What’s the best place to hide something you don’t want people to see? The answer, as the joke goes, is Page 2 of the Google search results. While this quip originated in an attempt to be funny, there’s nothing humorous about languishing in anonymity on the search engines. If people can’t find your company online, there’s virtually no way to grow your business. In other words, without placement on the search engines, your company has no future.
The tragic flaw of a failed SEO strategy is that most businesses that lose out on revenue due to bad search engine positioning don’t even know it’s a problem. You don’t want to fall into that group. Get your search engine rankings right today and ensure a successful tomorrow for your company.
1) Use the Right Keywords. Your search engine strategy starts and ends with your keywords of choice. If you’re optimizing one keyword while people are searching for another, you’re fighting a losing battle. Take advantage of online tools, such as SEMRush and KeywordTool.io, to help you hone in on the right keywords. These tools show you how much people are searching for given keywords, allowing you to pursue only those keywords that will yield the proper reward for your efforts. You’ll also learn about another way to drastically improve your SEO.
2) Incorporate Long-Tailed Keywords When Possible. Which keyword would make it easier for you to get recognized – “vinyl” or “vinyl record shop Brooklyn NY”? The latter is an example of a long-tailed keyword. In essence, it’s a way for you to fine-tune your search engine stature so that people can easily find you when they’re searching for a niche topic. Consider the things that you do well, and that people are likely to search for. Then, update your site to utilize that verbiage, opening up your business to a whole world of new customers.
3) Use Your Keywords Responsibly. The days of black-hat SEO tactics like keyword stuffing are long gone. Today, all you have to do is tastefully use your keywords to get noticed by the search engines. Include your keyword in your page title, your URL, your header and your image tags. After all of that tagging, you only have to use your keyword once or twice in your actual web copy. Going beyond this usage not only infuriates the search engines (who will penalize you), but sends a bad message to readers, who will assume that you prioritize clicks over quality.
4) Backlink. A backlink is a link to your site from another webpage. It’s important to your search engine ranking because the search engines consider backlinks to be recommendations. Therefore, if you have enough backlinks from quality sites, your standing with the search engines is bound to rise, even if you do nothing. Getting backlinks isn’t always easy, and you certainly don’t want to be begging people to link to your site. There’s only one indisputable way to encourage people to backlink to your site, and the solution is easier than you might think.
5) Produce Quality Content. While the particulars of a search engine’s algorithm may change over time, the one constant is that top-notch content is the ultimate way to climb the search engine rankings. After all, if a search engine provides spammy and unreliable results on Page 1, people will just seek out another search engine. Hosting great content on your site gives people a reason to backlink to your site, and it encourages the search engines to look at your pages in a favorable light. More importantly, you’ll attract attention from consumers that are more apt to love your content, creating a win-win scenario for everybody.
Climbing the ranks of the search engines takes commitment to a long-term strategy, but it doesn’t require you to drastically overhaul your marketing. These five tactics are easy tricks that anybody can implement immediately, and they will significantly boost your place in the search engines.
To learn more about the benefits of a focused SEO strategy, or for assistance in getting started, contact us today.
