In an ultra-competitive digital landscape, having a solid SEO (search engine optimisation) strategy is essential for improving the visibility of your website and its ranking on search engines. An effective SEO strategy not only increases organic traffic, but also enhances user experience, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates. By integrating a variety of techniques such as on-page optimisation, technical SEO and content marketing, you can create a comprehensive strategy that works in line with search engine algorithms.
In this two-part blog, we’ll explore what an SEO strategy is and the top ten components every SEO strategy needs – starting from the bottom with keyword research, moving through to advanced tactics, like technical SEO and schema markup.
What is an SEO strategy?
An SEO strategy is a carefully devised plan to enhance the visibility of your website and the content displayed in the search engine results page (SERP for short). Improved visibility of content leads to more organic traffic to the website. SEO strategies combine various techniques including (but not limited to) on-page optimisation, local SEO, technical SEO and content marketing.
Keyword Research
Keyword Research should always be the first step in creating any search engine marketing strategy, including SEO. The keywords you want to target should be related to the product or service you offer. If you are a solicitor for example, you would need to find keywords that include your area of law, such as divorce solicitors or divorce lawyers.
As shown above, this keyword planner uses an easy-to-follow system which allows you to work out whether a keyword is easy to rank for, how many people are searching for it and what the intent is. Check out this glossary table to find out what each term means in detail (as they’re often referred to throughout the blog).
| Glossary | |
| Volume | How many searches per month in your country |
| Intent | Why people are searching for that keyword – do they want information, are they looking to make a purchase etc. |
| KD (Keyword Difficulty) | The smaller the number the easier the keyword is to rank for. The numbers are also colour coded like a traffic light system: Green = Easy to rank for, Amber = Possible to rank for, Red = Hard to rank for. |
| SERP Features | Elements on Google’s results page that go beyond the standard organic listings. These include rich snippets, review stars, featured snippets, People also ask section and knowledge panels. |
As part of your keyword research, you should look in Google Suggest at what comes up while searching for your chosen topic. It may not show the search volume, but Google registers that someone is searching for them. Analyse what types of results come up in the SERPs and make a note of who is top – these are your competitors.
Search analysis
Now we know what we want to rank for, we need to assess who is ranking in the top three organic listings and what they look like. SEO educators, BackLinko, state that the first for your search term is responsible for nearly 30% of all clicks, while second gets 19% and third 10%.
Ask yourself these questions about who’s ranking highly:
- Does their business fall into the same category as yours?
- Are they offering a similar service?
- What does their content look like?
If you answered no to the first two questions, you need to think differently about what your customer is searching for. It’s easy to forget that we are the masters of our field and therefore understand the terms, but our customers might have no idea what the correct terms are!
Ask someone who doesn’t know the business as well you what they’d search for if they were looking for your product or service. See what comes up in the SERPs and whether it relates to you or not.
If your search result does match your product or service, investigate the high-ranking websites and what their content is like. You’ll want your site to be even better than these to stand a chance of ranking. Take advantage of the other SERP features that are there, like People also ask, the local pack and featured snippets – these are all opportunities to rank!
Local SEO
If you run a local business based in the middle of Wales, you probably won’t be interested in the people in Brighton looking for your business, as this isn’t likely to make a sale!
Using our example from earlier, when searching ‘Divorce Solicitors Sutton Coldfield’ we can see the solicitors around WorkPR in the local map pack. Google has highlighted the word ‘divorce’ in each of these local listings to show they offer the service I am looking for. We can also see where each business is located, how to contact them and any customer reviews in one easy-to-view panel.
Part of your SEO strategy should include looking after your Google Business Profile, building reviews to show credibility and creating localised content for your website. All these things will help you rank as a local business, as well as showing customers where you operate (if you have multiple offices).
Content
Content is king, or something like that, and it’s still true! Content gets people through to your website, whether that’s a blog explaining how you completed a complicated deal or the service page your potential customers might land on.
Your content should be well thought out, easy to read and informative. It shouldn’t be crammed full of keywords (this is called keyword stuffing) or be written to please what you think Google is looking for. Write your content for humans first!
Before diving into anymore content creation, look at what you already have. Do you need two pages saying the same thing or can it be made into one? Have you got a blog that is only a few hundred words long that could be padded out to make interesting and insightful content?
Check out the People also ask in Google. They usually contain great topics to write blogs on whilst providing opportunities to rank for.
Check back to find part 2 of the SEO strategies blog where we delve into more detail about Meta Data, Technical SEO, Schema & more.
