You know you need to implement SEO into your site to direct traffic your way, but this can be a major undertaking. SEO is only effective when done properly. There are foundations to an effective SEO plan, and making sure you cover all of the basics can be tricky.
Let’s explore the SEO services necessary to help your site rank and ensure users can find your business.
SEO Basics
There isn’t really anything basic about SEO. Sure, there are different components of a successful plan, like including relevant keywords and ensuring the title tags are optimized, but a complete SEO strategy is very involved. Various elements work in tandem to provide good content and a positive experience to users while demonstrating the site’s value to search engines.
In other words, the SEO services you will need include a range of techniques and methods.
On-Page Optimization
On-page or on-site SEO are elements of an optimized strategy built into a website. Examples of on-page optimization include creating high-quality content with targeted keywords and internal links, writing clear and concise URLs, including optimized title tags, and more. On-page SEO is essential because search engines use a lot of these factors to determine the usefulness of a site.
On-page optimization makes a site look polished and professional, which users expect. These techniques also provide valuable information, making it more likely for people to spend time on your site. Search engines consider a site useful when users linger, so giving visitors a reason to hang around will help your ranking.
Off-Site Techniques
As the name implies, off-site SEO pertains to actions that happen off the page and help a site to rank.
Off-site SEO largely consists of backlinks or links to your site from another site. Backlinking is effective, but the authority of the site linking to yours matters. For example, if a respected media publication writes a story about your industry or business and links back to your site – that’s a quality backlink. The site doing the linking is vouching for you and lending your business credibility, so that’s why the authority of that site is so important.
Backlinks from Link Building can be incredibly useful, but there are finer points to consider that can make some links more valuable than others. The authority, credibility, and popularity of the site giving you the backlink is significant. The number of backlinks the site has and the anchor text used all come into play.
On-page SEO can directly impact off-page SEO because if you give your visitors interesting content, there’s a good chance they will share that information with their friends and followers. Natural links, or links customers or members of the industry share on their websites or social media posts, can help potential customers find your site.
Local Directories
Local SEO is all about helping local customers find your business. This is incredibly important for companies that need a local audience, like restaurants and doctor’s offices. Obtaining national notoriety is great, but an effective local SEO plan will get customers inside a brick-and-mortar business.
A strong local SEO strategy includes adding your business to directories, including schema on your site, creating content that appeals to a local audience, and more.
UX and Design
SEO is all about helping users find your site and UX, or user experience, is about taking care of those users once they land on your site. UX is very closely tied to the design. A good design will allow for a good experience and support engagement which plays a role in ranking.
A well-designed site is easy to navigate, and users can quickly find what they need. The navigation bar is concise, and each page is clearly labeled, so if a user wants to find what shipping carriers you use or what time your office is open, they can easily track that information down.
On-page elements also contribute to the effectiveness of the design. Text is formatted to allow for quick reading, and links direct users to useful and relevant information.
Speed and load time are other important factors when it comes to design. Images should quickly load, and users should be able to easily move from one page to another without experiencing any sort of lag or delay.
Your site also needs to be optimized for mobile devices. Roughly 68% of all website traffic comes from users on mobile devices, and your site needs to perform on those devices.
Consistency
SEO requires a multifaceted approach which can be a long process, and this is why consistency matters.
The different components of SEO marketing all work together, so it is essential to implement a comprehensive strategy that addresses the needs of your audience and helps customers find your site. Once you have committed to this plan, you need to stick to it.
After several months, you will have data that can help you understand how users are interacting with your site and adjust the plan to serve your audience better and help pull in more traffic.
SEO is a long game, but it is also an evolving process.
Professional SEO Services
SEO can be very nuanced, and if you are not familiar with the different concepts or busy running your business, then implementing a successful SEO strategy can be a challenge. Working with a company that offers professional SEO services can take care of the basics and a lot more to elevate your site and make it easy for customers to find your business.
This is where we can help. Reach out, get a proposal and find out how our talented team can help take care of your SEO.