Search engine optimization is a critical component of your business’s online marketing strategy and overall branding efforts, but the end result of receiving a high rank on search engines for keywords isn’t the only part of SEO that you should be focusing on. Read ahead for leading tips on the various ways you can boost your search engine optimization rank for keywords and learn why SEO rankings are so important!

Improve your Search Engine Optimization with these tips       

1. Find out which words you should be targeting: Inbound marketing is all about creating helpful content inspired by the various needs, questions, and desires of your ideal customers, or your target audience. Find out which keywords to optimize for with online tools, such as the various Google keyword tools to help you narrow down the words you should be targeting.
2. Research the popularity of specific keywords: After finding out which keywords your target audience typically searches for, it’s time to research the popularity for specific keywords and phrases that you have the greatest chance of ranking for. While you want to give yourself the best chance at ranking for highly searched keywords, it’s best to strategize around long tail keywords that are most relevant to the research you found on your target audience.
3. Use long-tail keywords: Research keywords, especially long-tail keywords, based on your target audience’s online patterns of behavior, not just their rank-ability and popularity according to Google analytics tools; in other words, instead of relying on one specific keyword, a long tail keyword is a more optimized phrase with 3 or 4 words that increases the likelihood that a search engine user will find your content when looking for that specific topic or subject.
4. Optimize your title using the keyword: A strongly titled piece of content is not only consistent with what is actually being talked about in the content itself, but is also built around long tail key words that your target audience is likely to search for. It’s important to incorporate your long tail keywords in your title because search engines will look for keywords within titles, subtitles, and headlines as well.
5. Build the body of your content around keywords: Once you have researched key words and phrases with online tools that give you an informed look at what your potential site visitors and customers are searching for, you learn more about the best ideas and themes to build your content around. Don’t lose sight of the fact that the purpose of the content is to help and delight your readers!
6. Keywords can also be used in/around links: Remember to use consistency when naming your links so that the keywords are the same for every avenue that a piece of content is linked to. Similar to the way you should be incorporating long tail keywords into your title and subtitle, you should also use keywords in and around links in your content.
7. Search engines are smart-don’t overstuff with keywords: Search engines continue to get smarter and more efficient at delivering search results pages that will give users the results they are really looking for, so trying to bypass the hard work of building content around your keywords by stuffing your content with keywords is not the way to improve your SEO!

While SEO doesn’t necessarily cost any fee to implement using the above tips, successful use of search engine optimization techniques requires dedication, patience, and often the hiring of an online marketing professional company like LOJO, who knows exactly how to optimize your site to get you the best chance of ranking on the first page.

Written by Cassie Sohn