How to Develop an Effective SEO Strategy
What I'm going to talk about this week is your SEO Strategy; everyone who has an online presence should have one of these place.
"But what is a SEO strategy" I hear you say?, follow these 5 simple rules to develop yours today.
These days, most businesses understand the basic concepts of SEO (search engine optimization) and why it's important. However, when it comes to developing and executing a sound SEO strategy, most businesses don't know where to begin. Here are five steps you can take to make sure all of your SEO bases are covered.
1. SEO Strategy Goals and Objectives
First things first. You need to set out your goals and objectives to formulate a plan and give clear instruction as to what you want to achieve. Hitting the top of a search engine in month 1 is not a clear goal, but getting more traffic to your website is, which, in turn, will dictate a rise in your search engine position.
And let's not forget, like with any goal setting, your SEO goals need to be specific, measurable, timely, realistic and achievable.
2. Keyword Research
Keywords are at the heart of SEO, and selecting the right ones can make or break your SEO strategy. Compile a list of about 10 keywords associated with your product or services. Plug these keywords into Google's keyword tool and find variations that make sense for your business.
3. SEO Content
Blogging is a great way to rank for keywords and engage your website users, after all every new blog post is a new website page that gives you every opportunity to rank in search engines, but there is so much more content you can create for your website and you need to develop a plan for these; a strategy that covers a variety of outcomes and that is consistent with your required objectives. Below is a list of content you can use to help with your search engine optimisation.
- Blog Content
- Whitepapers, E-books, Guides, Educational Resources
- Viral Content
- Landing Pages and Sales Pages
- Product Copy
- Visual Content (Infographics, Photos and Memes)
- Video Content (Explainer Video, How-to's and Vlogs)
- Webinars and slideshares
- Podcasts
- Press and media releases
4. Link Building
While our first three steps were dedicated to on page SEO tactics , link-building is the primary objective of off-page SEO, and a contributing factor in how search engines rank your web pages. Dedicate some time to brainstorm all the different ways you can attract inbound links to your website. Start small – maybe share your links with other local businesses in exchange for links to their sites. Write a few blog posts and share them on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn. Consider approaching other bloggers for guest blogging opportunities through which you can link back to your website. Another great way to attract inbound links is to use your blog to post articles related to current events or news. That way you have shot of getting linked to from an industry influencer or other bloggers in your industry. Whatever your link building strategy, one thing is imperative; remain relevant. Getting someone to build 3,000 links from some random link farm is not going to work. In fact, it's a sure fire way of achieving the exact opposite of what your strategy is setting out to do.
And last but not least...
5. Stay current on all SEO news and updates
Like the overall marketing landscape search engine space is forever changing, staying informed on the ever changing parameters in a difficult task. But there is online help out there to guide you in the right direction.
I hope this helps you with the way you should be heading and, again, this doesn't happen overnight so keep on top of it. Identify the areas that are working and the areas that are not. Like a good zenomorph, it is constantly evolving.
Written by Jay Cook, Social Media & Communications Director. 24-05-17