How To Create a Simple SEO Strategy?

Search engine optimization can become very intricate, very quickly. The deeper you go into digital marketing, the more factors you have to consider – to the point where what started as just trying to get your website ranked becomes a full-time job.

The best way to approach search engine optimization (SEO) if you have neither the time nor the skill to handle things internally is to use the services provided by an established SEO agency. It can also make sense to deploy a more simplified strategy to get the ball rolling and look for outside support later.

Here is our guide to creating a simple SEO strategy. Follow these steps for fast results and to start your journey to full optimization.

Want to learn more about the Digital Authority Partners approach to SEO? Watch this video!

What Is an SEO Strategy?

Search engine optimization is the art and science of getting your website or content highly ranked for relevant search terms on the internet’s major search engines. In effect, you want any web user who is appropriate for your product/service/information to find you when they type an applicable term into Google or another search engine.

That does not happen easily, however, which is why you need an SEO strategy. When done well, your SEO strategy is the step-by-step roadmap to get your search engine ranking where it needs to be – first place on the first page of Google.

For your simple SEO strategy, address these steps:

• Engage in keyword research
• Do a frontpage analysis
• Differentiate from competitors
• Use on-page SEO
• Account for search intent

These are the basics of search engine optimization for your company.

SEO Strategy: Keyword Research

Because keywords inform almost every element of the SEO marketing mix, it makes sense to start with them. The keywords that you assess and decide on are included in your content marketing and your on-page work, so it’s important that you get this step right.

Your first port of call should be Google. Go to the homepage, click on the search box, and start typing something you want your pages to be found for. Google’s autocomplete function shows you what searchers are looking for, giving you an idea of what keywords to focus on.

For example, if you’re in the floral business, type ‘florist’ and you will likely turn up results for ‘florist near me,’ ‘florist for wedding,’ and ‘florist same day.’ These are terms that your potential customers (assuming you are a florist) are actively searching for – so getting ranked for them makes sense.

Next, take those keywords and phrases and enter them into a search engine marketing tool. You can find these tools online at different price points, but two of the better-known and well-regarded options are SEMRush and Ahrefs, both of which let you conduct a certain number of searches per day for free.

SEO Strategy: Frontpage Analysis

Take the keywords you found in step one, ideally at least ten of them, and go back to your Google homepage (we are using Google here as it has the most traffic of all search engines). Now, search for each term or phrase and take a look at the first page of results for each.

Do you see any distinctive patterns? Are all of the results commerce/retail? Is there a large number of information sources like blog posts and articles? If those results are the most common, then the best approach might be to jump on the bandwagon – position yourself as competition for the first page by seeing what is already there.

SEO Strategy: Content Differentiation

Of course, you cannot simply replicate what already exists – it is extremely difficult for you to outrank your competitors, who have had the same content online for longer. Instead, differentiate yourself. If the common theme for the first page of results is ‘top ten’ style blogs (top ten flowers for a wedding, top ten boutonnieres, etc.), then you can tackle this in one of two ways.

First, you can expand – so instead of a top ten, do a top 50. This will make your page stand out among the crowd, as well as position you as a source of knowledge and expertise.

Second, you can do the same thing in a different way. Instead of a top ten, write a definitive guide. Essentially, it’s the same content but repackaged to stand out.

From there, you can post this content to your blogs/articles/news pages. When searchers come across the article, it will be attractive due to having more or deeper information than the alternatives.

SEO Strategy: On-page SEO

Returning to your keyword research, it is time to refresh your website with on-page SEO. Look at your URLs first – the address bar for each page. The most effective URLs are short and incorporate your preferred keywords in the address bar.

Second, seed the text within your pages with a selection of your keyword results. Use a range of keywords but keep the content organic or natural sounding. You want both the search engine algorithm and the human visitor to recognize your content as high quality, and focusing on one over the other may damage your overall results.

SEO Strategy: Search Intent Optimization

Intent optimization refers to the search intent of a user – what type of information is the user searching for? In all likelihood, for example, a person searching for ‘florists’ is looking for a retail outlet, whether online or physical, rather than an article about florists or a definition of the word. Make sure that your content and your webpages meet the intent of the searcher wherever possible – otherwise you may not be ranked highly for that content.

Digital Authority Partners

These are just a few steps to get you started on the way to SEO success. Many other factors come into play in SEO. For example, Google ranks for more than 200 different criteria. Talk to the award-winning digital marketing specialists at Digital Authority Partners to get a more detailed strategy customized to meet your exact business and goals.