What Is an SEO Strategy and How Can You Use It to Boost Your Business?
An effective search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy can make a huge difference to a brand’s online visibility and reputation. Without good SEO, a website will quickly disappear into the organic search results, overshadowed by its better-equipped competitors. For small businesses, online visibility is vital.
Research has shown that websites perform better on search engines when they have been optimised with relevant keywords and an SEO-friendly structure and design. When users search a query, they’re more likely to click on the top results because they are the most relevant. If you want your website to rank highly and generate leads, creating an SEO strategy is crucial.
How Does SEO Work?
An SEO strategy works by satisfying search queries, providing relevant content, demonstrating expertise in a field, and building a good online reputation. It’s an affordable and effective way to refresh a website and ensure it does its job of connecting with customers and showcasing what a business has to offer.
There are three main types of SEO:
- On-page
- Off-page
- Technical
On-page SEO focuses on optimising website content, such as title tags, headings, meta descriptions, image alt texts and URLs, by implementing relevant keywords in the website content that fit the queries likely to be searched by a business’s target audience.
Off-page SEO, on the other hand, covers all off-site activities related to building a business’s reputation in its industry. This usually includes building backlinks from reputable sources, paying for ads on classified websites, and creating a trustworthy and engaging social media presence.
Technical SEO goes beyond promotion and focuses on all the functional aspects of a website, such as speed, security, and structure of the website. Though optimised content and a good reputation help a website rank more highly in the organic search results, people won’t interact with it if it doesn’t perform well. Search engines must be able to reliably understand and index a website’s content in order to promote it, and improving its architecture, crawlability, and coding makes this much easier.
Why Is SEO Important?
SEO is the key to securing an online audience. It’s an integral part of any digital marketing strategy, targeting the right demographics and building credibility with potential consumers. SEO engages online users, helping them find what they want through a simple search and ensuring security, authority, and relevance. A simple keyword can trigger a match, pushing a website up the search engine results and making it more likely to be noticed. Without a strong SEO strategy, a website is unlikely to be discovered organically.
Does SEO Work for Small Businesses?
SEO is one of the easiest ways for small businesses to connect with the right people, increasing the likelihood of them discovering a website and becoming a customer. It may take some time to create an effective SEO strategy, but the hard work is worth it when it comes to generating leads that previously seemed unattainable. The most important part is developing a noticeable web presence, which is the main goal of SEO.
Cost is also an important factor to consider when creating a marketing strategy as a small business owner. Paid advertisements are expensive, but SEO typically has far lower costs, and a good strategy promises results. Though not all SEO tools and packages are cheap, they are far more affordable for creating long-term strategies, especially for small businesses still in the process of establishing themselves.
How to Create an Effective SEO Strategy
Creating an effective SEO strategy requires a business to engage with the three main types of SEO in a way that best suits its needs and future goals. The first step is to thoroughly research the industry, check out close competitors, and determine which keywords are most relevant. Next, a website’s content must be rewritten, edited, and restructured, as well as ensured to be technically sound and well-placed within its field.
This is a long but ultimately rewarding process. It can be difficult to know where to start, especially because creating an SEO strategy is so time-consuming, but you don’t have to do it alone. In fact, many small businesses find it far simpler and more fruitful to employ an external web design agency to create their SEO strategy.
SEO Marketing Perth
If you run a small business in Perth and want to take it to the next level, Planted Web Design can help. We understand how difficult it can be to compete in a saturated market with far bigger competitors, and our specialist SEO marketing knowledge has been transforming small Perth businesses for years.
We use data-led tactics to create a tailored SEO strategy that generates leads and boosts your website’s visibility. With our help, your small business can experience amazing growth, creating an online presence that attracts more organic traffic and creates valuable conversions. To take the first step in your exciting new SEO journey, contact us today.