Search engine optimization (SEO) strategies aim to enhance the website, content and overall presence so as to rank higher in Google’s organic search results. SEO involves developing long-term strategies which take into account factors such as your goals, competitors and the current environment.
An effective SEO strategy requires setting and meeting measurable and attainable goals while generating the return you expect on investment (ROI). Therefore, its development must encompass research, planning and implementation in order to meet objectives effectively.
As part of an SEO strategy, the initial step should be analyzing your current online presence and the competitive landscape for the keywords you wish to rank for. This will give you an understanding of what’s working and what isn’t, helping you craft an approach tailored specifically for you. It should also involve reviewing top results for these keywords to gain an insight into why some stand out more than others and what has contributed to their success.
Find similar elements among top performing results, such as featured snippets, images or videos, local packs or any other type of media that might be making waves in search engine result pages (SERPs). Doing this will enable you to identify opportunities for your own approach as well as generate fresh ideas on how you might create something special that stands out from competition.
SEO’s primary aim is to give users relevant and useful results, so you must strive to provide content that offers value for those visiting your website. This could involve writing helpful blog articles that answer user queries or solve problems, or optimizing title tags and meta descriptions to encourage people to click through when they see your listing in search results.
Your off-page SEO strategy is another integral element of an effective SEO campaign, and includes all efforts made to promote your website or content elsewhere. This may range from as simple as sharing links on social media to building relationships with influential bloggers in your niche.
High-quality backlinks increase Google’s trust in your content as relevant to specific search queries; these ‘votes of trust’ play an integral part in ranking processes.
Technical SEO is the final component of an effective SEO strategy and includes making sure that your website fulfills the basic criteria for crawlability, indexing and understanding – including making sure it is mobile-friendly and meeting security and speed standards. With tools like MarketingCloudFX’s evaluation function you can evaluate current SEO performance as well as suggest improvements for improvement – or check out our article about what seo strategy means!