As the internet becomes the most used channel for communication, promotion and transaction, this means a strong online presence can make or break a business. SEO (search engine optimisation) and SEM (search engine marketing) have become part of everyday business vocabulary as many companies start bringing their marketing and advertising campaigns online.
Yet, with the ever-changing search engine algorithms and user-generated content, the application of SEO and SEM is constantly evolving. Search engines are always being updated and redeveloped in order to become smarter and more intuitive for the end-user. However there are recommendations around managing online content that can assist in getting search engines to consider your information as a useful and relevant source.
Beyond your website, you need to start managing your content through the many alternative channels available on the Internet. Consider utilising the advantages of online maps (like Google Maps), online directories and listings and social media, which are becoming much more important to consumers as sources of relevant and up to date information. Make sure your business details on these channels are current and provide the right content to engage with your audience and market.
Step 1: Select the right keywords
Choosing the right keywords for your business’ audience is a top priority for effective online marketing; far more important than a slick website design. If your online content is badly written, or too complex and not relevant, the perceived value of your site by visitors will be low and may result in losing business credibility. Using words that are relevant to your audience is the first step in building a relationship that can potentially be turned into a transaction.
Wondering how you chose what keywords are relevant and most suited to your business? Use the words that your customers would use to describe your product, service or business. One way to do this is to consider what customers would type into a Google search if they wanted to find your business. If your business name isn’t very well known, then they wouldn’t use this in their search. So think of the generic words they’d use and then make them more specific to create a better chance of showing up in search results. Eg. Instead of ‘personal training’ you may opt for ‘women’s personal training coach Perth’ to narrow the results. TIP: Try using Google’s keyword suggestion tool, which can help identify the most popular search terms around your content. Using the right keywords, but not overusing them at the same time, will drive better results and maximise your online investment return.
Step 2: Create engaging copy
The next step is key in managing your online presence. You need to give your audience an incentive to share your content. When your information is shared, it increases your online visibility and boosts your search engine result rankings.
To encourage your audience to share, you must make sure the content is relevant to needs. You can tailor your content by:
- Use relevant and targeted language that appeals to your audience
- Story telling – it’s a great way to hold onto a reader
- Highlight a problem that your business can solve – this positions your company as the best to service their needs
- Provide a ‘Call to Action’ such as a link to the next page or a contact window – this sends positive user signals to search engines and tells them your site is engaging.
When you are developing content for your website and online listing, consider writing about the issues or challenges your target audience might be facing and the solutions your business or product can provide for them. This sort of information will show that your business is knowledgeable about the industry and would potentially prompt your audience to share.
Website content needs to constantly evolve. Your information should always be kept up–to-date with current news and events in your industry and can be written to either provide thought leadership, knowledge or entertainment to your readers.
TIP: Make sure your content is consistent across your different channels, repeating your message will have a larger impact than trying to cover different topics on different mediums.
Step 3: Generating positive buzz
Not only do keywords and relevant content determine your online visibility, customer feedback and audience comments can make a significant impact on your search engine rankings. Search engine results are now producing more than just your website’s content and online directory listings, but it also brings up comments from social media.
Generating positive comments and social conversation on social media, online listings and other online channels can impact your online presence. Search engine algorithms are designed to consider social content and recommendations as equally relevant and authentic pieces of information. This includes feedback that may be given to your business if listed on an online directory that allows feedback. It is important to have a social content management strategy in place. The more positive comments and ‘likes’ you have around your business and your brand, the more credibility search engines will attach to it. Make sure your social content and interactions are authentic, simple and succinct but also maintaining a friendly and conversational feel to it.
TIP: Negative comments can lower the engagement of the audience, as well as your online credibility. So make sure you keep on top of any sites your business is listed on and monitor them closely.
Step 4: Track your performance
A good way to keep you ahead in the SEO game is to gather data on your business’ online visibility. Hitwise is a 3rd party assessment tool that can give you insight to your industry, including online traffic volumes and your online market share of that traffic. It’s a paid service, however it’s also an independent service that can accurately show you the number of visitors to your website, what your customers are searching for, how engaged they are (time on site) and where they are coming from and going to.
Check your own website provider as most platforms already offer you a free report on some of this information. An alternative is Google Analytics that can also help you track the most popular keywords used to locate your website.
TIP: Use the insights from your reporting and measurement to improve your user experience. For instance, if you see one topic or article is returning more content to your site than others, focus on producing more content that is similar.
The internet landscape is always changing with SEO and SEM processes constantly redeveloped and redesigned each day. Consumer expectations are also rising and changing as the internet provides them with easier access to information, which can be of positive or negative. Following these 4 steps can help your website content maintain its quality and relevance, and have the right processes and measurement tools in place, the constantly evolving online landscape should not be a challenge for your business.