By optimising your content for search engines, you increase your chances of being ranked higher in search results.
Having an online presence is no longer an option, but a necessity.
From small businesses to huge multinational corporations, online visibility has a big impact on the success of a business.
This is why having a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy is paramount for anyone who wants to grow their business online.
What is SEO and why is it important?
SEO stands for search engine optimization and is the best way to attract more “eyeballs” to your website, content and brand.
By optimising your content for search engines, you increase your chances of ranking higher in search results.
Organic search is so effective because people who come across your content are actively searching for it. This usually means better quality leads and therefore more interaction and conversions.
SEO is a cost-effective way to boost your visibility and has huge long-term potential.
Unlike paid advertising, where your reach usually falls flat the moment you stop paying, a piece of content optimized for search engines can continue to get traffic months (or even years) after its initial creation.
It takes more effort beforehand and it may take some time to see results, but it’s definitely worth the wait.
5 Easy SEO Strategy Techniques for Beginners
Although SEO is a strategy to get the search engine algorithm to rank your content higher, you should always focus on your audience and providing valuable content!
The days of keyword stuffing and other black hat SEO techniques are long gone.
Bad SEO practices will backfire, so always remember: your content should be written for humans and optimized for search engines, not the other way around!
Focusing on SEO is a great way to increase organic traffic to your website.
Let’s delve into some basic techniques you can use today to kick-start your SEO strategy!
1. Focus on the "Related Searches" section
Google’s “Related Searches” section is a goldmine for your SEO strategy.
When you search for something, Google often suggests what other relevant topics might be useful.
This is a great, free way to do keyword research and write about things people are interested in.
Another source to find out what questions your audience has about specific issues is Answer the Public by Neil Patel.
2. Analyze your competition
Looking at what your competitors are doing is a great way to gather information that could affect your SEO strategy.
Identify the keywords for which they rank highly and study their backlink profile – you’ll need an SEO tool like Semrush or Diib for this.
We suggest that before you invest in purchasing an SEO tool, you should sign up for a free trial, gather the information you need and decide if you want to use this tool again in the future.
Another way to do this is to analyse the content of your competitors. Consider what they write about and what response they get from their audience. Don’t imitate their strategy, but evaluate what seems to work for them and use that knowledge to make decisions about your own strategy.
3. Internal Links - Links and Backlinks
Internal links are really useful for SEO, as they provide further information to your readers. Search engines see this as a more useful piece of your content.
Internal links also help search engines understand the relationship between different pages/posts on your website. It will also encourage readers to read more of your content.
You can also create links to other external sources if you think they are useful for your readers or if they make it easier for you to document your point of view. You should also turn every mention of a brand name into a link.
Backlinks, on the other hand, are an important ranking factor.
Backlinks are links from other websites to yours. Although quantity helps here, quality is even more important.
When high-quality sites link to your site, this tells the algorithm that your content is accurate and trustworthy.
Conversely, having suspicious sites linked to yours can damage your reputation, making it harder for you to rank at the top.
4. Renewing outdated content
Your SEO content will remain effective in the long run as long as it remains relevant.
That’s why it’s very important to frequently review older content that is performing well and update it if necessary.
It may not always be necessary, but think: is there anything else you can add to make this content even more valuable?
Or is there something in there that is no longer real or relevant? Regularly updating your content is an excellent practice for SEO.
Google tends to favour up-to-date and relevant content. This can also attract other users to share your content, and thus new backlinks from other websites. Backlinks should be part of your SEO strategy.
5. Core Web Vitals
Another important factor of SEO is the Core Web Vitals of your website. They are part of the ranking factors used by search engines and should not be overlooked.
Core Web Vitals are gathered through actual user data and these factors are important for an overall user experience. Counts:
- Largest Content Paint (LCP) – How long it takes to fully load the main content of your page (target is 2.5 seconds or less).
- First Input Delay (FID) – How long it takes before users can actually interact with your content (target is 100 milliseconds or less).
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) – How much your content moves around the page until it is placed in the correct position (target is 0.1 or less).
This may be too technical, but in general, it’s about the user’s experience when they first come across your site.
A good user experience is an important part of your SEO strategy, so you should take the time to make sure your site is “healthy”.
Some other factors to pay attention to:
- Page speed – Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to analyze your site speed and get recommendations for improvement.
- Mobile responsiveness – Most people use mobile phones to browse the internet, so make sure your website looks good on mobile phones and is functional.
- Image optimization – This is a common mistake that causes a big problem – heavy images slow down your site, so make sure you optimize any media before uploading it to the site.
Content is the King when it comes to SEO, but if people leave before they get a chance to see your content, it doesn’t matter how good it is.
Pro Tip: Elevate your brand with the power of SEO
To recap, these five points will help you develop organic SEO and traffic to your website:
- Focus on the “Related Searches” section of Google.
- Find out what users are looking for and create relevant content for your website.
- Analyse your competition. See what they do right and what they do wrong and learn from it. Do not try to imitate their actions, collect information.
- Use internal links and backlinks. Guide users to your content.
- Refresh outdated content. Review your texts, posts and photos often.
- Pay attention to Core Web Vitals and user experience.
Remember, these strategies work in tandem and applying them in combination usually leads to better results!
Investing time and working on increasing your organic traffic is a great way to gain more exposure and grow your brand.
Also, a human-centric marketing approach to your SEO content strategy will not only lead to more organic traffic to your website, but will also bring more users to your content in general.
