How to Create an SEO Strategy: The Complete Guide

Building a small business in 2020 means you’re definitely going to have to finally learn about SEO. Maybe you’ve heard of it, know it has something to do with Google, but aren’t sure how to utilize an SEO strategy?You have come to the right place. SEO has become crucial to digital marketing. In fact, 61% of marketing professionals recently said it’s among their very top priorities on the job.

So, if you are new to SEO, and looking to get into the game, please read on for a complete guide to getting started!

What Is SEO?

First, let’s just make sure we’re on the same page. SEO stands for “search engine optimization” and is used to help get your website moved higher on Google’s (or any search engine’s) results list.

Obviously, this is important if you are trying to market your products or services online. After all, how else are people going to find you? Everyone googles everything. (That’s why it’s a verb!)

So you need to improve your Google ranking if you want to improve your online presence and get more sales. SEO is the means to do just that.

Tips For a Successful SEO Strategy

The following ideas are a guide to start designing and implementing an SEO strategy. This will help your online marketing and give your business a boost. The best place to begin your strategy is focusing on developing strong topics and keywords.

Topics and Keywords

SEO revolves around search engines, of course. What do people type into search engines? Keywords. If they are searching for a plumber in Omaha, they’ll type “plumbers in Omaha.” If they want to buy jeans, they’ll type “jeans.” And so forth.

The first step in creating a good SEO strategy, then, is to think about what kinds of topics and keywords your potential customers will be searching for. You want your website to come up when they do that search.

Since Google has an absolutely astonishing claim to 90% of all search engine searches, a good idea is to tailor your SEO strategy and keywords around what Google says are good topics. (Note to all fact-checkers– yes, Youtube is owned by Google, and this figure includes those searches.)

A very easy way to get ideas for keywords to highlight is to simply start typing them into Google’s search bar and see what else comes up. Incorporate those related searches into your website and SEO strategy.

See What’s Already Working

Once you’ve come up with keywords for your SEO plan, it’s time to look around and see what’s working for others. You’re likely not going be able to be completely unique in your approach, and that’s okay. Search Google and find comparable businesses and see what works for them.

For example, let’s say you have a graphic design business. You type “graphic design…” into Google and it comes up with “graphic design software.” Ok, you may want to consider having a page on your website that is all about graphic design software.

If you examine the results for that search result you may see patterns. Many of the top search results say things like “best graphic design software of 2020.” What does this mean to you?

It means that a good way to have your website and business come up earlier on Google is to have a blog or webpage or other content that is all about the graphic design software in 2020.

It actually doesn’t really matter if you sell software. The idea here is to get the search results that people use that are related to what you do, and also to improve your backlinks and other metrics Google uses to rank your site (more on that later.)

Improve Or Stand Out

While you don’t need to completely reinvent the wheel (and actually probably can’t), it’s a good idea to try to improve or differentiate your content just a bit so that it stands out from the others.

If the results for craft beer are all about buying local, perhaps you take it a step further and create a very detailed guide to every craft brewery in your city or state. Perhaps your blog adds some value by grouping the breweries by geography or the highest ranking.

These types of steps will hopefully be useful to other websites, and they may link to your site. This improves your ranking. We can provide professional services to help your content really stand out from others. In addition to the right keywords, an SEO strategy relies on having useful content.

Become a Blogger

The best way to keep racking up higher scores on Google’s metrics is to continually create new content through a blog. Keywords and searches change all the time, and it’s best to have a good framework for keeping up with the trends.

Post new content with fresh keywords that are trending well, and you’ll maintain your SEO relevance. Regular posting also improves your site’s authority and reputation. This is good for your ranking.

A blog allows you a way to post lots of content in a natural way. The more content you’re able to realistically post, the higher the chance that other websites will link to your site. These links are crucial to your SEO ranking, as the next section details.

Inbound Links

Inbound links, or “backlinks” are links from other places on the internet that link to your website. The more links leading to your website, the more Google considers your website to be worthy of a higher ranking. Google’s algorithm may change here and there, but will always place a high value on the number of inbound links to your site.

Much like real-life social networking, the higher standing the site that links to you, the better. You want to try to attract popular websites to link to your blog to increase your own standing. One easy way to expand your link network is to agree to exchange links with another site, which is good for both of you.

Ideally, your blog content is interesting or useful enough that when you publish it on your website or share it on Twitter or Facebook, a larger website or influencer will link to it. Always be on the lookout for chances to get your link on larger websites.

SEO Professionals

At the end of the day, SEO strategy is a big deal for businesses of any size, and if you’re not considering SEO you are missing out on a huge market. By using the five ideas listed above, you can create your SEO strategy to maximize your online presence and increase your sales.

Contact us here at Pathways Web Design for more information about SEO and digital marketing and to discuss what specific SEO strategy is right for you!