But knowing the fundamentals lays the foundations for a solid and effective SEO crash course for your business.
The Goals of SEO
Businesses use SEO to position themselves in SERPs, gain visibility, and generate traffic to their sites. The more visitors coming to your site, the higher your conversion rates and revenue will be.
In order to provide the best results for users, Google and other search engines constantly update the algorithms used for ranking sites like yours.
But the fundamentals of SEO crash course remain the same. The following are the basic pillars of an effective SEO strategy:
- Keywords
- Competitive analysis
- On-site optimization
- Link profile
Know Your Keywords
Determining what keywords you want to rank for is the first step in your SEO strategy. But you must strike a balance between keywords that have a high level of competition and those that are unique but don’t generate enough traffic.
Use Google’s Keyword Tool or Bling’s Keyword Research Tool to help you perform your keyword research.
Know Your Competition
Competitive analysis is often overlooked by businesses when developing their SEO strategies. But a careful analysis of your competition provides valuable information that helps your own SEO efforts.
Your competition’s websites tell you what keywords they’re ranking for along with other aspects that are helping (and hurting) their SEO. You can leverage this information to develop a strategy that can position you ahead of your competitors over time.
Optimize Your Site
On-site optimization consists of the backend components of your website that impact rankings. The following are just some of the elements to consider:
- Title tags
- Metadata
- Page URLs
- ALT text
- Images
- Content
On-site optimization must be done alongside keyword research and competitive analysis in order to get the SEO results you’re looking for.
Who’s Linking to You?
Your site’s link profile is the final component of a foundational SEO strategy. Inbound links signal trustworthiness and authority in the eyes of search engines. But having external links that direct users to your site isn’t enough.
The quality of your inbound links is a significant factor in how search engines rank your site’s pages. High-quality websites that are related to the services and products you offer provide greater “link juice” than others.
Building a quality link profile takes time and is often the most difficult part of a comprehensive SEO campaign.
You should focus your efforts on generating links from sites that have a high PageRank score, are relevant to your audience, and aren’t linking to too many other sites in addition to yours.
These are the fundamental components of SEO crash course to consider despite the changes that you’ll face over time. Algorithm updates, the use of mobile, and the behaviors of online users have influenced the evolution of SEO.
Understanding the basics ensures that you are implementing what you need to maintain your rankings in the long run.
If you need a more customized strategy for SEO, let us know in the comments below. We’ll provide the resources you need to achieve high rankings in the SERPs and ensure the long-term success for your business.
