With more than 131,000 registered businesses in Brisbane alone, it is clear that you have a lot of competition in this River City. So it is not surprising at all that many entrepreneurs have set up shop in Brisbane. Firstly, it is the third-most populous city in Australia, giving you a big market. Secondly, tourists abound, too, giving you an even wider segment to earn profit from. Finally, the pleasant weather all year round makes it conducive to run a business.
To ensure that your business stays on track, your brand needs to stay visible. And one way to do that is SEO or search engine optimisation because users today automatically search on Google for answers. If you want your prospects and existing clients to see your goods or services, your website must rank high on the search engine results page (SERP). Fortunately, you can rely on SEO companies Brisbane to help you set up your official website. Remember, proper SEO means that your website shows up to the right people at the right time. As a newbie who wants to jump-start your SEO journey, here are some tips to make it an effective part of your digital strategy:
Start With Clear Objectives
Before you even dive right into your SEO strategies, you must first define the goals of your website. Each business is different, so setting clear aims from the get-go will help you hit the right targets. This is essential for using the right SEO tools, especially for tracking conversions and evaluating benchmarks.
Remember, failing to plan is planning to fail. To define what you want! For example, assess if you want to boost brand awareness or increase sales? Knowing this ahead will help you ascertain what Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track and assess. They could be any of the following:
- Downloads
- Email subscriber
- Sales
- Phone calls
- Submission of the contact form
Though increasing website traffic and rankings are great because they can help boost visibility, your goals should not be mere vanity metrics. Instead, SEO must support definitive business goals that have an impact on your bottom line. Besides, with clear objectives in place, you can direct your strategy effectively and utilise resources properly.
Evaluate the Competition
“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer!” Indeed there is a lot of truth to this adage. If you want your company to succeed, know your competition and find out what they do well. Then, take stock of what they do online by searching trending topics and viral shares. Who is at the top, and what are they famous for?
Doing so will give you a good view of what you need to fight against. Researching your enemies strengths and weaknesses tell you what you ought to focus on. They can also show you which areas you need to improve. Most of all, you can find out a lot about your target market by reviewing who they interact with online.
Perform Keyword Research
You must know the right keywords for your niche so that when users try to find answers for them, your website will rank high in SERP. This means finding out the relevant keywords in your industry and the most popular ones for your users. You can use keyword tools like Google Adwords or SEMrush to get started. From there, you can choose both short-tail (1 to 3 words with high volume searches) and long-tail keywords (longer and more specific but with fewer search volumes).
Alternatively, you can also seek advice on keywords relevant to your brand with the help of SEO companies Brisbane. The right professionals will not just help find keywords but use them effectively in your on-page SEO strategy for maximum results. They incorporate keywords in the following areas:
- Landing pages
- Blog posts
- Title tags
- Meta descriptions
Comprehend User Intent Well
When you perform keyword research, keep in mind that it is not merely finding out which words have the highest search volumes. You must also consider the users’ intention in finding these keywords. There are three intents for searching, and these are:
- Navigational: An individual just want to go to a specific website to take a peek out of curiosity
- Information: A user wants specific information regarding a product model or service
- Transactional: The person is ready to buy a specific good or service
When you know user intent, you can curate content that specifically targets the right keywords. To illustrate, a blog article will need an informational keyword like “How to Fix Your Teeth Alignment”, while a service page will utilise a transactional keyword like “best orthodontist” or “cosmetic dentistry”.
Do Not Write Like a Robot
Though keywords are vital to your success, you cannot write like a robot just to suit the best keywords. Today, search engines have grown smarter, so they rank pages accordingly. In addition, they want quality, engaging content that caters to the audience. After all, the more natural the content, the better the user experience it offers.
For best results, write organically and avoid keyword stuffing. Spamming your keyword throughout your content will have a negative impact. In fact, Google is known to penalise sites that use this approach. Instead, write quality content that resonates with humans before search engines. Make it a point to generate fresh content because SEO tools will not help you rank if you recycle generic content and merely spam keywords throughout.
Consider Developing Long-Form Materials
Finally, though users love short content, do not forget to have cornerstone content made of longer materials. These are usually more than 1,200 words long as opposed to short ones with 500 or 800 words. These longer ones consistently rank better and receive more shares than “thin” content without much information.
Develop a long-form strategy that will allow you to provide information to website visitors looking for in-depth information. Though attention spans are getting shorter, you must have materials on hand that offer more quality and engagement. This is where comprehending user content comes in because if they search for informational keywords, you must have a guide that showcases your expertise and authority. Thus, having a mix of both attention-grabbing short materials and longer content will attract and retain attention.