Focusing on search engine optimisation is important; an imperative strategy for any digital marketing campaign. However, this does not detract from how daunting it is. There are endless different tactics and methods needed to match up to Google’s 200 website ranking criteria. Audeo is here to help. We’ve tried and tested every method of seo strategy across a range of business sizes and industries. If you are looking to learn how to improve your seo strategy, it is important to acknowledge the tips and tricks the Seo experts at Audeo are using.
Mobile Optimisation
More than 84% of the UK adult population own a smartphone, and a 2020 study showed that 50% of online purchases were made using a mobile device. It is no surprise, therefore, that website performance on mobile devices is an integral element of Google’s ranking criteria. In fact, in 2019, Google announced that they were using mobile-first indexing and ranking on all websites. Focusing on the mobile optimisation, therefore, is no longer an opt-out in SEO. Improving mobile UX allows interested browsers to convert, demonstrating that your website deserves to be ranked high in the google searches. There are a number of methods to improve your mobile website performance. These include improving site speed (which will be explored below), avoiding pop up use, reducing redirects, and not blocking HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Site Load Speed
Technology makes people impatient, and as the wonders of the digital world continue to develop, so do people’s expectations. A slow website speed is the perfect way to lose traffic, and website speed is one of the most influential factors in Google’s seo judgement. In 2018, Google added in mobile load speed as a vital ranking factor also.
Many website users will click back to the result page of google before the website graphics have fully loaded, known as the bounce rate. Your landing page should be loading in <0.5 seconds, and <4 seconds for primary content. In fact, the jump from <4 to <5 seconds in load speed sees a bounce rate increase from 32% to 90%.
To improve UX through reducing load speed, the crucial rule to remember is less is more. Remove all large, high-quality website photos. Having big, beautiful imagery on your website holds its benefits, but this is trumped by a poor loading speed. You are better off to optimise and compress them. Secondly, minify your website code. Just like the high-quality images, your website code can be unnecessarily large and is often a central factor in slowing the load speed. Minification creates a small, compact, and quick code version. This strategy involves analysing existing code in order to remove, format, or shorten code wherever possible. Audeo’s team of web designers can help discover and tackle which elements of your website are causing slow load speeds, and work with you to fix them.
Clarity is Key
Following on from consumer impatience, consumers can often be lazy too. Your website must be optimised with call to actions (CTAs) which will easily convert website visitors into paying clients. Each page must have clear and accessible instructions for visitors to convert. If website users have a 90% bounce rate on a 5 second load speed, you can bet they will not spend very long searching the corners of your website to make a purchase or sign up for a service. Each page and blog must have a navigation menu so that visitors can make their way round the site with ease. In addition, each page must include at least one CTA to improve conversion rates. Bright and bold “buttons” are a good option in creating visible and clickable CTAs.
Improve You Social Media Strategy
This advice seems somewhat counter-intuitive. If you’re searching for how to improve your seo strategy, why invest in other areas of digital marketing? However, building a robust presence on social media will have a strong, indirect impact on your site’s rankings. High quality, engaging social media marketing strategies will ensure an improved conversion rate. A strong social media campaign not only promotes brand awareness but allows for another, and perhaps more, accessible way to reach websites. Promoting your business and links to your website across your social media is a surefire way to increase traffic. A study at Maryville University determined that over 70% of Gen Z consumers are buying goods and services via social media.
There are a whole host of techniques to create the perfect social media campaign, and each set of strategies will be unique to your business and target audience. However, punchy, eye-catching copy, high-quality video content, and infographics, are a good place to start. By drawing potential customers in to explore your social media, you will improve the click through rate to your website and increase conversions.
A recent study demonstrated that 72% of consumers were requesting that brand discounts were shared on social media, over email and website discount ads. Social media is the best method to entice the consumer market, which in turn improves conversions. Higher conversion rates will demonstrate the quality of your product or service, resulting in a higher ranking.
Keyword Research
Keyword research is essential to any successful seo campaign. Researching and tracking the highest performing keywords within your industry will help you keep up with your competitors. However, each year, over 15% of Google Searches have never been searched before. It can often be difficult to keep up with which phrases potential clients are using to discover products and services like yours. Using Audeo’s seo strategy service is the best method to ensure you keep on top of the frequently changing, high performing industry keywords.
Another element of keyword research that has developed in the recent years is the increased voice activated search volume on the google search console. More than 65% of 25-49 year olds speak into their voice-enabled devices at least once every day. It is crucial to create content that reflects this change in search method. Specifically for long tail keywords, the language used when using an AI-controlled search device is much more conversational and natural compared to written web searches. Therefore, the target keywords are shifting and the content must reflect this.
Focus on Content
Any SEO marketer will tell you that content marketing is essential for ranking higher in the google searches. Good on page seo is a central element in improving ranking. Yet, many marketers overlook the importance of quality in seo content. Keyword research and tailored target keyword service pages and blog posts is only half of the job. Each piece of content should be coherent, engaging, and grammatically sound. High quality copy will ensure that visitors dwell for longer on the page, actively reading the writing. Now, this does not mean that a blog post should be a 4,000 word analytical, in-depth essay. Your content should still be easy to read, straight to the point and well signposted. Using a digital marketing agency with experienced content writers, like Audeo, is a useful method for businesses with low performing seo but little time to invest in writing.
Backlinks are a Must
Backlinking (when other websites link to your website content) is viewed as one of the top determinants by Google of high quality, relevant content. In a community-based ethos, this ranking factor demonstrates to Google that other businesses recognise the value of your business. Specifically, relevant websites with high domain authority are your best bet if you are searching for how to improve your seo strategy. A single backlink from a website like this, will improve your rank more significantly than a higher number of less relevant, low domain authority websites. Link Building, however, is not easy. Audeo has explored some of the best methods in obtaining backlinks from websites. Some of these include;
Finding broken links
Websites shut down frequently; the business may have moved to a new domain or has shut down itself. When a website that promotes similar goods or services to yours shuts down, use this to your advantage. Create new backlinks by finding websites who are linking to this old site, and inform them of the shut down. More often than not, they will be happy to replace the broken link with a page or blog post from your website.
Link Roundups
A Link Roundup is a curated blog post that isu usually shared weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. The post hyperlinks the best websites or specific content within an industry. Link roundups present a method in easily obtaining backlinks, due to the nature of these posts; their purpose is to boost and backlink other websites. At Audeo, we have strong industry connections in a range of sectors who actively produce link roundups. We can help businesses feature in these roundups and improve inbound link numbers.
If you are struggling to determine how to improve your seo strategy then check out our SEO page today and get in contact with our SEO team today. Give us a call on 02031055887 or via email: hello@weareaudeo.com.
