Understanding the challenges, preferences, motivations and behaviors of a target audience is the key to a successful SEO campaign.

In this article, we’ll discuss how businesses can tailor an SEO strategy to their audience and optimize their return on investment.

• Audience research is key
• Keyword optimization with audience intent
• Content creation aligned with audience needs
• User experience and technical SEO 
• FAQ: How does keyword optimization contribute to audience-focused SEO?

Audience Research is Key

The first step in understanding your audience is to create detailed customer personas that encompass demographics, preferences, pain points and online behavior.

Gather valuable information through keyword research, social media insights and by using tools like Google Analytics. Armed with this knowledge, you can begin to tailor your messaging, keywords and content directly towards them.

A recent study looking at consumer purchasing habits by CX Network found that 63% of consumers think they are being sold things they don’t need. So why does this matter to you?

Businesses have an opportunity to increase their conversion rate when they do audience research, but most businesses skip this vital step or perform it once every five years.

If you keep up-to-date information on your audience and create clear customer avatars, you can make sure that your marketing content addresses your customer’s pain points clearly. Consumer confidence in your brand will go up — and so will your sales.

Keyword Optimization with Audience Intent

Once you have a grasp of your audience’s preferences, it’s time to focus on keyword optimization.

Instead of solely relying on high-volume keywords, prioritize those that align with your audience’s search intent. Understand the ‘why’ behind their searches. Are they seeking information, looking to make a purchase, or trying to solve a problem?

Develop content around these keywords that addresses the underlying intent to provide real value to your audience.

During this process, it’s also wise to look at your competitors. When do they show up in search queries? What types of searches do customers use when they end up on your competitor’s site?

Understanding when they appear in search results and the specific search queries that lead customers to their websites can provide valuable insights for enhancing your own SEO strategy.

Leverage this competitor data to make informed decisions that will optimize your online visibility and capture a larger share of your target audience.

Content Creation Aligned with Audience Needs

Producing content that aligns with your audience’s needs fosters trust and strengthens your brand connection between them. When your audience finds you helpful, they are more likely to engage with your brand in the form of likes, shares and comments.

Generate articles, blog posts, videos, or infographics that answer their questions and concerns. Regularly monitor, update and refresh your content to keep it current and engaging. This will position your business as an authority in your niche, earning trust and loyalty from your audience.

Search engines will reward you with better rankings, too.

User Experience and Technical SEO

A technically sound website that provides a seamless experience improves SEO rankings and ensures your audience will come back.

Optimize your website so that it is mobile-responsive, loads quickly and is easy for users to find what they are looking for.

Invest in technical SEO to optimize site structure, meta tags and image tags. A fast, user-friendly website will make your audience — and search engines — happy.

A successful SEO strategy starts by understanding your audience’s preferences, behaviors and intent. Following the tips we just outlined will drive organic traffic and convert your visitors into loyal customers.

We can help you figure out how to structure a successful SEO strategy. Reach out to us for a free consultation.

FAQ: How does keyword optimization contribute to audience-focused SEO?

The significance of keyword optimization cannot be overstated. The core essence lies in understanding the nuances of audience behavior and preferences in the online landscape.

Keyword optimization acts as the gateway to seamlessly connect user intent with content relevance, ensuring a harmonious synergy between what the audience seeks and what businesses offer.

Audience research helps businesses gain profound insights into the language and queries used by their target demographic. These insights form the backbone of keyword selection, allowing for the incorporation of highly relevant and resonant terms into content.

This deliberate choice of keywords positions content to organically attract the intended audience, steering traffic towards websites and platforms catering directly to their needs.

Keyword optimization evolves beyond mere word matching — it involves comprehending the context and intent behind the audience’s search queries.

This strategic approach crafts content that not only aligns with specific keywords but also addresses the underlying motives behind the audience’s searches.

It’s about providing solutions, answers and valuable information that precisely cater to their queries, thereby fostering a stronger connection and trust between the audience and the brand.

An insightful tip for effective keyword optimization in audience-focused SEO is the continual refinement of keyword strategies.

Regularly monitoring keyword performance, trends and shifts in audience behavior helps in staying adaptive and responsive.

Adapting keywords to reflect changes in audience preferences ensures that content remains relevant and impactful amidst the dynamic digital landscape.

An effective audience-focused SEO strategy unfolds by transitioning seamlessly between audience research, keyword selection and content creation. Each component works together to form an engaging framework that not only resonates with but also retains your target audience, propelling your businesses toward long-term digital growth and success.

Step-by-Step Procedure

1. Understand Audience Behavior: Conduct thorough audience research to comprehend their preferences, pain points and online behavior.
2. Identify Relevant Keywords: Use insights from research to identify keywords aligned with audience queries and interests.
3. Keyword Analysis: Analyze keyword performance, trends and competition to select optimal keywords.
4. Create Targeted Content: Develop content that seamlessly incorporates chosen keywords while addressing audience needs.
5. Monitor and Refine: Continuously monitor keyword performance and audience behavior, adapting strategies accordingly to maintain relevance and resonance.

The post How Can Businesses Develop an Effective SEO Strategy Based on Their Target Audience? appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

Now more than ever, it seems the world is changing. Not too long ago, I spoke about tipping for SEO and digital marketing, which is causing high-growth companies to drive even faster.

And then, of course, Google changes an average of 12 things per day in Search, and websites are being impacted for things they aren’t even doing wrong.

Yet with all these changes, the basics of SEO remain the same. It is important not to lose sight of the fundamentals that we know make a difference. They make a difference in Google’s ranking algorithm and make a difference to businesses trying to remain relevant and competitive online.

That is why SEO basics are the foundation of any successful website. Let’s look at this idea in more detail.

• What is an evergreen SEO strategy? 
• What are some basic SEO strategies that get results?
• FAQ: How can I implement an effective evergreen SEO strategy to stay competitive in an ever-changing digital landscape? 

What Is an Evergreen SEO Strategy?

No matter what changes are thrown our way, a basic and dependable approach to SEO helps a company’s online presence weather those changes.

That approach includes the following SEO principles:

1. Beat the competition, not the algorithm
2. Focus on a whole-SERP SEO strategy
3. Optimize to be the least imperfect

1. Beat the Competition, Not the Algorithm

There are countless ranking signals in Google’s algorithm, with thousands of updates made yearly to Search. So it’s safe to say that no one will know exactly what the search engine algorithm is looking for.

We do the best we can with the information that’s available to us and the wisdom we have from years of practice, success and failure. We stay on top of developments and test them over and over again.

However, instead of focusing on every little algorithmic possibility, we instead focus on our competition. Our competition is the content ranking on Page 1 of the search results. And we discover that competition through keyword research (more on that later).

For more, read:

• SEO Should Beat the Competition, Not the Algorithm

2. Focus on a Whole-Serp Strategy

With keywords in tow, you will be able to see what types of search engine results are most prominent for those queries. You will prioritize your SEO and content development efforts there.

For example, some search queries will have more prominent video results, images, or perhaps featured snippets.

In other words, don’t just focus on the “blue links.” When you approach SEO and content development by understanding which features Google believes are the most relevant for a query, you evergreen your SEO program.

For more, read:

• What Is a Whole-SERP SEO Strategy?

Optimize To Be the Least Imperfect

Analyze the content and the webpages that are ranking for your desired keywords. What are they doing well? What can you do better?

As mentioned, the goal of SEO is not to try to beat the ranking algorithm, which is infinitely large. The goal of SEO is to beat the competition. And the way to do that is to be least imperfect compared to the competition. Every website is imperfect against the Google algorithm. And when Google evaluates which pages to serve in its search results, it chooses the least imperfect compared to others for that search.

For more, read:

• How to Do Competitor Research for SEO

What Are Some Basic SEO Strategies That Get Results?

Here are five basic SEO strategies that are proven to get results:

1. Keyword and audience research
2. Information architecture aka SEO siloing
3. Quality content
4. Technical and on-page optimization
5. Linking practices

1. Keyword and Audience Research

SEO keywords are single words or short phrases that represent the search queries that people use in a search engine. Once you have identified your keywords and explored the intent behind them (i.e. what a person is trying to accomplish when they use them in Google), you can do the following and more:

• Identify and speak the language of the target market
• Create useful content for your target audience
• Communicate to Google that a webpage is a relevant match for a query
• Drive more qualified traffic to appropriate webpages

For more, read:

• What Are Keywords and Why Are They Important to SEO?
• SEO Guide: Keyword Research – How To Select Keywords

2. Information Architecture aka SEO Siloing

How you organize the content on your site matters for search engines and users. SEO siloing builds relevance for a website and positions it as an authority on a topic. It also helps website visitors navigate the content with ease, and get complete answers to their questions.

For more, read:

• SEO Siloing: What, Why, How
• 5 Times When SEO Siloing Can Make or Break Search Engine Rankings
• SEO Guide: Siloing – How to Structure Your Website

3. Quality Content

Google wants to display the most useful content to its search engine users. So quality content is likely the most important ranking factor to get right.

For more, read:

• What Makes a Webpage Quality?
• 5 Steps To Help Writers Create Expert Content for SEO

4. Technical and On-Page Optimization

The performance of your website matters to website visitors. That is why you need to make sure that the site provides a good user experience. You do this through technical SEO practices that optimize the back-end of the website.

In addition, you want to help Google understand what a webpage is about, and this can be accomplished through on-page SEO.

For more, read:

• The Always-Up-To-Date SEO Checklist
• Technical SEO vs. On-page SEO
• SEO Guide: Technical SEO Tips

5. Linking Practices

How you link to other webpages matters in SEO. There are three primary strategies in linking:

1. Internal links: How you link to pages within your website
2. Outbound links: Which websites do you link to
3. Inbound links: Which websites link to you

Each type of linking strategy has its own best practices. It is important to strive for quality and relevance with every link.

For more, read:

• A Jam-Packed Guide on Internal Linking for SEO
• What Are Outbound Links and Why Are They Important?
• The New Link-Building Manifesto: A Complete Guide to Earning Links That Count

Without the basics of SEO, websites suffer when Google changes things or we experience economic or market downturns. This results in knee-jerk reactions that end up costing businesses more in the end than an upfront investment in evergreen SEO strategies.

Looking to add an evergreen SEO strategy to your company plan? Talk to us. We can help.

FAQ: How can I implement an effective evergreen SEO strategy to stay competitive in an ever-changing digital landscape?

With search engine algorithms frequently changing and competition intensifying, adopting an evergreen SEO strategy is essential to remain competitive in the long run.

An evergreen SEO strategy focuses on core principles that remain effective regardless of algorithmic shifts. The key is prioritizing beating the competition rather than chasing after ever-changing search engine algorithms. Conducting thorough keyword research to identify and understand your competition is the first step. By analyzing what content ranks on Page 1 of search results for your target keywords, you gain valuable insights into your competitors’ strategies and areas for improvement.

Adopting a Whole-SERP approach is a crucial aspect of a successful evergreen SEO strategy. It goes beyond focusing solely on traditional blue links in search results. Instead, consider the various features that Google deems relevant for a specific query, such as featured snippets, images, videos, or knowledge graphs. By understanding which elements are prominent for your target keywords, you can tailor your SEO and content development efforts accordingly to maximize visibility and engagement.

Optimizing to be the least imperfect compared to your competition is another fundamental principle of an evergreen SEO strategy. Instead of obsessing over trying to outsmart the ever-changing ranking algorithms, concentrate on delivering the best possible user experience and content quality. Analyze the webpages that rank for your desired keywords and learn from their strengths. By providing more value to your audience and addressing their needs comprehensively, you increase your chances of ranking higher in search results.

Implementing evergreen SEO strategies involves five proven practices:

1. Conduct comprehensive keyword and audience research to understand user intent and create targeted content.
2. Optimize your website’s information architecture using SEO siloing to establish authority on specific topics and improve navigation.
3. Prioritize producing high-quality content that caters to your audience’s needs, as it remains the most significant ranking factor.
4. Ensure technical and on-page optimization to enhance user experience and facilitate search engine understanding.
5. Adopt effective linking practices including internal, outbound and inbound links to build authority and relevance for your website.

Mastering the art of evergreen SEO is essential for staying competitive in the ever-changing digital landscape. By focusing on beating the competition, understanding user intent and delivering high-quality, valuable content, businesses can create a solid foundation for long-term online success.

Step-by-Step Evergreen SEO Strategy Implementation: 

1. Conduct comprehensive keyword research to identify relevant target keywords.
2. Analyze competitor content that ranks on Page 1 of search results for your chosen keywords.
3. Identify areas for improvement and potential content gaps in your niche.
4. Develop a Whole-SERP strategy by considering different types of search engine results for your target queries.
5. Prioritize content creation that aligns with your audience’s search intent.
6. Implement SEO siloing to organize your website content and establish topic authority.
7. Optimize website navigation for user-friendly access to relevant content.
8. Focus on producing high-quality, valuable content that addresses your audience’s needs and queries.
9. Ensure technical SEO practices to improve website performance and user experience.
10. Optimize on-page elements such as meta tags, headers and content structure.
11. Utilize internal linking to guide users to related content within your website.
12. Employ outbound links to reputable sources that support and complement your content.
13. Seek quality inbound links from authoritative websites in your industry.
14. Monitor and analyze website performance and rankings regularly.
15. Continuously update and improve your content to remain relevant and valuable.
16. Stay up-to-date with industry trends and algorithm changes to adapt your strategy.
17. Leverage social media and other promotional channels to drive traffic to your content.
18. Encourage user engagement and interaction with your content.
19. Monitor and respond to feedback and comments from your audience.
20. Continuously evaluate and refine your evergreen SEO strategy based on performance metrics and changing market demands.

The post Why SEO Basics Still Matter + Evergreen SEO Tips appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

So, you’ve invested time and resources into SEO and got more targeted traffic. Without converting that traffic, what do you have to show for your hard work and investment?

You want to ensure your website is set up to maximize the value of your organic traffic. And that starts with optimizing for conversions.

In fact, SEO and conversion are two halves of a pie: SEO drives traffic to your site. Conversion optimization helps move those website visitors to action. Let’s look closer at why conversion optimization is an important part of your internet marketing program.

In this article:

• What is a conversion?
• What is conversion rate optimization and why does it matter to SEO?
• 3 steps to get started with conversion optimization
• FAQ: Why is conversion optimization important for maximizing the value of your organic traffic?

What Is a Conversion?

A conversion is when a website visitor completes a desired action that either brings them closer to a sale or to an actual sale. A conversion can be any action that moves a visitor further down the conversion funnel.

Some examples include:

• A phone call
• Filling out a form
• Clicking on a link
• Downloading a content asset
• Watching a video
• Buying a service or product
• Subscribing to a service

What Is Conversion Rate Optimization and Why Does It Matter to SEO?

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is a strategy to increase the percentage of website visitors that take a desired action. CRO does this by making variable changes to a webpage. The outcome? Make it perform better and ultimately boost your bottom line.

Conversion optimization is important for any website owner for at least these three reasons:

1. Potential customers are leaving you. The average website conversion is between 2% and 5% depending on the industry and device type. According to Statista, for instance, e-commerce websites in 2020 saw only 2.06% conversion rate. That means on average, about 98% of people who visit an e-commerce site leave without making a conversion.
2. You’re losing money. By optimizing and retesting the same webpage in iterations, you can improve performance. That means claiming more of the money that you lose every time a visitor bounces. Each time you make an improvement to a page, that improvement continues to perform even after the test is complete.
3. Your competitors are already testing. Top companies participate in some form of conversion testing. For instance, Google ran more than 600,000 tests to improve Search in 2020 alone. Chances are, you have already been a participant in one of these tests without knowing it.

CRO can be the critical next step in getting the most value from your SEO traffic.

Remember: The most important metric to measure SEO success is traffic. Conversions are typically out of the scope of an SEO program and in the hands of the website publisher.

Of course, website publishers can get expert advice on how to maximize conversions and then put in place those recommendations. But it is up to you to make those changes on your site.

3 Steps to Get Started with Conversion Optimization

Get Executive Buy-In

Getting executive buy-in can be a challenge – mostly in smaller businesses. In small businesses, it’s not uncommon for the president of the company to play a big role in the website.

This gives them a “parent” complex, where they view the site as their child, and directives are often subjective. This contrasts what the website should actually be treated as: a salesperson.

The best way to counterbalance the parent mentality is through evidence and facts. Be prepared when you meet with your boss. Go in armed with case studies and examples of real-world results. A single Google search can dig up countless case studies to support your cause for conversion optimization.

One approach is the attitude of “it’s only testing.” This shows your boss that the changes you’re proposing are only temporary unless they outperform what already exists.

Need help getting buy-in from your organization? Watch our on-demand webinar 6 Successful Ways To Get Company Buy-in for SEO.

Set Goals

Ultimately, you want every page on your site to funnel visitors toward conversion.

How do you do that? Set clear goals.

To set clear goals, you need to answer these questions:

Who is your audience? A good SEO program should have done the legwork of defining who your audience is if you don’t already know. You can look at things like demographics, keyword research, and customer interviews for more insights.

Creating personas based on audience research will help you to target your actual customers, rather than people you think are customers.

Related: 3 Steps to Define Your Audience for Your SEO Program

What are the goals for your audience(s)? What do you want this segment to do? Even without testing, if you orient website changes around your audience, it will typically show some improvements. And through testing, you can increase the success of those improvements.

What are the goals for any given webpage? Understand what goals you have for any given webpage and how visitors are expected to accomplish those goals. Keep your goals and audience in mind even when designing what may seem like minor elements like an “add to cart” button or hero banner call-to-action.

Test, and Then Test Some More

A room full of executives or marketing staff could sit around for weeks thinking up new designs, navigation, headlines, images, and more; but in the end, all they will have is an educated guess at best.

In fact, many times these folks are so out of touch with actual customers that calling it an “educated guess” isn’t even valid. Only through testing can you confirm those ideas and know for sure whether they are effective.

Many site owners shy away from conversion testing because of the potential negative impact it could have. However, there is value even if the testing produces fewer conversions on a webpage than it did prior. This way, you know what not to do.

It’s important to keep in mind, though, that educated testing seldom produces negative results. Even when negative results occur, you are not bound by those results.

(Typically a test can run anywhere from a few weeks to a month, so it’s a short-term period that likely won’t have a lasting negative impact on business.)

Also, the benefits of knowing what you should not do to your site based on negative test results can justify the value of having to run that test.

Ready to increase your conversion rate on your site? Our SEO Training course will help you take website visitors and turn them into customers.

FAQ: Why is conversion optimization important for maximizing the value of your organic traffic?

Conversion optimization is an invaluable strategy for businesses seeking to maximize organic traffic. By increasing the conversion rate on the website, conversion optimization can increase visitor value from organic search. Conversion optimization plays a pivotal role in strengthening an organization’s online presence.

Organic traffic is invaluable as it comes from users actively searching for your products or services. But to be successful, conversion optimization involves more than simply visitors. To be truly effective, it involves leading users toward desired actions such as making purchases, filling out forms, or subscribing to your newsletters.

By optimizing your site for conversions, organic traffic won’t go to waste. Visitors will be empowered and encouraged to interact with your content instead of passively browsing — this results in higher conversion rates, sales increases and overall an improved return on investment from organic traffic.

Conversion optimization involves improving the user’s experience on your website. You can do this by observing user behaviors, conducting A/B tests and adding user-friendly design elements that ensure an enjoyable, seamless journey for visitors. This will ultimately cause them to stay longer, view additional pages and convert into customers.

Conversion optimization provides another great opportunity to identify potential friction points or barriers in the user’s journey and eliminate them. By analyzing data and gathering feedback from users, conversion optimization enables you to identify obstacles preventing visitors from converting and take proactive steps to address them, improving not only conversion rates but also user satisfaction and loyalty.

Businesses cannot ignore the significance of optimizing for conversions in today’s highly competitive online environment. By investing time and resources to optimize your website for conversions, businesses can maximize the value of organic traffic while simultaneously increasing revenue growth and business success. A well-optimized site not only draws visitors, but also encourages them to take desired actions that lead to greater revenues for increased business success.

Conversion optimization is essential to unlocking the full value of organic traffic. Your website can become an effective business development tool by improving conversion rates, improving user experience and eliminating barriers that inhibit conversions.

The post SEO and Conversions: Two Halves of a Pie appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..