The importance of having an SEO strategy for your business
The importance of having an SEO strategy for your business
f you find yourself switching off whenever someone mentions "SEO", then let's dive right into the interesting and exciting parts of it. Here is a crash course to help you understand SEO and steps you can take to implement a good SEO strategy for your business in the Moreton Bay Region.
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of organising a website’s content by topic, which helps a search engine understand a user’s intent and purpose when searching. Web pages will have a higher ranking in search results when it is specifically optimised through topics and keywords.
Why use SEO for your Moreton Bay Region business?
As a business, you put in all this time and effort maintaining your social media profiles and online presence. Now why not make it work for you using SEO marketing? Here are some stats if you’re not already convinced:
- There is a 30% increase in positive brand perception for businesses that appear in search results
- Search engines are responsible for 93% of web traffic
- Out of all the searches on Google, 46% are for local searches
- 97% of people learn about a business from the internet
- 92% of users select businesses that only appear on the first page of search results
The different types of SEO
SEO is a very complex strategy with many components which need to be used in order for it to be successful. Here are the over-arching categories in which each component can be allocated.
1. On-page SEO
This is the process of optimising content that’s on the web page, in order to improve the ranking on search engines for specific key words.
2. Off-page SEO
The process of off-page SEO is the number of “backlinks” to your online content. Backlinks are the links that direct traffic to your web pages from external sources (other websites). The source of your backlinks can impact your search results, the more trustworthy the source, the higher the search ranking.
3. Technical SEO
Technical SEO is the “behind-the-scenes” of the website and the code for search results. The coding of the website is just as important as the content, as any issues with your website’s code may result in the search engine not being able to recognise the SEO-worthy content that your business has published.
Keyword vs Query Search
A keyword search is a targeted phrase which users generally use when they are searching for information, more of a generic search. For example
- Designer T-shirt
- Best Electric Blankets
- Online Games
Query searches are searches with intent; this is an elevated level of search as it indicates that the user is looking to act on their search. Building on the previous examples:
- Affordable Designer T-shirt Online
- Best Electric Blankets Under $100
- Free Online Games to Play
Search Trends
There is a growing trend of query searches, as the internet becomes more adaptable to the users needs of searching micro-moments. These micro-moments indicate that users are searching for information and find things to do or buy in real-time. These categories include:
- I want to know
- I want to go
- I want to do
- I want to buy
SEO Strategies for Moreton Bay Region businesses
It’s important to recognise that there is not a one-size-fits-all strategy for SEO. It will depend on the industry, aims of your online presence and your audience. Understanding the wants and needs of your audience is key to developing an online strategy for your business. Identifying search trends (such as micro-moments search), will assist you in optimising your SEO strategy for your business. Here are some of the easiest ways to incorporate SEO into your online business strategy.
1. Blogs
By creating and maintaining a blog for your business, you can help increase the domain authority of your website. This is achieved by posting engaging, quality content on your blog in order to maximise the 'shareability' among your audience. Search engines recognise and reward content with a high engagement rate through their search results. While posting quality content is helpful, the number of posts also factors into search results. The more quality content that users interact with, the higher the chances that at least one of your blog posts will organically show up in search results.
2. Use Links on Social Media
The social media profiles of your business are automatically considered high-quality search results. This is because social media platforms have a higher web authority to begin with. This creates an opportunity for your business to create an easy SEO strategy with your social media platforms. By integrating links from your blog posts and also additional social media platforms, you will increase the shareability of your content and generate a better positioning in search results.
3. Use Keywords in Your Posts
Using keywords are important for your website, blog and paid ad campaigns. Keyword research prior to publication is useful as you are able to pinpoint the terms that your audience are searching for, and then be able to bridge the gap between their search and your published content. These keywords can be used in your blog posts, social media updates and also the title of your images.
4. Local Business Listings
Listing your business on Google allows customers to easily find key information about your operations. Google will promote content created using their platforms, including your Google business profile. In your Google business profile, you are able to list the address, opening hours, contact details, photos and also provide a brief bio. This platform also allows your customers to leave a review online, providing you with an opportunity to develop your business’ online brand reputation. Providing a location on your business’ Facebook page and a listing on the Business Moreton Bay Region directory, also assists in developing the domain authority of your website.
5. Increase Active Followers on Social Media
Social media provides an ideal opportunity to build natural backlinks to your website. The more active followers your profile has, the more opportunities for link shares. Search engines recognise the number of active and inactive followers your business has into the search ranking of your business. A recommendation to increasing the engagement of your followers, is to use a scheduling tool to repeat announcements of content that is posted, as different audiences will be active at different times.
Don't wait, get started
Planning and implementing an SEO strategy into your business takes a significant amount of time and effort. However, in an age where everything is digital, optimising your business’ online presence is worth the investment. The SEO industry isn’t worth $80 billion for no reason. You are of course able to outsource SEO services, but it is also good to have an understanding of SEO so you can implement your own strategies.
