Search engine optimization or SEO is a process of generating organic traffic to your website based on the relevance of your web page’s content, link popularity, etc. SEO helps your web page to rank higher on the results page compared to all other pages bearing similar information or keywords. When your web page has relevant information based on the keywords fed to a search engine by a user, it boosts your interactions. With the right search engine optimization tips, you will soon have good brand exposure derived from all the traffic to your website.
Search engines like Google are a way for users to query the internet. Orienting your website to have specific keywords, backlinks, and other marketing strategies ensures your page will be the first on the list of recommendations by Google.
Search engines are constantly updating their algorithms towards quality over quantity and ensuring positive user experiences. Increasing the amount of traffic to your web page via search engine optimization has to be done in a way that doesn’t violate Google’s policies. The Penguin update is an especially memorable invention by Google, famous for its role in weeding out a web page that is using back-alley tricks to manipulate its SEO ranking.
The unnatural use of keywords just to make your web page rank higher will be flagged by Google. This could result in penalties that tank your SEO ranking. Manipulating Google’s algorithm is not an easy task. Even if you manage to succeed, it will be a short-lived celebration. Google is currently making thousands of updates a year to ensure all websites are in sync with their policies. It is not worth the time and effort to use shortcuts. The process of search engine optimization is not a one-day affair. It takes time and effort to build your brand and gain exposure.
Types of SEO Marketing Strategies
Boosting interactions to your web page using search engine optimization tactics is the most effective digital marketing tactic of 2022. Improving the relevance of your website through SEO is a strategy that you need to invest in. Understanding the relevance and working principles of every type of SEO available today helps you decide on the kind of strategy that works best for you.
Technical Search Engine Optimization
This involves making changes to your web page to help boost its SEO without affecting the content on your site. One of the many ways in which Google’s search engines know which page to rank first is by sending web crawlers to your site. These web crawlers visit your website to determine which technical parameters affect your website’s visibility. Technical SEO works behind the scenes to improve user experience. The main aim of technical SEO is to ensure these crawlers can move about your site without any complications. Some of the technical parameters to consider include:
- Loading time: A faster website ranks better on Google’s search results. A slow page is penalized by ranking lower.
- Site portability: According to the SEO Tribunal, about 58 percent of online searches are done using mobile devices. Your site should be functional on both desktop and mobile phone.
- Content placement: The structure of your site should be user-friendly. Use a consistent URL structure, internal links, etc., to ensure your site looks neat and structured.
On-page Search Engine Optimization
On-page/ on-site SEO helps to improve your ranking by manipulating your website’s content. It ensures the content of your web page remains relevant and is constantly updated with fresh new content. This guarantees that users will always flock to your site in search of new content. Some on-page SEO tips include:
- Use keywords: Keywords are a great way to improve your SEO ranking. Consider placing your main keywords towards the start of your blog for better ranking and make them sound as naturally set as possible.
- Use meta-information: Using metadata helps Google and other users understand the type of content available on your page. Ensure your meta information contains the relevant keywords to increase your chances of ranking.
- Use internal links: Internal links help to relate the content on your page with content on other pages of your website. It allows Google to read your site and increase its user-friendliness.
Off-page Search Engine Optimization
These are actions done outside your site that help to improve your site’s SEO. These include using backlinks. A backlink is formed when another site uses a hyperlink that redirects to your website. This helps Google to identify you as an authoritative site which improves your search engine optimization. Ensure that the sites linking back to you are quality web pages that adhere to Google’s policy. Some of the ways to build backlinks include:
- Pitching an article: There are sites online that will allow you to present them with a piece they can publish on their websites and use links that drive traffic back to you. However, this type of SEO should be done minus the exchange of money as it is against Google’s guidelines.
- Use a Competitor’s Backlink Strategy: Doing competitor research allows you to see how your competing web pages are able to drive much more traffic than you do. This will enable you to replicate the same strategy to your site. Once you know which websites link to your competitors, you can approach them for a hyperlink request.
These are three of the most essential elements in search engine optimization. However, more SEO strategies can be employed to boost your website’s rankings. They include the following.
- Local search engine optimization– Local SEO helps you target users and consumers in your region. This is especially important if you are targeting customers that live around your workplace. Remember to include your business address, name, working hours, etc., on your website to help improve your local SEO.
- Content search engine optimization– This is similar to on-site SEO. Its primary focus is improving the quality of content found on your web page.
- Mobile search engine optimization– This is a subset of an SEO specific to mobile devices. Most searchers on the internet today use mobile phones. You must ensure your site is mobile-friendly.
- eCommerce search engine optimization– This helps to optimize a website involved in eCommerce like an online shop. Promoting an eCommerce web page is not easy. This is because it involves optimizing all the web pages relating to your shop.
How to Generate Organic Search Results
The Google Hummingbird algorithm should be your best friend in this scenario. The Hummingbird algorithm decides how pages will rank on the results page and the order in which they appear. SEO marketing is an essential tool that guarantees your website’s success. Learning how to manipulate it ethically to your advantage is the key that sets you apart from all your competitors. Generating organic traffic means having a unique brand and content description. It is equally important to market your products and services uniquely too.
- Publish unique, high-quality, and relevant content– Content creation is not an easy task. However, plagiarized or spun content can be detected by Google’s algorithms, and it will cause your site to be blacklisted. Your content needs to be unique and specific to your target audience. If your website writes about recipes, stick to that. Don’t start reviewing cars in their place. Your content should also be high quality. Other websites cannot use your web page as a hyperlink unless you are an authoritative, trusted, and quality source of information.
- Be consistent– As you strive to publish unique content for your viewers, be consistent in it. You need to establish your presence in the market by informing your users that you can deliver fresh news constantly. An essential tip would be to publish bi-weekly, weekly, or fortnightly. It ensures your audience is continuously engaged and your site constantly receives traffic.
- Link building strategies– There are many search engine optimization strategies out there, but nothing beats link building. The difference between a high-ranking page and one that doesn’t even appear on page four of Google’s search results is the quality of its links. Depending on the choices you make, link building could either make or break you. Ensure that you always hyperlink to authoritative web pages. Similarly, ensure that your backlinks come from quality websites and have been used flawlessly.
- Strategically use keywords– Keywords and keyphrases are precisely how users search for information on the internet. Ensure that your important words are used at the beginning of your article. Make sure that as you write your content, you fix the keywords to fit in your article flawlessly. Content that sounds robotic will have less user traffic. Remember to distribute the keywords evenly, too.
- Optimize your site’s appearance, and loading speed– A crowded website with unbroken content looks too busy to be appealing. Consumers want content that encourages them to read on. If your website looks busy, boring, improperly oriented, or has too many flashing colours, it will affect your SEO ranking. Google relies heavily on user recommendations and what users have to say about you. If your site is also slow, it will discourage potential leads from becoming customers.
Importance of Website Visibility
When you are building a brand, you need exposure. You need to announce your presence in the market and inform consumers that you have exactly what they are looking for. However, this kind of exposure cannot be achieved while your page ranks at number 75. Coming in at the tenth position will still disadvantage you. Your web page needs to be in the top five of a search engine’s results. When a consumer searches for information on the internet, they usually don’t scroll that far.
Generating constant traffic to your website is good. It shows that your marketing strategies and search engine optimization techniques are working. However, the goal should not be to generate constant traffic but to attract new leads continuously. When prospective leads become customers, it helps to increase your business’s revenue.
Using search engine optimization tools to build an online presence gives you an edge over your competitors. When your page ranks higher on google, it takes over another website’s position. This means that as you gain visibility among consumers, you also gain a reputation among competitors. This will, in turn, help you to build your brand.
Website visibility is also a way to inform searchers that your web page has high-quality content. Google would not have highly ranked your page unless otherwise. It promotes you as an authority figure as well as a trusted source in the marketplace. Customers will be more inclined to purchase your goods and services because of it.
Google’s Updated Algorithm
In May 2022, Google announced a new update named the May 2022 Core Update. This update improved the search engine results page (SERP) by influencing how its search engine did the product reviews. This update began rolling out on 25th May 2022 and officially completed its task on 9th June 2022. The update positively affected websites with high-quality reviews by helping them to rank higher on their SERP.
Google’s statement towards a losing site after a core update has always been the same; improve your content. Thousands of websites were affected when the May 2022 update rolled out. If your site came out unscathed, then congratulation. You are probably doing a good job maximizing your search engine optimization tactics. If not, it’s time to get back on the drawing boards. These changes by Google are aimed at improving the definition of high-quality content. So if you find yourself on the negative side of a core update, it is time you rethink your entire marketing strategy instead of changing a couple of h2 tags.
Conclusion
SEO is not easy. However, it would help if you had the strategy to help you thrive in an overly competitive market. Keeping up with Google’s updates to their search algorithms will help you stay on top of the situation and build a better website and brand for yourself.
