More than half of all website traffic comes from organic search compared to only 10 percent from paid search and 5 percent from social media.
Getting your website ranked in the organic search results in Google is a critical piece of generating more traffic and growing your business. The trick is to learn how to use search engine optimization (SEO) to get your pages ranked.
Let’s look at 5 basics of SEO marketing and how they can help you get more traffic.
1. Target What Your Audience Is Searching For
Getting your pages ranked at the top of Google is important but if you target keywords that nobody is searching for, it’s a pointless exercise. The same goes for keywords that aren’t likely to convert to sales.
Target keywords that show buying intent, not simply information gathering. Instead of targeting something like “cell phone reviews” try to get ranked for something like “best price for iPhone 11.”
Someone searching for that is likely ready to buy.
2. Optimize Your Web Pages
Create content that provides value, whether it’s text, audio, or video. SEO basics are more about the visitor than they are about Google.
Google’s goal is to provide valuable links to people searching for an answer. If they get to your site and immediately click back to Google to find something better, your rankings will tank.
Use your keywords throughout the page, in the headings, and anywhere else that makes sense on the page. Just don’t overdo it.
3. Improve Your Website’s Technical SEO
The technical side of your website is important in how to do SEO as well as the content on the page. Things like the following items will help your site rank higher:
- Fast loading times
- Responsive design that looks good on screens of all sizes
- Accessibility features like alt text for images
4. Generate Backlinks
Google based its algorithm on the idea of links pointing to your site giving it more weight. Every link is a “vote” for the quality of your site so the more links you have pointing to it, the more important Google thinks it is.
Get links from as many sources as possible, including:
- Industry directories
- Social networks
- Related websites
- Guest posts
- YouTube and other media platforms
As you learn more about SEO, you’ll discover that links are still the foundation of all good SEO strategies.
5. Track Your SEO Marketing Efforts
If you’re not tracking your results, you’ll never know what’s working and what isn’t. You should constantly test new ideas and compare the results to what you had before.
If something improves your results, keep the change and run another test. If something hurts your results, you can always go back to the more effective option.
Refine Your Search Engine Optimization Over Time
As you can see, understanding SEO marketing isn’t complicated. If you take a few simple steps and do them consistently, your website traffic will continue to grow.
And that means your business will grow along with it.
Looking for more helpful digital marketing information? Be sure to check out the rest of our site for more actionable tips.
