What verticals do you compete in? What pain points do you solve? Define these or add more based on the high-level keywords you came up with in the previous step.
Once you’ve identified the category and product pages that bring in the most visitors, you’ll be able to focus your strategy on improving them and increasing your organic traffic.
Read more about how to find your MVPs here.
6. Keep Content Up To Date
Your MVP pages become stale over time while search engines aim to surface for users the most relevant and up-to-date content.
Content decay is a natural process; you should set up a process to keep content up to date constantly.
Here is an example from one of the websites I work on, showing how it looks and highlighting the importance of updating outdated content.
An example of content decay: updating content helped regain organic traffic.
Please note that you should refrain from using automatic updates with AI chatbots, as it is one of the most dangerous, spammy SEO tactics that can result in a complete loss of organic traffic.
Read our guide to learn content decay strategies you can implement to keep your organic traffic growing.
7. Optimize For User Experience
Don’t overlook the importance of how your site is structured, both technically and in terms of how users interface with it.
The best content and keyword strategy in the world won’t lead to a single sale if your site is constantly broken or is so frustrating to use that people close your page in disappointment.
You should carefully consider your site’s architecture and user experiences to ensure people are taking the desired actions.
With mobile traffic being 62.15% of total web traffic (and 77% of retail website traffic), optimizing for mobile is even more critical.
Read our guide UX & SEO Guide to learn more.
8. Conduct A Competitive Analysis
If you didn’t have any competition, there would be no need for SEO. But as long as other companies are manufacturing refrigerators, Frigidaire needs to find ways to differentiate itself.
You need to have an idea of what others in your industry are doing so you can position yourself for the best results.
You need to figure out where you’re being outranked and find ways to turn the tables.
You should know which keywords are most competitive and where you have opportunities by performing content gap analysis.
You should understand your competitor’s backlinking and site structure so that you can optimize your own site for the best possible search ranking.
And remember, AI chatbots are your competitor, too, where users can get answers directly without visiting a website.
This means that some of the traffic you might have received in the past could now be staying in the chatbot.
To compete, you need to offer something AI can’t: unique insights, personal experiences, and authoritative content that stands out.
Consider how AI presents information and find ways to differentiate your content. Focus on building your brand authority and providing value that AI chatbots can’t replicate.
Learn more about how to perform this analysis and develop a template for it by reading this piece.
9. Establishing Brand Authority And Link Building
All the points we covered so far are essential for success in SEO, but they are not enough.
You can achieve success by merely improving your website, and if you aim for your brand to exist only in Google Search, you will likely not be able to rank and achieve success.
That is why you need to work on your brand marketing tirelessly in order to build your brand authority, which, in turn, helps you earn natural backlinks as a recognized and trustworthy source.
It’s not such an easy thing to get right, and that is where most companies struggle and why SEO is hard.
To build brand authority, you need the following steps:
Build an email newsletter list.
Share valuable research and insights others want to link to.
Attend conferences relevant to your field and sponsor them if you have enough resources.
Seek opportunities for interviews or speak at conferences.
Host webinars or live sessions to share knowledge and interact with your audience in real time.
Participate in online discussions with your industry community on different platforms such as Linkedin, Twitter, Reddit, or other platforms specific to your industry.
Collaborate with experts in your industry to contribute to your content.
Invite influencers to try your products or services and share their experiences.
Offer effective support to your customers.
Even if you get unlinked brand mentions, it is a step forward in building brand awareness.
Think of for a moment if one reads your unlinked brand mention on a reputable website (or on a TV show) and performs a Google search to find your brand.
That could be considered as a branded search which is a ranking factor. It is important to note unlinked mentions are not a ranking factor as there is much misinformation out there, but when one performs a branded search on Google.
Of course, you can go ahead and try to convert an unlinked mention to a link, and it is always one of the natural ways to build a link.
However, in the age of AI, another benefit of unlinked brand mentions is that chatbots – which are trained on content across the web – may surface your brand name to users when they perform tasks or research.
10. Integrate SEO Into Your Workflows
SEO doesn’t exist in a vacuum – it impacts many other parts of your organization, including marketing, sales, and IT.
If you’re looking for the budget to perform SEO, you may find some of your employees are already well-qualified to help.
For example, your sales team probably knows which products people are most interested in.
Enlisting them in your SEO strategy development will help with lead generation and finding new targets who are already qualified.
Similarly, SEO can tell your marketing team what types of content resonate best, so they can fine-tune their campaigns. And your copywriters and graphic designers can develop the type of content that will help you shoot up the rankings.
Your IT team probably already has control over your website.
Your SEO strategy should be designed around their expertise, to ensure website design and structure, development cycles, data structure, and core principles are all aligned.
Evaluate your existing software, technology, and personnel, as there’s a good chance you have some of the pieces already in place.
If you need to scale production up, you may find the budget already in place in existing departments.
These are just a few ways to integrate SEO into your existing workflows.
If you’re an external SEO agency or consultant, it’s crucial to establish strong communication channels with the company’s personnel who are responsible for implementing SEO recommendations and making decisions.
Read our guide on best practices for establishing effective communication between SEO teams in enterprise companies.
11. Align Your SEO Strategy With Your Customer Funnel
At the end of the day, sales are the name of the game. Without customers, there’s no revenue, and that means no business.
To aid in the sales process, your SEO strategy should align with your customer funnel.
Sometimes described as the customer journey, your sales funnel is a summation of the touchpoints customers have with your company as they go from awareness to post-purchase.
SEO fits neatly with every stage of this cycle:
Awareness: In the modern world, many customers first hear about your business online through a Google search, for example. Well-written blog posts are a great way to increase your awareness and increase your brand recognition.
Interest: This is where customers start doing research. And what better place to do research than your website? In-depth guides and ebooks will be a great match for satisfying users’ interests.
Decision: The customer wants to buy and is deciding between you and the competition. Case studies or testimonials could be the thing that sways them.
Purchase: Having a search engine-optimized point of sale makes it easy for people to buy, and optimized product pages are what can move the needle.
Post-purchase: Once you’ve acquired customers, think of ways to retain them by publishing support articles or offering loyalty programs.
12. Report And Measure
Finally, you need to define what success looks like for each KPI measure and report the progress you’re making.
There are a variety of both paid and free tools available that you can use to measure and track conversions, and compare them weekly, monthly, or by another timeframe of your choosing.
Simply find one that works for your budget and needs.
For a guide on how to create impactful reports that generate quality insights, read our guide here.
Conclusion
No one ever said SEO was easy, at least not anyone who has done it. But it’s a vital part of any modern organization’s business plan.
However, with a solid strategy, a willingness to learn, and a little old-fashioned elbow grease, even a complete beginner can send their website to the top of the SERP.
In this piece, we’ve given you 12 steps to take to get your SEO strategy off the ground. But of course, this is just the start.
You need a unique plan that will work for your industry and your needs.
Luckily, Search Engine Journal can help with this, too.
Download our ebook on SEO strategy with a full-year blueprint for an easy-to-follow 12-month plan you can use to develop a solid strategy, track your progress, and adjust to changing situations.
More resources:
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