Looking for Ways to Build an SEO Strategy for 2023 for Increased Website Traffic? Read this Article!

Search engine optimization (SEO) is easily one of the most popular marketing tools of the digital age. Even so, a whopping 29% of businesses still don’t have websites, let alone a strategy for SEO. Which is unfortunate due to the numerous SEO benefits there are for your business.

You’re in luck because that means you have less competition standing in your way. Here’s what you need to know about building an SEO strategy in 2023!

What Is Search Engine Optimization?

SEO is a popular digital marketing tactic whereby you optimize your website’s content to rank higher on organic searches on search engines like Google. The higher your website ranks, the more organic traffic you generate. If you are looking to learn more about SEO in general we have a guide for that!

Google uses software known as web crawlers to crawl, index, and rank your site based on over 200 ranking factors. However, most of these are nuances rather than central players in your SEO strategy. The aim is to provide search engine results for your target audience based on the products and services that you offer.

The Key Pillars of SEO

SEO primarily comes down to three key pillars, your website, your content creation, and off-page factors. Let’s break these down.

Technical Factors

The quality of your website is the foundation of your entire strategy, not just the pillar. Without it, you can’t build the off-page factors you need and your SEO content strategy simply won’t matter.

Google is searching for high-quality content on a high-quality well put together website. If search engine web crawlers believe that your website isn’t user-friendly or doesn’t meet the standards of your competitors, it is unlikely you will rank ahead of them. Google is all about providing the best possible user experience for your potential customers.

Moreover, there are plenty of factors that go into your technical SEO value, but the most important are:

• Mobile-friendliness
• Page loading times
• Accessibility
• Page structure
• Metadata
• Security

These factors will ultimately set the limit on your SEO marketing strategy. If you continue to improve each of them, the sky’s the limit. For this, we recommend ensuring your web developer offers technical SEO services before you have them improve or design your website.

Content Strategy

Content marketing is an essential factor of SEO. Without it, how will anyone find you?

Unless they’re searching for your domain or brand name specifically, they won’t. What sets one five-page website apart from any other?

Conversely, a blog with thousands of blogs within the niche has endless opportunities to rank for highly-relevant keywords. This way, they aren’t losing potentially relevant traffic, they can diversify their SEO keyword strategy as much as possible, and they can double down on content that ranks.

Demonstrating to Google that you have an active blog with unique and engaging content is the best way forward. In addition, it is also important to make great use of localized keywords as they are specific to your relevant offerings within your geographic location.

Off-Page SEO Factors

While there are a few other nuances to this, the majority of your off-page SEO will come down to your backlinks. These are links from other sites to yours, and they serve as a “vote” in your favor. This is how Google determines your website’s authority.

However, there are ways to control this on your end. We will discuss more on that deeper into the text.

Beyond that, you also need your website listed on the right directories that contain local businesses, maintain uniform information (name, address, phone number, etc.) across your online presence, and build an online reputation. These are all integral parts of your strategy, especially for a local SEO strategy.

How to Build an SEO Strategy

Now that you know what an SEO strategy entails, let’s talk about how to apply this knowledge to your business. Here are some steps to determine your on-page SEO strategy!

Improve Your Website

Modernizing and improving the functions of your website is the best way to boost your strategy, especially in the early days of your strategy. A well-functioning website signals to Google that you are going to offer value to your users.

Most importantly, focus on improving page loading times, mobile functionality, and visual imagery on your website. The more engaging and user-friendly your website is, the better. You can easily test your page loading times and other factors online to determine what needs fixing.

From there, continue to make improvements over time, and redesign your website every few years to keep up with changing standards.

Develop a Content Marketing Strategy

There are plenty of different content marketing strategies to choose from, and we can’t name them all here. However, we can suggest diversifying your content. If one of them sticks, then you stick with it.

When we say to diversify, we mean to incorporate an array of short-tail and long-tail keywords and choose different forms of content topics.

First, while blog posts content is the easiest for Google to rank and the most likely to receive clicks, it is also a great way to “skip the line”. For example, a video carousel will show up on the first page of many Google searches. Therefore, video content is a great way to limit your competition and effectively skip ahead.

Moreover, there’s also interactive content like quizzes, infographics, audio content, and so much more. There’s absolutely no need to limit yourself.

Second, short-tail keywords and long-tail keywords are both excellent additions to your website. Short-tail keywords are the most obvious in your field like “car” or “cybersecurity”. However, they also have the most competition.

Conversely, long-tail keywords are the less obvious but more relevant keywords. Think “used Ford Focus near me” or “cloud storage solutions for pizza shops”. Sure, these will have less search volume, but if that’s what you’re selling, then you’ll drive highly relevant customers who are likely to make conversions.

Also, you’ll have substantially less competition standing in your way. Diversifying is a great way to set yourself up for both the short term and long term!

Set Up Google Analytics & Google Search Console

You need to develop a plan to track your SEO strategy. There are key performance indicators (KPIs) that you need to track and work to improve upon over time, and you can’t do that in the dark. These include:

• Engagement rates
• Demographics of your audience
• Average session durations
• Bounce rate
• How traffic flows to your website
• Page views

The list goes on. Google Analytics is a free way to track all of the metrics you need. We strongly recommend either using this or a similar tool. You can also use Google Search Console or Google Tag Manager for free insights into your campaign.

Use a Checklist to Optimize New Content

There are a few keys to every new page or post you add to your website. Most importantly, focus on:

• Add and optimize images (ALT descriptions, links, etc.)
• Add and optimize meta descriptions and header tags
• Proofread for readability, concision, and engagement
• Keyword distribution throughout the content (primary and secondary)
• Ensure that you are making a good use of search queries

Of course, there may be other factors to worry about, but this is the bare minimum. There are tools that allow you to run your content through for readability, keyword analyses, and more. While these are great tools, they are no substitute for proofreading.

Develop a SEO Backlink Strategy

As we mentioned, there are strategies for building backlinks, even though you don’t control other websites. You don’t necessarily need to buy them.

Without exaggeration, the best strategy to gain quality backlinks from other websites is to simply build better content than your competitors and give referring domains a reason to link to yours. Building high-quality content on a high-quality website is exactly what search engines and referring domains want.

Also, Google doesn’t expect new websites to have backlinks early on, so planning for the long term is okay. In the early days of your strategy, it is exceedingly beneficial to focus more on improving your engagement rates and your websites overall content.

However, if your content strategy has been active for more than six months and you aren’t building links, then you should begin revamping your content and reaching out to referring domains to give yourself an organic boost!

Hire a SEO Specialist to Help

When in doubt, delegating your strategy to a team of SEO specialist is a great way to boost your strategy. Once you receive the boost you need, you’ll have the website and content already there. This offers a “light at the end of the tunnel” where costs dramatically reduce.

From there, you can reduce the need for ads, build positive brand associations and trust among your audience, and diversify your traffic flow to your website. Compare SEO services to see what the right team can offer you!

Build Your SEO Strategy Today

Now that you know how to build a search engine optimization strategy in 2023, put these tips to use right away. SEO is not an overnight feat, it’s an ongoing process. Still, the sooner you get started, the sooner you can reduce your dependence on paid ads and build long-term, sustainable traffic!

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