The world of SEO is both broad and deep. Like a flowing body of water, it is also changing constantly. And it is hard for business owners and marketing managers to stay afloat.
The reality is that comprehensive SEO management is a full-time occupation, but there are still actions you can take on your own to improve your website’s search engine optimization.
Five Ways You Can Leverage DIY Search Engine Optimization Tactics
Although most small business owners nor their marketing managers – assuming they have one – have the time and resources to manage all of their brand’s SEO needs all the time, some tasks can be easily done “in house.”
Perhaps a quick review of SEO, or search engine optimization, is in order here first, however.
According to our friends at HubSpot, a brief definition of SEO would look like this:
SEO stands for search engine optimization… It refers to techniques that help your website rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). This makes your website more visible to people who are looking for solutions that your brand, product, or service can provide via search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing.
We are pretty sure that it goes without saying that if your company’s website cannot be found in search engine results it may as well not exist.
Online visibility is absolutely essential for any business or organization that wants to be found online. And the major key for making this possible is the effective optimizing of your site for the demands of search engines, particularly Google.
Fortunately for business owners – and their marketing managers – all of the work that goes into improving and maintaining effective SEO can be achieved by reputable digital marketing services such as BroadVision Marketing.
However, there are also quite a few things that anyone with a website can do for themselves to help boost their SEO results.
And here are five of them:
1. Keep Your Website’s Focus Specific
The primary role of search engines is to bring results that are authoritative and relevant. That means if your business is automotive repair that specializes in domestic vehicles, your website’s content should reflect that.
If your shop provides additional services that’s fine but you want the main content of your website to be specific and focused on your primary product or service offering. And if your brand only offers services to a distinct geographic area, that should be highlighted in your content, as well.
The more niched and specific you can be with your website’s content, the better.
2. Publish Quality Content Regularly and Consistently
As PCMag points out,
Content quality factors into SEO, too. For example, a blog about car engines needs to answer questions or illuminate niche topics. Rather than rambling on about engines, it’s best to go in-depth with information-packed articles, such as “The 5 Fundamentals of Transmission Repair” or “Things You Might Not Know About Carburetor Cleaning.”
Search engines prioritize websites that have fresh, changing content. So you simply need to update your website consistently, whether that’s in the form of new blog articles, video or graphics, or products and services.
3. Understand and Use Keyword Research
Keywords are the words and phrases that searchers enter into search engines such as Google. And it is these keywords that the search engine uses to find and bring up results that it has determined are the best fit for the searcher’s intended query.
As one business website explains,
A sound SEO program relies on keyword research to:
- Know the words and phrases of real searchers,
- Determine which keywords to target,
- Gauge demand for your products.
Marketers tend to use the jargon of their industry and brand. Don’t assume that you know what consumers want and how they search — do the research.
Proper keyword research hinges on the use of specialized online tools. Many of them are out there and most are not free. . Google Keyword Planner is the most popular free keyword research tool, but you will need to set up an active (but free) Google Ads campaign to access the most useful data.
4. Optimize Your Social Media Channels
It’s important to note here that Google has made it clear that it’s ranking methods do not make use of a brand’s social media efforts. However, there can be strong, indirect benefits to SEO.
As the folks at Search Engine Journal put it,
Social media isn’t a ranking factor, so it won’t directly help your rankings. While there’s no direct ranking correlation between the two, the benefits of social media do feed into SEO. And if you’re trying to improve your SEO, it is especially important for you to invest in social.
Some of those benefits include:
- Sharing your website content to wider audiences
- Helping to build trust for your brand
- Driving traffic back to your website
5. Make Sure Your Site is Mobile-Friendly and Fast
Many statistics reveal that mobile search has finally outpaced desktop searches, with almost 55 percent on smartphones in late 2021. And that share keeps increasing. Consequently, it is paramount that your company’s website has been optimized for mobile search and use.
And speed matters.
As one industry expert put it, “Page speed is a confirmed ranking factor for Google’s search results.”
How fast your pages upload to a phone or desktop is critical not only as an SEO ranking factor but also for the user experience of your audience. And, while this may not be something you can improve yourself, you should make it a priority to have your webmaster, marketing manager, or marketing agency managing your site to address it, if needed.
Effective SEO Doesn’t Have to Be a DIY Task
These tips can go a long way towards improving your brand’s search engine visibility. However, there is much more that should be done on a regular basis that requires time and expertise. Much like payroll or HR functions, SEO services can be easily outsourced.
And they should.
You know that effective SEO practices will significantly boost traffic for your business and your company’s products and services. But it requires a level of expertise to do it well and to it in a cost-effective way; expertise that most business owners and even their marketing managers may not have.
Continual improvement your SEO results doesn’t happen by simply posting a few random blog posts or adding a page or two on your website. These tactics are important and do help, but it requires quite a bit more input and analytical research consistently implemented before your organic search results will improve significantly.
The good news is that you don’t have to do it all yourself! In fact, one of the best investments you can make with your marketing budget is to partner with a professional firm like BroadVision Marketing.
Click below to learn about our SEO services to help you make an informed decision, or call us at BroadVision Marketing at 707-799-1238.
