Living in today’s digital world and not taking your online presence seriously is ignorant, to say the least. It might be hard to believe, but just having a website or creating a social media account is not enough.

In order to stand out from the crowd you must ride the digital wave instead of just floating on it. 

Well, today we will be discussing one specific method of doing this: the implementation of search engine optimization strategies.

According to one study, 68% of online experiences begin with a search engine. This is a huge number and it’s proof that SEO should not be overlooked.

In this article, we will be exploring 5 crucial SEO strategies, but first, let’s establish why it’s so crucial.

Why is SEO So Important?

In case one statistic is not enough to convince you of the importance of implementing SEO strategies we’ll go into more detail.

Once you go to Google and hit search, you’ll be faced with thousands of results. Now, the logic behind the order of these results, or as we call them in the world of SEO, SERPs (search engine results pages), is a complex algorithm developed by Google.

Nobody knows for sure the exact ranking factors of this algorithm and truth be told it is updated quite frequently, but there are some things that experts have been able to identify.

Based on some research and experience we know that these factors can include the quality of the content, the website’s authority, user engagement, and several other elements.

So, if you don’t optimize your website for search engines, these metrics will definitely stop you from ranking. You don’t want this happening, do you?

Well, there you have it – the most crucial reason to invest your efforts in developing SEO strategies.

Not only will it help you rank higher, but also increase your website traffic and ultimately generate leads and sales.

Okay, now that we know the reasons behind leveraging SEO, let’s explore how to use it to its full potential.

How to Increase Your Online Visibility: 5 SEO Strategies

SEO strategies can change on a daily basis and there’s always room for improvement when it comes to any aspect of digital marketing. However, today we will be going through 5 of the most fundamental strategies businesses can use to increase their online visibility.

Keyword Research and Optimization

Keyword research is the foundation of all successful SEO strategies, or marketing strategies for that matter. 

Once you conduct proper keyword research, you’ll be able to identify some target words and phrases that people are searching for. This will help you optimize not only your website but your whole messaging strategy.

Now, why is any of this important?

Because if you don’t use the actual words people are searching for, they probably won’t ever know about your existence. Surely, that’s not something any business wants.

However, if you find out what people actually type in when they go to Google and use those words in your content, Google will notice you and so will your target audience.

The next logical question is, how to do this research?

Well, the easiest way out is probably using a designated tool for SEO strategies like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or even Google’s Keyword Planner.

All of these tools and many more, provide lots of different amazing features and if you decide to use any of them, make sure to do your research and make the right investment.

Say you already decided on a tool, but still don’t know how to use it properly for your SEO strategies. No worries, we’re here to help!

Let’s take a look at how you can use Ahrefs for your keyword research.

First things first, you must identify your main keyword. This is the main word or phrase that describes what you do. For instance, if you provide email marketing services, your main keyword is just that – email marketing services. Additionally, focusing on building a quality email list is crucial, as it allows you to engage directly with your audience and drive conversions more effectively.

Once you have this phrase you get exploring.

Like in the screenshot below, you must go to the “Keyword Explorer” feature and type in “email marketing services”.

You’ll be provided with not only the metrics of this keyword but also dozens of new keyword ideas. Now all you have to do is scroll through these suggestions, assess their metrics and relevance, and shortlist the ones that you might need to use in your SEO strategies.

In this screenshot, you can see what happens when you click on matching terms. You have dozens of different suggestions, along with their own metrics. Isn’t this amazing? All this data in one place!

It sounds like a lot, but, believe me, it’s not that difficult of a process. 

After all this, you’ll have some target keywords. Time to optimize your content!

Use these phrases in your meta tags, headings, and content. But don’t overdo it as that will negatively affect not only your optimization efforts but also the user experience.

Valuable Content Creation

Oh, what a perfect world it would have been if the only thing we needed to do to rank and be noticed by our potential customers was to use the right words.

Hate to break the fantasy, but that’s not how it works.

The content that surrounds those keywords is equally as important, if not more.

You see, the thing is search engines and humans alike don’t like fluff. They like content that actually gives something of value to the reader.

Especially nowadays, with so much content written by AI, it’s important to show that you put all your blood, sweat, tears, and creative juices into writing a piece of content.

The content you write should have a purpose, and ignoring this important step is a huge SEO mistake. 

Whether it’s encouraging an action, driving the customer to a purchase, or simply educating them on a topic, without a clear purpose, first it will be you who’s lost and then the customer. 

Here are some tips to make your content worth reading:

• Know your audience

I know it seems a bit obvious, but in order to write content that your target likes, you need to know your target. Are you writing for business owners? Or maybe students? Are you creating content for the B2C or B2B sectors?

Identifying the answers to these and lots of other similar questions is the first step in mastering SEO strategies and creating relatable content that brings you traffic and ranks.

In order to gather insights about your target audience, consider conducting surveys and polls, analyzing the data from your website analytics, and even using social media listening tools.

• Research, research, research

No matter how experienced you are and how much knowledge you have, it’s still crucial to do proper research when writing any type of content.

This will give you information about some recent news and trends, help identify topics people actually search for, and even check out your competition’s content strategies.

While it’s often possible to write content at the top of your head, it’s important to have a proper strategy for writing it. This strategy includes not only the research part but also the whole planning process.

The best way to do this research is by studying industry trends and analyzing competitor strategies, as both of these will help you figure out what to do to improve and how to adapt to market needs.

• Use strong headlines

A good headline is usually what it takes for users to click on your content, so make sure to write headlines that are not only easy to understand but also informative.

It’s crucial that your headlines reflect exactly what your content is about in order to efficiently meet the user’s expectations. It might seem like a small detail, but it can actually have a huge impact on SEO strategies.

So, create headlines that grab attention instantly and accurately describe the content. Also, make sure to keep your headline between 50-60 characters as this will also have a positive impact on your SEO efforts.

• Use simple language

Content writers are often tempted to use fancy, or should I say sophisticated words and phrases, however, you must keep in mind that the average user probably does not care about any of that.

Quite the opposite, people usually prefer to read simple texts with casual vocabulary.

Yes, sometimes when writing something too niche or technical we use complicated words, but other than that try to keep it short and simple.

• Proofread your content

Proofreading everything you put on your website is essential and I cannot stress this enough.

It’s easy to make typos and small errors when dealing with huge amounts of text, but by using spelling and grammar checker tools and carefully proofreading your content you can make sure that it’s free of any errors.

Consider using Grammarly or any similar tool and add it to your browser as an extension. This will correct your text on the go and you won’t have to worry about such small errors.

Speaking of tools, make sure to use a reliable Content Management System (CMS) to easily create, edit, and manage your content.

Hope these tips helped you understand what valuable content is, why it’s important for your SEO strategies, and how you can achieve it. 

Now go, start typing, experiment with different types of content, and see what works best for you!

Link Building

You have the keywords with good metrics and you have the good content. What’s next?

Well, in order to answer that question, we’ll need to take you on a super quick SEO crash course.

So, when businesses start considering investing in SEO and content to maximize their growth, there are 3 main components to take into account:

• On-Page SEO
• Off-Page SEO
• Technical SEO

Everything that we talked about before is included in on-page SEO strategies because these are things you do on your website, aka on-(your)-page, in order to increase your visibility.

Of course, it includes way more than just keyword research and content writing, but we won’t get too technical.

Now, off-page optimization is the SEO strategies you use outside of your own website to improve its authority, and visibility, and rank higher.

One of the best strategies for off-page optimization is link building.

Link building is the process of obtaining backlinks from relevant websites with high authorities.

By getting such backlinks not only do you seem more trustworthy in the eyes of search engines, but you also get to increase your website traffic, and, of course, your online visibility.

Some of the popular ways to build links include:

• Guest Posting

This is essentially the practice of writing guest posts for other websites in your industry in exchange for a backlink to your site. You can use email software like ActiveCampaign or ClickFunnels to reach out to websites where you want to guest post.

• Broken Link Building

Broken link building is all about identifying broken links on relevant websites, and suggesting to replace them with content from your website.

•  Outreach Campaigns

One of the most famous and effective ways to build links is by reaching out to website owners, bloggers, or even influencers and asking them to link to your content. Just make sure to leverage proper email etiquette, use a personalized and thoughtful message for your outreach if you want to achieve your goal.

• Reciprocal Linking

Another effective method is partnering with websites in related but non-competing industries and agreeing to exchange links. While you link to their site, they link back to yours. It’s important to use this strategy with caution to avoid being penalized by Google.

The best way to do that is by engaging in A-B-C link exchanges, which is a strategy that includes exchange between three domains. In this process, three websites, which we can label as A, B, and C, swap links to each other. The trick is if A links to B, B can’t link to A in order to avoid looking suspicious to search engines.

When building backlinks keep in mind that there’s a very fine line between ethical link building and black-hat tactics that will get you penalized. These black-hat strategies include paying for links, using link farms or Private Blog Networks (PBNs), or even using comment sections to get links. These practices will get you penalized and maybe even get you completely removed from SERPs.

So, make sure to either outsource your link building efforts to a reliable agency or hire a good professional to take this burden off your shoulders.

Technical SEO

We’ve established what off-page and on-page SEO strategies are, now let’s talk about technical SEO.

Technical SEO is just what it sounds like. It includes the technical aspects of your website which can include the website speed, its mobile optimization, and even indexing. 

While it’s crucial to write good content and optimize it for search engine rankings, the truth is if you skip the technical SEO, chances are you still won’t rank and all your efforts will go to waste. 

The key components of technical SEO can include:

• Website Speed

A slow website is an immediate red flag not only for search engines but also for users, so you must compress images, minify CSS and JavaScript files, and use browser caching. 

To further improve your website speed you can use lazy loading for images and videos, optimize your database, and reduce the number of HTTP requests. It’s also a good idea to use lightweight themes and plugins to ensure your website runs efficiently.

• Mobile Friendliness

With the increasing number of mobile users, making your website mobile-friendly is also one of the most important SEO strategies, as search engines prioritize websites that are easily accessible on mobile devices. 

• XML Sitemap

An XML sitemap is a file that provides search engines with a list of important pages on your website. Creating and submitting an XML sitemap can help search engines discover and index your content more efficiently.

There are a couple of ways to check your site’s sitemap. The most common and easy way is by locating the sitemap URL which is usually “yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml”. The other methods include using Google Search Console (if you’ve submitted your sitemap before) or leveraging SEO tools like Ahrefs or Screaming Frog.

• Robots.txt

This file’s purpose is to instruct search engine crawlers which pages on your website they can or cannot access. Its correct usage will help prevent the crawling of unnecessary or sensitive pages.

• URL Structure

The simplest things like a clean and logical URL structure can have an impact on your SEO strategies as well, so make sure they’re short, concise, and informative.

• HTTPS

Using HTTPS ensures that your website’s data is transmitted securely. Is there even a point in explaining why this is important? In the world that we live in right now, security is one of the biggest concerns, so making your website secure is the least you can do.

• Site Architecture

A well-structured site architecture can influence not only user experience but also website crawlability. Consider using a good hierarchical structure with clear navigation.

There are many more components to technical SEO strategies that we didn’t cover, but you are free to explore them on your own.

It can be overwhelming to deal with all of this information, so consider hiring great specialists who will take care of both the backend and frontend elements of their websites.

It would also be great if you educate yourself on the matter, but the technical aspects can and will get too technical, so you don’t need to go all in depth.

Remember, Google cares just as much about the technical back-end elements as it does about the rest, so ignoring technical SEO optimization is a big mistake.

Local Search Results Optimization

There is also another aspect of SEO, that we didn’t discuss above – local SEO.

Local SEO is a part of SEO that focuses on optimizing your website for local search results.

It’s particularly important for businesses that have physical stores or serve a specific geographic area. 

By implementing local SEO strategies, you can increase your brand visibility among potential customers within your local community.

Let’s take a look at some of the key elements of local SEO:

• Google My Business Profile

One of the first steps when optimizing your brand for local search results is to create a Google My Business profile. It helps provide accurate and up-to-date information about your business, including your name, address, phone number, website, and even hours of operation.

It’s crucial not only to provide up-to-date and useful information but to also add pictures, use the correct keywords in your business description, as well as encourage leaving reviews and replying to them. 

GMB directly affects local search results by improving your visibility in the Local Pack and Google Maps, and it boosts your rankings through factors like relevance, distance, and even customer engagement. So, a well-optimized GMB profile will help you attract more local traffic and improve search performance.

• Local Citations

It’s important to make sure that your business information is consistent across online directories and citation websites. This helps search engines understand your business’s location and credibility.

• Local Keyword Optimization

We’ve already discussed the importance of using relevant keywords, well it can also be crucial to use relevant local keywords in your website content, meta tags, and Google My Business profile to target search queries more effectively.

• Geo-Targeting

Many ignore this step, but you must also optimize your website for specific geographic locations using geo-targeting techniques. This can involve targeting your content to specific cities, regions, or countries.

Once you start taking care of your local SEO strategies you can increase your online visibility, attract more local customers, and boost your business’s overall success.

Conclusion

It’s clear that in today’s digital world, SEO is an indispensable tool for businesses looking to increase their online visibility.

By thoroughly analyzing and implementing these five SEO strategies you’ll be able to improve your search engine rankings and attract more potential customers. But, keep in mind that SEO is an ongoing process that requires continuous monitoring and optimization.

Make sure to use these strategies and keep up-to-date with new SEO and digital marketing trends to ensure your website stays competitive in this constantly changing world.

Author Bio

Tamara is a passionate SEO content writer at SayNine. She enjoys making genuine and authentic content that people can easily connect with. When she’s not working, you will likely find her traveling and enjoying concerts in different corners of the world.