Sprinkle some keywords here, add a clickbait-y headline there—that used to be the secret sauce for search engine optimization (SEO) success. But with algorithm changes, SEO marketing has evolved.
Today, understanding and matching your visitors’ intent is key. Search engines work by evaluating how well your content meets user needs.
In this article, explore different types of SEO marketing and learn how to boost organic search results for your online store or website.
What is SEO marketing?
SEO marketing is a digital marketing practice that boosts your website’s visibility in search engine results. It involves optimizing your webpages so search engines like Google can easily understand and rank them. Optimization here refers to adding relevant keywords, improving site speed, and ensuring mobile friendliness. You can use SEO marketing to generate leads and potentially boost sales for your business.
Why is SEO marketing important?
To run a successful website, it’s essential to ensure that potential customers can find your products or content. According to Google statistics, 49% of shoppers use Google search to find or discover a new item. Therefore, it’s crucial to prioritize your site’s visibility on the search engine results page (SERP).
Even if your website looks great, low search rankings can make it difficult for visitors to find you. By following a solid SEO strategy, you can improve your visibility and attract more targeted traffic, ultimately leading to increased sales and customer satisfaction.
Types of SEO marketing
Types of SEO marketing
SEO marketing typically comprises the following three activities:
On-page SEO
On-page SEO covers optimizing content, like text, images, and videos, to help visitors and search engines understand what it implies. Google and other search engines analyze certain on-page SEO factors to determine content quality and rank websites in SERPs.
Examples of important on-page SEO factors include meta information, webpage slug URL, images, and topic and keyword relevance.
Metadata
Metadata is the behind-the-scenes information that helps search engines understand your site. It doesn’t appear on webpages but is embedded in your website’s HTML code, where it labels and tags content to aid search engine bots in indexing and ranking your site.
You’ll want to keep your metadata detailed and up to date so that search engines can properly interpret your site. Here are its key components:
- Title tag that names your webpage
- Meta descriptions that summarize page content
- Heading and subheading tags that organize your content
- Robot tags that guide search engines on indexing and following links
URL slug
A webpage’s slug is a part of the URL that identifies a specific page on your website. It appears after the backslash (“/”) and gives a unique name to each page. For example, the slug of this blog post is “seo-marketing.”
Use slugs that help both search engines and visitors understand your page content. Here are some best practices to follow:
- Keep it short and relevant.
- Include primary keywords.
- Avoid special characters and spaces.
- Use hyphens to separate words.
Topic relevance
Webpages that meet the search intent of users do well in search engines. Search intent is what users are hoping to find when they enter their queries. For example, someone searching for “best running shoes” wants recommendations and reviews.
To meet this intent, think about what users need and provide that information. You can also offer fresh insights and regularly update facts to keep your content relevant and authoritative. Stick to topics where you have expertise to produce valuable and trustworthy content.
Off-page SEO
SEO marketing involves much more than just optimizing the content on your website. Another important component you should focus on is off-page SEO, which involves building backlinks on other websites that point to your site.
By obtaining more relevant, high-quality backlinks, you can increase your website’s domain authority and show search engines that your site is reputable and trustworthy.
Here’s a closer look at both components:
Backlinks
Backlinks are at the heart of search engine marketing. These links from other sites to yours are key to Google’s PageRank algorithm.
PageRank is Google’s original system for ranking webpages, determining their importance based on the quality and quantity of backlinks. Despite many changes to the search algorithm over the years, PageRank remains an important aspect of SEO marketing strategy.
Sites that earn high-quality backlinks from respected sources are viewed as more authoritative. The more quality links you have, the better your site will rank in search engine results. This is based on the idea that valuable content naturally attracts links from other reputable websites.
Domain authority
Domain authority is a measure of your site’s credibility. Search engines use factors like link quality and content relevance to establish a website’s domain authority.
Established websites with high domain authority tend to rank better in search engine results pages. You can increase your domain authority by:
- Creating high-quality, relevant content
- Building strong backlinks from reputable sites
- Optimizing your site for user experience and SEO
Technical SEO
Technical SEO involves making changes in the back end of your website to help boost its search performance. Technical SEO aims to boost site speed and optimize webpages for mobile users. Overall, it helps search engine crawlers index your site better.
Four SEO marketing tactics
Ready to climb higher in search results? With an understanding of what SEO marketing is, it’s time to explore some core tactics.
1. Keyword research
Keyword research sets the tone for SEO marketing activities. You want to find and target keywords your target audience is using. No matter how great the products in your store, customers may not come across them online if you’re not targeting the right search keywords.
You can use a keyword research tool like Ahrefs or Keywords Everywhere to generate keyword ideas that may work for your business. Ideally, you should select keywords that have enough volume to drive significant traffic, but not so much competition that you’re locked in a battle with companies like Amazon. Make a list of relevant keywords, then narrow down your list based on what makes sense for your site.
2. Competitive analysis
If you’re aiming to improve your visibility in search engines, knowing which keywords to target is only half the battle. The next crucial step is understanding your competitors’ SEO strategies and finding ways to outperform them.
To start, you can identify your competitors’ top-performing pages and examine the sources of their organic traffic. The same keyword research tools will come in handy for competitive analysis. With the insights you gain into their content tactics, you can craft a more effective SEO approach that helps your website stand out to search engine algorithms.
For instance, if a competitor is generating significant traffic via an educational blog post or TikTok, you can use this information to inform your content strategy as you build your online presence.
3. Image optimization
While you might primarily focus on your site’s written content, search engines also crawl and rank your images. To ensure you don’t miss out on the traffic generated via image searches, optimize your images by incorporating your keywords into their file names and alt attributes.
Also, ensure to use the optimum file format and size for your images. Large images can affect the visitor experience of your site, since they have long load times. To ensure your website loads fast for users and search engines, use a plug-in or app that automatically compresses site images.
4. Link building
Link building can boost your search engine rankings by leveraging the authority of other websites. To generate links for your site, start by establishing your presence on social media platforms and local business directories. These links, though basic, can build a foundation for your search engine rankings.
Once you have a strong foundation, you can start reaching out to relevant websites or news outlets your audience frequents. If you have subject-matter expertise, you can pitch a blog post that includes a link back to your website. Launching a PR campaign is another option.
Try different link building methods and double down on tactics that give you the most lift in search engine results.
Reaping the benefits of SEO marketing
SEO marketing has a lot to offer businesses. With its ability to improve online visibility, attract more traffic, and ultimately drive more business, it is an essential tool for staying competitive in today’s digital landscape. Don’t wait any longer to start reaping the benefits of SEO marketing for your business—take the first step today and see how it can improve your overall visibility.
SEO marketing FAQ
What does SEO stand for?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. It’s a process marketers use to signal to search engines that their website pages are valuable enough to appear in organic search results.
What is SEO in digital marketing?
SEO in digital or online marketing involves optimizing your website to increase organic traffic. To achieve this, you can create new content that targets specific keywords, tweak your website’s pages to improve search engine rankings, and simplify your navigation to be more easily understood by search engine crawlers.
How do I start SEO marketing?
- Identify keywords with good search volume.
- Understand the search intent behind those keywords.
- Craft content that meets the search intent.
- Publish content in a blog post or webpage.
- Build links to your post or page.
What is an example of SEO marketing?
An example of SEO marketing is an ecommerce site selling sneakers. The site owner creates relevant content and optimizes it to align with customer behavior and intent, such as by researching common search phrases like “comfortable running shoes” or “best sneakers for jogging” and incorporating them naturally into product descriptions and blog posts. This improves the site’s chances of appearing higher in search results and converting visits into sales.