All business is online now. Just a few months back, the mom and pop shops and the artisans were making a resurgence with creative brick and mortar spots. But now? That’s getting rolled back pretty rapidly. The massive importance of having an online presence is now more important than ever. To build that, we need what every single person on the internet is looking for: engagement. But how do we do that? How do we get people to pick our business website out of the trillions out there and the millions being made every single day? That’s where SEO comes in. With a good SEO plan, you can take your business from relative obscurity to superstardom. Here’s how.
What Does Your Audience Want?
Before anything, you need to know exactly what you are doing and why. You need to figure out the behavior patterns of your target audience. When are they online? How long is the online for? What do they search for? What wording do they use? These are the basic SEO market research questions you have to answer before you put together a plan. Because of the various facets of SEO, it is important to be sure, to a flexible yet accurate degree, what it is your target audience is looking for. More often than not, they want what you want. They search the way you search. They want instantaneous answers on the basic key terms on the largest search engines.
Vernacular
When we talk about SEO, we often talk about keywords and search terms. That’s the bread and butter of the SEO world. But if you’re in business, you can’t just go directly for the most common terms out there. For example, if you operate a business providing roof repairs in Nashville, you’re going to have a difficult time getting to page one of Google search on the term “roof”.To bypass this you have to start applying the vernacular and speech patterns of your customer base.
What kind of tires are they looking for? What dimensions are the most common? What kind of questions do they ask? These strings of words are your perfect entry point into the world of building authority for your business.
Content is King
The next step is to put out content. Content is so important that it’s a buzzword. Content is what people base their view of your company on. It is the thing that separates the amateurs from the professionals. If you have good content that instantly applies to your customers’ sensibilities, you’ll eventually win them over. It needs to be engaging, concise, and exactly what they want. If they’re looking at forklift tires, they’re going to want dimensions and applications as well as emerging markets and product innovations.
That’s the kind of thing that makes you an authority on the subject matter. That’s the ultimate goal: to be seen as an expert in your business practice. Once you’re seen as an expert, people will keep going to your site for more and more expert advice, showing search engines that you have quality, engaging, and high-traffic content.
Track Your Brand
The internet is a fickle beast. There are so many instances of good business models being hyped up for all the wrong reasons. Because of this risk, it’s a good idea to check out who is linking back to you. Keeping track of who is speaking your praises is a good measure of where your brand is going. Like with any product, you don’t want just anybody using your product. You want the right people to promote it as well as utilizing it.
There’s no better example of this idea than in fashion. Depending on who is wearing your clothes, you’re either hot or on the way out. Conversely, brands that were formerly seen as forgettable have made massive comebacks on meme marketing and SEO genius. Just look at Champions. Nobody wore champions outside of bodybuilders and gym teachers. Now, it’s a hot commodity.
Get Yourself Listed
The next step is to get listed. A lot of people ignore this step, choosing to stay in the flighty digital world of search terms and branding. But getting listed means Google can help people find your business, especially physical branches. Having a customer base that can reach you is important. With the listing, you become an “official” staple of the search engine’s lexicon of options to be pitched to customers.
In the end, it’s about the sales funnel. SEO is a means to get your name and brand out there. It’s a way to build authority. It’s a way to be seen. But in the end, the onus to perform and have a great product is on you. That’s what brings in the repeat customers.
