For a cost effective and accountable marketing tactic, proven to get results and improve your online business presence, you cannot go past investing in a solid Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategy.
Since the dawn of the internet we have seen new avenues of marketing and advertising open-up. With the social media revolution and continual sophistication of programs, media and technology across various platforms we are very much living in a virtual world daily. Whether we want to or not we must go with the flow and make the most of what the internet has to offer.
The web is in a constant state of flux, ever changing, ever improving. It can often be overwhelming for a new business to come to terms with everything going on in cyber-space. But, guess what? You don’t need to stay on top of it all and you don’t need to understand all the ins-and-outs of Internet marketing. What you need to do is get online marketing specialists on board to do so on your behalf.
Since the ‘dot.com’ boom there are many companies that have sprung-up specialising in online marketing and advertising. Today each and every one of them understands the importance of a well-formulated SEO strategy.
What is SEO?
Search engine optimisation means getting your business mentioned towards the top of search engine rankings when a customer searches for a term relevant to what your business does or sells.
For example, say you own a business that deals in selling and renting real estate and properties on the Sunshine Coast. Let’s call it ‘Sunny Real Estate’. A potential customer looking to buy a home on the Sunshine Coast goes to Google or another search engine, and types in any assortment of phrases related to real estate such as:
- Real estate Sunshine Coast
- Buy a house Sunshine Coast
- Queensland houses for sale
- Buy a home Sunshine Coast
- Property for sale Queensland
- And so on and so on
With an effective SEO strategy in place, over time, ‘Sunny Real Estate’ will creep closer and closer to the top of the search results. So instead of being on page 3 of Google, you will be visible closer and closer to the top of page 1.
SEO is by far one of the most effective long-term brand exposure strategies and as such you must exercise patience as the results will begin to show gradually. They will not be apparent overnight. SEO is a marathon, not a race, and a successful SEO plan will last the distance to get your business into top place.
What is involved in SEO Strategy?
SEO strategy consists of in-depth keyword research, copywriting, thorough content development, social media marketing, local marketing and link building. These avenues all converge to become your business’ overall SEO strategy.
What are the steps to coming up with an SEO strategy?
Put simply, without any jargon, SEO is:
Excellent and relevant content + quality links = moving up in the search engine rankings.
Step #1
- This means writing pages for your website that use keywords favoured by Google (such as those listed above if you were the owner of ‘Sunny Real Estate’) coupled with content that is engaging, concise and relevant to your business.
Step #2
- These pages become authority pages by earning links (namely people click on them because they are useful). The more clicks gained the better chances of your page becoming an authority page in Google search results. For example, in this blog, we might recommend the following link to see how else we could promote your business (http://www.bigideasgroup.com.au/news-category/blog-5). The more people who click this link, the more ‘votes’ we receive on that particular page, and the higher the likelihood of Google moving this page towards the top of Google search results.
Step #3
- Keep adding website pages/content. A great way to do so is to add a blog to your site. That way you can keep things fresh and cover a variety of topics such as the latest industry trends, product launches and anything else relevant to your brand. Google rewards websites that are regularly updated.
So if you are business-savvy, make the most of the power of the Internet and call in the experts to tailor an SEO strategy that works for your business.
Photo Credit (Flickr)
