The importance of SEO Strategy

Why an SEO Strategy is the most important thing for small businesses

The Key to More Clients

Every small business owner I have talked to eventually says the same thing - I’m not bringing in enough customers. Once I ask them a few questions, I find out that most of them have not created or implemented a proper SEO strategy and do not have their web pages optimised. Ranking high organically on Google is the best way to bring in leads at a low cost, so why do so many businesses neglect( or simply not understand) this treasure trove of results? 

Building a Marketing Strategy 

It is not uncommon for businesses to launch without having a fleshed out digital marketing strategy, especially for smaller businesses that are moving from a side-hustle into a full time job. You may have been relying on Facebook without even having to run ads, or a simple website that acted as a digital business card. For a side hustle, these methods can work fine but once you need to fill in more calendar slots, you need to start making a plan to bring in customers. Part of this plan that if often overlooked is an SEO strategy, which is essentially leaving money on the table. 

Search Engine Optimization

So what exactly is an SEO strategy, and what steps do you need to take to make a successful one? Essentially, this is how you will signal to search engines that your site is an authority in the subjects that you are talking about, and that it should be placed higher up in search results than other websites. This pays dividends, as once you have built and implemented your strategy it only needs to be monitored for any major changes and will keep bringing in organic leads, or people who are searching Google for something your website has to offer. So how do you do it?

Creating a Keyword List 

The first thing you need to do is to create a general online marketing strategy. As part of this, you will create a keywords list. Keywords should be between 1 and 4 words long and words that you want to show up for when customers are searching. For example, if you own a barbershop then keywords like ‘ hair cut ‘ and ‘ hair salon’ should be on your list. Then, create your target customer, an imaginary person that wants your product or service. Make sure that the keyword list you created aligns with the needs of your persona, and refine your keywords list as needed. 

Compare yourself to Competitors

If you are struggling to find some relevant keywords, don’t be afraid to look at your competitors for inspiration. While you don’t want to be competing for the same keywords, this can help you find keywords that you might not have been thinking about. Websites that receive a lot of search queries like ebay and Amazon are great resources to find as well, even using their autofill feature can help you find a more niche keyword that better fits what your business has to offer. 

Google Is Your Friend

Of course, one of the best sources to find keywords is Google itself. Using Google Search can give you insight into related searches, and you can take that step further and look at Google Search Trends, which shows you what people have been searching on google. This tool can be used to see what searches are dominating a certain geographical location, what journey users are taking when they use Google and much more. 

Make Google Work for you with Google Searches

Website Performance

Another big part of a strong SEO Strategy is the technology that your website is using. If your website takes too long to load, or has elements that don’t load then it is not considered Google friendly. This includes things such as embedded videos, podcasts feeds, or even images that are taking too long for one reason or another. Even the theme you choose when building your website can cause performance issues if the theme is not optimised for the type of content that you are filling your page with. You also have to be mindful with website plugins, as some of them can be very resource heavy and cause strain on your website. When you created your online marketing strategy, you would have identified some plugins that will help you but just be mindful of how much resources they are using. 

Backlinks to and from your site

A pillar of SEO that has remained constant since I started writing content over 10 years ago is backlinks. There are 4 main types of backlinks: dofollow, nofollow, sponsored, and user generated content.

-DoFollow

  To avoid getting too technical, dofollow backlinks are when you link to another site without changing the HTML code. This usually indicates that you trust the linked site and view it as a strong resource for the topic, including linking back to your own site.

-NoFollow

 Nofollow backlinks have altered HTML code to tell search engines not to follow the link. Using a Nofollow link can be useful when you don’t want Google to associate the linked page and your site, such as linking to a competing website. 

-Sponsored Backlinks

 Sponsored backlinks also have had their code changed, to make mention that whoever inserted the link may have been paid to do so. Google generally does not take these links into account when they are indexing pages because they are viewed as less trustworthy. 

-User Generated Content

Finally User Generated Content backlinks, or UGC. These backlinks include things like forum posts, social media content, and even comments on blogs like this one. UGC links are also generally not looked at by Google to combat link spam. 

While all types of backlinks do have their uses, the initial focus in your SEO strategy should be to build as many quality dofollow backlinks as possible. Two great examples are video and image backlinks. These are where an article or another website uses your video or photo and lists you as the source. Each one of these can help to potentially boost not only your link authority, but your rankings as well. Editorial backlinks are also a useful tool, although they can be a little harder to work towards. These backlinks come from news websites or blogs with an aim to educate readers. If you are an expert on any certain subject, leverage that into a backlink. 

The Three Pillars of SEO

So you have created a keywords list that you feel closely resembles the journey your customers will take. You have made sure that your website loads quickly and can be navigated around with ease. Then, you made sure to research and include quality backlinks in your content. Congratulations, you have tackled the three pillars of SEO and are on the path to get higher rankings in Google search. For a more in-depth rundown about these three pillars, I recommend watching the video below by Matt WP Doctor. He also recommends some plugins that can be used to analyse how your SEO changes have performed.