Almost 70% of all online journeys begin on Google, Bing, or another search engine. However, most people (75%) don’t bother checking the second page of results.
Without strong search engine rankings, potential customers might struggle to find your business online. A strong search engine optimization (SEO) strategy can make all the difference to your success.
There are four types of SEO you’ll need to consider if you want to start experiencing SEO benefits firsthand, though. Read on to learn more about SEO for websites today!
On-Page SEO
When most people think of optimizing blog content for search engines, they’re actually discussing on-page SEO. On-page SEO involves optimization tactics on your website. You have the most control over on-page SEO optimization.
In order to develop a strong on-page SEO strategy, you’ll need to gather audience and keyword research. Google prioritizes content that aligns with the user’s search intent. Their search intent can help you understand what the user expects from a search.
Then, you can create content that aligns with their needs to provide your customers with the help they’re searching for while online.
In order to understand the user’s search intent, you’ll need to gather keyword research.
Keyword Research
You can start gathering keyword research using tools like Ahrefs, Google Trends, Keyword Planner, or SEMRush. Look for long-tail keywords during your search. These keywords or phrases feature four or more words.
Longer keywords are more precise than single-word, short-tail keywords. You should have an easier time understanding the user’s search intent as a result.
For example, a search for “cupcakes” could mean the user is looking for:
- Cupcake recipes
- Cupcakes for sale near me
- Tips for making cupcakes
- Cupcake inspiration
If you’re a bakery that offers cupcakes, you’ll want to appear for the second search query. However, you might not appear for that search if you’re targeting such a broad keyword. Instead, focus on longer, more precise phrases.
Create blog content with a search term in mind (don’t stuff the keyword in after writing the post). The keyword should appear in the:
- Page title
- URL
- Opening and closing paragraphs
- An H1 header
- Image alt text
- Image file name
- SEO title and description
Don’t stuff a post with the same keyword too often. Instead, use secondary keywords and synonyms within the post.
Quality Blog Content
Google prioritizes unique, helpful blog content over old, irrelevant posts. Make sure you’re creating content that helps your target audience.
Add variety to your content marketing strategy by creating videos, polls, quizzes, or infographics as well.
Make sure your content demonstrates your EAT (expertise, authority, trustworthiness). Leverage your years of experience and expertise to become a thought leader in your industry.
Internal Links
Internal links will send readers to other pages and posts across your website. You can increase the user’s dwell time to boost your rankings. Your bounce rate will drop, which can also benefit your rankings on search engine result pages (SERPs).
Google will also have an easier time crawling and indexing your content to recognize related posts. Try adding internal links to high-authority pages.
Meta Data
Your website data tells Google what the post or page contains. Your SEO title and description will appear on SERPs, encouraging readers to click on the link to your post.
Make sure the title and description are relevant to the content. Try to make it engaging while focusing on the reader’s search intent, too.
Image Optimization
You can also optimize your images by adding the focus keyword to the image file name and alt text. Then, you can start ranking for image searches, too.
Optimizing your images will also make it easier for people with visual disabilities to understand what appears on the page.
Off-Page SEO
Off-page search engine optimization involves tactics beyond your website. One of the most important elements of an effective off-page SEO strategy is backlink-building.
Backlinks are one of Google’s top ranking factors. These links appear on other websites and send readers to your blog content. Each backlink is considered a vote of confidence in your website or post.
The more backlinks a page generates, the more organic traffic it can gain through Google.
However, it’s important to consider the different types of backlinks you generate. For example, you should prioritize generating backlinks from websites with a high domain authority (DA).
A high DA indicates the website already has a high rank on search engine result pages. You can leverage their DA to improve your own. As your DA improves, your website rankings should, too.
Higher rankings can help you generate brand awareness, web traffic, and quality leads.
You can also generate natural backlinks by posting high-quality, informative blog content readers can’t find anywhere else. Other websites will want to reference your content within their own blog posts. You won’t have to ask to generate the backlink.
If you’re struggling to generate quality backlinks, consider hiring an experienced web marketing agency this year. They can help you develop a link-building strategy. For example, the agency might recommend guest blogging or PR opportunities.
Guest Blogging
Guest blogging involves writing blog content for someone else’s website before adding a link to your content within the post.
Try to find guest blogging opportunities on websites that already have a high DA. When creating the backlink, write anchor text that’s relevant to the post you’re sending readers to. Using a relevant keyword can benefit your off-page SEO strategy.
Focus on guest blogging opportunities for websites with a high authority that aren’t direct competitors. Make sure their readers have a need for your product or services, though.
You can use guest blogging to generate more referral traffic, which can boost your rankings.
HARO
You can also generate more traffic using Help a Reporter Out (HARO).
Journalists ask niche experts to create helpful content for their audiences. You can demonstrate your experience and expertise by writing a post for these publications. The publication will link back to your website within the post, allowing you to gain a backlink.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO involves the backend of your website. Improving your website can help boost your organic rankings.
Here are a few things to consider as you begin updating your website.
Load Times
Nearly 40% of people will stop engaging with a low website. In fact, most users expect a two-second maximum page load time. If your site is slower, people will start leaving, causing a high bounce rate.
Your conversions will drop up to 20% for every additional second of load time, too.
Run your website through Google’s PageSpeed Insights to make sure nothing is causing your site to lag. You might need to compress your images or remove unnecessary plugins.
User Experience
A positive user experience (UX) will keep visitors on your website, improving your bounce rate.
Make sure your website aligns with Google’s Core Web Vitals. Otherwise, make sure your website is mobile-friendly. You can run it through Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to check.
Issues across your site can have a negative impact on the user experience.
First, make sure there aren’t any crawl errors that are making your site invisible to Google’s search engine bots. Check all links to make sure there aren’t any broken links (and if there are, create redirects). Update outdated information, too.
Otherwise, complete a keyword cannibalization audit to avoid confusing search engines.
You can also remove duplicate content to further benefit your rankings.
Local SEO
About four in five consumers use search engines to find local stores and information. In fact, 50% of mobile users visit a store after completing a local search. About 18% of these researches result in a purchase.
About 7% of those searches occur on the same day as the search.
Local SEO will help you reach these consumers as they begin looking for nearby businesses.
Google My Business
You can start attracting local consumers to your business by claiming and optimizing your Google Business listing (it’s free!).
Your listing will display your:
- Name
- Address/directions
- Phone number
- Business category
- Hours
- Customer reviews
- Recent posts
Make sure the information is current and accurate. The information should match exactly what appears on your website, too. Google will compare the two for accuracy.
Claim your listings on any other online directories as well.
Then, start asking customers to post their reviews on your profile. Positive reviews can boost your reputation, leading to new sales!
Location Pages
When gathering keyword research, focus on location-specific keywords for your local SEO strategy. Then, create location-specific content on your blog.
If you have more than one business location, create a location page for each business, too! Embed a Google Map onto the page and display each location’s hours as well.
Invest in These Four Different Types of SEO Today
Don’t miss your opportunity to start reaching new customers as they’re searching for your products and services. Instead, consider investing in these four types of SEO this year. With a strong search engine optimization strategy, you can rank ahead of competitors to help your business grow.
Remember, you don’t have to go it alone! Consider hiring an agency to boost your rankings.
If you are interested in Melbourne SEO agencies head over to EngineRoom
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