Today’s online marketplace is more competitive than ever, particularly for small- and medium-sized businesses. With so many companies vying for audience attention, it can be difficult to find your niche and make your mark. That is where search engine optimization (SEO) comes in. When used correctly, SEO can help you boost your visibility, gain the trust of your target audiences, and grow your business. However, in order to successfully optimize your content and expand your online presence, you first need to know what SEO is as well as the strategies you should be utilizing.

What is SEO?

SEO is the process of optimizing your content and website, as well as leveraging other strategies such as keyword research and proper formatting, to improve your business’ relevance and search engine ranking. The eventual goal is to reach the first page of search engine results, making your business easily visible to your target audience and hopefully encouraging them to click through to your site. However, filling your content with keywords and external links without first creating a strategy won’t actually do you any good. For your content and website to rank higher, they need to be authoritative and relevant to audiences, and content which focuses only on keyword inclusion and not the people reading it is likely neither.

When it comes to SEO strategies, there are three primary methods to consider:

1. On-Page: What you can change in your content and website to improve your SEO ranking. 
2. Off-Page: What you do outside of your website and content in order to improve your relevance and authority.  
3. Technical: Improving your website’s structure and usability in order to boost your search rankings. 

Key Strategies for Boosting Your Search Engine Ranking

Once you have a clear understanding of what SEO is and the strategies you can use to improve your ranking, it’s time to focus on the actual steps you can take to optimize your website and content, including:

Determining your current ranking

To understand what you need to do, you first need to know where you stand. Look at your SEO performance, if possible, on whatever content managing platform you use in order to see what issues it flags. Consider how many backlinks you have, and how much engagement your content receives. Then, make an SEO strategy that focuses on the areas which need the most improvement.

Conduct keyword research

This will help you determine which words and phrases your target audience uses most when performing a search relevant to your products or services. Make sure to use a selection of these keywords where appropriate in your content and website.

Create high-quality content

Packing your content and website full of keywords may seem like a surefire way to improve search rankings, but doing so may actually cause audiences to lose interest. Instead, make sure that your content is accurate, accessible and relevant, allowing audiences to find the answers and solutions they are looking for. Additionally, regularly add new content and update old pieces in order to keep your website fresh and up-to-date.

Formatting content

Remember, content is about more than what you write. If your blog post is just one long block of text, readers are going to click away. Make sure that your content is easy to read by dividing longer pieces into sections, and remember to use keywords in headings and subheadings. Additionally, insert images throughout your article to include interesting visual elements and further break up the text.

Improving user experience

In short, make sure that your site can be easily navigated by audiences. This includes ensuring that your website loads quickly and has a clear and well-organized menu, allowing audiences to smoothly traverse the pages and hopefully encouraging them to stay on your site longer. 

Local SEO

While traditional SEO techniques focus on your entire target audience, local SEO narrows that pool to customers in your general area. Outside of keyword research, local SEO may include building out and regularly updating your Google business profile, as well as asking for customer reviews. You should also ensure that mentions of your business utilize the same name, address and phone number in order to improve Google’s assessment of your business’ legitimacy.

What Can SEO Do for Your Business?

If you’re relatively new to the digital marketplace, you may be wondering how SEO helps your business. The short answer is that optimized webpages and content attract target audiences and boost your credibility, paving the way for future growth and success. The longer answer is that there are a number of SEO benefits, including:

• A boost in visibility due to backlinks, shared content and improved search engine rankings
• A lower cost than other marketing strategies
• Improved lead generation and conversion—that is, acquiring audience interest and turning potential customers into actual customers.
• Helping you to stand out from the competition
• Improving audience perceptions of your trustworthiness and authority. A business which ranks well, appears in multiple searches and has good reviews is more likely to be considered reliable.
• Long-term benefits. If pages are updated regularly in order to keep the content and keywords relevant, pieces which rank well now will likely continue to do so for some time.

Contact LA Creative Marketing and Start Growing Your Business Online Today

As a business owner, you may be wondering what SEO is, how SEO helps your business and whether you should be optimizing your content. The actual question, however, may be why you haven’t started yet. SEO is an invaluable tool for businesses, helping your website and content rank higher in search engines and allowing you to generate and convert more leads. In an age of constant digital competition, properly implementing SEO tools allows you to rise above your peers and carve yourself a niche in the online marketplace.

If you aren’t sure where to get started, you’re in luck. LA Creative Marketing is a digital marketing agency new orleans-based business with experience crafting high-quality content for our clients. From SEO to social media to web design, we can help you develop the strategies you need to grow your company. So if you would like to learn more about our SEO services or discuss what our team at LA Creative Marketing can do for you, Click Here a call or send us a message today. We look forward to helping you share your business’ uniqueness with the world.