The Next 8 Things You Should Do For Search Engine Optimization Success
Most of you have heard the term SEO used in connection with digital marketing, online businesses, or the internet. Even so, you’d be surprised how many people just remember those three letters without knowing what they mean.
If that’s you, we’ve got you covered. But you’re also in luck if this is the first time you’ve heard this phrase. In this article, you will learn everything you need to know to make a successful SEO (search engine optimization) plan.
Why SEO is important in 2023
According to Safari Digital, about 61% of marketers think SEO is the key to online success. This is why, on average, modern businesses spend 41% of their marketing budget on SEO. Taking the time to plan a good SEO strategy can change your online traffic and your business.
Nowadays, more people are using the internet than ever before. They do more online shopping, streaming movies and TV than usual. Because of the pandemic, they have shifted most of their work to Zoom meetings to last a lifetime. SEO has been important for so many businesses in 2020 & 2021, and we expected it to be the same in 2022. So, as we get closer to the New Year, how can you make an SEO plan that keeps up? Well, let’s start with what you should know.
What every SEO plan must have
SEO uses certain quality content rules and technical improvements to increase your website’s traffic and rank on search engine results pages (SERPs). The keywords and quantity of content are also very important. Scaling is writing more content, using more links, and using a wider range of keywords. This is a great way to move up in the rankings over time.
Why is it important to have organic traffic and do SEO?
When it comes to digital marketing, you can’t beat SEO-driven organic search strategies if you want your efforts to last and save you money. SEO is not only cheaper than paid ads, but it has lasted longer effects. While PPC campaigns need to be renewed and bidding costs change, SEO tracking tools use organic data to make lists of keywords and keep giving you more content ideas as you dig deeper.
At first, SEO can feel like it’s going slow. However, after a few months, your overall traffic and rankings start to improve in a big way. Also, the longer you do it, the more backlinks and authority you build for your site, which means you can go for even bigger and better keywords, and so on.
Even starting at the other end of the spectrum—targeting long-tail keywords and more detailed variants—is a great way for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Additionally, they can see results quickly and build a foundation for future growth. Over one-third of all Google, searches have four or more words (i.e., long-tail keywords). Not only are these keywords less popular, making it easier to rank for them, but they can still bring in a lot of traffic on their own.
8 Tips to Make a Good SEO Strategy in 2023
It’s sometimes about going for the most popular search terms and thinking you can immediately compete with the big fish. It’s about knowing your audience and trying to give them the information, content, and overall service they want or need. Keeping that in mind, here are eight SEO tips that work just as well now as they did in the past.
1. Write for people first, then for search engines.
As was already said, Google’s algorithm gets smarter every day. With constant input from people, it continues to get closer to how we think. Also, there is no way to trick a search engine with a clever trick or a magic formula, so don’t try. Write first for people and then for search engines.
Your main goal should always be to give your audience what they want, and the only way to do that is to write interesting and true content. Anyone can tell when a keyword has been forced in, and keyword stuffing is even more obvious, so use keywords where they make sense and let them boost your already informative and useful content.
2. Use the right keywords in the right places
People should always come first, and search engines should always come second. However, keywords are the most important part of this whole process. By isolating common search terms, they not only get to the heart of what visitors and Google are looking for, but SEO also brings in 1000% or more traffic than organic social media, which already brings in more than half of all online traffic. So, if keywords are the most important thing for SEO, they should be the most important thing for you, too.
But, once more, it’s not just a matter of throwing them everywhere. It all starts with finding the right keywords. You can find broad search intent and your “seed” keywords by using SEO tools like Google Ads, Ahrefs, and even simple on-site search bars. Then, dig deeper to find more long-tail variants, look at your competitors to find keyword gaps, and remember to include them in your metadata and the anchor text for your links. Last, don’t use too many keywords. Fit them naturally so your copy is easy to read.
3. Pay attention to how users feel (UX)
There’s nothing worse than figuring out how to use a website that’s hard to use. Unfortunately, most people give up after a few seconds of frustration. And Google can also need help making the best of it. Things like broken links, error pages, and a site that is hard to navigate will change what people think of your site.
Users like a good experience and easy navigation, and this also help Google’s crawlers read your content and figure out where you rank in the SERPs.
- Use headings
- Short, easy-to-read paragraphs
- Clean up your subfolders
- And make sure your website works well on mobile devices.
All these will help your bounce rate go down, your rankings go up, and you get more visitors. And now that the page experience update has made Core Web Vitals a ranking factor, you should optimize page speed more than ever.
4. Focus on building relevant links
As mentioned above, link-building is another important part of building a domain’s reputation and a site’s authority. In addition, outbound links are important: not only do they improve the information you’re giving, but you can also get backlinks in return through outreach, etc.
Additionally, links are a very important ranking factor. Bots and crawlers find content by following links to the next page and figuring out how relevant it is to a search query. Of course, this also applies to internal links, so feel free to link to other useful pages on your site when it makes sense. According to research, after one to three months of using a link-building strategy, 51% of marketers have seen results.
5. Format the content for Featured Snippets
These days, featured snippets rule SERPs. Even if you have yet to hear the term, you should know what they are. They are the boxes with highlighted answers at the top of most search results pages. If you get a featured snippet, it means that you are doing something right.
You can increase your chances of getting a featured snippet by using bullet points, numbered lists, infographics, and directly answering question-based searches.
Even though data shows that snippets don’t always lead to direct clicks because the search query is answered in the Google preview, over 19% of SERPs have featured snippets, which is still growing. They are a great way to spread the word about your brand and get your name out there. So people will still click on it.
6. Get rid of anything on your site that slows it down
Again, it needs to be said more how easy it is to get the technical details right so that your website and its content can speak for themselves. Whether you’re writing informative blogs, selling a product or service, or just pointing someone in the right direction, your site needs to be quick, easy to find, and simple to use. People want information and results right away. If your site takes too long to load, people will just leave.
You can speed up your site and make the user experience smoother in many ways:
- Get rid of old or broken plugins
- Clean up your code
- Optimise and compress your images
- Make sure your subfolders make sense
- And use tools like Google Page Speed Insights or GTmetrix to keep an eye on things in the future.
7. Pay attention to the changes in Google’s algorithm
We’ve discussed this briefly, but Google gets smarter and more intuitive daily. Core updates and changes to the algorithm happen all the time and often come as a surprise. Depending on how closely they follow the most recent update, sites either get a boost or a penalty.
Rankings and penalties are based on many things, like how easy it is to load, how fast it is, how much advertising or spammy content it has, etc. But there are a few easy things you can do to stay close.
First, sign up for industry websites and forums to learn about recent and upcoming changes. Google’s Search Console Community is a good place to start. Also, keep a close eye on your traffic using tools like Google Analytics and SEMrush to see where updates may have happened and make changes as needed.
8. Make the content better and add subtopics.
Lastly, you should remember that your SEO strategy has no real end. With constant updates and competition, there’s always something to do, and you can always improve what you’ve already done. If you have yet to use SEO, you can start by updating old content with keywords, backlinks, and better readability.
You can even ensure that pages that have been doing well keep getting more traffic or build on their success by updating them often. Back to your keyword research, this is a great chance to use these phrases and your analysis of your competitors as the foundation for a long-term content plan.
Each keyword should lead to many other ideas, which gives you more content ideas. Instead of writing one piece about a specific topic, make it a “cornerstone” article from which other, more specific articles grow. Using tools like SEMrush and Yoast, you can do a proper content audit. Adding and updating old content can double your traffic—just try to make it as evergreen as possible and use those internal and external links discussed.
Bottom Line
This post doesn’t even begin to explain what SEO is all about. It’s a field that gets more complicated and nuanced every day. But if you follow these tried-and-true tips that have stood the test, you should be ready for whatever 2023 brings.
We have a lot of resources for you to use if you want to learn more about SEO or see some examples, no matter what level you are at. The SEO landscape is always changing, so get up to speed quickly.
