According to early 2023 research, the internet is home to nearly 200 million active websites worldwide. With 71% of businesses now online and new websites built every 3 seconds, having a web presence is no longer sufficient for keeping businesses competitive in the digital age. So what can organizations do to differentiate themselves from their competition on the global stage? One of the answers is Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a set of processes that aim to improve a website’s visibility in search engines (such as Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo) to increase the organic traffic that visits a website. Essentially, SEO is about creating relevant, informative, intelligent, original, and high-quality content to provide the best experience for your users. But why is SEO so important?
Photo Credit: SEMrush
Consider the common business phrase that says if you want to hide something, put it on the second page of Google. Research conducted by Backlinko in 2022 validates this, as its findings show that less than 1% of users click on the second page of Google search results. Therefore, business owners are wise to invest time and money in optimizing their search rankings to drive greater traffic to their website and away from their competitors’ pages.
In this article, we will explore 5 ways you can improve your SEO ranking and attract more customers to your website.
Leverage Industry Specific Keywords with High-Value Traffic
Keywords also referred to as keyphrases, search terms, or SEO keywords, are the words or phrases that internet users type into search engines to find information, such as websites, articles, and images. Keywords can be as simple as one word like “cookies” or more complex like “the best chocolate chip cookie recipe.”
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Let’s use an example to dive into this more deeply. Say you just opened a veterinary clinic in the South East community of Seton in Calgary, Alberta. Your clinic predominately services dogs, cats, and birds for routine wellness and emergency needs. Now put yourself in the mind of your customers. What might they search for online that relates to the services you provide? A few examples may be:
- South Calgary Veterinary Clinic
- Calgary Emergency Vet
- Seton Pet Clinic
It’s important to let well-founded research tell you what phrases are most relevant rather than using guesswork. There are several tools (see sidebar) that can assist you in identifying the most relevant and valuable keywords for your business. We first recommend testing free tools before investing in the premium model, as this gives you time to evaluate which solution is best for you. Once you have identified the most relevant high-traffic keywords for your business, you’ll want to optimize your website content using those words. Thoughtfully inserting them in page titles, meta descriptions, and throughout page content, as well as in articles and blogs will help improve your SEO ranking for the words previously identified.
Optimize Website Speed and Mobile-Friendliness
Website performance is another critical element of SEO. Search engines, including Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGO, value user experience and satisfaction, which means they prioritize websites that load quickly, have fast response times, and are easy to navigate. There are many ways you can improve website performance, however, these 3 are a great starting point while you continue learning more about SEO.
1. Mobile Optimization: Many search engines consider mobile-friendliness a ranking factor for website SEO. Therefore, it’s important to ensure your website has a responsive design, simplified navigation (collapsible or hamburger menu), easily readable fonts, and optimized images.
2. Website Caching: Caching is an effective way of reducing the load times of frequently accessed data, files, and web pages by storing data on users’ computers or servers. This allows websites to load faster since browsers can retrieve the previously cached version rather than requesting it again from the server.
3. Image Optimization: Large images can increase website load speed and negatively impact your SEO ranking. Consider resizing, compressing, and lazy loading images while also using descriptive file names and alt tags to help search engines easily understand your image content.
Build a Network of Quality Internal and External Backlinks
Developing a high-quality backlinking network is an effective way to improve your search engine rankings, increase website traffic, and build brand recognition as well as authority in your niche. When it comes to backlink building there are a number of important factors to consider, however, quality is the most important.
Photo Credit: SEMrush
Developing a high-quality backlinking network is an effective way to improve your search engine rankings, increase website traffic, and build brand recognition as well as authority in your niche. When it comes to backlink building there are a number of important factors to consider, however, quality is the most important.
Quality backlinks refer to links that come from authoritative and relevant websites. For example, if your business is in the automotive industry, backlinks from General Motors (GM), Ford Motor Company (Ford), & Toyota, would be highly influential as they are among the top companies in your industry with significant authority on the topic of automobiles. Other factors to consider include backlink diversity, quantity, and the trustworthiness of the websites that link to yours.
Although there are many ways of acquiring backlinks, we recommend these 3 universal models that offer the flexibility to be applied across multiple industries.
1. Content Creation: Content creation represents the foundation of backlink building. By creating valuable, informative, and engaging content, through blogs and web articles, you attract other websites to use your work as a reference or source. Always ensure your content is original, well-researched, and provides value to your audience as this will help improve your SEO and increase your backlink potential.
2. Guest Posting: Guest posting is another opportunity to build quality backlinks by engaging with new members of your target market on another platform. By writing quality content for another website, you get to introduce your brand to a new audience, showcase your expertise, and link back to your website in the author bio or content itself. Don’t be afraid to reach out to different businesses to gauge their interest in guest posting, however, be aware that it is a main source of spam emails so it’s important to come across as authentic and genuine.
3. Internal Linking: Internal linking is a powerful tool that helps search engines understand the structure of your website and the relationship between your pages. By using internal linking you can effectively improve the crawlability, authority, and user experience which contribute positively to your search rankings. Be sure to use descriptive anchor text when internally linking pages as this helps search engines understand the context of the linked page.
Regularly Publish Informative and Engaging Content
Generating quality content such as online articles and news updates for your website is a great way to connect with your target audience while improving your SEO. At Vertical Motion, we use this space to inform our audience on important topics such as the one you’re reading right now. From mobile app development, monetization, and maintenance to market validation and human-centred design, our website articles are an online library for education and iterative progression. Regardless of how you use this space, it’s important to create content that your audience is searching for. This is the perfect space to use some of the relevant high-traffic keywords you identified earlier to increase your website authority and drive more traffic to your site. As mentioned previously, ensure your content is original, well-researched, and on a topic that relates to the needs, wants, or concerns of your target audience. This will not only increase your credibility as a business, but will increase your SEO rank within your industry.
Continuously Monitor Website Performance and Keyword Rankings
The final piece of the puzzle when it comes to SEO ranking is continuous monitoring of website performance and search engine ranking. By monitoring your company’s performance, you can better assess the results of your SEO strategy and identify areas for improvement. Although there is no set answer, it’s widely believed that search ranking improvements may take between 4-6 months to display results. Therefore, it’s wise to focus on the long game versus short term fluctuations.
Photo Credit: SEMrush
Monitoring performance and rankings doesn’t stop with your business, however. It’s also important to review and evaluate the efforts of your competitors. Several tools are available to help you contrast and compare the performance of your site to your competition which allows you to identify your SEO gaps and learn what your competition is doing to boost their rankings. These tools tend to have expense subscriptions, so ensure it’s right for your business by using free versions and trials before investing your money.
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As the internet, and technology as a whole, continues to grow and expand, businesses face an increasing number of challenges to remain visible and competitive in the digital marketplace. Although several alternative solutions aim to solve this problem, search engine optimization and SEO ranking continue to be among the most impactful solutions today. Businesses interested in increasing their visibility and website traffic should invest their resources in 5 primary areas: high-traffic keywords, website optimization, backlink building, content publishing, and continuous monitoring. With these techniques applied, businesses can best present themselves in the digital arena and attract greater attention from their target audience.
If you wish to learn more about search engine optimization, SEO ranking, or any of the 5 topics discussed in this article, please contact us today!
Vertical Motion Inc. is a trusted Canadian software development and entrepreneur assistance company that has supported the global efforts of startups, non-profits, B2B, and B2C businesses since 2006. With headquarters in Calgary and Kelowna, and team members coast to coast, Vertical Motion Inc. is recognized as an award-winning leader in the technology industry. Our team of executive advisors, project managers, software developers, business analysts, marketing specialists, and graphic designers have extensive experience in several industries including — Energy, Finance, Blockchain, Real Estate, Health Care, Clean Technology, Clothing & Apparel, Sports & Recreation, Software as a Service (SaaS), and Augmented & Virtual Reality (AR/VR).
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Communications officer on the bridge at Vertical Motion Inc.
Project Manager & Business Analyst at Vertical Motion Inc.