Why Knowledge Graphs, SEO, UX Are Important for Business

Getting your business noticed online takes more than just having a website. An experienced SEO agency will tell you that success in digital marketing lies in the use of these three crucial strategies:

• Knowledge graphs
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• User experience (UX)

This guide will elaborate on these tactics, explaining why you should use them and how. Are you ready to adopt these digital marketing strategies?

Let’s go!

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Knowledge Graphs: Highlight Online Business Information 

Google aims to provide the best search result for every query, and one of the many ways to do this is through the Knowledge Graph. This is an algorithmically generated information box that pops up in a search result.

Google Knowledge Graph was first used in 2012 and was available only in English. This feature provides more information with better matching of users' search intent. When a user searches for a company or business, the knowledge graph displays bits of information in an info box.

Usually, the company business category, logo, website, and a short Wikipedia description are included in the upper part of a knowledge graph. Other information includes headquarters, founder, date founded, revenue, CEO, and stock price. The company's social media profiles and other relevant search results are in the lower part.

Google decides on the information it shows on the knowledge graph. This depends on how much information it can gather and validate online, usually from free pages like Wikipedia, social media sites, and the business's website or blog. Take time to improve your online profile to optimize your knowledge graph by:

• Focusing on creating content for a specific niche. The more you create niche content, the more likely other sites will link to you. Conduct deep research and focus on user issues. Explore content that works best for your market: video, podcast, how-to content, case studies, whitepapers, product reviews, etc.
• Improving your online visibility using social media. Create good content and share this on your social media page. Add social media links to your pages. Take time to engage with your followers, answer questions, and resolve issues. Use hashtags to allow people to find your content and for search engines to index your pages.
• Create or improve your Wikipedia page. Anyone can modify or edit Wikipedia pages, so ensure that you check your page for errors and update your content.
• Claiming and optimizing your Google Business Profile. Your GBP is your free business listing on Google. If you have a local business, you should have an updated GBP. Ensure that your description is accurate and your business category, correct. Manage reviews, create a FAQ column, and update your contact information.

SEO: Rank Your Site Higher in the SERP

SEO refers to various strategies to improve the ranking of web pages in search engine results pages, or SERPs. These strategies help improve site visibility in organic search. People perceive that sites with the highest ranks in Google searches are more trustworthy, relevant, and have the answers to their issues.

Therefore, you should ensure that your site has good SEO to help it rank. You must focus on three types of SEO:

     1. On-Site SEO: Leverage Relevant Keywording Strategies

Any SEO strategy conducted on your pages, such as updating content, adding internal links, and much more, is part of on-site SEO. It also includes selecting the best keyword to create great content. Improve on-site SEO by:

• Performing thorough keyword research. Use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, and SEMrush. Check competitor keywords and understand user intent to use the most relevant search terms.
• Ensuring correct keyword placement. Avoid keyword stuffing, because this can penalize your pages. Place your primary keyword in your title, URL, headings, and subheadings. Use your keywords in describing videos, graphs, infographics, and tables.
• Improving meta descriptions. Use unique descriptions for every page on your website. Add relevant information and your keywords. Stick to the allowed length of 155 to 160 characters.
• Including internal and external links. These links connect your pages and show their relationships while connecting to quality, relevant external pages to improve your credibility and authority.
• Including visual content. Aside from text content, show your expertise in your market with visual content. Use good audio and video equipment and editing apps to create great content.
• Creating a mobile-friendly site. Google primarily uses the mobile version of your site for indexing and ranking, called mobile-first indexing. To adhere to Google standards, adopt a responsive mobile design, create similar content on mobile and desktop, and use supported image and video formats.

     2. Off-Site SEO: Build Backlinks 

Any SEO tactic performed outside your site is off-site SEO. Examples are link building, social media marketing, video marketing, guest posting, and podcasting. Invest in the following off-site SEO strategies:

• Improve your social media presence. Stay active on social media, use multimedia content, and promote your social media pages. Use your pages to connect with your followers, provide customer service, and update them with new information in your market or industry.
• Apply an effective backlink strategy. Backlinks are links from sites to your pages that improve your authority and visibility online. Improve your content to get sites to link to you. Use strategies like guest posting/blogging and creating press releases.
• Include your business in local listings. Be on relevant online local and national  directories. Ensure your information is updated and consistent across all listing sites.
• Claim and update your Google Business Profile (GBP). Having an updated GBP is also one way to optimize your off-site SEO.

     3. Technical SEO: Enhance Crawlability and Indexability

Technical SEO is a set of strategies that help Google bots crawl and index your site. Examples of technical SEO are using XML sitemaps, increasing website speed, promoting mobile friendliness, using structured data markup, and removing duplicate content. Use these techniques to improve technical SEO.

• Remove broken links. Find broken links using Google Analytics and list these in a spreadsheet. Analyze links and decide which pages may be redirected. Use your CMS to redirect these broken links.
• Secure your website. Use a secure and reliable hosting service. Add an SSL certificate to secure your site data.
• Improve site speed. Reduce plugin use, minimize JavaScript and CSS files, optimize images, and cache your website to speed it up.
• Avoid duplicate content. Use a permanent redirect to take your audience to your new or relevant site and transfer authority to the new site. Delete old duplicate content from your CMS.
• Add an XML sitemap. This helps Google better understand your pages and rank you accordingly. You can manually build a sitemap and submit it to Google or ask a web developer to help you create one.

UX: Promote Your Brand With 

UX is a crucial part of SEO. Search engines rely more on user intent than keywords to rank pages and provide a better, richer user experience. Several elements of UX exist, all of which affect the way users navigate, understand, and enjoy their time while on your site.

With more people using their mobile devices to browse the web, check social media, and find local businesses, you need to ensure that your pages are mobile-compatible. Google has adopted a mobile-first approach to ranking sites. Having a good UX on mobile can push your site higher in the SERPs.

Aside from mobile responsiveness, here are more ways to promote UX on your business website.

• Enhance page speed. Google places high importance on site speed when ranking websites in SERPs. If your site fails to load in three seconds, your users will likely exit and move to your competitor. Improve page speed loading time by optimizing images and videos, reducing plugins, and reducing redirects.
• Publish awesome content. Focus on user issues and pain points. Use visuals, infographics, and videos. Add quotes from experts and research to back your content.
• Improve internal linking. Show how your pages are interconnected by linking them together. This also helps your users find other helpful content on your site.
• Simplify site navigation. Use familiar terms, keep site design simple, and properly label your main categories and subcategories. Make your call-to-action buttons visible and accessible

Summing Up

Investing in the right digital marketing strategies gives your business the boost it needs online. Prioritize knowledge graph optimization, SEO, and UX to align with your marketing goals.

If you need help applying these principles, it might benefit you to work with an experienced SEO partner today. Call Digital Authority Partners.