An effective SEO strategy is the foundation of any successful website. SEO will help your business grow and reach new audiences, but also what will keep you from running into trouble with Google's search engine ranking algorithms.
And while there are many tactics that go into creating an effective SEO strategy, one of the most important things to remember is that it needs to be constantly evolving for your site to stay competitive in this industry.
In this post, I'll show you how to create a long-term SEO strategy that helps you build momentum and sets you up for long-term success!
1.) Set clear goals for your SEO strategy.
When you're creating an SEO strategy that will last, there are a few things to keep in mind: your goals should be measurable, realistic, and achievable.
They should be specific to your business and have a time frame associated with them (e.g., next quarter).
If you don't set clear goals for your SEO strategy from the beginning, it can become muddled and unclear as time goes on.
If this happens before you've even reached one year since beginning SEO work, then there's no telling where things may go wrong or how long those mistakes might take before being corrected!
2.) Research what will be important for your industry this year.
The first thing you should do is look at what has been popular in the past year.
Google has a "What's Hot" section on its search results page that shows the most searched keywords, but you can also use tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Moz to see what keywords are ranking well.
Then, research other websites that rank well for these keywords. What is their content about? How often do they publish content with this keyword?
Use this information to help you create a list of keywords you want to rank for and how to strategize your content.
3.) Optimize your site structure for SEO.
Your website structure should make it easy for search engines to crawl and understand its content. You can do this by separating content into different pages, creating internal links between each page, and making sure it is clear what each page is about.
All pages should be linked together, and each page should have a relevant keyword in its title tag, URL, H1 tags, and body text.
Try to update outdated content and remove unnecessary pages from your site that aren't contributing anything valuable to users' experiences on it.
View a list of SEO copywriting best practices.
4.) Understand the latest Google algorithms.
First and foremost, Google's algorithm is changing all the time. What worked in 2020 might not work in 2022. That's why it's so important to stay on top of what Google is doing and how your rankings might change as a result of their updates.
Google has a lot of algorithms, but the two most important are Panda and Penguin.
Panda was introduced in 2011 to focus on quality over quantity. It penalizes websites with duplicate or thin content and poor user experience.
Penguin was introduced in 2012 to target sites that manipulated Google's results with black-hat SEO techniques. Black-hat tactics include keyword stuffing, automated link-building tools, buying links, and more.
Google has since updated both algorithms several times and introduced new ones too.
Staying on top of algorithm updates can help you adjust your strategy accordingly.
4.) Learn how to use semantic keyword research in your SEO strategy.
Semantic keyword research is a way to find keywords that are more likely to be used by your target audience. It's a great way to find long-tail-keywords that can help you get found on Google and other search engines for longer, more specific phrases.
You can use keyword research tools like SEMrush or Rank Tracker to help you do this (or just Google "keyword tool" and pick one).
When performing semantic keyword research, it's important to remember not to take the results at face value--you need to be careful about how often users search for these terms for them to work in your SEO strategy.
Need help understanding keyword research? Download my FREE guide to keyword research and find yours in less than 60 minutes!
5.) Focus on creating content that includes long-tail keywords.
Long-tail keywords are more specific and descriptive than broad or head terms. As a result, they have more opportunities to convert into sales.
For example, someone searching for “weight loss” may be interested in learning about diets or exercise routines. However, someone searching for a “weight loss diet plan” may be looking for a specific eating plan that works well with their needs.
Long-tail keywords are also easier to rank than broad ones because fewer competitors are targeting them. In other words, if you want to rank for “weight loss” but 100 other websites are competing with you, then it will be much harder to achieve your goals than if you target long-tail keywords like “low carb weight loss diet plan” where there might only be 10 competitors vying for the same keyword space.
Lastly, long-tail keywords make it easier for Google to identify your content as relevant because they contain more specific information than broad terms (like “weight loss”).
6.) Make sure you understand search intent when targeting new keywords and topics.
An important aspect of a long-term SEO strategy is understanding search intent. Search intent is the reason someone searches for a particular keyword.
It tells you what the user wants to do with the information they find, and it's extremely important for helping you figure out what keywords and topics are best suited for your content.
For example, if someone searches for the "best chicken pot pie recipe," they likely want to find a good recipe they can make at home.
However, if someone searches for "how to cook chicken pot pie," they're likely looking for specific instructions on how to make it—not just any old chicken pot pie recipe that might be out there on Google (which could be helpful too).
7.) Work with influencers, bloggers, and journalists in your industry to earn more backlinks.
The first thing you need to do is to find out what kind of content you should be creating for your website.
If you are a blogger, create content that people will want to share on social media. If you have an eCommerce store, then it's best if you create content that teaches people how to use your product or service in a way that benefits them.
Once you've figured out what kind of content works best for your website, it's time to look for guest posting opportunities on other websites.
Guest posting is one of the best ways to gain links for your website. If someone publishes one of your articles on their site with a link back to yours, then Google will see it as an endorsement from another authoritative source and give more weight to your site in their search engine rankings algorithm (SERP).
To find relevant websites where you can guest post, try using Google's keyword planner tool and search for keywords related to what type of content.
You can also use tools like Help A Reporter Out (HARO) and Answer The Public to find relevant sources who need quotes or information related to your business or industry.
8.) Find alternative ways to create valuable backlinks that are not as competitive as regular keywords.
Backlinks are one of the most important ranking factors in Google's algorithm. Without enough backlinks, your website will never get to the top 10 results on SERPs (search engine results pages).
On top of that, you need backlinks that are relevant to your business and trustworthy- otherwise, they will hurt your brand instead of helping it.
To rank highly in search engines, we need long-term SEO strategies that focus on creating high-quality links over time.
The first thing you should do when setting out on a link-building strategy is figuring out why you're doing it in the first place: To increase traffic? Improve rankings? If your goal is to increase traffic to a specific page, then there are other ways besides creating links that can help achieve this goal without any negative impact on SEO.
9.) Use social media to build an engaged community of followers that can spread the word about your business and website.
Social media is a great way to drive traffic to your website. But it can also be a great way to increase the organic search rankings of your site.
How? By using social signals as a long-term SEO strategy.
What are social signals? Social signals are actions people take on social media platforms, such as Facebook or Twitter, that indicate their interest in a topic or brand. These actions include liking pages, commenting on posts, and sharing content with their networks.
Social Signals & SEO
Social signals can help boost your website's ranking in search engines like Google because they're another indicator of how popular your site is with users. The more people who interact with your content, the better chance you have at appearing higher in search results for relevant keywords.
10.) Every long-term SEO strategy should include high-quality content
The most important aspect of SEO is creating high-quality content. Your website should be able to answer your visitor's questions and provide them with the information they can use. The more time you spend on this, the more you will benefit.
Content is king to SEO, so your website should have plenty of it. Create new content regularly (via blog)- so your visitors always have something new to read.
Make sure you are optimizing every new page you publish. That means each page should target a specific keyword and have custom meta titles and descriptions, alt text, and internal and external links.
Don't think of an SEO strategy as a one-time project but a dynamic process that requires care and attention.
SEO is not a one-and-done process.
SEO is a long-term strategy that can help you achieve the best possible rankings in search engines. It requires careful planning, patience, and consistency over time to see results.
I hope these tips have helped you understand what it takes to create an effective SEO strategy for your business!
If you want a DONE FOR YOU long-term SEO strategy that delivers results - Schedule a FREE discovery call! I offer on-page SEO optimization, 3-month SEO campaigns, and more!
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