
What is an SEO strategy?
An SEO strategy improves your website's search engine ranking to improve your organic traffic. A complete SEO strategy should tackle three types of SEO:
- On-page SEO: Focuses on content that's on your website and ensures that it addresses your specific search query. Some critical factors that affect on-site SEO are content quality and uniqueness.
- Off-page SEO: Focuses on strategies done outside your website to improve its credibility and ranking. Link-building is the backbone of off-page SEO strategies.
- Technical SEO: Technical SEO deals with the backend aspects of your website to help increase your ranking. Good technical SEO means your page load time is fast, all your pages work, and it has structured data.
Related: This Is What Makes SEO Important For Every Business
Easy SEO strategies to improve your ranking:
1. Content is everything
While Google has made significant changes in its algorithm in the past year, content has long been a priority. Consistent publication of engaging content is the number one factor that affects your ranking. This means your website shouldn't just have a bunch of keywords, but you should also produce high-quality content that's unique and provides value to your readers.
Google looks at the quality of your copy — beyond any SEO technique. You have to go beyond regular calls to action and stand out from other similar pages.
If you have an e-commerce business, creating a blog to supplement your main page can answer your audience's questions and help you rank higher on search engines.
One of the factors that Google looks at is whether your content is up to date. Updating your website with fresh content with a blog will be much simpler. Plus, a blog can help you reach a broader range of search queries and increase the average visit duration.
There has been debate on the ideal length of a blog, but according to a HubSpot study from 2021, the ideal blog post length for SEO should be 2,100-2,400 words.
2. Make a list of keywords
Keywords are no longer the essence of an SEO strategy but are still essential in optimizing your page. Use a keyword search tool to help you find a list of keywords related to your niche.
If you're a new business, targeting low-competition keywords would be a good idea for a higher chance of ranking, and getting more organic traffic to your website would be a good idea. Of course, these keywords have to make sense for the type of content on your page.
3. Know what your audience is searching for
Many will make the mistake of creating content to increase page rankings — this technique will backfire. Ultimately, you'll have a page filled with keywords that aren't relevant to your business. Consider creating an accurate buyer persona to understand what your audience wants. After that, you'll know what motivates your audience and what content can address their needs.
4. Build high-quality links
A backlink is when another website links to yours. It is one of the most significant factors that affect your ranking and is a great way to get organic page visits. This means you can't rank with on-page efforts alone.
Top websites may get backlinks organically, and building connections with reputable websites is essential. One of the best ways to get backlinks is by sending a genuine outreach email to websites you have linked to.
Email blasts do work but are becoming less effective as many marketers have overused them. That said, there are plenty of resources on the web to get your creative juices flowing and develop creative ideas to set up an outreach campaign. Make sure that if you do conduct an outreach campaign, you are polite and genuine and always try to provide value first.
5. Don't upload large files to your page
Images and videos undoubtedly add value to your content and can help attract more visitors to your page. However, these files can be large and, as a result, affect your page's load time.
Page load time is one of the factors that affect your page's ranking, and it also affects your mobile friendliness. Look at these factors and what managers can do to stay on top of them.
Many plugins and tools can help you reduce your file size without losing quality. Never upload high-resolution images. As a best practice, stay within 500 KB.
Related: 10 Essential SEO Strategies For Entrepreneurs to Increase Their Traffic
Summing up
Like any business strategy, it will take time to see results. And instead of reaching for the stars, always make your SEO goals more specific to address your business needs. This way, it will be easier to track and measure your progress.
Since the algorithm is constantly changing, you also have to stay up to date with the latest changes to ensure that you're familiar with the best practices.
