SEO: Best Practices to Enhance Your Online Presence

There’s no way to get around it: the importance of ranking high on search engine results pages isn’t going anywhere. And, to be successful at it, you need a strategy.

SEO tactics like keyword research, site architecture, and quality content all play an essential role in differentiating your site and your brand in the larger marketplace.

Understanding SEO

Let’s start with the basics. SEO is, at its core, about customizing strategies that will get your content in front of the exact group of people you’re targeting. When we really start to delve into SEO as a broader concept, we start to talk about a diverse set of tactics that companies can choose to implement to rank more effectively.

More times than not, ranking depends on one or more of these factors:

● Keyword research: Identifying the most-used search terms prospective targets are utilizing and then implementing them into your own original content.

● Content creation: Well-written, thoroughly-researched and engaging content that speaks to the concerns or questions our target audience actually has.

● Site architecture: UX-focused, intuitively designed sites that make navigation second nature for both users and search engines that we integrate with.

It’s clear that there’s more to search engine marketing than just being accessible. You need to do all you can to make sure that you’re one of the first options your user comes in contact with, and if they choose to engage, your site serves them and offers a positive user experience that will help to ensure a favorable brand association.

Your end goal should be to be thought of as a thought leader, an industry expert and a credible source for information and quick assistance.

Of course, flexibility is a big factor here too. The ability to shift to accommodate a different search engine and its associated algorithm’s preferences, likes and dislikes is incredibly important when it comes to lasting success. This takes constant, thorough analysis and frequent tweaks, but the effort always pays off.

When Did Ranking High Get So Important?

As we stated above, it’s not just enough to get your brand name out there and maintain an online presence. You need to be first in line and make a great impression. But why exactly is it so crucial to be as close to the top of the page – and, ultimately, top of mind?

Let’s break it down.

If you don’t appear at the top (or pretty damn near close to it) you are essentially nonexistent to a large majority of your potential targets. There’s a sense of legitimacy and trust that comes with a high ranking, and it’s easy to see why. If you search “soda” you are going to see Coca-Cola on the first page, if not in a banner ad above the organic results.

Sure, you could also be searching for Safeway’s Signature Select Cola Soda brand. But you’d likely have to keep clicking through page after page of results before that was the product you were served. And for 99.99% of the country, when they think of a carbonated cola drink, they’re thinking of the brand that they saw first, not the one they had to search for.

In a culture where every time we have a question or sense a craving coming on we go to the internet to find what we want, you can see why that real estate is so valuable.

But what (other than an endless marketing budget) do you need to get closer to those top spots? Google and other popular search engines have gotten smarter, with algorithms that are able to quickly sift through all the available content and rank it according to the perceived value it gives the user.

This is why the quality of the content is so crucial. You need to provide answers, establish yourself as a knowledgeable, engaging and entertaining source of information for your audience.

Another really important element of successful SEO is the use of reputable backlinks. The more links from trustworthy sites, the more green flags your users will see, and the more likely they’ll think of you as a legitimate source of information.

Conclusion

By focusing on things like high quality content, strategic keywords, intuitive architecture and reputable backlinks, you can set yourself up for a steady increase in search rankings and a more satisfied user base.

Do you have an SEO problem that you don’t know how to tackle? Let us help.