Search Engine Optimization or SEO as we popularly know it, is actually no rocket technology but an amalgamation of both art and science of keeping visitors in mind, placing the right words and other content in the right places.
It would be less complicated to think of it this way. Search engines are engineered to deliver good results based on good websites to their users who are individual searchers. If you have a good online presence, there’s a greater chance your website will be favored by search engines. So we can put it this way- “happy visitors is equal to happy search engines!”
And in this digitally driven world, when we talk about search engines, we primarily mean Google as it has become synonymous to the term and, to a lesser extent, Bing.
In order to understand the basic of SEO so that your website attracts more and more serious visitors, keep the following in mind and you won’t go wrong!
Let’s begin step by step with the basic and lesser frequent Steps that you need not repeat quite often…
1. Keyword Research: Keyword is the King
Keyword research is regarded as the most important basic step that should be paid attention to the very minute details. Keep in mind that while you can test in a hassle-free manner and change hundreds of keywords in paid search campaigns, this is not possible for organic search optimization. Here, only one to five key phrases for the whole site and one to three phrases for a single page is used. In the case of larger websites with huge amount of pages, is it relatively hard to optimize every single page to the full extend due to the limits of time and other resources.
2. Competitive Wit: Know your competition!
In order to keep an upper-hand in business, the primary step is to know and understand your competition. Keep a sharp eye on what are they doing? What rank they got and for which terms. Who is linking to them and why are also equally important. The less competitive your vertical is online, the easier is it for you to outperform your competition. It plays a vital role in determining the cost and resources for your efforts for a better SEO.
3. Web Design and Development: Choose a friendly digital infrastructure
We all might agree that building something from scratch takes lesser efforts than fixing and re-fixing that is dysfunctional. Always be sure of creating a new website that has a search engine friendly design and architecture before and during the actual development of the website. This will save you a lot of time and money and in most cases put you already ahead of existing competitors.
4. First Inbound Links: Take it easy and avoid scams
The digital industry market is filled with plenty of super-cheap services and software products that offer to submission to thousands of search engines at a very low cost. Some even make tall claims of even guaranteed top ranking. This is causing many businesses to fall apart! Prefer not to do it. If you see an offer like that, hold on. Let your site be found by search engines naturally. They will find your site if a page is already in their index links to you. There are plenty of methods to get your first inbound links including trusted vendors or good customers (B2B) can place a link to your website.
5. Sitemaps
The larger search engines allow webmasters to submit a sitemap to them via a webmaster console. The search engines also provide reports and other useful information, such as technical problems with your websites you might not be aware of via their console. It is advisable to create an account and register your website with them, just for the reports and statistics they provide free of charge and which are invaluable for your digital marketing efforts.
Once you have made a double cross-check on the above steps and is satisfied- now it’s time to pay attention to those efforts that are to be made on a frequent basis…
6. Web Analytics: Keeping tab on effectiveness
It is impossible to gauge the success or failure of any of your digital marketing activities if you do not track and measure their effectiveness. Online marketing campaigns, be it SEO, paid search, display advertising, email marketing, social media or affiliate marketing would be somewhat like aiming in the dark if there are no web analytics solution in proper order. Analytics options range from free services to very expensive and heavily customizable package. You have to determine what solution will work for you. Web analytics helps you to determine where to improve your site and your marketing campaigns to channel your resources and money to the things that work and pull it away from the things that don’t work.
7. Content Building: Evolve over time
There is nothing called an absolute complete website as content is an ever-evolving process that needs to grow maturely. It is a natural process to adjust to changes in the market. Quality content has to be provided and updated time to time that is related to what you do. It is ideal not to aim to sell something directly. This often helps in increased traffic and exposure for your business. Most people do not link to pages that only serve the purpose to make a sale.
8. Link Building: Creating the network is essential
Inbound links and internal site linking are very essential for generating organic traffic. Organic traffic means people seeing and clicking on those links to get to your website. Link building is also a vital activity for SEO. Inbound links play an important role in virtually every search engine when it comes to ranking pages in their search results. You must be pro-active from your part to get more and good inbound links.
9. Trust, Engagement and Community Building
Responsiveness is the buzz work in digital marketing and this is the reason that you must talk to people and also allow them to respond and to interact with you. Become part of the discussion to build trust and deeper relationships with your customers or potential customers. Listen to what they say and learn about their wants and their needs.
Understanding these basic and smart ways to a better SEO will not only help your business grow, but will also keep you on top of the ranking charts between you and your competitors.