The importance of SEO
When trying to improve brand visibility and reach new customers, few tactics offer such a strong return on investment as search engine optimisation (SEO). It’s now a well-established fact that higher rankings, in Google Search especially, result in improved website visitor numbers – and that means more potential customers. The first five organic results on the first page of Google Search result in 67.6% of all clicks, with only 0.78% of searchers clicking through to the second page. The first result alone accounts for 39.6% of clicks.
How much impact does this actually have on revenues? 53% of US consumers report that they gather information on a product through a search engine before making a buy decision. ‘Near me’ searches are also becoming popular, with 93% of consumers now using online searches to look for nearby businesses. Of those searches, 88% result in a call or visit within 24 hours.
SEO has become a vital tactic for customer outreach. One that will help businesses see impressive improvements in brand visibility and web page visitors. But, with competition for those lucrative first page positions increasing, how can businesses best adapt to the shifting SEO landscape and secure those much needed high rankings in 2023?
The state of SEO in 2023
Google announced a core algorithm update. It began on March 15 and finished rolling out on March 28. To learn more about core updates, see the Google Search Central Blog.
The world of SEO is changing, heavily driven by Google’s continual updates and refinements to their search results algorithms. Google is secretive on the subject of its algorithms. But SEO professionals have been able to identify some factors that can have major impacts on a website’s search rankings. These include website usability, search term relevance, and backlinks from other websites, among various other technical aspects.
While these factors are all important, 2022 research shows SEO professionals spending most of their time on technical SEO. This means ensuring that websites load quickly. The internal linking structure indicates the most important content on the site. There is no confusing duplicate content that is against Google’s algorithms.
Keyword research continued to play an important role in SEO. 13.5% of SEO professionals spending more time on keyword research than anything else. Identify and improve keywords you’re already ranking for. Target new search terms that will help your website reach new consumers.
Of course, Google isn’t the only channel through which SEO is helping businesses reach new customers. While it might seem somewhat unexpected, social media platforms such as TikTok are also becoming relevant for B2B marketing. Several B2B companies already seeing success on the platform. Short form videos continue to rank as the most engaging type of social content. There is potential here for businesses looking for new ways to reach consumers and build brand identity. What is more, TikTok has its own algorithms for presenting videos. In response to search terms, requiring specific SEO tactics that compliment a brand’s standard SEO plan.
Tips for improving your SEO
Now let’s take a look at how best to take action and improve your website’s search rankings.
Ensure web content is technically strong
The industry trend of SEO professionals focusing on technical SEO is likely to continue this year. So what should you be looking for when auditing your website’s technical proficiency?
First, make sure that your website loads without delay (PageSpeed Insights). This will improve site usability, helping you move up in search rankings while also reassuring customers that you’re a competent brand worth investing in. 2022 research shows that slow loading times can also have a significant impact on e-commerce conversion rates. Roughly 0.3% less users are likely to convert each extra second it takes for a page to load.
It’s also important that all web content is mobile friendly. In February 2023, mobile accounts for over 60% of web traffic. Hence why Google rewarding sites with mobile-friendly options with higher search rankings.
Take the time to examine your website’s ‘Core Web Vitals’. These are Google’s standard metrics that assess a website’s user experience. Looking specifically at how long it takes for a page to load, how the layout shifts as the page loads, and responsiveness to user inputs. Note any areas for improvement and discuss with your teams how to put in place any changes in more effective way.
Identify which content is the most valuable
Some pieces of web content are more valuable than others. It’s important to assess which content performs well, and which content needs changing. Identifying goals for your website and, if possible, each type of content, is a good place to start. If your website’s main purpose is publicity, you will want to measure traffic. But if you’re trying to get people to sign up to a newsletter, you should look at how many events were on the page.
By knowing which metrics to look at, it will be easier for you to identify which pages are proving most useful to your overall mission. But don’t post them and forget about them. It’s essential to make sure you keep them up to date with new and relevant information. For example, republishing older blog posts with updated information and new images helps to improve organic traffic by 106%.
Also check that multiple links on your website point users back to your most valuable content. This will help GoogleBot (the bot that crawls websites and creates the index used for Google Search results) to understand which pages your consumers are most interested in.
Determine which keyword rankings you can improve
By using a tool such as Google Search Console, you can identify which keywords your site is already ranking for. Focus especially on terms for which your website is ranking in positions eleven through twenty (i.e. the second page of search results). With a little extra care and attention, these pieces of content could reach the front page.
Take a look at the structure of the page. Do you have clear headings that incorporate the specific keywords that you’ve decided to target? Is all text tagged in correct way, whether it’s a regular piece of copy, or if it’s a headline or title? While these might seem like small changes, 36% of SEO experts have stated that headline tags are the most important factor when it comes to SEO.
Is there anyway in which your content can be further improved? Is there any new information you could include? As attention spans continue to dwindle, we tend to worry about whether users will actually want to read through a longer article. Statistics show that top ranking content contains 1,447 words on average. More content means more of your customers’ questions get an answer. As well presenting more opportunities for you to include keywords organically.
A word of warning: don’t resort to keyword stuffing. This can hamper the user experience, resulting in the algorithm penalising your site. Make sure you write as if you’re speaking to a real person.
Create content to target new keywords
Users are no longer searching for short, one word queries when researching online. Instead, there’s a growing tendency to use search phrases counting three or more words (otherwise known as long-tail keywords). These searches for long-tail keywords typically have a click-through rate that is 3-5% higher than other searches. As they are specific, long-tail keywords also tend to have less competition than more generic search terms. It means that it’s easier to rank on the front page.
If you aren’t sure which long-tail keywords to aim for, try thinking of phrases related to your industry that might include terms such as ‘best’, or ‘how to’. For extra inspiration, try typing generic search terms into Google. At the bottom of the page, there will be a list of alternative search terms. These are terms that other web users are searching for. They’re likely to be useful for you to incorporate into your new content.
It’s also important to look at your competitors. What keywords are they ranking for? They might have content that is ranking high that isn’t even on your site. This can be a good source of inspiration. Especially when deciding new terms for keyword expansion.
Consult SEO experts
The truth is, SEO can be daunting. With its shifting landscape, it can be difficult to keep track of what exactly you need to do to stay on top of your SEO projects at any one time. In these cases, it might be worth getting in touch with SEO experts. They are able to guide you through the process and offer deeper insights into what content is resonating with your prospective audiences.
