Search engine optimization, otherwise referred to as SEO, is a form of generating traffic from results on search engines such as Yahoo, Bing and Google. These search engines find results for you based on what you type in. What SEO marketing or writing may do for you is make your business appear in the primary results list based on a simple search. What makes SEO favorable for your business is also its cost efficiency. Paid search ads such as Google Adwords or Yahoo Search Ads or Bing Ads will cost money but SEO will generate free results.
SEO Goals
The best way to use SEO marketing is to first establish basic goals for yourself and your business. What is SEO going to help you achieve? What’s the objective? Do hits on your website translate into a monetary value through site ads? Or are you trying to generate traffic onto your site in order to increase sales for your product? Or are you simply trying to get your site to appear on the primary list in order to put the word out on your goods and services? Having a clear idea in mind as to how you’re going to utilize SEO will help establish your techniques around this goal.
SEO Content
Having consistent content on your site will help boost traffic. One helpful way to keep content appearing on your site is blogging. You can be creative and focus on a certain theme or idea. If you know your audience already, it’s even better. That way you can hold their attention and keep their curiosity about your site satisfied with consistent distribution of information. The best way to release content is to do so in a scheduled manner. Posting a new blog publicly once a day or twice a week regularly at the same time each day is recommended. Try using Microsoft Outlook from your desktop to directly publish a new posting on a scheduled basis. Another helpful tool is Google Calendar. Blog platforms such as WordPress or Tumblr also work. Items can be queued for releasing regularly. You can even link them to your social media platforms to give your site an even bigger boost. Giving yourself ample time to produce content and have it stored will help you keep from panicking at the last minute. But be cautious not to plan things ahead too early. Sometimes changes occur in your marketing or scheduling process. If an item is queued for scheduled posting too far ahead, you might forget what you have queued for releasing, and miscommunication can occur. For instance being two weeks to a couple of months ahead is a decent time for prep but a detailed schedule for something set a year from now might be far too in advance. Content for blogs can be anything from written works (best to keep them short, tidy, entertaining, engaging, personable and informative), photographs (a consistent theme is helpful), videos, and curating links can work, too. Be sure to avoid lifestyle-related posts. These hardly generate traffic unless you’re a celebrity. For instance, avoid posting selfies or pictures of your afternoon tea. These can be saved for your own personal account. A business account should post content that is directly illuminating the audience more about your business as well as its goods and services.
SEO and Social Media
Having a decent storage of content to disseminate regularly is the best way to keep things going. You can choose to have a theme for your blog. You can also participate in hashtags themes for days of the week such as #HumpDay for Wednesdays, #tbt for “Throwback Thursdays” and #FF or #FBF for “Follow Friday” or “Flashback Friday.” Hashtags will increase visibility because you’re involved in a pool of data that is easy to find by a single click of a button on a computer, tablet or mobile device. You can easily link your posts to social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. Check for options on your blog platform.
SEO and Site Analytics
Be sure to check your site analytics regularly to see how your site is doing. If you notice any patterns like which day of the week you get the most visits, or what hour in the day seems the highest for traffic, or what kind of content seems to attract viewers most, take copious notes and keep them in mind when you’re strategizing a marketing campaign. Study the successful postings and the postings that generate the least amount of traffic. This will help you understand your audience better, and you can narrow your marketing focus better.
SEO and Keywords
Be sure to use as many keywords as possible on written content. The more keywords there are, the greater the likelihood for your site ending up on search results. For instance, if your site sells houseplants, make sure “houseplants” are available numerous times so that it has a greater chance of ending up on the results’ list. You can be smart about using the keywords, too, so that it doesn’t seem strange or random. You can try using it in introductory paragraphs, use it under images, use it on a heading or on subheadings.
The more you use the keywords, the better.
More SEO Tips
- When using links, be sure to get them from sites that have quality content. Never add links to messy sites.
Be mindful of organization. An organized site that has logic and flow will help visitors feel comfortable. - Set up share-able links for easy sharing via Tweets, re-posts and comments. You can monitor comments, too, to avoid irrelevant spams or comments.
- Be sure your site is accessible from not just desktops but also on tablets and mobile devices. Your visitor should be able to access your content from wherever he or she chooses to do so.
- Don’t overdo keywords. If a keyword doesn’t logically make sense in a sentence, it’s better to leave it out.
Best of luck on your SEO marketing!