Some business owners avoid search engine optimization because the process seems to be complicated. They give more importance to traditional marketing strategies, which do not bring as many benefits as SEO. While I understand that developing a solid SEO marketing strategy is not an easy piece of cake, it is not impossible, either. All one needs to do is embrace the essential components of SEO marketing. This process is complicated and time-consuming, but a good strategy will bring the website to the top search results. Ranking high for relevant keywords will ensure that a large volume of traffic visits the page. Also, it is a great chance to turn visitors into leads. Instead of being afraid of the optimization process, try to implement it thoroughly, and keep monitoring for long term benefits. 

What is SEO Marketing?

SEO is an integral part of Digital Marketing, which focuses on optimizing the website to appear on top search results. All search engines developed an algorithm that decided which websites will rank higher depending on the keywords used. Google algorithm alone evaluates each page based on 200 features, which include content quality, speed, or security. Not all 200 ranking factors are known to us. However, there are several vital components that Google mentions a lot in their SEO guidelines. SEO process should consider these elements and change the website according to them. 

Components of SEO 

As mentioned before, Google did not disclose all the factors that they use to rank the websites. In this article, I focused on the nine most essential components that are known to us. One should consider that SEO marketing will only be successful if they utilize these elements properly. For instance, one should develop a high-quality content marketing strategy. Having low-quality content will not do any benefit even if materials are available on the website. 

SEO Audit

SEO Marketing

Before thinking about any other component, one needs to perform an SEO Audit. It is an essential step for understanding the current position of the website. Besides, if SEO marketing works and ranks are higher, it will be difficult to compare the results. After all, you will not know where you started. Also, an SEO audit will reveal the critical issues of the site. Hence, one will be able to create a better working SEO strategy. SEO will indicate if the website is user-friendly, mobile-friendly, easy to navigate, or fast to load. Additionally, this SEO process will check if the links are working correctly. Only after a carefully done SEO Audit, you will create an SEO roadmap that fits best to the weaknesses and strengths of the site. 

Target Audience and Intent

Another component of SEO marketing that comes before creating the strategy is defining the audience and their intent. In marketing terms, targeting can be done based on geography, age, gender, people’s lifestyle, or user behavior. You need to better understand to whom you will direct your message. If you are selling a shoe, your target audience can be 18-25-year-old women living in Los Angeles. Having a good understanding of your audience will aid you in creating relevant design, content, and offerings. 

Besides, User intent also matters for the future keyword optimization process. Hence, one needs to clarify the purpose before developing an SEO marketing strategy. If people do not know much about your product, probably they will do searches that do not directly involve the product. Hence, the intent is getting more information. In this case, your strategy should be increasing awareness.

Keyword Optimization

As you get more information about your target audience and their intent, you need to utilize the keywords that they use frequently. However, sometimes, subtle shifts in keywords can create a compelling SEO marketing plan. Besides, one needs to be aware of the industry trends and visitor types. There are several tools to discover what keywords people use. One strategy is targeting the most popular SEO keywords. The advantage of this strategy is that it will bring a significant volume of traffic. However, you will face fierce competition from other websites. Another approach can be targeting less-popular keywords. Though the amount of the audience who uses these keywords will be lower, you will guarantee that there is less competition. 

No matter which strategy you choose, you need to make sure that the keywords are appropriately used in paragraphs, headings, titles, URLs, and even meta descriptions. Your number one enemy will be keyword stuffing if you throw the keywords wherever you want. People will immediately feel your purpose, and they will get annoyed with your content. Hence, your keywords should fit naturally to the content. It is always advisable to first write the content and then add keywords when it feels right. Besides, it is better to assign one exact keyword to each page. This process makes it easy for an algorithm to understand the topic of the page. In this way, you get a better ranking for relevant keywords. 

Content Marketing

SEO Marketing

Content Marketing is one of the most critical components of any SEO marketing strategy. If done properly, content bring a high volume of traffic to a website. A professional blog may go viral and create a long-lasting impact on people. There are some factors that you need to obey for creating easy-to-read and engaging content. Keyword targeting, grammar check, optimized images are several of those factors. When you create content, you should ensure that users will be able to understand the material. Besides, you need to give answers to questions or offer solutions to make your post useful. In general, content is an ongoing component of SEO marketing. It not only leads to a higher ranking on Google, but also advances brand image, shows off the expertise, and builds trust. Besides, they can support social media campaigns or email marketing

Benefits of Content Marketing

There exist several other benefits of content marketing. First, it increases the number of pages that Google can index to your website. In detail, there appears to be another page that the audience can visit and another search listing that leads users to your website. However, your content should be high-quality. If one can post excellent articles continually, then the site will have a higher chance to appear among the top search results. The reason for this benefit is that the search engine algorithm will mark your website as caring for users and knowledgeable in the industry. Besides, users will enjoy your material and visit your website frequently. Second, people may share your content or give links to your site. We will talk about the links in the next section. But for now, be aware that inbound links signal that your content is high-quality and reliable. 

Though contents are an essential part of any SEO process, it is hard to create them properly. Some business has enough resources to hire their content writers. However, if you have a small business, or if you want to save costs, you can consider outsourcing SEO strategy. Companies like Webzool Creative offer you a wide variety of services, including impeccable content creation, at affordable prices. 

Backlink Building

Another significant component of SEO marketing is the backlink building. Backlinks, or inbound links, are the connections coming from other websites. People have known the effect of link building on Google ranking for a long time. Several years ago, people tended to spam with the links in the comments. However, Google’s algorithm advanced. Now, you can get penalized if the links are spammy, and they do not come from authoritative websites. You should also keep in mind that having a low-quality link once in a while is not an issue. Nonetheless, having them frequently can create trouble for the page. 

When there exist many backlinks from various sites to your page, it signals that your content is reliable and high-quality. Hence, there appears to be a higher chance that the material will rank among the top search results. SEO guidelines do not explain how you can get inbound links in detail. However, one of the ways passes through content creation. If one puts much attention on the materials, their quality, usefulness, and creativity, they will get many backlinks. Hence, backlink building goes hand in hand with content marketing. 

Mobile-Friendly Website

seo marketing

By now, you probably have heard the importance of mobile optimization for several times. Google’s focus shifted to mobile searches recently. Since then, many SEO specialists integrated mobile optimization into their SEO marketing. The reason for increased attention on mobile devices is that mobile searches currently consist of 60% of all searches. If you do not create a mobile-friendly and responsive design, users will be unsatisfied. Let me also tell you that Google does not like the websites that make its users unhappy. Hence, do not be surprised if you do not rank well. 

One should not value mobile optimization as a mandatory requirement. It is a requirement; however, it actually brings benefits to your website. There are desktop searchers and mobile searchers. If you want to ignore mobile users, you are avoiding a large portion of the target audience. Hence, it is no value to your website, too. 

Now let’s focus on elements of optimization. SEO guidelines suggest that the first thing to focus on should be web design and architecture. They should be easy to navigate, even from a small screen. For instance, one can create scrollable content instead of clicking a button to go to the next page. Besides, letters, font types should be in a way that is easy to read. Mobile users usually search when they are on the way. Therefore, any material, including headings, section names, should be clear and precise. If you are putting images or videos on the webpage, you need to ensure that they load fast. You can also crop pictures or compress them. Mobile optimization requires you to keep in mind that every detail should be easy-to-notice and read with a smaller screen. 

Security

The security of the website has become a crucial factor for better ranking. It is not uncommon to see the news which claims the business was hacked and personal information of customers was got. Hence, visitors hesitate to enter the website, which is not safe. Google team also noticed this usage behavior and added security to their 200 factors for ranking. I cannot claim ensuring the safe experience will be most effective, but it is sure one of the crucial elements of SEO marketing. One can take measures like Secure Socket Layer certificates or encryptions to provide security. It is especially essential for e-commerce businesses because customers use their credit card details to make payments. Therefore, it should be the primary responsibility of website owners to ensure safety. 

There are several benefits of having an SSL certificate. This feature makes the site reliable. Besides, it signals to the search engine algorithm that the site is legitimate. Customers also feel more secure and make purchases peacefully. Hence, adding security to your SEO process will directly affect the volume of sales and profits, too.

Speed

Recent studies have shown that users wait only 3 seconds to enter the website. If your site loads longer than 3 seconds, they will simply quit. Hence, it will increase the bounce rate. The bounce rate is an indicator of the percentage of people who leave after viewing one page. It is a negative indicator for getting a better ranking. The reason is that it signals to the search engine that the site is not reliable or does not offer high-quality content. Therefore, decreasing the bounce rate- increasing the speed of loading should be a necessary part of SEO marketing.

One can use many tools, including Think with Google, for speed testing. Here you will notice how many seconds the website loads. Besides, the result indicates whether your rate means slow or fast. After checking the site speed, your SEO strategy can include speed optimization. To fasten the website, one can use a caching approach. Caching means that the pictures or videos will automatically be stored when the user visits the site. Then in his second visit, the multimedia will load quickly. Besides, optimizing the images, reviewing the code, finding the broken links can lead to a fast load.

Monitor the Progress

monitor the progress

The elements of SEO marketing mentioned above are worthless if one does not keep track of progress. You might develop the perfect plan beforehand. However, while implementation, SEO marketing strategy can go off the rails. Hence, you need to keep a close eye on the daily operations. 

There exist several tools to help you monitor your progress. They will follow your improvement in search results based on your target keywords. Besides, you can see how the volume of organic traffic changed since you started following SEO guidelines. The tools are also valuable for understanding your position against the rivals. Another benefit of monitoring is that you can find which contents are performing better. Then, you can improve your SEO marketing based on the type of content that is successful. If any problems occur in your search engine optimization process, you can detect it sooner and solve it. It is always better because mistakes can bring negative results if resolved late. 

Monitoring progress is an essential part of any SEO strategy because SEO is not a one-time process. You cannot implement it and forget. Trends in optimization change a lot. What is valuable now can be worthless in the future. Hence, one needs to review the plan and track the improvements or flaws continually. If you started offering content on related topics, you should keep that process, too. The constant release of blog posts will result in a better ranking of your business.

Webzool Creative

As mentioned, SEO is a constant process. It requires you to invest time and effort. Once you create a successful SEO strategy, its benefits last for a long time. When the website ranks on top, it will not go down in one night. If you are a new business or you think you do not have enough time, it is beneficial to outsource SEO marketing services. A professional SEO company like Webzool Creative offers you a full packet of services, including content creation, keyword optimization, SEO Audit, at reasonable prices. With constant effort, the team of SEO specialists, content writers, and backlink builders ensure that your website maintains its high position. Every minute without SEO means losing to the competitor. Hence, contact us now for receiving impeccable services tailored to the unique needs of your business.