Published on September 25th, 2016 | by Guest

7 Principles of Developing a Good SEO and Optimization Strategy

SEO is core to any business that takes online marketing seriously and as such, there is need for serious planning before plunging into the practice. Any undertaking that precedes planning is doomed to fail, be it starting a business, buying technology infrastructure, hiring, business restructuring, etc. and SEO is no exemption.

Proper planning and documentation of the plan and strategies by themselves are almost a guarantee of success even before you commence the actual optimization. This article will help you structure the planning process and walk you through some key qualifiers that are important for you to consider in developing an SEO strategy. These are;

1. SEO and Content marketing complementarity

The school of thought that advocates for use of SEO as a separate marketing strategy from content marketing is totally misguided and wrong altogether as the two cannot exist independently of each other. Optimization must be supported by quality and comprehensive content, and content marketing is enhanced by SEO to ensure its effectiveness.

2. ‘4V’ semantic search

The traditional search engine ranking algorithms have so far been completely changed in that the search engines no longer look at the number of keywords used- actually, if your website if just full of keyword fluff, it is penalized and ranked low. Today, searches are more biased to the context (semantics) and the user intent to give more appropriate and definitive answers.

As such, you should consider the velocity, volume, variety, and veracity with which to customize the content. These mean that;

Volume- you must consider the amount of information you provide as it will help the search engines to understand your products or business.
Variety- use various content types to suit various audiences e.g. blogs, eBooks, videos, etc.
Velocity- the speed at which you provide information determines how quickly your content will be indexed and ranked. Be quick in providing the information.
Veracity- how you present your information will determine how search engines like Google perceive your content. Always providing new and captivating information gives some authenticity to your content and thus helps your site rank high.

3. Choice of keywords

As much as search engine ranking has shifted to content and context-based, it does not belittle the importance of using appropriate keywords to accompany the content. It is necessary to make a keen choice of keywords as they do still count for a lot in ranking of websites and content.

4. Optimize your content

It is one thing to include content in a website and another to optimize it. Some of the website development platforms, e.g. WordPress, do have options that you can activate to enhance optimization of the content therein. Some key areas to optimize include;

Ensure that your content is not too short- provide enough information
Include links that direct to other sites that are authoritative
Use short links that are well linked e.g. the home button
Your content should have clarity
Research and include appropriate keywords

5. Incorporate SEO and social media

Social media has also changed the way people and businesses interact. Social media platforms have presented to businesses opportunities for inexpensive targeted marketing and analytical capabilities, and businesses cannot overlook this channel.

However, it is also important to marry the two- SEO and Social media- to reap maximum benefits in marketing and also to enhance ranking in search engines because the social media profiles are also being treated as search pages by the search engines, and it is therefore necessary to have them ranking high too.

6. Engage the right agency

In the event that your wish to engage an agency or specialist to manage your digital marketing platforms, it is best if you choose one who is able to handle the various platforms and channels that you use rather than having an agent who can only manage your social media channel and is not skilled in SEO. Choose one that is all rounded.

7. Document your strategy

Documenting your strategy is critical for the success of the SEO exercise because it gives you a record that you can refer back to to evaluate the progress and even to re-strategize when there is need to. Documentation also comes in handy when there is a change of employees or agencies managing your SEO as they are able to know the progress so far and where top pick up from.

It is very important to have an SEO strategy even before staring the SEO exercise because by laying down the plan, you avoid many shortfalls that you may otherwise encounter if you do not have a strategy. Also, it is important to keep learning on SEO so that you are always in the know where there are new SEO techniques or developments in the industry.

Author Bio:

Selina Jenkins is SEO expert and founder of a tech startup, and is well known among the digital marketing circle for her blog articles and latest Chicago SEO updates. She has taken this guest post from one of her lengthy articles about changing trends in SEO.

Tags: developing, good, optimization, principles, SEO, strategy