5 SEO Marketing Tactics Every Business Needs

Every business owner needs to stay up-to-date on the latest marketing tactics to ensure the success and growth of their company. One tactic that should definitely be on your radar is SEO (search engine optimization).

But what is SEO, and why is it so important? Simply put, SEO is the process of optimizing your website and its content to make it more attractive to search engines like Google. When your website ranks higher in search engine results, it becomes more visible to potential customers, leading to an increase in traffic and, ultimately, sales.

So, what are some key SEO marketing tactics that every business needs to know about?

#1 Conduct keyword research.

Keyword research is a crucial step in the process of search engine optimization (SEO). When you take the time to research and select the right keywords to target, you can improve your website’s visibility in search results. This improvement will result in more qualified traffic visiting your site.

So, how do you go about conducting keyword research?

Here are some tips to get you started:

• Make a list of relevant terms and phrases.
  
  Start by brainstorming a list of terms and phrases related to your business and the products or services you offer. These could be specific product names, industry-specific terms, or common terms that potential customers might use to search for your business.

• Use keyword research tools.
  
  There are several tools available that can help you find keywords. Tools you might want to consider include Ahrefs, SEMrush, and KWFinder. These tools can help you understand search volume, keyword difficulty, and search intent.
  
  Although some people use Google Ads to do their keyword research because it’s free, I don’t recommend it. Unless you spend a significant amount on buying ads, it won’t give you the detailed information you can find in other tools. And without detailed information, you can inadvertently undermine your SEO efforts.

• Consider search intent.
  
  As previously mentioned, you need to consider the intent behind the search when someone types a keyword into Google or any search engine. Are people using this keyword to simply gather information or are they looking to make a purchase?
  
  You’ll want to match the searcher’s intention for each keyword you select to your intention for the content you’re creating.

• Do a competitive analysis.
  
  Check out which keywords your competitors are targeting. Once you understand what they’re doing you may find opportunities to differentiate your business and target other keywords.

• Organize and prioritize your keywords.
  
  Once you’ve created a list of potential keywords, you’ll want to organize and prioritize them based on relevance and potential value to your business.
  
  When I create keyword lists for my clients, I usually have thousands of them. And I organize them first by search volume. Then I can more easily determine which are best for the main pages on the website and which are better for blog posts based on a combination of search volume, keyword difficulty, and search intent.
  
  When you create your list don’t feel that you need to immediately target all the keywords on your list. Focus first on the ones that will have the greatest impact and then put together a content plan to determine when you’ll use at least some of the remaining keywords.

Conducting keyword research can be a time-consuming process, but it’s completely worth the effort. By identifying the right keywords to target, you can improve your website’s visibility in search results and attract more qualified traffic to your site. And without this SEO marketing tactic, it’s unlikely that your site will have much success in attracting the right organic traffic.

#2 Optimize your website’s content.

Optimizing your website’s content is an essential SEO tactic. Once you’ve identified your target keywords, you want to incorporate them naturally into the content on your website. By making sure that your content is relevant, informative, and well-written, you can improve your website’s ranking in search results and attract more qualified traffic to your site.

But what exactly does it mean to optimize your website’s content?

Here are some tips to help you get started:

• Use your target keywords strategically.
  
  Once you’ve got your keywords organized, it’s much easier to identify the keywords you want to target. For each page and post on your website, you’ll want to choose one or two keywords to optimize for in your content.
  
  The goal in optimizing your content is to incorporate the keyword or words you’ve selected naturally into your content. This includes using them in your headings, subheadings, and throughout the body of your text. Just be sure to avoid keyword stuffing, as this can actually hurt your SEO efforts.

• Make your content easy to read.
  
  In addition to being relevant and informative, your content should also be easy to read and understand for your ideal client/customer. Use clear and concise language, and break up your text with headings and subheadings to make it more scannable.
  
• Use header tags.
  
  Header tags (H1, H2, etc.) help structure your content and make it easier for search engines to understand the hierarchy of your text. Use them to break up your content into sections.
  
  I’ve broken up this post with several header tags. They make the post easier to scan and create visual interest.

• Include internal and external links.
  
  Linking to other relevant pages on your website can help prevent orphaned pages and aid the web crawlers in finding long paths of content on your site. Linking to external sources associates your site with other sites. Adding both internal and external links can help improve the credibility and authority of your content.
  
  In order to give your readers the best experience with the links you add, you’ll want to use descriptive anchor text. (Anchor text is the clickable text.)

• Optimize images and videos.
  
  It’s likely that your website includes images and maybe even videos. You’ll want to optimize these too by using descriptive file names and alt tags for images and transcripts for videos.

Don’t worry if this seems like too much to deal with. There are tools that can help you optimize your website’s content. For my clients that have WordPress websites, I typically recommend the plugin Yoast because it’s easy to use.

Optimizing your website is a critical tactic for SEO marketing. And by optimizing your website’s content, you can improve its visibility in search results and attract more qualified traffic to your site.

#3 Build high-quality backlinks.

Backlinks, or links from other websites to yours, are an important factor in SEO marketing – at least they were. Google has stated that backlinks won’t be as important as they once were. However, backlinks are still a ranking factor, so it’s good to know what they are and how to build them. You always want to take advantage of all the SEO marketing tactics you can.

But how do you go about building high-quality backlinks?

Here are some tips to get you started:

• Create valuable, informative content.
  
  The first step in earning backlinks is having content on your website that’s worth linking to. This means creating content that’s informative, well-written, and useful to your target audience.
  
• Use social media to promote your content.
  
  Once you’ve created your content, you’ll want to share it on social media to get it in front of a larger audience. This can help drive traffic to your site and, potentially, earn you backlinks.
  
• Reach out to other websites and bloggers.
  
  When you come across a blog or website you believe might be interested in linking to your content, reach out and ask. Just be sure to be polite and provide a specific reason why you think their readers would benefit from your content.
  
  I get emails nearly every day from people who want to either post or purchase backlinks. What I find amazing is that so few of them take the time to even read the site they want to post on. So, they offer to post something that has nothing to do with the target audience of the site. And that’s the polite ones. It’s not unusual for me to receive notes that feel demanding about posting on a site. I’m sure you’ve already guessed that I immediately mark those emails as spam.
  
• Participate in online communities.
  
  Engaging with online communities in your industry, such as forums and discussion groups, can help build your reputation and potentially earn you backlinks. You’ll just want to be sure you’re adding value to the conversation and don’t seem spammy with links to your website.
  
• Use your offline connections.
  
  Your offline connections can be powerful too. If you have relationships with other businesses or organizations, consider asking them to link to your website.

As with any SEO marketing tactic, building high-quality backlinks takes time and effort, but it can be a valuable investment for your business.

#4 Make your website mobile-friendly.

This is the most critical SEO marketing tactic. Google uses mobile-friendliness as a key ranking factor in their search results. If your website isn’t optimized for mobile, it will undermine your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts.

But what exactly does it mean to have a mobile-friendly website, and how can you make sure that yours meets this standard?

Here are some tips to get you started:

• Use a responsive design.
  
  A responsive design means that your website automatically adjusts its layout to fit the screen of the device it’s being viewed on. This is important because it ensures your site is always easy to use regardless of the device someone is using.
  
• Keep your website’s layout clean and simple.
  
  Less is more when it comes to a mobile-friendly navigable site. Use large, easy-to-read fonts and plenty of white space to help break up content.
  
• Make sure your website loads quickly.
  
  No one wants to wait for a website to load, especially on a mobile device. Ensure your website loads quickly by hosting it on a fast server, optimizing your images, and minifying your code.
  
• Make it easy for users to contact you.
  
  Put your contact information in a prominent place. Make the forms on your site easy to use on a small screen.
  

Luckily, there are several different ways you can easily check the mobile-friendliness of your website. SEOSLY has compiled a nice list of them.

By following the tips above, you can ensure your website is mobile-friendly. This is critical not only for SEO but for a positive user experience on your site.

#5 Use social media to your advantage.

• Use social media to share your content.
  
  When you publish new content on your website, share it on your social media accounts. This will get your content in front of a larger audience which can help drive traffic to your website. And, as mentioned previously, it can potentially earn you backlinks which can improve your search rankings.
  
• Optimize your social media profiles.
  
  Make sure your social media profiles are completely filled out. Use relevant keywords and information about your business in your profile description. Doing this can help improve your visibility in search results and make it easier for potential customers to find you.
  
• Connect with other businesses and influencers.
  
  Building relationships with other businesses and influencers in your industry can help improve your credibility and authority. You can do this by engaging with their content – without being spammy. The upside for you in addition to becoming associated with them is that you might even earn backlinks. Which, of course, can boost your SEO.
  
• Track your results.
  
  As with any SEO marketing tactic, it’s important to track your results. Tools like Google Analytics provide data on the traffic to your website – including what portion of it comes from your social media accounts. Having this data can help you optimize your social media strategy.

Using social media as a part of your overall SEO strategy can drive more traffic to your website and improve your search rankings. Just be sure to stay up-to-date on the latest best practices and regularly assess and adjust your approach to ensure the best possible results for your business.

By implementing these SEO marketing tactics, you can give your business the online visibility it needs to succeed in today’s digital age. Stay up-to-date on the latest SEO best practices and regularly assess and adjust your strategy to ensure the best possible results for your business.

If you’d like to learn more about how we can help you with SEO, reach out to us.