How to Boost Your Organic Search Traffic
Most of you have heard the word SEO used in the context of digital marketing, online enterprises, or the internet in general. Regardless, you’d be astonished at how many individuals can recall those three letters yet have no idea what they mean.
If that describes you, don’t worry; we’ve got you covered, and if this is your first encounter with the phrase, you’re in luck. This article will teach you all you need to know about implementing an efficient SEO (search engine optimization) plan. We’ll go over the following topics:
The importance of SEO in 2022
In short, taking the time to plan out a great SEO strategy can transform not only your web traffic but also your entire organisation. Given the current state of the globe, internet usage is at an all-time high. We’re doing more online shopping, watching more movies and television than normal, and attending enough Zoom meetings to last a lifetime because of the pandemic. Throughout 2020, SEO was critical for a large number of businesses, and we predict the same to be true in 2021. So, as the New Year approaches, how can you develop an SEO strategy that keeps up with the times? Let’s start from the beginning.
What should be in any SEO strategy?
SEO is essentially the art of improving your web traffic and ranks on search engine results pages (SERPs) by employing certain qualitative content guidelines and technical upgrades (search engine results pages). Quantity is also important. Scaling is a wonderful approach to rank higher over time by writing more content, employing more links, and using a wider variety of keywords—pretty it’s much what it sounds like.
So there are a couple things in there that we’ve thrown in there. Before we go too far ahead of ourselves, here are the major tools you’ll need to get started on your SEO plan for 2021:
1. Use of keywords
Keywords are keywords that are often searched for on Google, Bing, and other search engines, and they are an important factor in determining the ranks of your website. Use the proper amount of keywords in the right places, and your pages will rise up the rankings over time.
Keyword strategy has evolved significantly over the years; it used to be as simple as stuffing as many as possible into the content, but this resulted in a lot of spammy content, which was eventually penalised by Google’s algorithms. Nowadays, you must conduct keyword research, employ a wide range of terms, and integrate them naturally. Google is becoming increasingly intelligent, therefore they’ll make you work for it.
2. Metadata
Metadata can be compared to a storefront display. The first thing a user sees in the SERP is your meta title and meta description, which influence whether or not they click.
In addition, Google uses ‘crawlers,’ which are small robot spiders that scan websites and collect information that matches search searches. Google can better comprehend the relevancy of your page if you include keywords in your meta data (including image tags and header tags).
3. Backlinks
Getting backlinks is another important factor in SEO success when we get into the more technical aspects of things. When another website links to yours in an article or blog post, this is known as a backlink. Not only will this help you establish domain authority, but it will also increase the likelihood of people clicking through to your website if it appears on other trustworthy domains.
Simply generating compelling content will earn you organic links: the better your work and the more closely you match a person’s search intent, the more likely people in your sector will mention your site. While you can simply reach out to other sites to swap links—quid pro quo—there are a number of other actions that might help speed up this process:
- Guest blogging.
- Testimonials.
- Answering questions on sites like Quora.
- Creating shareable content such as videos and infographics.
- Using industry contacts and sharing on social (e.g. LinkedIn).
4. Technical SEO
Continuing on, there are a number of other technical difficulties at the back end of your site that, once resolved, can have a significant impact on your overall SEO performance. At the end of the day, if your website’s user experience isn’t smooth and accessible, it will be difficult for any visitor to achieve anything meaningful on it. To put things in perspective, mobile accounts for more than half of all online traffic, so when it comes to things like UX, the technical stuff matters.
Whether it’s making sure your site loads quickly, deleting ‘poison’ backlinks (links to websites that are judged irrelevant or untrustworthy, for example), or developing a clear XML sitemap with a clean URL structure, all of these technical SEO strategies can help you achieve higher ranks. You don’t want anything to obstruct SEO from performing its job, which is to allow people to locate your website naturally.
5. SEO metrics
If you don’t understand what “effective” implies, you won’t be able to execute successful SEO. To monitor, analyse, and optimise your SEO approach, you’ll need a deep understanding of SEO metrics.
What are the benefits of SEO and organic traffic?
When it comes to digital marketing, organic search methods powered by SEO can’t be beat when it comes to longevity and cost-effectiveness. SEO is not only less expensive than paid advertising, but its effects also last longer. While PPC campaigns must be renewed and bidding costs change, SEO tracking tools use organic data to construct keyword lists and continue to generate fresh content ideas as you delve deeper.
At first, SEO can appear to be a slow process. Nonetheless, after a few months, you should notice significant increases in your total traffic and rankings. Furthermore, the longer you stick with it, the more backlinks and site authority you’ll gain, which means you’ll be able to target even bigger and better keywords, and so on.
Starting at the other end of the spectrum—targeting long-tail keywords and more detailed variants—is a good method for SMBs to see results quickly and develop a platform for momentum, especially when it comes to content and specific sub-topics. Four or more terms appear in over a third of Google’s overall search inquiries (i.e. long-tail keywords). These keywords are not only less competitive and hence easier to rank for, but they can also drive a significant amount of organic traffic.