When we think about search engine optimization, it’s all too easy to forget that we’re creating content not just to make search engines happy, but to please our potential customers too. Putting too much of your focus on either avenue means you won’t get the best possible results – but combining these two aspects and optimizing for both is a great way to create a marketing strategy that’s more powerful than the sum of its parts! Here’s how to engage with the right audience, drive the right traffic to your website, keep your readers engaged, boost your online credibility and, at the end of the day, boost sales.
Leverage social media
More and more, search engines take the level of engagement with a brand on social media as a good indicator that they’re reputable – and this will be reflected in their page rankings. It may be tempting to take the easy way out and buy a whole lot of followers, but if they’re not actually going to engage with your company, you’re probably wasting your money in the long term. It’s better to attract a smaller number of real people who are actually interested in what you have to offer – either to leverage their engagement to boost your SEO and online visibility, or to convert them into actual buying customers.
So how do you do this? Create social media content that people want to share, that’s relevant to your offering, and most importantly – links back to your search engine optimized website. It sounds simple in practice but can take a little bit of creativity! Using humor is one way to attract people’s attention, but make sure the content you’re sharing is actually relevant to what you do too.
Encouraging and incentivizing your existing customers to leave a positive review on a popular platform outside of your website is another good strategy. You might encourage them to do so by offering to do a link exchange, running a small competition, or simply asking nicely! If they’ve genuinely had a great experience with your company, they’ll almost certainly be willing to help you out.
Use paid ads wisely
Paid ads like Google AdWords or Twitter Ads are a convenient way to drive traffic to your website quickly, but they can also have a longer-lasting impact if you do them right. Experienced web users often ignore the first few advertising links they get returned on a search by default – but they’ve still seen it! This kind of almost subconscious marketing boosts your brand recognition, because your company’s name and offering is at least known to the people who see your ad, but don’t click on it. To this end, make sure any paid ads you make use of are short, to the point, quickly explain what you do and why you’re good at it. And if the ad has been well targeted and the person viewing the ad is actually in the market to buy what you’re selling, they will click it.
Help the spiders!
Spiders are little programs that search engines use to ‘crawl’ websites and basically figure out what they’re all about, so they know what search queries your content might be best suited to answer. The easier it is for them to crawl your website and discover your website’s raison d’être, the more likely you are to be recommended as an authority on that particular topic. To help them do their job, make sure each page on your website is linked to other relevant content – so they know your whole website is potentially useful to someone searching for information, rather than just that one page. You can assist them further by making sure your website is coded in HTML, as search engines know this format improves the reader’s experience. If the more technical aspects of SEO are too daunting or time-consuming, then partner with an experienced SEO company like Ruby Digital to help you.
If your offering is local, optimize for it
There are few more powerful signals that a person is looking to buy a product or service than when they include their location in an online search – think ‘digital marketing company in Cape Town’, ‘lawnmower repair in DC’, ‘cheap hairdresser in Bristol’ etc. And if you’re in that area, you need to make sure your website is optimized for those searches. You can accomplish this by making use of tags and keywords that include the names of your city, state, and even major attractions that are located near your premises. Another simple way to clarify this for search engines is to verify your physical address with Google and make sure you have an up to date Google Maps listing, as well as posting your company info on local listings pages.
Best practice SEO techniques are an excellent way to better connect with the right audience – helping both them and you!