SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is an entire industry. Millions of businesses and companies are using SEO strategies to help drive consumers to their website. We’ve devised three simple tips to keep in mind when doing your SEO research and implementation:
Keep It Simple, Silly
Understanding your customer is a never-ending process. It requires attention, analysis and constant development. In an ever-changing world of technology and big data, sifting through it all to understand the customer’s wants and needs can be a rather daunting challenge.
Using tools (that are usually free) businesses can analyze specific keywords that are being used for certain products, as well as the type of people browsing and even time of day they’re active online. Many businesses use a very useful tool called the Google Keyword Planner. This is a tool that will show you an estimate for any search phrase. Although Keyword Planner is free, businesses may need to set up an AdWords account to gain access. Nevertheless, this tool allows companies and advertisers to gain insights and work through the process of creating campaigns and adverts.
SEO can be a tricky business. Companies need to give serious thought to the phrases they program, as users will often use different words when searching for something. However, there is usually a common phrase that is used across the board.
Using online bingo as an example, users might type in words such as “bingo”, “winning streak”, “full house”, “online bingo”, “casino games”, to name a few examples. These keywords would need to bring forward the relevant websites for visitors to play online bingo, such as Sun Bingo. Whereas a company selling tech gadgets would need to determine a wide variety of possible keywords and phrases to ensure that their entire scope of products link directly back to their website. The Grommet is an excellent example of this. They sell a wide variety of tech gadgets, which means that their keywords and phrases would need to include words such as “technology”, “savvy”, “iPhone,” “charger”, “laptop”, “technology accessories”, “adaptor” and so on.
SEO companies need to be able to extract these keywords and phrases carefully, to ensure a successful find.
Go Mobile
A good question to ask yourself if you are a business owner is – while you might be mobile friendly, is your business? A large demographic for businesses are millennials and customers who crave instant satisfaction. Even if this might not be the case, the truth is that the younger generations are our future. So while your business might not necessarily cater for younger people, one day, these younger people will be within the age bracket you are targeting. No man can be left behind.
With over 7 billion devices in the world, people use everything from tablets, smartphones, and laptops to smart watches to browse web, read emails and even order take-out.4 out of 5 consumers use smartphones to shop. Brands have been lured into the mobile world, not as a luxury, but as a necessity. It is clear to see that more brands will take up this trend in years to come.
Neilpatel.com explains that the total number of searches on mobile devices has seen over 40% growth year-on-year on mobile searches. As more and more people use mobile to surf the Internet, Google decided to make it easier to find relevant, mobile-optimized websites. So, it now uses mobile-friendliness as a factor in ranking search results. After all, Google’s algorithm ensures that mobile-friendly websites get a search-ranking boost on mobile searches. Mobile optimization will become the norm, rather than exception. So, it’s important to understand that all SEO strategies should be mobile focused.
Alright, Alright, Alright
Here’s a handy tip: Repetition of keywords helps dramatically increase traffic to your websites. The words should not be useless or redundant, but it is imperative to build strong connections with groups of keywords. What goes hand in hand with repetition is quality of content; the keywords must have relative and important solutions to the users search phrases, and if not, Google can penalize companies and individuals for misleading users for riding off other terms and successful brands. Make it useful to the user, and keep pushing the keywords.
The world of SEO is vast and magical. Without even realising it, companies are tracking your browsing habits and targeting you through your internet searches. You are part of an ongoing research project, together with 7 billion people around the world.
