The basics of SEO are well known: optimizing your website so that it appears as high as possible in the search results. But how can you really use SEO for your marketing? How do you ensure that you rank high in the results and stay there? And how do you ensure that people actually choose your site? Social Brothers gives you ten tips to improve your online marketing with SEO.
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization or search engine optimization. It is the art of writing texts that are appreciated by both people and search engines. With search engine optimization you ensure that your web pages can be found easily via Google. This will help you attract more people to your website and increase your conversion rates. That makes SEO an important part of your online marketing.
1. Think of the person behind the search engine
The first golden marketing tip is not to think about SEO, not even about your company and the sales figures, but about the person behind the search engine. Suppose you sell designer furniture. Then consider what the question may be from someone who uses the search term 'design furniture'.
What should your site offer to ensure that the searcher's question is answered? If your website actually offers that, the visitor has a good reason to click on your website. A good visitor experience (and therefore few bounces) increases your position in the search results.
2. Focus on head terms & long tail keywords
It is good to focus your SEO on important terms in your field, such as 'design kitchen', 'design chair' and 'design sofa', but keep in mind that you have competition for these. Therefore also choose some long tail keywords.
These are keywords that are used much less often, but that do indicate specifically what you have to offer and in which you differ from your competitors, such as 'design chair tradition Gerrit Rietveld'. That gives you a great chance to get to the top of the search results with these terms and the conversion rate will be higher here. It's low-hanging fruit that you can easily pick.
3. Provide topic authority
With a webpage about a keyword you probably won't be at the top of the search results. That's why it's important to make sure you gain authority on certain topics related to your field, such as "restoration antique chairs."
You can get that authority by publishing a lot about a certain subject. However, do not do this haphazardly, but carefully choose sub-themes within the restoration process. The principles of inbound marketing can help you with this.
4. Use a historical optimisation-strategy
If you have already written a lot of content on a topic, it is smart for your SEO marketing to keep using it. This is called historical optimization strategy† By adapting older blogs, for example with additions about new developments, and then republishing them, you can make content strategy more efficient.
You build on the existing organic value of these older blogs through backlinks (links to your website) and conversions and increase this by attracting new visitors, without having to write a lot of new content.
5. Get a good snippet
Just a good place in the search results is not enough. You also need to persuade people to actually click on your site. This generally works well with a snippet: the piece of text that appears in the search results. This consists of the page title, url and meta description. Make sure that all three contain the keyword for which you want to be found. After all, it must be clear that you address this topic on your website.
In the meta description you give a short summary of the content of your webpage, combined with a stimulating call-to-action. After all, it should encourage people to choose between all those search results for your website. You do all this in no more than 160 characters, otherwise your message will not be fully displayed. A good snippet increases the Click-Through-Rate (CTR) and this is good for your SEO marketing.
6. Try to get a featured snippet
With a featured snippet, the search engine immediately displays the answer to a question in the results, often in the form of a few steps. The featured snippets can take various forms, from a paragraph to a table or a knowledge field. If you google 'How do I turn on my microphone', you will immediately see a box with the answer to that question. These search results are of course immediately noticeable.
Unfortunately, you can't just request featured snippets, but as an online marketer you can do your best to get them. Provide posts that answer specific questions. Also provide a format that makes it immediately clear to Google that you have answered a question. This can be done by processing this in the code. Our friends from Hubspot explain how.
7. Think about local SEO
Location is playing an increasingly important role within Google's ranking factors. That makes sense because Google wants to display the best search results for the specific searcher. If you search for 'best pizzeria' on your mobile in the heart of Utrecht, you will not be looking for a web page of a restaurant in Groningen, even if the pizza there is so much better than in Utrecht.
Also, searchers more often use a location in their search or the addition 'near me'. As an online marketer, you can respond to this trend by incorporating local search terms, such as your location, into your texts. This way your local SEO marketing is in order.
8. Use Google My Business
For local SEO it is advisable to use Google My Business or Google My Business. If you search for 'Social Brothers', a block with information about us will appear. This is Google My Business.
You can create this via your Google Account. Provide clear and attractive information about your company and do not forget to add photos. Customers can go to your website via the block, find the route to your company and even contact you directly.
The framework gives customers all the information about your company at a glance and attracts more attention than the standard search results. You can also display offers and blogs here. Indispensable for your online marketing.
9. Optimize your calls to actions
Suppose your SEO is all right and many visitors come to your website through the organic search results. That's nice, but it doesn't get you anything yet. So think about what you want visitors to do on your website or in your webshop and ensure that attractive calls-to-actions are in the right place.
This is of course a step further than search engine optimization, but is necessary in order to reap the benefits of all the work you have put into search engine optimization in terms of online marketing.
10. Track your data
One last tip about SEO marketing: track your data. Only when you know what is happening on your website, you know where there are areas for improvement. So keep track of your data, for example via Google Analytics. This way you know how many people come to your website via the organic search results and whether any adjustments have an influence on this. Also don't forget A/B testing for major changes.
Additional tip
SEO marketing is basically free, but it can take a long time before your results are visible in Google. We therefore recommend that online marketers combine search engine optimization with SEA. By using advertisements you can ensure that you are immediately at the top. In addition, SEA has another advantage: the ads are always above the organic search results. Do you want to know more about SEA? Read our blog about it.
Want to know more?
Do you want to know more about SEO and optimizing it? Then read our other Blogs.
Check out our here SEO services† Do you need help optimizing your website? Please feel free contact on. Social Brothers is happy to help you.
Help us, what do you think?
Thanks for the feedback!
Thanks for the feedback!