SEO, also referred to as search engine optimization, is one of the fastest developing digital marketing strategies. It’s important to remember that, while important, SEO does little to nurture potential customers as they move along the sales funnel. The methods that worked just a few years ago aren’t very effective anymore, but many of today’s marketers still rely on them. Here, we’ll discuss some SEO techniques that increase traffic naturally.
Developing Valuable Content
One of the best ways to answer your customers’ questions and ease their pain points is to provide valuable content. All the other techniques on our list assume that you’re offering content that people want to read. By starting with the research, creation, and publishing of relevant, readable content, you’ll ensure that your customers see you as an authority—and that they keep coming back for more information.
Use High-Intent Keywords
Gone are the days of choosing a keyword and stuffing a webpage full of it. That kind of generic writing does little to drive organic traffic and turn leads into customers once they’ve reached your page. Google and the other search engines are becoming more intelligent; they’re learning how to penalize this sort of behavior. However, that doesn’t mean keywords should be ignored, as they’re still a viable way to increase traffic. Instead of focusing on a single keyword, try using a topic cluster that aligns your keyword and content marketing strategies.
Write Better Meta Descriptions and Page Titles
Once you have the right keywords and content, it’s time to get that work found by the search engines. While we can no longer stuff meta descriptions and page titles with keywords, it’s still important to label content properly so it can be indexed. Though this tip may seem rather obvious, it’s crucial. By writing more effective titles and descriptions, you’re giving the search engines a good synopsis of your page’s content.
Optimize Images
The failure to offer sufficient image metadata is another area in which marketers don’t maximize the value of their page content. Alt tags and image titles are also indexed by the search engines, which means that properly labeled images can be found via image search and improve the page’s ranking through text search. Try including keywords in image names, captions, and alt text, but be sure to choose relevant images.
Make Sites Load Faster
If you’re doing everything else right, but your page loads slowly, your site’s search results will still suffer. Though low-cost site hosting is typically to blame for slow load times, it’s important to evaluate other site aspects, such as image sizes.
The Takeaway
Quality content that answers your customers’ questions is still an important consideration when assessing the effectiveness of an SEO effort. By following the tips in this guide, you’ll improve the site’s rankings and endure Google’s algorithm changes. Staying up-to-date on SEO techniques and strategies will ensure that your content is seen by the search engines, and more importantly, by your customers.
