Launching your own website can be an exciting first step in business, whether you are creating it for a company, or are simply setting up your own blog that you intend to grow over time. The issue that many encounter, however, is that they don’t realize how much work goes into making sure your website is visible to the general public. In order to do this, you need to make sure you are properly optimizing your website and the content within. But what goes into a great search engine optimization (SEO) strategy? If these questions are looming over you, let’s take a look at some initial tips that will help you to develop an SEO strategy that works!
Build an SEO Strategy
1. Figure out your direction and conduct competitor research
Some may believe that as long as you write and post content regularly, people will come. However, this is not true. Your content needs to be built around specific keywords people are looking for (and that are relevant to your industry). Writing for the sake of writing does serve its purpose, but you will only be able to drive organic traffic to your website by incorporating the right search terms into your published content. Defining your SEO strategy begins by figuring out what you will be writing about. Some important questions to ask yourself in the beginning include:
- What is my industry? What content should I be writing and how can it provide value to my audience?
- What are people looking up when it comes to my industry?
- What are my competitors ranking for? What seems to be working for them? How can I build upon this?
- What type of content am I looking to create? What other types of media should I be using in my strategy?
Keep in mind that these are just a few questions that can help you get started. Knowing exactly where you want to go is essential to building an effective strategy that will work for your website.
2. Develop a content plan and publishing schedule
Armed with a better idea of which direction you plan on taking your content in, the next step is planning out your content. This begins with using a high-quality keyword research tool, such as the free keyword research tool offered by searchatlas.com. Once you’ve figured out a topic you are interested in writing about, you can use the tool to identify high-ranking keywords that you can incorporate into your content in order to draw that traffic to your website (as long as you have the domain authority to rank for that specific keyword).
Once you’ve found the right keywords, you can begin working on a content calendar that keeps you accountable when it comes to content creation and publishing. As long as you are diligent about publishing the right content, you are well on your way to growing your online presence.
3. Figure out how to build authority over time
Top ranking websites have managed to reach their place because others consider them to be an authoritative website. How? This is accomplished by having other websites linking to your own. When others reference you when producing their own content, it shows Google that you are considered to be an expert in your industry, which grows your authority and improves your position. Along with your content, now is the time to develop a link-building plan that will help you gain that attention and the backlinks that you need.
No matter what type of website you own, a proper SEO strategy is essential to your success. Use the tips above to begin working on your own before you launch your website and begin the content creation process.
