Recently, there has been a proliferation of social media platforms in the digital marketing landscape. Marketing teams of brands, more often than not, spend significant time on these platforms to develop campaigns and track their efforts. Amidst these endeavors, keeping tabs on search engine rankings can be challenging.
After all, haven’t social media channels fundamentally changed how people seek information? Have we reached a point where these mediums serve as an alternative for Google? The answer is a straightforward no. As per the data, Google still stands out as the most prominent website, garnering more than 95 billion visitors monthly.
While Google has such an enormous influence on our lives, securing high rankings on Google remains a challenging task. And this begs the question – how can you distinguish your website from the sea of content available online?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is how you can boost online visibility to ensure people can find your website on Google and other search engines. Over 67% of the clicks originate from the first five organic results ranked on the first page.
Nevertheless, in today’s ever-evolving algorithmic realm, it’s crucial to employ the right strategies to secure high rankings on search engines. To help crack the code, we’ve come up with some actionable tips to help improve online visibility and increase organic traffic:
1. Optimize Images
Let’s admit it – vibrant graphics and eye-catching images truly capture the topic’s essence. So, if you wish to add captivating stock photos to your content, you also need to optimize them. One best practice is including descriptive alt texts to royalty-free images to improve accessibility for screen readers.
Since search engine crawlers can’t scan and comprehend your images unless they contain alt text, adding these descriptions can be pivotal to your SEO strategy. Besides the benefit of boosting your ranking in image-based SERPs, alt-text descriptions also grant the opportunity to incorporate supporting keywords.
Another best practice is to generate relevant URL structures for your images. In addition to enhancing your visibility in search engine rankings, this practice enables easy sharing, resulting in backlinks from other websites.
2. Create High-Quality Content
Relevant and authoritative content is one of the significant drivers for high ranking on the results page, and there is no substitute for top-notch quality content. Original and comprehensive content allows you to share your expertise, show your unique perspective, and build a connection with the audience.
In addition, the main objective of search engines is to provide relevant answers and valuable information to the users’ search queries. Thus, search engine algorithms, specifically Google, hunt down unique content. That means quality content curated for the intended audience is more likely to increase organic traffic. And this, in turn, can enhance the website’s relevancy and authority.
So, create and publish comprehensive content – providing all the information about a specific topic. This way, you can establish yourself as an authoritative and thought leader in your industry. However, it’s important to note that your job doesn’t end just by publishing high-quality content. Keeping your website’s content updated and fresh is imperative to maintain a site’s relevance.
3. Optimize For Featured Snippets
If you want your website’s content to perform well and rank on top of the search engine results page (SERPs), in that case, you need to answer users’ queries. One best way to do so is to format your content and aim for featured snippets.
Featured snippets noticeably show up at the top of the results page, intending to provide quick answers to user’s specific questions without requiring them to navigate away from the page. These snippets are highly informative, prominently displayed, and more likely to bring in organic traffic since they appear before the regular numbered search results.
To win a featured snippet in SERPs, you first need to choose the content you wish to optimize. Once decided, formulate blog posts that answer the user’s specific queries. Ensure that the information contained within the featured snippet is semantically aligned with the keyword. Next, structure the content to demonstrate to Google that you have provided a comprehensive answer to a question.
4. Target Relevant Keywords
Keywords, in essence, are specific phrases or words your target audience uses when conducting online searches. They act as a compass that directs the users to your content. Incorporating the relevant keywords in your content can be a game-changer. It helps drive traffic and improve your ranking in search engines.
But how do you find the relevant keywords for your content? A simple strategy is to consider the search habits of your users. Consider what words your intended audience uses to search for the products or services online. Further, you can check the keywords your competitors use to rank high on search engines.
5. Focus On Internal Links
In the quest for higher ranking, one must never overlook the significance of internal links. Internal linking involves creating a link from one page of your website to another. These links help Google to locate and index your web pages.
Too often, traffic is not spread evenly on all web pages. As a result, some pages may get abandoned. So, employing an internal linking strategy can be a tremendous opportunity. In addition, internal links eliminate the need to rely on third-party websites. Therefore, try to place an internal link at the start of the webpage to help lower your bounce rate.
However, be mindful of your anchor text when creating the internal link. For instance, if you use generic terms, like click here as anchor text, the search engine may not understand. However, when you opt for more descriptive and specific anchor text, search engines can easily understand the content of the linked page.
Conclusion
SEO is an indispensable component of a business’s marketing strategy, and mastering the art of this process requires continuous experimentation, learning, and creativity. Although these tips may seem like too much work; however, when working on one aspect, you are enhancing various other elements of your website. For instance, high-quality, relevant content often generates backlinks, and this, in turn, increases authority. Likewise, optimizing page speed can decrease the bounce rate, improving credibility. Implement these strategies, remain consistent, and stay apprised of the latest trends in search engine rankings to position your brand for online success and conquer the SERPs.
