Picture this: your product is revolutionary. Your expertise, irreplaceable. Your target market? Hundreds, thousands, or even millions of potential buyers.

And none of them are making it to your website.

Why? Because despite your best intentions, you haven’t included search engine optimization in your marketing plan. You’ve been focused on advertising, email, and referrals. These strategies are great, but they have one thing in common: a limited scope. They only go as far as your ad budget, your email list, your promoters.

If you’re looking for a marketing strategy with unlimited potential to scale, look no further than SEO. Here’s an overview of the most effective techniques to include in your SEO strategy.

What are search engine optimization techniques?

Search engine optimization techniques are methodical approaches to improve your visibility in the search engine results page (SERP). How do the experts use SEO techniques in digital marketing? Let’s start by exploring the role SEO plays within your marketing plan.

Why SEO is important - in simple terms

What’s the importance of search engine optimization in digital marketing? Simply put, SEO helps you get the most value out of your content marketing.

Most organizations create digital content as part of their marketing strategy. Creating thoughtful, high-quality content takes a lot of effort and resources. Imagine pouring blood, sweat, and tears into amazing content… and then not taking steps to make sure your audience sees it. Your career as a content creator won’t last long.

SEO is one of the most effective ways to get eyes on your content over time. Sure, you can run ads to send traffic to your content. But organic traffic is typically considered more valuable because of its higher conversion rates.

Plus, when you turn your ad campaigns off, that paid traffic stops flowing. In contrast, an investment in building up SEO traffic is forever. (Okay, maybe not “dystopian future” forever. But it’ll provide value for a long time.)

What are the three types of search engine optimization techniques?

We often divide search engine optimization techniques into three main categories: technical, on-page (content), and off-page (backlinks). Developing all three categories helps make sure your strategy is well rounded. Here are some SEO techniques and tools to help you build your plan.

Technical optimization

A solid SEO foundation starts with technical SEO. Why is technical SEO so important? Search engines seek to promote websites that provide a good experience. There are some technical elements that, to algorithms, are “table stakes” for a good user experience.

Here are some of the most important technical factors and how to optimize them.

• Website speed. If your site takes too long to load, users won’t spend any time consuming your content. Google knows that, so site speed is one of the most critical technical SEO factors. You can use Google’s free PageSpeed Insights tool to get a report on your core web vitals. This will help you identify opportunities for improvement. Some common page speed issues are large media files, unnecessary code, and too many HTTP requests.
• Structure and navigation. A straightforward infrastructure will help people and search engine crawlers understand your website. One of the best ways to assess your site’s navigability is to have someone new try to navigate it. Send them on a scavenger hunt to find popular features, and listen to their feedback with an open mind.
• Mobile-friendliness. In 2017, the desktop-to-mobile traffic scale tipped - and today, more than half of all online traffic is on mobile devices. For this reason, search engine algorithms incorporate mobile-friendliness into their rankings. Using a responsive design, large text and buttons, and mobile-specific design options can help folks use your website on a variety of devices.
• Accessibility. Speaking of variety… your website must be accessible to a variety of people and device types. Some users might be using a smart device or screen reader to consume your content. Others might have a slow connection. To ensure accessibility for all, structure your content with proper header tags, provide descriptive alt text, use high color contrast, and write thoughtful titles and meta descriptions.

Keyword-focused content

Next up: on-page SEO. Creating content that meets quality standards and focuses on a strategic keyword is no easy task. Here are some steps to follow.

1. Keyword research. Before you write a single word or design a single graphic, you must start with research. There are a variety of keyword research tools to help you uncover what your audience is searching for. You can also roll up your sleeves and do your own digging around. Check out your competitors’ blogs and ad copy to see the kind of language they’re using. Mine customer feedback to learn how your audience speaks.
2. Create content with quality indicators in mind. High-quality content is easy to read, educational, entertaining, and insightful. Make sure readers can scan it and get an idea of the key points. Google has also shared the E-E-A-T framework it uses to evaluate content quality. Look for ways to demonstrate expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness in your content.
3. Optimize your content for your focus keyword. If you’ve done thorough keyword research and written quality content, your focus keyword should fall into place. But be sure it’s woven into your piece’s title, URL, headers, meta description, and image tags.

All content techniques are not created equal. There are good and bad tactics. Let’s explain, in short, a “white hat” technique. Creating content that’s helpful to readers is considered white hat. There’s no ulterior motive. You’re genuinely setting out to rank the highest by creating the best content.

Now to explain, in short, a “black hat” technique. Usually, if your intention is anything other than being helpful, you’re probably leaning toward black hat. Techniques like keyword stuffing, sneaky redirects, and buying links are becoming outdated as search engine algorithms learn to sniff them out.

Link acquisition

Now that your website meets technical standards and you’ve published excellent content, your next step is to earn backlinks. What are backlinks? They’re simply links to your content from external websites.

Follow these steps to get backlinks to your content:

1. Target websites where your audience is hanging out. These websites should be publishing content that’s related to the topics you write about.
2. Find an existing piece of content on the website where a link to your new piece would fit. Keep in mind, the fit will need to be very strong. If it’s a stretch, the publisher is unlikely to add your link. So it’s important to be thoughtful on this step.
3. Seek out the person in charge of digital content for the site, and reach out with a personalized message. Summarize your content and spell out how it helps their readers. Suggest a location and anchor text for the link.

What are the 5 SEO factors?

There are five main factors to consider as you’re building and executing your SEO strategy.

1. Strong technical foundation

Search engine algorithms grow more sophisticated every year. At the same time, the bar for engaging user experiences is higher than ever. Think virtual tours, live streams, and augmented reality.

If your website’s technical infrastructure is lacking, Google simply won’t consider ranking your content. There’s too much competition providing a better experience.

2. Keyword-optimized content that’s matched to search intent

We talked about keyword research, but what about search intent? Consider the different types of SEO keywords your audience might use. Determining whether each keyword is informational, navigational, commercial, or transactional will reveal the searcher’s intent.

Matching your content to search intent is crucial for delivering a good experience. Think of it this way. If you’re searching for “where to buy running shoes” (a transactional keyword), you probably don’t want to read a 2,000-word article about the histories of the top athletic retailers. You want a clearly-structured list of places to shop highlighting the pros, cons, and price points of each.

3. On-site interlinking

Interlinking the content on your website helps search engines understand the structure of your website. It also keeps organic traffic on your site longer by helping them discover content related to what they’re currently reading.

For example, let’s say you mention a concept in one piece of content, and go into detail on that concept in another piece. Someone reading the first piece won’t know that additional information’s available unless you link to the second piece.

4. Backlinking

Backlinks are important because search engines assume that if lots of third parties link to your content, it must be good. Basically, it’s like Google is reading the reviews for your content before deciding to rank it.

5. Helpful content

Bottom line: The most important thing is to make your content helpful to your reader - and that goes beyond using a keyword in your content here and there. Your content should offer new insights, original research, and fresh perspectives.

What is search engine optimization? (and an example)

Now that we’ve explained search engine optimization techniques and strategies used to rank your website, let’s talk about how paid tactics fit in. We’ll also look at an example of how all these strategies fit together.

What are SEO and SEM? (with examples)

SEO refers to the process of optimizing your content to rank higher. It’s an organic tactic - meaning the only investment is the time it takes. Search engine marketing is the opposite side of the same coin. It refers to paying for an ad placement at the top of the SERP.

Both SEO and SEM can help you achieve your content marketing goals. They can complement each other. Here’s an example.

Let’s say you’re an online retailer specializing in running shoes. Your organic SEO goals will typically fall near the top of your marketing funnel. You might use SEO to gain organic traffic searching for informational keywords like “how to choose a running shoe.” This will help you establish your brand as an authority. If your audience finds your content helpful, they’ll think of you when they’re ready to buy.

To win traffic searching for transactional keywords like “buy XYZ brand running shoes,” you’d likely be more aggressive. Those users are more likely to bring immediate value to your company by making a purchase.

However, the line between when to use SEO and SEM easily blurs. Many brands use SEM to pay for top-funnel traffic if they know those users will be profitable down the line. For example, a user searching “best running shoes under $500” is still in the research phase. But they’ve indicated they’re willing to spend a lot on shoes. Even though they’re not ready to buy, it might be worth it to pay for their eyeballs on your content.

Here’s another example. Maybe your blog has a high-converting pop-up that invites readers to get email notifications when their favorite shoe brands go on sale. Since a user on any piece of content could convert, it might make sense to pay for search traffic, even on informational keywords.

Reach your audience for years to come

Marketers sometimes hesitate to invest in SEO because they may not see an immediate ROI. While SEO won’t get you instant traffic like ads, it’s a worthwhile pursuit that will benefit your company for years to come.

And once your content starts gaining traction, your results will snowball. As your site starts ranking higher in the SERP, you’ll earn more backlinks. You’ll look more credible and authoritative to Google. And suddenly, your organic traffic will skyrocket.

The problem is, to get these results, you have to start somewhere. As the (modified) proverb goes: The best time to start SEO was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.

By using the techniques and tactics we’ve covered, you can start creating optimized, high-quality content that will build evergreen value for your brand.

You’ve set your content marketing goals. You’ve outlined your strategies. You’re ready to create some inspiring content.

When you spend this much energy on content, you want to squeeze out every last drop of value. That’s why your shiny new content plan includes a whole section on SEO strategy. Keyword research, backlink strategies, you’re here for it all.

But… does your plan include technical SEO? Or have you shied away from the technical side of things, assuming the web team has it covered?

As Rand Fishkin, co-founder of SEO software Moz, described: “Technical SEO is like the plumbing of a website - it’s not always visible, but it’s crucial for ensuring everything runs smoothly and efficiently.” And as a marketer, it should be on your radar.

What is technical SEO and how can you get started on optimizations? Here’s the inside scoop on technical SEO for beginners or seasoned marketers refreshing their SEO strategy.

What is technical SEO?

Technical SEO is the optimization of your website’s infrastructure to improve its rankings in search engine results. It’s one of the four types of SEO and it’s the most - well, technical.

If your hands get a bit clammy at the mention of “technical” anything, you’re not alone. But to build a well-rounded SEO strategy, marketers should be just as familiar with technical SEO techniques as with more content-centric tactics.

As algorithms have gotten better at recognizing truly valuable content, the field of SEO has sharpened its focus on user experience. Today, Google is so sophisticated that it can usually tell when content is using less-savory SEO tactics and demote it accordingly.

Technical SEO is important because it improves your content for both people and Google:

• People using your website benefit from features like clear navigation, short load time, and mobile-friendliness. Google uses a variety of metrics to assess user experience.
• To show your content in search results, search engine spiders must be able to find and index it. Google can more easily crawl your website when it has a solid infrastructure.

What is the difference between technical SEO and SEO?

The difference between technical SEO and SEO is that technical SEO is only one of the four main categories of SEO. The other three categories are on-page, off-page, and local SEO. These four categories all work in tandem to improve your content’s visibility and appearance on the search engine results page.

What is technical SEO and on-page SEO?

Technical and on-page SEO are often discussed together because they’re the two types of SEO that marketers have nearly complete control over. They take place mainly on your owned web properties.

While these two types of SEO are closely related, there are different tactics for technical SEO vs. on-page SEO. In terms of process, many marketers approach these optimizations as a sandwich: technical, on-page, technical.

First, the foundation of SEO is built on the technical. Before you create any content, your website should have basic technical optimizations in place. It should be mobile-friendly, have a clear site structure, and a decent load speed.

Next, it’s content creation time. On-page SEO begins with thorough keyword research. Determine which keywords your target audience is likely to search, and plan your content around them. Here are a few simple tactics to research keywords:

• Use keyword research tools like Google Trends and AnswerThePublic.
• Browse your competitors’ blog content and SERP results to see what they’re writing about and which keywords they seem to be targeting.
• Read through customer survey results to get a sense of their top concerns and the language they use.

When you’ve chosen your keyword, use it to create high-quality content that educates and entertains. Keep the structure of your content scannable and easy to read. Weave your keyword and related keywords into your content.

Finally, when you’re ready to finish up your content, shift your focus back to technical SEO. Check that your keyword appears in the following areas:

• Title
• URL
• Headers
• Body
• Meta description
• Image tags

When you publish new content, you should also make sure it’s on par with the sitewide technical optimizations you have in place. Use appropriately-sized images, SEO-friendly URLs, and accessible design. It’s helpful to use a checklist for new content so you don’t miss any opportunities - we like the Search Engine Journal’s SEO checklist.

What is off-page SEO?

Once you’ve finalized your content with technical and on-page optimizations, you can move on to off-page SEO tactics. The goal of off-page SEO is to earn links to your content from external sites. When your content has lots of backlinks, it’s a sign to Google that others find it helpful.

Your content will likely earn some backlinks on its own, but you should also have a backlink strategy to get as many as possible. To earn backlinks, identify trusted websites that appeal to your audience. Reach out to the person or team responsible for digital content, and craft your ask. Be sure to spell out where the link fits, your preferred anchor text, and how your content will benefit their readers.

For examples of on-page and off-page SEO, check out our post What are examples of SEO marketing?

How to do technical SEO

Technical SEO can include hundreds of optimizations, so systems are your best friend in this arena. Once you get the hang of technical SEO, you can build checklists and processes that are repeatable.

There are many technical SEO tools that are free or inexpensive to use. In fact, as the world’s largest search engine, Google offers a variety of free tools such as Google Search Console, PageSpeed Insights, and Keyword Planner.

Is technical SEO difficult?

Technical SEO isn’t brain surgery, but it does involve attention to detail and many moving parts. For this reason, you can make your life easier by planning your technical SEO roadmap before getting started. Here are the most important technical SEO factors to include on your roadmap.

What are technical SEO ranking factors?

Now that you understand what technical SEO is and how it works with the other types of SEO, let’s get into some actionable steps. Here are four of the most important factors for technical SEO.

1. Website speed optimization

Your content might be insightful, actionable… incredible, really. But if it takes too long to load, no one will stick around to read it. That’s why increasing your site speed is so important.

There are many factors that impact site speed. To get a sense of where your biggest opportunities are, run your site through Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool. You’ll get reports on core web vitals such as largest and first contentful paint, first input delay, and cumulative layout shift. (Don’t worry, Google will also tell you what all these metrics are.)

Some common page speed issues are:

• Large image or media files
• Unnecessarily complex or unused code
• Too many HTTP requests
• Large network payloads

It’s important to note that your website will probably never score a perfect 100 in all categories. The goal of evaluating page speed is to identify the issues causing the most heartache and quick wins that can improve your technical SEO.

2. Improving usability with structure and navigation

Optimizing the technical infrastructure of your website makes it easier to navigate for both human users and search engine spiders. This pleases the algorithm.

How can you improve your site structure? Two words: simplify and clarify. If your navigation has dropdowns in its dropdowns, it might be time to consider restructuring for a more straightforward user experience. Users should be able to get to any given piece of content with a few clicks.

When it comes to URLs, keep them clear, descriptive, and short.

• Example of a non-SEO-friendly URL: https://www.icecream.com/category.php?id=421
• Example of an SEO-friendly URL: https://www.icecream.com/recipes/homemade-ice-cream

One of the best ways to assess the clarity of your site’s structure is to have someone new try to navigate it. Enlist a friend, family member, or - let’s be honest - you have colleagues who don’t spend that much time on your website. Send them on a scavenger hunt to find and use your more popular features. Listen very carefully to their feedback.

You can also mine customer feedback for this information. Every marketer hasHave you ever read a suggestion or complaint from a customer survey and thought, “That’s ridiculous, we do have that. It’s on the website.” Well, the respondent didn’t find it. Time to start investigating why.

3. Mobile-friendly design

In 2017, the digital world experienced a shift. For the first time, more than half of all traffic on the internet was on mobile devices. Since then, many forward-thinking brands have moved to mobile-first design.

Do you know whether your audience primarily uses desktop or mobile? You can find out in Google Analytics under Audience > Mobile > Overview. Use this data to inform your web design decisions. In a perfect world, your website would be seamless on every device. But in reality, we have to prioritize.

Here are a few tips to help you ensure your website is mobile-friendly:

• Use a responsive design. With today’s technology, there’s no excuse to be behind on this one.
• Simplify. Can we stress simplicity enough? Simple navigation, layouts, and copy just work better on small devices.
• Use larger text and buttons. Size 12 font might be readable on your ultra-wide monitor, but it’s nearly invisible for folks on their phones. And buttons absolutely must be big enough for an average-sized thumb.
• Your content management system (CMS) might have mobile design options. Many platforms (ex. Webflow) let you customize elements of your site for different device types. Take advantage of this feature!

It might go without saying, but be sure to test your website on your own mobile device. Extensively. Go through processes like completing the contact form or using the search bar. If you run into unexpected frustrations, know that your users are doubly frustrated. And even worse - your competitors might have a better user experience.

4. Optimizing accessibility

For technical SEO, your website must be accessible to both people and search engine crawlers. People accessibility starts with considering that your users are different types of people on different types of devices. They might be using a screen reader. They might be asking their question to a smart device rather than typing it out. Their connection might be too slow to load images. To ensure accessibility:

• Use proper heading tags and make it easy for users to understand the hierarchy of your content.
• Provide descriptive alt text for images.
• Use appropriate color contrast. Dark text on a light background or vice-versa.
• Set descriptive titles and meta descriptions.

Of course, search engines must also be able to easily understand your content in order to rank it. To optimize your site’s accessibility for search engines:

• Make sure you’ve submitted an XML sitemap to Google. Many CMSs automatically create this for you. You can submit your sitemap using Google Search Console.
• Duplicate content is a red flag to search engine algorithms. Having more than one page targeting the same keyword and intent is called keyword cannibalization. Keep your content tidy by merging, redirecting, or canonicalizing duplicate content.
• Broken links and missing pages are technical SEO issues. No matter how organized you are, pages will move around and external links will break. You can use a free tool like this broken link checker from Ahrefs to audit broken links on your site.
• Regularly check for other crawl errors by using the “Not indexed” page category in Google Search Console.

Technical SEO is the key to a great user experience

The bottom line of any type of SEO is: Users having a great experience on your site will probably hang around longer. Or they’ll find the answer they needed quickly and end their search. Google recognizes both behaviors and tosses that information into its swirling cauldron of algorithmic judgment.

As one of the four types of SEO, technical SEO is indispensable to your marketing strategy. To make sure your technical ducks are in a row, simplify your site structure, optimize speed and accessibility, and prioritize mobile design.

Abraham Maslow said, “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” When it comes to search engine optimization techniques, it’s important to make sure you have the right tools for the job. Otherwise, you might end up with SEO content that shines in one area but misses the mark in another.

Which SEO tools do you absolutely need, and which can you skip? And is it possible to do SEO yourself for free? Let’s explore these questions and more.

What are SEO tools?

SEO tools are programs that help you use SEO techniques for your website. With these tools and techniques, you can work to improve your website’s ranking and appearance on the search engine results page (SERP). Over time, a well-designed strategy can earn you a high volume of traffic that’s organic - meaning you haven’t paid for it.

Of course, organic traffic isn’t free. It takes resources to research and develop your strategy. And it takes even more resources to deploy it. You must plan the content, create it, and promote it with organic tactics like backlinks and social sharing.

But done right, the return on your initial investment in SEO will be astonishing. With the right tools, your SEO strategy can build your authority and bring in qualified organic traffic for years to come.

Can I do SEO by myself?

In short, yes. Armed with some foundational knowledge and valuable tools, you can get started on SEO basics by yourself. Some marketers and business owners prefer to start this way.

If you have the time to invest in self-learning, a DIY approach is a good way to get some hands-on SEO experience. That experience will contextualize any work you do with an expert down the road and help you make better decisions.

However, if you don’t have time to spend learning SEO and need results right now, it might make sense to hire an expert. That could be an in-house specialist or a full-service SEO agency.

Can I do SEO for free?

There are both paid and free SEO tools available to boost your efforts. Some of the best SEO tools for beginners are the free versions of paid tools. As you start to make progress, you’ll eventually run into features that are only available for paid users.

Using a trial or free version will allow you to learn what the tool does and decide whether it’s worth paying for a more robust version. You don’t need a tech stack of 10 expensive SEO tools. Instead, try several as you build out your systematic SEO process. Take note of where you consistently hit a wall with free tools.

Evaluate: Is there a way to gather the desired information manually? Can you build that into your process? How much time would you save with the paid tool? Often, it’s worth it to pay for a feature that buys back your team’s time for more strategic work, and less data entry and basic research.

How much do SEO tools cost?

The functionality and cost of SEO tools vary widely. Many of the big players in the SEO tech space position themselves as all-in-one solutions. Their target customers are large brands in competitive industries.

These companies have a lot to gain from dialing in their SEO efforts and capturing the top SERP rankings for all their target keywords. With such a high ROI, enterprise-level SEO platforms can cost tens of thousands of dollars per year.

However, there are also free SEO tools and everything in between. Tools that are less comprehensive than the big players but still sophisticated can cost around $50-$100 per month depending on the level of functionality you need. Typically, you’ll need to pay for any tool that gives you access to exclusive information like competitor analysis.

Why should you use SEO tools?

Most SEO tools are designed to help with the research that goes into an effective SEO strategy. They provide data you don’t have access to, or quickly synthesize data that would take a long time to pull together.

And, well, we don’t have to tell you about the importance of rooting your strategy in data. It takes a lot of time and resources to create high-quality content with a chance of ranking. Even if your marketing budget is in the millions… you can’t afford a “spray and pray” approach to SEO.

Here are a few ways you can use SEO tools to build a data-driven plan:

• Gain a holistic understanding of your current content’s performance. You must know what’s working and what’s not to plan for the future.
• Generate quick competitor analysis reports for on-page SEO elements like keywords and content structure.
• Identify high-priority technical issues with your site that might be red flags to search engine algorithms.
• Discover new keywords that interest your target audience and fit in with your content strategy.

Chances are, once you start digging into your SEO tools of choice, you’ll be blown away by the data available to inform your SEO strategy and tactics. The most successful brands are using tools for SEO, and you should take the opportunity too.

Does Google have free SEO tools?

Yes, as the world’s largest search engine, Google has several free tools that are valuable for beginners and experts alike. They can give you baseline information and complement any paid tools or services you might use.

The three main Google SEO tools are Google Analytics, Keyword Planner, and Search Console. We’ll talk about all three as well as some of the leading paid SEO tools on the market.

Which is the best SEO tool?

What are the best SEO tools for digital marketing? It depends. There are tools for each phase of your SEO plan. Most of the huge, all-in-one solutions have features that can help with every phase - and price tags to match.

Should you invest in one of these all-inclusive platforms? You might decide that approach works best for your organization. But first, let’s pour one out for our brothers and sisters who have fallen talk about falling for to the SEO tool “paradox of choice.”

Getting sudden access to 50+ new features can be paralyzing. Without the right context and experience, you might feel unsure how to use your new platform effectively… and therefore, not use it at all.

To avoid this, you can put together an efficient plan by choosing to pay for specialized tools where you need them most. Or, if you don’t have an in-house SEO expert to manage a suite of tools, it might make more sense to hire an agency.

Keyword research tools

High-performing content starts with choosing the right on-page SEO keywords. Sure, you can win some organic traffic with excellent content even if you haven’t chosen a keyword. But since you’re spending all that time on content, don’t you want to get more than “some traffic”? Don’t you want to get the most traffic you can?

That’s the purpose of researching and optimizing to for keywords. It’s not keyword stuffing. It’s not “black hat SEO.” It’s simply adding a strategic layer into your content creation process. We’ve said it before, elegant content doesn’t pay the bills. Strategic content does. And the best SEO content is both.

What are the best SEO keyword research tools? We like Ahrefs’s keyword generator. It provides volume and difficulty metrics for any keyword. For a free tool, try Google’s keyword planner. You can enter your website to see keywords that match your existing content. You can also get volume forecasts.

Tools to audit your site

Before you can create new content and deploy new SEO tactics, you have to know how your current site is performing. There are a few tools to help in this area. SEMRush’s website audit tool will give you a report on the technical aspects of your site. You’ll easily identify concerns and opportunities with elements like site speed, crawlability, and internal linking.

To assess your existing content’s performance, Google Analytics has you covered. You can build custom reports on your most important content metrics, like:

• Conversion rates
• Assisted conversions
• Demographics
• Engagement rates
• Return visits

Google Search Console also has several features designed specifically to help you check your website’s current search performance. You’ll be able to answer:

• Which keywords are already bringing traffic to your site? You want to make sure you stay on top of these high performers to keep your traffic share. You can also use this info to try to rank for similar keywords.
• Which keywords are getting lots of impressions but few clicks? The way your content is showing up on the SERP isn’t matching searchers’ expectations for those queries. Time to dig into why.
• Does your site have any glaring technical issues that could impact search rankings? Some examples are broken links, duplicate content, and crawl errors.
• What external sites are currently linking to your content? You can see which pages are being linked to and what the anchor text is for those backlinks.

Content optimization tools

The information you uncover when auditing your site will help you optimize it. As you’re creating new content, you can also use SEO tools to ensure it’s optimized and ready to put its best foot forward. Among the big SEO players, SEMrush and Moz both have features to help optimize your content.

If you host your site on WordPress, you can also use a search optimization plugin like Yoast. In addition, newer tools like Frase.io use artificial intelligence to help you build and optimize your content.

All these content optimization tools are designed to give your content has the best chance at ranking for your target keyword. They’ll help you make sure the keyword appears in all the right places and including meta data fields. Some of them also look at the content currently ranking for your keyword, and then provide additional keywords to include and questions to answer.

Tools for analyzing backlinks

Building backlinks is an off-page SEO technique you can’t afford to skip. One of the best ways to target publishers for future backlinks is to look at who has linked to your content in the past. Serpstat’s backlink analysis tool provides insights like number of backlinks, referring domains’ quality scores, and competitor backlinks.

If you don’t need that much detail, you can look at the Links report in Google Search Console. You can also  find insights into the engagement of your backlink traffic in Google Analytics. Here’s how:

1. Check out the User acquisition report under Reports > Acquisition.
2. Filter the first column to First user source / medium. Now you can see how many users were referred from specific websites.
3. Click the plus sign to add a new column to the report. Add a column for Landing page + query string. Now you have insight into where users landed on your site for each referral source.
4. Look to the engagement-focused columns on the right to see how engaged each group of users is and how they’re converting.

You might need to use data from any or all of these sources to put together a well-rounded view of your backlink performance. You know what they say: The more data, the merrier.

SEO tools help you prioritize and thrive

Search engine optimization is a broad field that can be overwhelming if you don’t know how to prioritize the work. And when it comes down to it, this is what SEO tools help you do. They provide data and context to help you figure out which elements of your SEO strategy are the most important.

Without the right tools, your SEO marketing strategy will fall flat. You won’t get the results you expected. And worse, you’ll waste a lot of effort doing work that a program could’ve done in a fraction of the time.

What’s the very first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?

Oh, deep breathing and yoga? Well, aren’t you just a ray of sunshine?

We were expecting you to say “look at my phone,” which is what most Americans do. We spend a lot of time online. In our fast-paced world, we’re always looking for the quickest way to get where we want to go.

For most people, the quickest way to get where they’re going online is a search engine. And, well, we wouldn’t be marketers if we didn’t find a way to influence those online experiences.

Thus, search engine optimization (SEO) marketing was born. Today, marketers use SEO strategy to achieve a variety of goals from increased organic traffic to higher conversion rates. And since 68% of online experiences begin with search it’s vital to have a strong strategy.

What is SEO marketing for beginners?

To newer marketers, SEO might seem like a labyrinth of tags, keywords and coding. But search engine marketing is less mysterious than you think, and it can help you achieve your business goals. If you’re just starting out, here are a few SEO marketing tips for beginners .

What is SEO in marketing?

SEO refers to improving your website’s rank and appearance on the search engine results page (SERP). The benefits of SEO reach far and wide.

From a marketing standpoint, SEO is a cost-effective way to bring more organic traffic to your website. Since the average working-age internet user now spends 6 hours and 37 minutes online each day, you can’t afford to skip SEO.

SEO’s meaning in business

SEO also has business benefits outside of marketing:

• Effective keyword research can help you better understand your customer. This intelligence spans from market shifts at a macro level, down to consumer intent on a micro level.
• High-quality content can improve your customer satisfaction, retention, and upsell performance.
• Building a positive online brand presence over time can strengthen your reputation and dilute any negative SERP hits that pop up.

You can also use SEO to grow your business. An increase organic traffic to your site can result in more sales and increase your conversion rate by improving the customer experience.

How is SEO used in digital marketing?

These days, most marketers define digital marketing as… well, marketing. We live in a digital world, and your website is often your first impression to potential buyers. For this reason, it’s hard to overstate the importance of SEO in digital marketing .

Your marketing plan probably involves many channels, like advertising, social media, email marketing, and public relations. SEO is part of your content marketing strategy , which you must have if you’re creating content. After all, you can create the best content in the universe (big ups if you’ve done this), but if the right people don’t see it, it hasn’t accomplished anything for your business.

Organic search is the main source of traffic for many websites, so an investment in SEO is a gift to your brand that keeps giving. By spending resources up-front on creating optimized content, you can generate organic search traffic for months and years to come.

What are the 4 types of SEO?

Once you master the basics and start digging deeper into SEO, you’ll learn there are four types of SEO : on-page, off-page, technical, and local. The best SEO strategies integrate all four.

On-page SEO

On-page SEO includes the activities you probably think of first when you hear “SEO.” Because search engine algorithms are more sophisticated than ever, today’s on-page SEO strategies start with truly valuable content. You can’t trick, automate, or keyword-stuff your way to the top of the SERP.

Instead, focus on understanding your audience and the keywords that are relevant to them. If they were looking for your content or product, what types of keywords would they use – informational, navigational, commercial, or transactional?

Once you’ve done your keyword research, create high-quality content focused on the relevant keywords you’ve identified. Your content should:

• Center on one keyword theme
• Educate or entertain your reader
• Cite original research and credible sources
• Reveal new insights and perspectives

Off-page SEO

Alexander the Great, notorious narcissist, said, “Even when I am gone, I shall remain in people’s minds the star of their rights.” But it was only after his death that he earned his Great title. If he’d spent his life talking about how great he was rather than doing “great” things, no one would’ve remembered him despite his self-aggrandizing speeches.

Similarly (but way less dramatic), promoting your own content can only get you so far in the SEO game. Why? Credibility. Of course you think your content is great. What do others think? Search engines look for backlinks as a sign that other users have found your content helpful.

Off-page SEO involves making sure your content is linkable, and then building a strategy to get backlinks. Linkable content has been crafted with backlinks in mind. Some common hooks are data (the more surprising the better), quotes from industry leaders, and engaging media like podcasts and videos.

To get the most out of your linkable content, identify trustworthy, popular sites within your space and track down a contact. Ask them to link to your content. Include a summary and how it benefits their readers.

Technical SEO

For some marketers, the word “technical” might kick your heart rate up a notch. But don’t be intimidated by technical SEO. Just like the rest of your SEO strategy, it centers on user experience.

Your first step for technical optimization should be ensuring that you’re following web design best practices. Do a website audit with these questions in mind:

• Are the topics and audience clear?
• Is the site easy to navigate?
• Are there extra pages, clicks, or scrolling that could be eliminated?
• What’s your load speed?
• Is your site experience just as good on mobile as it is on desktop?
• Do you or your tech colleagues have any security concerns?

If you come up with underwhelming answers for any of these, you’ve found your starting point for improvement. And remember, as Churchill said, “Perfection is the enemy of progress.” Your site doesn’t have to be 100% optimized to be an effective business asset.

Make improvements as you go, starting with the simplest work and tackling more complex technical SEO later. Before you know it, the organic traffic will be flowing.

Local SEO

If you offer products or services to a particular geographic region, you don’t want to skip local SEO . Generally, any optimizations you do on-page or off-page will boost your local listing. But if local SEO is a priority for your business, there are a few areas you should focus on.

• Claim and optimize your Google Business Profile .
• Include local keywords in your content.
• Share content regularly on social media and engage with your audiences.
• Design a mobile-first website.

One of the big benefits of local SEO is lower marketing costs, since it helps you focus on targeted geographic areas instead of the antiquated “spray and pray” approach.

What are examples of SEO marketing?

If you’ve made it this far, SEO might make sense in theory… but what does it look like in practice? Let’s look at some examples of SEO marketing .

For these examples, we’ll consider an auto shop that also sells car accessories, Amazing Auto Accessories & More.

Step 1: On-page and technical SEO

Let’s say AAA&M wants to use on-page SEO to organically capture more traffic looking to buy windshield wipers. They publish a blog post focused on the keyword “new windshield wipers.” They include the keyword in the post’s title, slug, meta description, headers, and body.

From a technical SEO perspective, AAA&M digs deeper. They:

• Decide the URL is a bit long, and shorten it to /blog/new-windshield-wipers
• Fix any broken links in the article
• Implement a rel=“canonical” tag on any duplicate versions of the post

Step 2: Off-page SEO

The post is optimized and gaining organic traction, but AAA&M isn’t done yet. They know to get the most out of the article, they need to deploy a backlink strategy for off-page SEO. They regularly share the post on their social channels with engaging calls to action and target external sites publishing content related to vehicle maintenance and ask for backlinks.

Example social post: Ever been caught in a rainstorm on the highway? Driving in a downpour can be tense… and you DON’T need the added stress of limited visibility. If it’s time for new windshield wipers, we’ve got you covered with this guide. Do you have a go-to wiper brand? Let us know in the comments!

Example backlink email: Hi [name], your piece “7 things you didn’t know your car needed for routine maintenance” is killer. (Have I ever replaced my brake pads??) Anyway, we just published a guide to buying new windshield wipers, and I think it would be a great addition to your article in the “replace your windshield wipers” section. What do you think?

Step 3: Local SEO

Of course, providing a thorough guide to buying new windshield wipers is great for AAA&M’s brand trust and authority. But we’d be lying if we said they don’t want to sell new wipers to every single person who Google's the keyword. Windshield wipers are a $4.7 billion industry, after all.

For that reason, they target the “new windshield wipers” keyword with their local SEO strategy by making sure it’s included in their Google Business description and product catalog.

How do I SEO my website to Google?

After digesting everything we’ve discussed, you might be wondering: How do I use all this info to optimize my website for Google and other search engines?

Here’s a tip for how to do SEO well: Start where you are. If you’re already creating content but have never considered keywords, do some keyword research. Google Trends is a great SEO tool. Check out the keywords your competitors are using.

If you’ve been optimizing your content to keywords for a while, but have no idea how your website performs technically – start there. Run your site through Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool and share your findings with your tech colleagues. Find out what high-impact, quick-win opportunities there are. Google search console is another SEO tool to learn more about your search performance. 

The most important thing is to start making progress. At the end of the day, SEO is about user experience. Anything you can do to better understand users’ expectations and improve your content’s ability to meet them is a win for SEO.

How much does SEO marketing cost?

The beauty of search engine optimization is that it brings in more organic search traffic – meaning you didn’t pay for the traffic with advertising. However, like everything good in life, SEO is not free.

Creating and executing a comprehensive and effective SEO strategy is a big undertaking. Enterprise companies often have a whole team of full-time marketers dedicated to SEO services. That’s how valuable it is.

The cost of excellent SEO is in the time it takes to create high-quality content and optimize your website. If you’re ready to take your strategy to the next level, there are SEO-specific tools available that can cost as much as $500 per month.

Launch your SEO marketing strategy today

Fortunately, you don’t have to spend $500 a month on software to put your SEO marketing plan into place today. There’s constant innovation in search engine optimization , and tomorrow you could discover a brand new tactic that’s perfect for your business.

But don’t get distracted by shiny, new tactics without mastering the basics first. Getting a handle on how the four types of SEO fit into your marketing strategy will put you miles above your competitor who’s ignoring SEO.

And when your potential buyers wake up in the morning and grab their phones, your content will be there waiting.

Invisibility is poison for a brand struggling to grow and earn market share. If your target audience doesn't see you at critical moments in their buyer's journey, it's like you don't even exist. Without online credibility, authority, and visibility earned through SEO strategy, it’s difficult to convert or close a deal. Everything you do in marketing is more complicated and exhausting.

SEO strategy remedies invisibility, and it's critical for brands investing in growth marketing.

What is an SEO strategy?

A search engine optimization strategy is the practice of improving your website’s ranking and appearance on the search engine results page. It’s all about aligning the content you create with your ideal customers.

An SEO strategy will help you clarify and act on the following information:

• What are your target customers searching for online?
• How do they use that info to make decisions?
• At what point in their journey do they search for it?
• What experience do they expect when they enter your site?

Search engine optimization techniques

SEO revolves around user experience. It’s about creating people-first content. But it still requires research, testing, technical optimizations, and content marketing expertise.

No matter what you may have heard, keywords still matter. You can’t create people-first content without knowing what people search for and how they use the info. Keyword research answers these questions.

On top of that, your website must deliver an amazing user experience that people remember and want to come back for. When your SEO strategies keep that focus, everyone wins.

What’s the role of SEO in marketing?

SEO strategy helps you meet the marketing goals that impact your company’s bottom line, like:

• More organic traffic
• More leads
• Higher quality leads
• Increased customer retention
• Lower customer acquisition cost
• Increased customer lifetime value

The benefits of SEO strategy start with more website traffic. In today’s digital world, no marketer will say no to more traffic.

But all traffic isn’t created equal. The source of your website traffic impacts its quality. And when higher quality traffic comes in, that quality cascades down your whole funnel to increase conversion rates and retention.

When you do SEO right, the organic traffic it brings in is higher quality than, say, advertising traffic. Why? Think of it this way. Every time someone clicks an ad, you're trying to build credibility from scratch. When was the last time you built a meaningful relationship with someone in a few minutes?

Advertising is also an expensive way to get traffic. And when you stop your campaign, the traffic stops flowing in. By contrast, using SEO as an evergreen marketing tactic is a gift that keeps giving long-term.

Here’s how to design an SEO marketing strategy.

SEO marketing strategy

Nearly 70% of online experiences begin with search. And as technologies like voice search become more ubiquitous, that will increase.

What’s more, 91% of websites get no search traffic because they’re not ranking for any relevant keywords. As a marketer, you must have a strategy to insert yourself into your audience’s online experiences. Because it’s not going to happen on its own.

That’s where your SEO plan comes in. Having a solid plan in place will improve three crucial areas for your brand:

• Visibility. That should be obvious. But this isn't about being everywhere at once. You're visible in the places ideal customers are.
• Credibility. People know that Google goes to great lengths to show the most credible sites first. Search result visibility communicates that your brand has staying power and is likely to deliver on its promises. Relevant content boosts brand credibility.
• Authority. Potential customers can see that customers and influencers care what you have to say. You are a thought leader rather than a follower, and an expert in your industry.

These three together make you hyper-relevant in the eyes of your potential customers. They generate the benefits of SEO.

What are the types of SEO in digital marketing?

There are four categories of SEO strategy in digital marketing. 

1. Technical SEO

When launching a new SEO strategy or auditing previous efforts, we often start with technical optimization. That’s because a solid technical foundation is table stakes to play the SEO game.

Moz co-founder Rand Fishkin said, “Technical SEO is like the plumbing of a website… it’s crucial to ensuring everything runs smoothly and efficiently.” Creating content and building backlinks are essential strategies, but they’re only as strong as the tech they run on.

If your website has technical issues, it’s a big red flag to search engine algorithms. And that means the content you worked so hard on has a slim chance of ranking.

Here are the most important technical SEO aspects to include in your strategy.

• Crawling and indexing. You must ensure search engines can crawl and interpret your website content. To find out if you have any hangups in this area, check the Index Coverage report in Google Search Console.
• Website speed. It goes without saying that speed should be a top priority. If your content takes too long to load, no one will read it - insightful or not. For a report on your core web vitals, use Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool. Some common issues are large media files and unnecessary code.
• Structure and navigation. A simple, clear site structure helps both human users and search engine crawlers. Use short, descriptive URLs and breadcrumbs so users always know where they are.
• Mobile-friendliness. More than half of online traffic is mobile. If your site is somehow still stuck in non-responsive 2012, it’s time for an overhaul. Many content management systems let you customize elements for different devices.
• Accessibility. Speaking of device diversity, users today are searching on a wide array - from voice-enabled smart devices to assistive devices like screen readers. Make sure your content is accessible to all by being intentional with your use of meta data fields and alt tags.

Technical SEO is important because user experience is important. It’s one of Google’s top priorities when deciding which content to show searchers.

2. On-page SEO

Content is the backbone of on-page SEO. But by itself, great content isn’t enough to get you all the benefits of a comprehensive SEO strategy. You need a keyword-driven content strategy focused on quality.

Which, of course, starts with research.

The key to keyword research

There are many keyword research tools out there. Google’s free keyword planner is a great place to start. Competitor research is another way to contextualize your own content strategy. What kinds of keywords are in your competitors’ ad copy and SERP headlines?

Use your keyword tool of choice to answer these three key questions:

1. What looks achievable based on keyword difficulty? Often, the highest volume keyword or most relevant to your business isn't the best place to start. The competition for it may be through the roof. You won’t rank well for very difficult keywords if your website has a lower domain authority. Instead, start gaining traction with long-tail, niche keywords that have lower difficulty and lower volume. Then, leverage your newfound authority to pursue the tougher keywords.
2. What has a decent search volume? With the above in mind, you don't want to target keywords that have no volume at all. No one would see it! You're looking for a sweet spot for your keyword strategy - achievable keyword difficulty with at least some volume.
3. What aligns with your content strategy? Finally, look for keywords that align with the topics you want to be an authority on. You should never target a keyword if it doesn't relate to your brand. This would lead to the creation of irrelevant content that doesn't align with the search intent. And SEO strategy is all about aligning your goals with your target audience's goals to maximize your visibility and relevance.

Once you have enough info to select some target keywords, it’s time to get down to business and start creating high-quality content.

Pulling off high-quality, helpful content

What, exactly, is high-quality content? This isn’t a nebulous concept that marketers have to guess at and hope for the best. As the world’s largest search engine, Google has put out extensive information on what it considers when judging content quality.

In late 2022, Google’s “helpful content update” confirmed its intention to focus on people-first content. It’s becoming impossible to trick search engines with the black hat SEO techniques of yesteryear as the algorithms learn what’s truly helpful for users.

In the helpful content update, Google suggests creating content for people, not search engines. It also reminds marketers to rely on the E-E-A-T framework to ensure their content shows:

• Expertise: The person who created the content is an expert on the topic.
• Experience: The creator has some degree of experience with the topic.
• Authoritativeness: The creator and the website hosting the content demonstrate authority.
• Trustworthiness: The creator and the website are reliable and credible.

One effective content strategy is the pillar (or cornerstone) method. To start, create one substantial post for a keyword you'd really like to rank. Then create several related sub-topic posts. Link these other posts to your pillar.

This method maximizes your ROI because the supporting posts are faster and easier. But they increase the authority of the pillar they link to.

Of course, your content will be the most “helpful” if it shows up to the people who will benefit from it most: your ideal customers. And since you know exactly what keywords they’re using, you’re ready to optimize.

Be sure your focus keyword is naturally woven into these areas of your content:

• Title
• Slug
• Headers
• Meta description
• Image tags when relevant

3. Off-page SEO

Now the fun part: off-page. What is off-page SEO? In a nutshell, backlinks.

You can spend all day talking about how great your own content is. But there’s a reason why 82% of consumers trust reviews, and only 4% trust ads - credibility.

When ranking your content, search engines look for signs that other users have found it helpful. Lots of relevant links from high-authority websites are a big green flag.

To be clear: backlinks aren’t just a ranking factor. They’re critical. Inbound links show you're connected to a community. Your content has authority with the people who matter.

Links also show who you're associating with. Links from spammy, untrustworthy sites may hurt your ranking more than help. You want links from relevant web pages on mid- to high-authority websites.

How to get backlinks

Backlinks come from other websites you do not own.

Of course, Google wasn’t born yesterday. Backlinks you can easily build yourself (social media, Quora, ads) don’t carry the same weight as a link created by others because they appreciate your website. Still, they don’t hurt.

Backlinks can be tough to get, but the payoff is worth it. You can earn them through link-building strategies like:

• Creating linkable content people want to cite. This kind of SEO content includes data and actionable insights that are well-organized and engaging.
• Performing link outreach in a targeted and mutually beneficial way. Think news sites, industry publications, educational sites, and guest posting opportunities.
• Networking with publishers and influencers online.

The last one is a more invested strategy. But it's also the most effective. It's often employed by SEO agencies supporting many clients.

4. Local SEO

Any business operating locally can’t afford to skip local SEO. By targeting users searching for location-specific keywords, you can lower your marketing expenses and make sure your brand shows up in the right place at the right time.

How? For starters, claim your Google Business Profile and complete the information. This will ensure your business listing shows up by the map when users search for local keywords.

If there are particular keywords you know you want to rank for, be sure to include them in the services or description of your listing.

Focusing on these areas will also boost your rankings in local SEO results.

• Creating high-quality content that includes local keywords
• Having active social media accounts
• Optimizing your website for mobile

How do I create an SEO strategy?

To create an SEO strategy, start by identifying your goals and ideal customer profile. Then, invest some resources into researching your ideal customer. This investment is either your own time, money on SEO tools, or outsourcing the work to an agency.

Your research will provide context to help you determine which elements of your SEO strategy are the most important. From there, you can prioritize the four types of SEO we’ve discussed.

How do beginners do SEO?

For SEO beginners, all the strategies and tactics can be a bit overwhelming. The good news is that you don’t have to come up with your process from scratch. There are many checklists and frameworks out there for beginners.

Here are the basic steps to follow when you’re starting out.

1. Set your goals
2. Audit your site for technical issues
3. Do keyword research
4. Build a content strategy
5. Develop a plan for backlinks
6. Track progress and optimize

What is an example of SEO strategy?

Researching keywords and creating a content plan is a fundamental example of SEO strategy. Let’s say your gym offers exercise classes for night owls. Your approach might look something like this.

1. Through keyword research, you learn that your ideal customer is searching for “is it okay to work out at night?”
2. You develop a piece of content that answers this question. To optimize your content to the target keyword, you incorporate it in the post’s title, URL, meta description, headers, and body.
3. As you create your content, you focus on linkability. It’s not enough to simply answer the question - hundreds of pieces of content already answer it. Go the extra mile by citing original research, creating engaging assets like videos or infographics, and interviewing a credentialed expert.
4. Once you publish your content, you reach out to publishers and influencers in the exercise space to build backlinks.
5. Since your gym serves a specific geographic area, you claim your Google Business Profile and include keywords like “evening exercise class.” This will help the right audience find out about your offering.
6. You plan to do a quarterly technical SEO audit to make sure there are no performance issues with your website.

What is the best SEO strategy in 2023?

The most effective SEO strategy in 2023 and beyond will focus on content quality. As search engines become more sophisticated and the digital world gets more flooded with content, the very best content will rise to the top.

The brands that win will be the ones that have an SEO strategy rooted in understanding their customer and content niche. Then, on that foundation, they’re willing to test new tactics and keep up with trends.

Tracking progress is critical to meeting goals with SEO. You'll have trouble influencing a metric if you can't measure it. And you certainly won't be able to test or optimize.

There are advanced tools available, but for starters, you need to make sure these free analytics tools are set up on your website.

• Google Analytics. Measure and analyze traffic volume, sources, engagement, audience, and sales funnel conversions.
• Google Search Console. Track search ranking, backlinks, indexed pages, and other measures that influence your ability to meet SEO goals. Manage your backlinks, indexed pages, and other behind-the-scenes technical tasks.

Think about what KPIs you want to track. For SEO, track conversions, ranking, organic traffic, and new subscribers to your blog or email list.

SEO tools

Research is at the heart of a thoughtful SEO strategy. To some extent, you can do SEO research and optimizations on your own if you have the time to invest.

Eventually, you’ll need SEO tools to boost your efforts. There are free and paid tools available. The cost and functionality vary, but most fall into one of these categories: 

• Keyword research tools
• Tools to audit your site
• Content optimization tools
• Tools for analyzing backlinks

Many of the household names in SEO offer all-in-one solutions to help with all these phases of the process. Should you invest in one of these platforms? Perhaps, if you have the budget and the internal resources to use it.

Alternatively, you can put together an efficient plan by paying for specialized tools where you need them most. If you have a larger budget but no internal SEO professional, you might choose to hire an agency.

What are common SEO mistakes?

Nobody’s perfect. But when it comes to SEO strategy, mistakes can be costly. Here are some common SEO mistakes to avoid.

1. Targeting the wrong keywords. Companies often target the keywords with the highest volume. Unfortunately, high-ranking results for these keywords can be almost impossible to topple. Instead, narrow down your target keywords to long-tail and zero volume keywords at first if you are starting from scratch. If you're already ranking for a decent amount, evaluate search volume and keyword difficulty to find the sweet spot for keywords to target.
2. Not Matching content to keyword intent. Optimizing your content by inserting your target keyword in the right spots isn’t good enough for today’s sophisticated algorithms. Your content might get a user to click through, but if it doesn’t meet expectations once they get there, Google will know.
3. Throwing resources at backlinks without focusing on content quality too. The most costly mistakes happen when you start investing in promotion tactics but don’t focus on quality onsite content to support it. Whether it’s buying low-quality backlinks or churning out content that’s just plain bad, this is a real waste of money. Focusing on quality first and foremost will make earning backlinks much smoother.

How SEO will change in 2023

The field of SEO moves fast. If you want your SEO strategy to keep performing and remain relevant, you must stay on top of changes and trends. Here are a few of our predictions for 2023 and beyond.

1. Algorithms will get even better at identifying and prioritizing helpful content.
2. Marketers will explore how to incorporate AI and automation into their content creation process while still putting people first.
3. A strong technical foundation will continue to be crucial.

SEO strategy is the heart of growth marketing

An effective growth strategy includes visibility, authority, and credibility. Growth-minded businesses focus on reducing customer acquisition costs to maximize ROI. They do this by investing in sustainable, long-term branding strategies - like SEO.

An effective SEO strategy emphasizes manageable growth through fantastic customer experience.

It builds your brand on a firm foundation and creates a brand that attracts trust and loyalty through your authentic desire to help customers. It focuses on creating a welcoming and relevant user experience for your target audience.

Without these features, it’s just not SEO. And without SEO, your brand is invisible.

Is there anything more disappointing than stumbling upon a treasure map that ultimately leads to...nothing of any real value? And yet, businesses that over-emphasize the use of advanced search engine optimization (SEO) tactics to the detriment of their content strategy run the risk of doing just that.

On the other hand, companies that stress content strategy without bolstering their technical SEO efforts make the opposite marketing mistake; they are, in effect, burying marketing "treasure" (i.e. great content) in the vast sands of the internet wasteland without bothering to create a keyword map.

For search engine success, make sure you do not treat SEO and content strategy as two distinct and separate marketing disciplines. While it's certainly possible to do so, it's not a winning SEO content marketing strategy for building long-term customer engagement.

Your SEO strategy should inform your content strategy. Similarly, your onsite content strategy should be tailored to your keyword research. Consequently, great content targeted to specific keywords and arranged in a topic cluster can help your brand rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs).

SEO and content strategy tactics can helpfully be compared to a keyword treasure map that leads to buried marketing treasure. SEO and content strategy go together like peas and carrots. Peanut butter and jelly. Pick whatever metaphor works for you; the point is that you'll need both to succeed.

As you look to begin content marketing or raise the profile of your existing enterprise, keep the following critical SEO content practices in mind. Refer to them often as you strategize, hire, acquire, reboot, conduct your keyword research, and reconfigure your content plan.

1. Zero In on Your Target Audience

The old axiom certainly proves true in the world of content strategy. "If you aim at nothing in particular, you're sure to hit it."

When engaging in online marketing, you absolutely must know who you are trying to reach. If you attempt to reach everyone with your existing content, you are increasingly unlikely to use the right keyword strategy or engage with anyone.

Do your keyword homework. The time you spend on your SEO content strategy will pay dividends later on.

• Who is your typical customer?
• Where do they tend to gather online?
• What kinds of things are they searching on Google?

Build a handful of buyer personas to guide the efforts of your writers, website developers, and marketers as they optimize your SEO strategy to hit your keyword sweet spots.

2. Pick Topics Based on Your Expertise

Avoid the SEO content strategy mistake of trying to appeal to everyone with a wide array of marketing information.

If you're like most companies, your business operates in a specific niche. As a result, you will want your SEO content strategy to remain solidly in your lane. Start asking others if you struggle to identify what makes your business special. As part of your content strategy, pay particular attention to the inquiries that routinely come your way via social media or other channels.

Many business owners are tempted to hold back a bit at this stage in the SEO content strategy. The operational (though faulty) logic is to reserve your best bits for paying customers.

However, living in a world where people consult a Google search result to answer everyday issues, this is a shortsighted content strategy. According to the Content Marketing Institute, it's been clearly shown that companies who consistently put out reliable content marketing information without paywalls tend to build up social media followers and, ultimately, customers.

3. Choose Your Keywords Carefully

Keyword research is the "secret sauce" that separates a successful content marketing strategy from one that's solidly mediocre. This is the second step at which taking the time to conduct research will be most helpful. If your content strategy focuses on a keyword that's too broad, larger corporations are likely going to bury your content marketing efforts.

Long tail keywords can be key to a winning strategy as you seek to reach a specific target audience. A long tail relevant keyword typically consists of three to five words. This keyword strategy helps your content marketing cut through the noise and yield targeted search results more likely to result in a conversion. At the end of the day you want to be targeting the keywords that your audience is searching.

4. Create Content To Build Topical Authority

Now that you are clear on your target audience, areas of expertise, and marketing keyword, you're ready to begin producing new content.

Every decision of your content strategist should be driven by the audience research you conducted in Step One. Your content marketing needs to show up wherever your people already are, not where you expect them to travel. 

Stick with what you know best and create the content that your brand should be known for. You'll struggle to rank for your target keywords if you don't have a strong web of content on your site around your key topics.

In addition, your content strategy should be tightly bound up with search intent. Are people looking to purchase when searching your target keyword? Or are they looking to get information and education on a subject? In other words, focus your content on what your users need when searching that keyword. If you are trying to rank a product page when people are looking for educational guides when searching that keyword, you likely won't see the progress you're hoping for.

5. Link, Interlink, and Backlink

If you've published high quality content, especially content that solves problems, you can reasonably expect other people to begin linking to your site. Good content is its own advertisement, though initially you might want to augment your visibility with Google Ads or some other paid content marketer service. Backlinks suggest to search engines that you are a leader in your field. This, in turn, will help boost your domain authority and your rank on a Google SERP.

You will want to interlink these pieces within your website as you produce value-laden how-to guides, white papers, instructional videos, and more. Then you can start link outreach efforts and see if you can get other authoritative sites to link back to your content. You may even start ranking for your target keywords with your rankable content. The point is that relevant keyword linking practices is a strategy that will pay off in the long run.

6. Commit to Ongoing Improvement

Search engines are constantly crawling the internet and updating their SERPs according to the latest data they can collect. As a result, a keyword that worked great as part of your content strategy just two weeks ago may already be starting to slip a bit. This is where your SEO audit comes into play.

Make sure you consistently monitor your Google Analytics and social media platforms. Similarly, collect empirical marketing data ahead of your decision-making. Dive into what is working and what isn’t for your content marketing by looking at what content is driving traffic in Google Search Console or some other SEO tool that suits your needs. You might even share your search engine data with an SEO agency and have them provide additional marketing insights.

Analytics, search engines, marketing statistics, and spreadsheets might not be "your thing," and that's OK. However, you owe it to your company's future marketing success to ensure that someone you trust is combing through the piles of search engine data to identify current trends. In a time crunch, it might be tempting to leave outdated videos on your site or hold off on retooling a page with a high bounce rate. In those moments, remind yourself of your marketing strategy. Recall how you felt when you were led to information on the web that wasted your time.

Wrapping Up

Every business, large or small, thrives by providing valuable products and services at a competitive price point. Along the way, you refine and sharpen your niche-specific expertise. When that expertise fuels content ideas and you share it freely, you kindle potential customer gratitude. In today's world of eCommerce and SEO content, successful businesses are learning the value of reliability. Trust and appreciation are vital for gaining the attention of search engines and (ultimately) making sales.

Your content strategy will probably need a tune-up every so often. However, the time you invest in SEO content marketing is well worthwhile.

Regardless of your niche, there's almost certainly a way to leverage your knowledge and insights. You can create quality content that cuts through all the search engine clutter and results in SEO success. If you are struggling in the digital marketing space or need help balancing your content strategy or other SEO services, don't go it alone! Feel free to schedule a time to chat with one of our subject matter experts.