We all were dummies before we learned about something. Search Engine Optimization or SEO is one of them. Creating an SEO strategy seems very complicated for some who do not know how it works. To others, it may be a familiar marketing strategy, especially to those who are in the online business world. Some business owners may already know what SEO can do, but most do not know how it works or how to make their business SEO-friendly.
First, let’s discuss what is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? It is a series of actions to help a website or content rank higher on search engines.
Why does your website or content need to rank higher on search engines like Google, Bing, and the like? Your target audience looking to learn about a service or product would more often than not tend to resort to the internet for relevant information about something that would address their need. The first thing they would do is search for keywords using search engines to choose a website or content that contains what they are looking for.
Since the internet is already crowded with thousands of contents about a certain topic, one website will need to be displayed first above all others. This is the very reason why you would want to rank higher in search engine rankings. To increase the chances of people visiting your website, you need to rank higher than any other website creating the same content. Put into simple terms, that is how SEO works.
Why is having an SEO strategy important for your business, and how does it benefit you?
SEO strategy is structuring a website in a manner that utilizes keywords to improve the likelihood of appearing in search results.
Having an SEO strategy is one of the best ways to increase organic traffic coming to your website. Some even say that SEO is way better than paid ads. By having an effective SEO strategy, you will stand out from the rest of your competitors. To do that, you need to create content that people are currently interested in. After creating content about a trending topic, the only thing left to do now is to figure out how to bump your website to the number one spot in search engines.
How to start creating an SEO strategy for your business in 3 easy but time-consuming steps
You read that right. Creating your SEO strategy is easy but time-consuming. Like every other strategy, you must allot a separate time to strategize, plan, and put your plan into action. Below are the three easy steps you can start with to incorporate SEO into your business marketing strategy.
1. Think of a topic for your content and start searching for keywords
The content that businesses create is to promote their services or products. The first thing to do is think of topics that you can create content for that your services or products can provide solutions for. After coming up with several topics, you may use an SEO tool and search for the words you’ve come up with. SEO tools will help you identify how many people search for these words in specific search engines. After doing this, you would know if that particular topic is still worth pursuing. This would help lay the foundation for the optimization of your content. Several applications are available on the internet to help you use keywords to your advantage. However, it is advisable that you make the content as specific as possible.
General topics are already heavily crowded with very content from different authors, and ranking higher would be more difficult.
2. Create a pillar page, and that would contain subtopics that are to be discussed in a different post
Search engine algorithms favor posts above general topics that branch out to several more specific subtopics. This algorithm aims to help users find the specific information they are looking for. Since the very goal of an SEO strategy is to reach your target audience and eventually convert them into clients or customers, the content of your pillar page must not deviate from your line of business. It should contain information about your business and the products and services that you offer. Your pillar page would serve as the means of access for interested customers to transact with your business.
In order for you to do this, you must have an in-depth idea about your entire business, like its identity, employees, and all of its products and services. After creating a pillar page, you also have to create separate pages about all the information it contains. These branch pages should also contain an in-depth discussion about the said subtopics that may lead to other subtopics. This would help you achieve a very saturated pillar page that search engines would rank higher because it would answer a user’s question no matter how specific they are.
3. Set up a blog for your business
We discussed an overview of how SEO works and some tips on starting an effective SEO strategy. This blog aims to eliminate the thought that creating an SEO strategy is not really for beginners. However, you still have to research how to utilize the right amount of keywords to rank higher in search engines. The key takeaways from this blog would be to use keywords to your advantage and set up a pillar page that contains information about your business and the products and services that you offer. After that, you need to create other posts that would have an in-depth discussion about your subtopics that would lead to other specific topics. When creating content or blog articles, always keep this in mind, and you’ll surely increase organic traffic on your website.