Some websites always appear at the top of search results pages, while others are nowhere to be found. This happens because of SEO, or Search Engine Optimization. When you implement SEO on your website, you give your website a magnet to attract the right visitors from search engines.
But SEO isn’t a small thing; it’s a process with clear steps and takes time. In this blog, we’ll cover 4 essential stages of SEO in easy-to-understand bits.
Stage 1: Find What People Search For
Suppose you’re opening an online store. You will not just offer random things just by guessing that someone will buy them. You’ll have to figure out what people are looking for! Similarly, in SEO, keywords are what people search for. They’re the words and phrases that people type into search engines. It’s what helps you get found.
The first stage is keyword research. Here’s what you can do:
- Think like a customer: think about what words you would use to find something that you offer – the product or the services. Collect and brainstorm a list of keywords.
- Keep an eye on the competition: See what keywords your competitors use for tanking. You can find this by using free tools available on the search engines.
- Find the perfect keywords: Not all keywords give you equal results or outputs. Some of them are super competitive with millions searching for them and providing the content for the same. Meanwhile, others might be more specific with a smaller audience.
You should go for keywords with good search volume (how many people search for them) but low and manageable competition. You can use either free or paid tools to help you find the perfect keywords.
Stage 2: Build a Strong Foundation
Now, what if your online store is built on a not-so-strong platform? It isn’t ideal, right? Technical SEO helps you build the foundation for your website while making sure your website is easy to use and search engines can easily find and understand it. Here’s what you need to be capable of providing:
Mobile-friendliness: Don’t forget that most people search from their phones, so your website must be able to run smoothly on all devices – mobile phones, tablets, laptops and desktops.
Fast loading speed: Nobody likes to wait these days, especially for a slow website to load. To avoid ignorance and to prevent your audience from switching to another, make sure that your website loads quickly for a better user experience.
Clear website structure: What if your website isn’t organized – you’ll make the visitors go away. But, if it’s well structured, visitors (and search engines) will be able to find what they’re looking for easily. This also includes having a clear navigation feature and well-organized content.
Additionally, keep clean codes on your websites. This helps the search engines understand the codes and the website.
Stage 3: Content Creation and Optimization
When your website is technically great and people search for something relevant to what you offer, you should be able to appear in the search results. So, to attract your customers, you need to create content. You should aim to create content that provides value.
Don’t compromise the quality of content. Remember to make sure that your website’s content is information. Focus on making it engaging, valuable and something that solves the query of your reader. It should give answers to the doubts people have.
To make it visible, include keywords – don’t stuff them. Put them throughout the content naturally. Don’t force a keyword to fit somewhere it isn’t meant to. Plus, don’t just stick with one format or type of content. Use images, videos, infographics, quizzes, polls etc to keep your users engaged and give them an enhanced user experience.
Stage 4: Link Building
What if your store is working fine, easy to navigate and provides a solution to each problem but can’t be found? You might be missing a lot of opportunities to grow. To help hidden websites appear, links are built – internally as well as externally. Here’s why links are important-
- Search engine work understands that links from other websites are a sign of trust and authority. The more high-quality websites link to you, the better your website will rank and emerge.
- Links act like roads from other websites to your website, bringing more visitors to your website.
Track and Analyze
‘T connect SEO with speed or a one-time investment. SEO is an ongoing process. It takes time to work and show results. To help you keep track of it, many free and paid SEO tools can help you monitor your website’s ranking, traffic sources, and user behavior. By understanding this data, you can improve your strategy and keep your website growing on the search engines!
