Ranking high on Google is crucial. Strong SEO drives traffic, leads, and conversions.
How can SEO improve my business’ visibility?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving your website’s content to rank higher on search engines like Google. There are various techniques and strategies you can implement to better the quality of the content, target the keywords that the search engines are going to crawl, and even make structural improvements like site speed and responsiveness — and all of these are going to improve your website’s visibility through SEO.
8 Steps to Boost Your SEO and Climb to Page One
1. Conduct Keyword Research
Keywords are the foundation of SEO. If you have the right keywords, then the search engines know that your content aligns with exactly what your target audience is searching for. It’s tempting to think that you can rely on intuition and industry knowledge to come up with keywords. Still, there are keyword research services that will help you hone in on the specific keywords while also conducting competitor keyword research.
How to do it: Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs to find relevant keywords with high search volume and low competition.
2. Optimize On-Page Elements
Search engines do not only read text, they also look at all of the behind-the-scenes components of your website when considering on-page SEO optimization. This helps search engines understand the content and context of your pages.
How to do it: Check that your title tags are constructed with target keywords, that your meta descriptions are rooted in keyword targeting, and that all headers and content include your target keywords. Web optimization also includes user-friendly URLs and alt text for images.
Not sure about alt text best practices or how to write alt text? We’ve got you covered! Shoot us an email at Hello@RedThinking.com and let’s get started.
3. Create High-Quality Content
You can’t just run your content through ChatGPT and expect perfect results. Search engines recognize good, quality content, and they prioritize it when determining rankings. The highest quality content will attract visitors, and those visitors will stay longer on your site — the longer your stay, the more your ranking is improved.
How to do it: Write informative, engaging, and original content that provides value to your audience. Give them a reason to stay. Encourage them to travel throughout your website, going from one page to the next. Regularly update your blog or website with fresh content.
4. Improve Site Speed
Have you ever landed on a slow website? Chances are, you navigated away quickly. That hurts a website’s ranking. Meanwhile, a fast-loading website enhances user experience and improves ranking.
How to do it: This is one of the non-flashy parts of SEO, but it’s so critical. Optimize your images for the web, leverage browser caching, and use content delivery networks (CDNs). If you need help figuring out where your site speed is falling short or need to figure out how to optimize images for SEO, tools like Google PageSpeed Insights can help identify areas for improvement.
5. Enhance Mobile-Friendliness
Think about how often you’re looking up websites on your phone — what do you do if it’s not responsive to mobile? You probably look for another similar website that is. That’s why having a mobile-friendly website is key to SEO.
How to do it: Ensure your website is responsive and that the user experience on mobile is just as good as the experience on desktop. Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool can help assess your site and help you learn how to make your website mobile-friendly.
6. Build Quality Backlinks
When other people think that what you say matters, search engines will think that what you say matters. That’s why backlinks from reputable sites enhance your site’s authority and improve search engine rankings.
How to do it: Create shareable content that other websites will want to share to improve their authority, engage in guest blogging with similar websites, and reach out to industry influencers for quality backlinks. You can also use an SEO backlink service.
7. Utilize Technical SEO
To see that you have quality content, search engines need to be able to crawl your website. Technical SEO ensures that search engines can easily crawl and index your site, which can put you in the running for a higher ranking.
How to do it: Create a sitemap to help determine the essential pages and improve your site’s architecture. Then ensure there are no broken links or duplicate content. You can use tools like Google Search Console for monitoring and making sure that nothing breaks under your radar.
8. Monitor and Analyze Performance
SEO is a living, breathing process. The algorithms and even the search interest of real people are constantly changing. You always need to stay on top of what’s going on with your website and your competitors’ websites. By regularly monitoring your ranking and your site’s content and technical elements, you’ll have a better understanding of the impact of your SEO efforts and identify areas for improvement.
How to do it: Use analytics tools like Google Analytics and SEMrush for SEO page analysis and to track your rankings, traffic, and user behavior. You can also conduct SEO competitive analysis to see where you stand next to top competitors.
Effectively Maximize Your SEO With a Skilled Partner
While SEO can be learned, bringing in experts makes the process smoother and more effective. At Red Thinking, we understand that SEO isn’t a one-time task—it’s an ongoing effort. Our team knows the strategies, keeps up with industry shifts, and continually adapts. We’re here to manage the complexities, so you can focus on your business while we ensure your SEO is always working at its best.
To get the most out of that process and maximize your SEO investment, here are a few tips to keep in mind (and your future partner can help with these!).
- Find the Right SEO Partner
Depending on whether you’re looking to bulk up solely your SEO or you want a more comprehensive approach that includes broader marketing efforts, you may want to go with an SEO specialist or a marketing agency. There’s no one right approach, just the approach that’s right for you.
- Understand Your SEO Goals
Every website has different SEO goals. You might be focused on driving conversions, building brand awareness, or simply getting more traffic. A good partner can help clarify your goals, but understanding them is the crucial first step in creating a successful SEO strategy.
- Know Where You Stand Today
To improve SEO, you need to know where you’re starting. That’s the first key in any business move that involves measurement. Then, working with a partner, you can define the benchmarks that you want to hit as you work to improve your ranking.
- Look at the Relationship Collaboratively
The most successful SEO partnerships are grounded in collaboration. At Red Thinking, we stay up-to-date with your evolving goals and keep you informed about changes in algorithms and search rankings. By focusing on strategic discussions and leveraging our expertise, you’re making the most of your partnership. This is why you hired us—so take advantage of the opportunity to learn, collaborate, and grow together.
We Can Help Optimize Your Website
At Red Thinking, we live and breathe SEO. We offer tailored SEO services and ensure continuous monitoring and updates, so you stay on page one as long as we work together.