Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of improving a website’s organic search results by employing both technical and content practices that align with search engines’ algorithms.
SEO involves three steps: crawling, indexing and ranking. Of these three processes, the first one is of paramount importance in order to identify keywords targeted for optimization.
Keywords
Keywords form the bedrock of all SEO efforts, from research to strategy formulation and success measurement.
Your choice of keywords and how they’re integrated into your content can play an integral part in driving visitors to your products or services. Selecting inappropriate words could result in drawing in unwanted visitors who don’t care about what your offering.
Keywords can take many forms. Head terms could include product names (such as nightstand) or the phrase used to refer to them (bedside table). Long-tail keywords contain more descriptive words, making them easier for search engines to rank for. It is vital that keywords meet the needs of both your audience and themselves when considering SEO efforts – always ensure your keywords reflect this!
Content
Search engines utilize complex algorithms to select the most relevant results for any given search query, with your content playing a vital role in how well it ranks for its chosen keywords. When optimizing content for search engines, consider these factors:
Note the search intent of your keyword as you create content, as if the intent doesn’t align, Google will take notice and this could have an adverse impact on your rankings. For instance, if someone searches “How to X”, Google might notice that you don’t provide them with what they are seeking and will most likely send them back to search results page instead.
Consistent, SEO-optimized content is crucial to your business online success. Without it, your website becomes ineffective at generating leads or nurturing them through the sales process or projecting a professional image for your business. With targeted traffic attracted to the right content you can turn visitors into loyal customers and secure success online.
Link building
Link building is an integral part of search engine optimization (SEO), consisting of creating links from other websites to your own to increase its SEO ranking and draw more traffic and sales to it.
Building links from relevant sources will help your search engine rankings as well as increase customer conversion rates. In order to do this successfully, it’s essential that your content provides value and appeals directly to your target audience.
However, there are certain methods of link building which could potentially harm your website. Some techniques are considered black hat and could even cause your site to be penalised by search engines; such as paid links and link schemes. Other techniques, known as white hat tactics can be very effective; examples include broken link building, link reclamation and skyscraper techniques – it’s important to remember though that building links takes time!
Analytics
SEO analytics metrics offer invaluable insight into your campaign’s performance, providing valuable information about whether SEO strategies are providing a positive return on investment.
Google Analytics offers insight into how users interact with your website, such as their bounce rate and dwell time, providing invaluable data that can help optimize content delivery and user experience to increase organic traffic.
Google Analytics makes it possible to track conversions on your site, such as form submissions or product purchases, so you can optimize content to increase conversion rate while improving SEO efforts. This data can provide invaluable information that will allow you to increase the site’s conversion rate and further your efforts for search engine optimization.
FoxMetrics can provide an effective SEO analytics tool for keeping track of keyword rankings and evaluating SEO strategy. The data can show which keywords are driving traffic to your website as well as provide insights into new opportunities for improvement – this is key since effective SEO strategies must produce traffic and leads.