1. Carry out a technical website audit to ensure strong web performance
Such an audit can include sitemap analysis, content audits, site speed improvements and mobile audits. “An audit will play a fundamental role in the performance of a website in organic search,” explains Martin Woods, co-founder of SEO experts SALT.agency. “There are hundreds of different technical SEO opportunities, from internal web architecture through to the speed of the website.”
2. Incorporate audience analysis into your keyword research
Once technical aspects like web architecture and site speed are in order, reflecting on who your audience is will determine which keywords your prospects are likely to use to search for you. “Great keyword research is great audience research,” explains Garrett Mehrguth, CEO of Directive Consulting. “It’s critical for the success of your SEO strategy you understand what your target market searches for when they’re looking for what you offer.”
Researching and using the right keywords is dependent on the buying cycle and each user’s buying intent, and it’s important marketers don’t solely focus on a few dozen or a few hundred phrases. Categorising keywords is definitely a more efficient approach. Martin adds: “Categorising keywords is arguably even more important than the keywords themselves, because now it’s all about ranking for keyword clusters, which are words grouped together based on how relevant they are to a given topic.”
When it comes to grouping keywords, Google’s RankBrain algorithm has the abiity to connect similar keywords and then map them according to the most relevant websites and webpages. Mark adds: “The benefit here is it allows brands to enhance their rankings with keyword clusters, while enabling the user to find all the relevant websites they need, based on those keyword clusters.”
Keyword clusters can be simple to curate if you know where your prospect is in the buying cycle. One method is to pinpoint the problem their customer is looking to solve and then identify the keywords and phrases the prospect are likely to employ. “As a B2B tech vendor selling data-capture technology, using ‘data-capture’ or ‘capturing better customer data’ as keyword clusters may help to ensure that prospects see your content and are then converted into organic leads,” Martin explains. “At this phase, potential customers want information, and to capture traffic from these informational queries, the best approach is to produce content focusing on problems and solutions. Question-based phrases – i.e. the questions that customers ask themselves depending on where they are in the buying process – are particularly important for informational queries.”
3. Carry out competitor gap analyses to find out which keywords your competitors rank for
Google’s capricious algorithms are driving the need for agility in the SEO landscape, and paying attention to the keywords competitors are using may help your brand to rank more effectively and thereby adapt to Google’s changes. “Google is forever changing how it displays data and ranks websites, especially with lead generation as the intent – and it will continue to do so,” says Martin. “Tracking competitors allows you to quickly establish whether Google has singled you out during an algorithm change, or whether it’s the whole vertical. If a competitor suddenly increases in SEO visibility, tracking them ensures you can quickly identify this and understand how they achieved this.”
Marketers are not limited when it comes to tracking the keywords competitors use, because there are tools and online methods available for ensuring they’re informed of the tactics competing brands are using to climb Google’s search rankings. “Competitors can be tracked using third-party tools like SEMrush or Search Metrics to see which keywords they rank for in both organic and paid search,” explains Martin. “Marketers can also crawl competitors’ website, which is simply sending out strands of code known as ‘bots’ or ‘spiders’ to look for things like keyword usage, to find out which new words a competitor might be using to increase its visibility.”
4. Create new content to boost your rankings
Once you’ve carried out your keyword research, it’s critical you produce content that supplies your target market with the information they’re looking for. “Sometimes, the fastest way to get up to speed is simply improving existing content on your site,” explains Garrett. “Thus, a great plan should include a content audit as well as a strategy. There’s an old proverb that says: ‘You can only rank for keywords you have content for’ – which means: no content, no ranking. This is critical, because if you want to grow your traffic and leads, you not only need to have content, but you also need the right information so your buyers feel comfortable purchasing from you.”
5. Improve SEO with strategic link-building
Content that’s been written, uploaded and optimised with the appropriate keywords can then be strengthened with effective link-building. Brands can increase their content visibility if readers take it upon themselves, without accepting financial incentives, to embed your link on their website. Building new links or reclaiming lost ones is a critical part of ranking in 2017. “Without a strong link profile, rankings are difficult and you’ll be fighting an uphill battle,” explains Garrett.
Links can be earned through things like partnerships, content, scholarships and sponsorships. The relevance of those links is what will increase your site’s performance in search rankings. “If you have a link from a relevant site that highlights your product and service then link building can drive valuable referral traffic that generates new leads,” Garrett adds. “You can see what channels, pieces, and links are driving this value by reviewing Google Analytics’ referral tab, which can be found under the channel tab in ‘acquisitions’.”
6. Increase site speed to ensure prospects remain engaged
High-quality content, strong keywords and appropriate links aren’t enough on their own – if your website’s loading speed is slow, customers will lose interest. Garrett suggests marketers focus on site speed to ensure new leads aren’t lost and to also improve lead volume. “Every digital campaign you run that sends traffic back to your website relies on site speed,” he says. “According to Kissmetrics, a one-second increase in load time can result in a 7% decrease in conversions.
“A way to resolve this could be through using content delivery networks, which allow global users to access your site from a server near their location. Without a CDN, you may have users in California using a network in Norway, which could slow down a site. In my experience, using a CDN improves both a website’s loading time and its rankings.”
