Growing your organization on Google can seem daunting at first, but it doesn’t have to be. It all comes down to understanding how the search engine works and keeping up with the latest trends. It may even include strong teamwork, depending on the size of your organization.
With this guide, you’ll have all the information you need to stay at the top of Google rankings. This will give your organization maximum visibility and the best chance for overall growth.
Building a Solid SEO Strategy
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a way to optimize your website so it can be found more easily by potential customers. It’s important to create a well-thought-out strategy that takes into account how keywords, page titles, link building, and meta descriptions will affect your visibility. Consider using a white hat link building service to improve your rankings.
The best SEO strategies are industry-focused, as a general strategy won’t produce the best results. On The Map, for example, specializes in SEO for lawyers. You can read more about this topic in their SEO guide for lawyers, which covers nuances in legal marketing you may overlook.
With that said, all SEO strategies will be separated into three groups:
- On-page SEO: Focuses on content on your website and website optimization.
- Off-page SEO: Focuses on websites that link to yours, also called “backlinking.”
- Technical SEO: Focuses on the backend architecture, aka, the website’s code.
Google gives your website an overall score based on these metrics. The higher your website scores, the higher it will rank. But don’t make the mistake of ranking high with the wrong audience. If you attract the wrong crowd, it won’t matter how high you rank on Google.
Identifying Your Target Audience
Before developing any SEO strategy, it’s important to consider your target audience. Think about who you’re trying to reach and what words they’re most likely to use when searching for your product or service. Be sure to research your competition and relevant keywords here.
By understanding your target audience, you can develop a strategy more tailored to the language customers understand and react to. Your goal is to advertise your startup in a way that gets people interested, and missing this step will inevitably make your SEO efforts fall short.
Creating Quality Content
Quality content is one of the most, if not the most, essential part of any SEO strategy. Google answers questions, and they match visitors with answers via keywords. Content can help answer your customer’s questions while also making them aware of what you’re selling.
Let’s say you’re an auto shop, and you sell carburetors. If you write an article about “how to find a carburetor for five common engines,” your customers will find you when they search these keywords. After explaining the best carburetors, you’d add a call-to-action to purchase one.
With this strategy, customers will be able to find you and purchase your products from all over the world. As you can see, creating quality content can instantly make you more visible.
Content marketing also affects every aspect of SEO:
- Popular topics (or questions) are more likely to be searched and clicked on.
- Long and short-tail keywords are peppered throughout your content.
- Your content can link to other content, leading the customer down a sales funnel.
- Consistently updated websites rank higher, and a blog keeps your site updated.
- Other blogs can link to your content, which increases your domain rating.
Keep in mind that quality content must be relevant to the customer, provide useful information, and offer solutions to their problems. Additionally, it should be written in a way that’s easy to understand, meaning you’ll want to avoid blog posts full of jargon or large groupings of text.
Maintaining An Engaging Social Presence
Having a presence on social media platforms is essential to driving website traffic and improving visibility. Keep your audience engaged by creating content specifically for social media, posting frequently, and responding to comments. Stick to platforms that are popular with your audience.
You can also use social media to promote your content, reach a larger audience, and build relationships with new customers. Keep in mind that most consumers follow brands to learn about new products and services or stay up to date with news, so make that kind of content.
Remember that SEO works similarly on social media platforms, except you won’t have to worry about technical SEO. You’ll still need to convince others to share and link to your content.
Using Analytics To Improve Results
SEO can take a long time to work, and you’ll want to know immediately if you need to adjust your strategy or stay on course. Analytic tools, like Google Analytics, can identify possible areas of improvement. An SEO report can accurately describe why your strategy is or isn’t successful.
Your report will have metrics like organic traffic results, inbound link generation, and the overall SEO health of your website. Follow these analytics carefully. If you’re not sure how to adjust, or you don’t have the time, you can hire an SEO agency to help you rank better on Google.
