Search Engine Optimization can make the difference between standing out and fading into a sea of competitors.
Startups and small businesses looking to boost their visibility and discoverability may not have enough capital to invest in a solid SEO team. However, you can implement some essential steps and tactics yourself to improve your ranking.
Understanding SEO and its importance is the first step towards driving traffic and increasing brand awareness. Here are the top ten ways you can create or improve your existing small business SEO strategy:
Ways to Improve Your SEO Strategy
Here are the top ten tips and tricks to improve your SEO strategy:
Produce High-Quality Content
Compelling, informative, and authoritative content is one of the best ways to improve search engine rankings.
Quality content increases your website’s popularity, increases site traffic, and gives visitors a reason to keep visiting your site.
Fine-tune your writing skills and tweak your existing blogs to establish yourself as an industry leader and stay relevant.
Create a List of Keywords
Keyword research is at the core of all marketing strategies, including content and SEO marketing. Creating valuable and accessible content can be tricky without a list of relevant keywords.
Brainstorm a list of keywords for each page you’re planning to publish. Focus on using long-tail keywords that contain two or more words, primarily since these keywords ensure a 3 to 5% higher click-through rate.
Create Attention-Grabbing Headlines to Improve Click-Through Rates
Research reveals that 36% of SEO experts believe that headlines are the most critical SEO element. It is because your headline makes the first impression and determines whether the viewer will click the link or not.
Therefore, focus on crafting a compelling headline that encourages your target audience to click and engage with your content.
Answer Related Questions to Meet Customer’s Needs
The search engine provides several related searches and questions for every Google query. For instance, if you search ‘SEO Marketing,’ you’ll see that people also ask:
- What is SEO in Digital Marketing?
- What is SEO? And how Does it Work?
- Types of SEO
- How to do SEO?
These SERP features offer marketers clues about what queries are popular among users. Consider covering these queries in your articles to increase the chances of getting featured snippets and rank in the ‘People Also Ask’ sections.
Ensure Your Site is Mobile Friendly
According to research, 55% of online traffic comes from mobile phones. Another study shows that approximately 60% of buyer searches are on mobile phones.
So, it’s evident that more people are using their smartphones to conduct product research and answer queries. It means that you need to make your website mobile-friendly to engage different audiences.
Ensure a positive user experience across multiple devices by improving page load speeds, user interface, navigation, and formatting.
Optimize Your Images
Images are an excellent way to improve your SEO, especially since images return for more than 29% of queries. But to rank high, you need to ensure your images are appropriately optimized. Thus, you need to focus on two main factors: format and size.
Huge images require more loading time, which can hurt your ranking. Optimize these images by resizing or compressing them.
You can also sneak in the primary keywords in your images by naming them. For instance, if you sell Christmas-related presents, instead of saving your image as ‘Christmas 234’, you can call it ‘the best Christmas present for your loved ones.’
Integrate Video Content within Your Content
Integrate captivating video content within your content to engage viewers and boost conversions.
Research reveals that 50% of consumers who watch online product videos believe it helps them make a better purchasing decision. In addition, people who watch videos are 64% more likely to purchase.
Informative yet engaging video content allows you to foster trust and credibility with your viewers.
Boost Credibility with Outbound Links
According to insightful research, link building is one of the two most important factors Google uses to rank your website. Using credible links is an excellent way of improving your SEO strategy while establishing your brand as an authority.
So, every time you make a bold claim in your articles, back it with trustworthy and authoritative resources.
Engage Users with Interactive Content
Integrate interactive content pieces, including surveys, assessments, polls, and infographics to attract viewers. This type of content engages visitors for a longer time and enhances the user experience.
The longer people stay on your page, the more likely Google ranks your content as valuable and relevant.
Fix Broken Links
Research reveals that up to 88% of online buyers are less likely to revisit a website after a negative user experience. So, broken links can drive away customers and increase bounce rates- both things small businesses need to avoid.
Consider auditing your website to pinpoint any existing errors. Then, address them to improve your SEO ranking and boost traffic.
Top SEO Ranking Factors to Remember
Search engines use more than 200 SEO ranking factors to determine which site should appear on the first page.
You need to optimize your website and content to cater to Google’s search engine optimization factors to stand out. Luckily, not all SEO ranking factors were made equally.
Here are the top SEO factors to remember:
- An authentic and accessible website
- Site crawlability
- Mobile-friendliness
- Domain, age, URL, and authority
- Technical SEO
- Site load speed
- Link Map
- User engagement
- Social signals
The Bottom Line
Research by Zero Limit Web reveals that the first five organic results on the first page account for up to 67.6% of all clicks. To improve your website’s ranking and discoverability, focus on enhancing and readjusting your SEO strategy.
Use these tips and tricks to tweak your existing SEO marketing strategy. If you don’t have one, reach out to us—we at Firestarter SEO fuel growth and drive sales by improving your search engine ranking. Our highly trained and diligent industry leaders promise tangible results by leveraging the best and proven techniques.
Sources
https://blog.alexa.com/seo-ranking-factors/
https://optinmonster.com/seo-ranking-factors/
https://www.impactplus.com/blog/seo-statistics
https://www.mtu.edu/umc/services/websites/seo/
https://www.quicksprout.com/ways-to-improve-seo-ranking/
https://builtin.com/marketing/13-cost-effective-ways-ramp-your-seo
https://www.singlegrain.com/seo/effective-seo-techniques-that-work/
https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/5-ways-to-improve-your-seo-strategy-in-2018/516899/
