It’s the digital age, and search engine optimization (SEO) is the powerful tool you need to bring in new customers. Websites that are well-optimized for search bring in more traffic, and that means more customers. Even if you don’t reach the top spot in search returns for your keywords, the traffic you do bring in could mean a lot of new customers for your business. Use these tips to find them.
Take Stock of Where You Are
Before you start to work on your SEO, you should take stock of where you are in search engine return pages (SERPs) before you start. This will help you measure your progress as you work on building your site’s SEO, which can take a while. Measuring your progress will let you know when your strategies are working, and when you might need to adjust them.
Start with Google Analytics and Google Search Console. Google Analytics can take you on a deep dive into your site’s ranking data, including such information as your site’s typical user demographics, how users are interacting with your site, how many conversions you’re getting and, yes, how much traffic your website sees. Google Search Console gives you a closer look at how your site appears in Google Search. It will also let you know of any issues with your site that could be affecting its ranking in the SERPs.
Find Some Good Search Keywords
Keyword research is super important to strong SEO, because keywords are the words and phrases that users enter into search engines to find sites like yours. Start by putting yourself in your typical user’s shoes and asking yourself what they would search for if they were looking for products or services like yours. Make a list. Then use a keyword research tool to find keywords that are trending for that topic, as well as data like search volume and variations.
The higher the search volume for a keyword, the harder it’s going to be to rank for that keyword. You have to strike a balance between a high search volume and ease of ranking for the keyword. You may want to start with lower-difficulty, lower-volume keywords at first.
Accumulate Backlinks
Backlinks are links from other websites to yours. They show search engines that your site is considered reputable and authoritative, especially when the backlinks come from other authoritative sites in your industries. The more backlinks you have, the higher your page will rank in the SERPs, the more traffic you’ll get, and the more customers you could potentially attract.
You can get backlinks by reaching out to your vendors, suppliers, and business associations you’re affiliated with and asking them to link to your site from theirs. You can also get backlinks by listing your business in online directories, guest blogging for thought leaders in your industry, and participating in social media and in forum sites like Quora.
Fix Your Technical SEO
Technical SEO includes those aspects of SEO that typically have to do with manipulating the webpage HTML. There could be all kinds of issues behind the scenes, as it were, that could affect your website’s SERP rankings. For example, if your site has duplicate content on more than one page, errors in the sitemap, pages Google can’t find to index, broken links, or issues with schema implementation, then it could be difficult if not impossible to rank very well in SERPs. You can perform a site audit yourself or use a Phoenix SEO agency to help you fix your site’s technical SEO.
Optimize Your Content
Fully optimized content is high-quality content that creates value for the user. Search engines want to direct users to pages that will meet their needs, so you need to create content that will give your users what they’re looking for, whether that’s entertainment, authoritative advice, or information of some kind. Your content should be well-written and should flow naturally. It shouldn’t be stuffed with keywords. It should have H1 and H2 headings that use your primary and maybe your secondary keywords.
All of your content doesn’t need to be written, however. You can and should use videos and images, too. Add alt tags for accessibility and SEO and use hashtags or post headings to incorporate keywords.
When you need new customers, you need new SEO. Sprucing up your site’s SEO can be just the thing to attract new customers, especially if you have a large web presence. And if you don’t have a large web presence, this is your cue to start building one!