Search engines provide results for queries entered into users’ browsers, and when Google recognizes your content as matching these searches, it ranks you higher on results pages – driving visitors directly to your website or online shop, or driving customers directly into physical locations if applicable. SEO provides this opportunity.
Keywords
Keywords are terms and phrases typed into search engines to search for information. Digital marketers use keywords to optimize the content on their websites so as to attract search engine users who may convert into customers or clients more readily.
Keywords can be utilized in numerous ways across your website’s content – page titles and descriptions, meta tags, URLs, internal links and body text are just some ways. When employing keywords on your site, make sure they reflect its purpose appropriately.
SEO keywords come in various forms, from head (or seed) words to long-tail words. While head words tend to be less popular and competitive than their long-tail counterparts, long-tail ones provide greater detail and are usually more descriptive of your products (for instance if selling nightstands then long tail keywords could include terms such as “small bedside table” or “nightstand with drawers”). There are also specific secondary or tertiary keywords related to marketing funnel stages or customer journeys that you could also target with SEO keywords.
Content
Content is an integral component of search engine optimization. This includes written text, images, videos and any other form of media found on websites. To optimize search engine results it is crucial to recognize user intent and create high-quality content which aligns with it – there are various tools that can assist with this.
Search engines use algorithms to evaluate content. Once evaluated, search engines select the most useful and pertinent results for every query – ensuring users get exactly the right information at just the right time and form.
Although search engines keep their algorithm under wraps, SEO specialists have identified several factors that influence page rankings. For example, including keywords in title tags and optimizing image file names can improve visibility of content while simultaneously impacting direct ranking factors like click-through rates and relevancy.
Link building
Link building is one of the cornerstones of search engine optimization, helping your website achieve maximum visibility, organic traffic growth, trust building and authority in your niche market. In a recent survey conducted among SEO professionals, 41% said that they spent over $1000 on their link-building strategy.
Quality over quantity when it comes to link building is key. Google considers which pages link back to your website when ranking its importance – for instance a link from The New York Times has more value than one from an industry blog.
But getting quality links can be difficult; people tend to link only to websites they believe provide real value to their audience. Therefore, you need to take an active approach in your link building efforts; building relationships with businesses and bloggers in your industry and then asking them for inbound links can help immensely in expanding your link portfolio.
Analytics
Analytics provide an overall picture of your search engine optimization campaign’s performance, enabling you to make data-driven decisions instead of making assumptions-based judgment calls. Analytics also help identify areas for improvement that can maximize return on investment.
An essential metric to monitor is organic traffic, or search traffic, which measures how many visitors come directly from organic search results and measures whether these visits result in conversions. Tools like Google Analytics and Search Console can help assess this metric’s performance.
One of the biggest challenges faced by SEO professionals is efficiently gathering, reporting, and analyzing client data. A data visualization tool like AgencyAnalytics can save time by automating the collection and reporting of SEO data to clients; additionally it creates reports which are more informative and easily understandable – especially useful when communicating results to non-technical clients.