When trawling the internet, which results are you most likely to click? It’s said that the top 3 search engine results will receive the most engagement, but it can sometimes seem impossible to get there for your chosen keywords.
Websites require constant optimisation to stay at the top of the game, and ensure your site is ranking for the searches that mean the most to you.
Here are 5 ways you can think about your keyword strategy to ensure your website is ranking where it should be.
1. Research is key
It’s important to research your sector, research your keywords and research your target market. Think about your ideal customer and what their needs are. From here, we can think about the kind of terms or keyword phrases they might be using to find your product or services. Or analyse your competitors to see how rival companies compare to your results, and what kind of keywords they are ranking for through their content marketing.
From here, you can make a cohesive campaign which provides exactly what your users will want. Remember to think about every stage in the buying cycle. Someone that is still researching or comparing will search differently in contrast to someone who knows exactly what they want to buy.
2. Be specific
Long tail keywords are more descriptive, specific keywords. Finding these long-tail keywords is often more beneficial for your strategy as the searcher is further down the buyer cycle. You can easily target customers who are specifically looking for what your website is offering.
For example:
- Instead of “Black shoes” try, “Black leather shoes with heel”
- Instead of “IT support” try, “IT support business in Bristol”
Long-tail keywords are more about the intent of the user, so really think about what they will be searching for to get the most out of your campaign. Then, think about the best position for them in your content, whether as headings, subheadings, body content, or as part of your meta description.
3. Remember SEO best practice
We’ve all been on websites which are slow or have too many clicks to get to the page you want, so make your interface smooth and consistent, with easy-to-read content for the user to have the best possible experience. We don’t want to frustrate them; you want them to return!
Remember that good quality content improves your rankings, so make sure the keywords are seamlessly integrated into your content and pages so they can bring in high quality traffic.
We've all seen websites where the copy is so full of keywords that it barely makes sense, and it makes for a poor user experience. Keep your website fresh with regularly updated content that engages with your user.
4. Making the right changes
If your keyword rankings aren’t improving, work out why it hasn’t been successful. Look at your traffic data to see if there have been any dips or anomalies. If you have a high bounce rate, perhaps your site’s interface isn’t working for the user, or the landing page isn’t relevant to the initial search term. These types of errors can have big consequences and can change the ways in which websites are ranked.
Look at what is currently trending and see if you can adapt it to match your own campaign. Perhaps there’s a sneaky competitor who has found something you haven’t. All these things need to be considered.
5. Keep up to date with your keywords
Even once you have started to see a positive difference, it’s important not to get complacent. Due to the nature of changing algorithms in the digital landscape, keep up to date with which keywords are popular, and which are not, with software like SEMrush.
6.Check in with algorithm updates
It's not just the top keywords that can change when you're not looking, but the criteria Google uses to rank webpages.
Many businesses were blindsided with a drop in their rankings this year when the algorithm started putting more weight on user's experience of a page - including page speed. The search engine put out a warning ahead of time, but many missed the announcement. Make sure to stay informed of when google is going to make a change, and how other businesses are ranking higher with the update.
7.Link Building
Your pages will rank higher for keywords if google trusts your website as an authority. One way to do that it through building links.
This can be done as part of your PR strategy or, in the long term, creating content that everyone will want to link to, but you can start just by making sure to include both external and internal links on each blog post.
As you develop your strategy, you might look at writing guest posts for related sites, creating content relevant to journalists or industry leaders, and building relationships with businesses who would receive credibility or value through linking to your content.
Beware, however, tools and directories which will claim to instantly get you dozens of backlinks. Many of these are known to google and may actually negatively affect your rankings.
If you are looking for help identifying a great search engine optimisation strategy, SpiderDigital are here to help. We are a digital marketing agency in Bristol who can help you develop a keyword strategy that works for your business goals.
Post Updated October 2021
