It’s no secret that the adventure of SEO means being in it for a long time.
Customization is a never ending process.
One day, you’re ranking at the top of search results—and the next day, your competitor publishes something new that kicks you down a notch.
The promise of SEO can bring traffic, revenue and growth to your business but many marketers give up right after they start. They love the promise more than they like the process.
In fact, the process holds the key to realizing your ultimate goal in SEO.
Understanding the SEO Process
SEO is like fitness.
In physical fitness, there are no shortcuts to keeping the system (i.e., your body) running, unless you are well enough to take serious health risks.
You need to make a plan and stick to it. That means exercising, eating right, and motivating yourself to continually improve naturally.
Similarly, in SEO, there’s no way to “game up the algorithm” (eg, Google) unless you expect to cut corners – something I wouldn’t recommend.
So, I was quite surprised to find out on a monthly call recently that a huge client of mine was impatient with the SEO process.
How does someone so successful – and who usually follows a process to promise more clients and cases – not understand and love and respect the SEO process?
You cannot fulfill the promise without going through the process.
SEO (and most forms of digital marketing) is a process that, with patience and strategy, will bring you new traffic, leads, clients, revenue and the promise of growth.
To understand the process you have to have a plan, a strategy and know all the steps of the process.
1. Audit
Process
Our process always begins with a technical and/or material audit.
technical audit
A technical audit looks at every element on the site that could affect your SEO performance.
The most important of all these elements is speed.
I have seen many websites featuring a large video on the homepage which takes too long to load.
result?
You have a high bounce rate and you have lost a potential customer or customer.
If only they did a shortened version of the video or moved more relevant content from the bottom up, their speed and conversions would be much better.
A technical audit should be in-depth and may take several weeks to complete depending on what is wrong with the site.
material audit
If you have a large website with thousands of pages of content, it is definitely worth doing a content audit.
A content audit will help you identify which pages are performing well and which are underperforming.
You can then decide which content to keep, adapt or rewrite or remove entirely from your website.
When you remove content from your website, you may see a drop in traffic – but that’s the point. You want to block non-relevant traffic.
Non-relevant traffic (that is, visitors that are not aligned with your target audience) are unlikely to be converted into customers or customers. In that sense, that traffic doesn’t really benefit your business.
By auditing your content, you can “truncate” the content that is driving non-relevant traffic and then focus on optimizing the content that can bring the best results for your business.
Then, once the search engines have indexed all of this optimized, relevant content, you’ll start seeing more conversions.
Promise
By going through the process of technical audit, content audit or both, you will have a complete understanding of everything that needs to be decided to rank well in organic search.
SEO is a puzzle. Put the pieces together.
This is only the first step. But the first step can sometimes be the hardest.
Now it’s time to build that momentum.
2. Technical SEO
Process
When it comes to technical SEO, there’s a lot to think about, including:
Improving your technical SEO requires a holistic approach; Dealing with only one item on this list doesn’t really move the needle. You need to consider everything if you want your website to perform.
I like to use the analogy of a house here:
A house needs a foundation, electricity, plumbing, walls and a roof. If you don’t have all these things, you don’t have a home. You have a shell.
The same is true of technical SEO. You need to get all these elements right for a customized website.
Promise
By increasing the speed, functionality and user experience (UX) of your website, you are likely to see more conversions.
This is because users will find your website easy to navigate, read and engage with.
After performing a technical audit, you will have a list of technical blockades that can hinder the performance of your site.
Optimize these, and you’ll make your website faster, crawlable, and in a better place to be indexed by search engines.
In fact, we recently made improvements to a site from the brewing industry.
After fixing all the errors, this company saw a 1,100% increase in traffic.
That’s the promise of technical SEO!
3. Keyword Research
Process
Keyword research is an integral part of the SEO process.
Without keyword research, you’ll only be guessing at how users are going to discover your business, products or services.
Keyword research tools reveal how many users are searching for a particular term, how difficult it is to rank for that term, and what related terms people are using to find information online.
The process begins by thinking of hypothetical terms that your target audience might use to find your business and then using SEO tools to validate or disprove your findings.
Researching your competitors’ sites is another good way to uncover keyword opportunities.
Lastly, keyword research helps you uncover geo-specific keywords to help you localize your SEO strategy.
I highly recommend reading Roger Monty’s excellent guide, How to Do Keyword Research for SEO: Everything You Need to Know.
Promise
Keyword research helps you find out which keywords are most valuable to you.
Optimizing your content around high-value keywords will get you in front of your potential customers or customers when they need you most.
If people can’t find you when they’re looking for a service or product you offer, they can’t buy from you. It’s that easy.
4. Location Demographics
Process
Whether you’re doing SEO for a local business or a client serving a specific area, you know the importance of location.
Like buyer personas, you need to understand how people discover local businesses and service providers, and who they are.
This means you need to make sure you have accurate NAP (name/address/phone) information and materials that refer to your service area, be it state, city or neighborhood.
Claim and optimize your Google Business Profile listing.
Promise
The goal of your website is to speak to your target audience. And when I say your “target audience,” I mean potential customers or customers.
Demographic research will reveal a lot of useful information about where your target audience is searching for goods, services or information. You can then use this data to inform your targeted, localized SEO strategy.
Keep in mind that Google rewards websites based on factors such as relevance, distance, and prominence.
The promise of SEO at this stage is that if you produce a relevant, localized and authoritative website experience, Google is more likely to rank your content and display it to your target audience.
5. Content Strategy
Process
You need a content strategy. Here’s a proven strategy.
base material
This is your main content that targets your main keywords and topics. Create content that is about your services or products (your “money” keyword).
You can further enhance this content by writing about other relevant services and products you offer and any relevant long-tail keywords.
FAQ Content
Create pages that use Google to answer common questions your audience is asking.
Make sure it has an SEO-friendly URL, you use breadcrumbs, and that it’s more comprehensive than any other page on the topic (be sure to check out competing pages in the top 10 positions).
official material
Let your customers create content to demonstrate their expertise and authenticity.
user experience
Think about ways to enhance your content (for example, by using visuals), your website navigation (for example, linking to other relevant pages on your website), and calls to action (for example, free consultation, taking appointments, downloading materials).
Promise
Creating content with a purpose will attract the people you want to be your customers or customers.
Make it easy for people to understand who you are, what you offer, and find exactly what they’re looking for.
You will be rewarded with more leads and conversions!
6. Content Writing and Editing
Process
Maybe your customer wants to write their own content, or maybe they want you to do it.
Either way, the content needs to be optimized.
Always think about the audience or individuals first, but without neglecting SEO best practices.
You want to write content that people will engage with and share (and that Google will index and reward with great rankings).
Ultimately, it’s about leading people to conversion.
If you haven’t already, be sure to read Ron Liebach’s 47 Tips for Mastering SEO Writing.
Promise
Content is essential when it comes to getting your brand’s message across to your target audience.
It also plays an important role in SEO; If optimized well, your content can drive more organic traffic to your website.
Content also helps to demonstrate authority, relevance and trust. Well written, customized, accurate and authoritative content is the best way to do this.
Your content should not be the only means by which you incorporate keywords into your website.
Instead, it should focus on the value your business provides, how users can engage with your business, and overall a positive experience for your potential customers.
On the other hand, poorly written content will do just the opposite – it will drive users to your competitors!
So, don’t take the content as an afterthought. Be sure to invest in high-quality, customized content.
7. Ranking
Process
Well, you cannot control the ranking of Google or any search engine.
However, you can understand exactly how the search algorithm works, which helps. But there is never a guarantee.
That said, there is a process that can work.
Be excellent on all the previous points that we have discussed so far and you should see SEO success.
- Know your audience.
- Create great content for your audience.
- Provide a great website experience for your visitors.
this is easy? No.
But it works!
Promise
If you make every effort to optimize your site and build your brand, and you provide a quality product or service, it is inevitable that you will be rewarded with the organic search visibility you deserve. .
conclusion
“Success is a journey, not a destination.”
This quote is as true for SEO as it is for life.
If you’re always looking at the end result, you’ll miss the thrill, learning, and experience of the process.
Every successful SEO strategy starts with a plan. Then, it’s a matter of putting in the work for a long time.
SEO is a marathon, not a sprint.
The only way to get where you want to be is to develop a process and follow it. This process can evolve over time, but a proper plan is better than “winging it” when it comes to your SEO strategy.
Then, you can celebrate success at every milestone, improve your approach over time, and most of all, enjoy the process of SEO over the lifetime of your business.
more resources:
Featured Image: Chuchin/Shutterstock
