How to develop a successful SEO strategy

 If you want to rank at the top of the search engines, you need a good SEO strategy. In this article, we explain what such a strategy can look like and which factors the Google algorithm currently attaches particular importance to.

What is an SEO strategy?

An SEO strategy can be thought of as a roadmap of everything the site owner is doing to increase their search engine ranking. The measures always depend on the business model of the site operator. The specific goals that are set in advance of strategic planning are also important. These may include, for example:

• Generation of additional customers
• Generation of additional traffic
• Increase in range
• Improving visibility
• Strengthening of the brand presence on the Internet

Strengthening the brand image can also be a goal of SEO. Here, however, factors come into play that can only be influenced to a very limited extent by search engine optimization. The image is significantly influenced by the moods and feelings that the recipient associates with the brand.

In addition, the public image can be influenced by advertising on other channels (e.g. on the radio). For example, an annoying radio spot that runs over the customer radio in the local supermarket can damage a company's image that has been polished by SEO.

The choice of marketing channels

The Internet does not only consist of the Google search engine: Customers who are interested in buying can also be generated via other channels. This is often overlooked when developing SEO strategies. Above all, social media should be mentioned. Here, companies can get in direct contact with their customers and receive unfiltered feedback. This is exactly what makes platforms like Twitter or Facebook so valuable from a business perspective.

Hardly any company today can afford to do without social media. The Google algorithm now attaches particular importance to so-called “social signals”. Mentions in social networks are meant. Even if the backlinks generated are usually nofollow links, references to your own website can have a positive effect on the ranking.

Content marketing is another point that cannot be missing in your SEO strategy. This form of marketing has proven to be very effective. It is unusual in that the advertising aspect remains in the background here. Rather, it is about creating helpful content and offering users added value. A company blog is a good way to make potential customers aware of your products. Besides, blogs provide additional traffic that can bring you sales.

Video content is not classic SEO content. Nevertheless, successful videos can increase their ranking. From the search engine's point of view, the comments below videos are social signals. Videos can also be excellently integrated into articles. Experience shows that texts with video content are clicked on more often and have lower bounce rates.

SEO campaign: the most important steps at a glance

After defining your goals, you can start planning the SEO campaign. Usually, the following steps are required:

• Recording and evaluation of the current status
• Onpage analysis
• keyword analysis
• content strategy
• competitive analysis
• Backlink Audit

The recording and evaluation of the current situation should be carried out by an outsider. The operator himself is usually not neutral, as he has already spent several hours creating and maintaining the website. A machine SEO check can provide initial clues. However, this does not relieve the optimizer from checking the page for errors.

Ultimately, the current ranking and the authority that Google ascribes to the site are decisive. Older websites usually have a higher authority because they are considered relevant. The more high-quality backlinks pointing to the website, the higher it will be in the search engine ranking.

Competitive analysis is used to find out who your competitors are. Most SEO clients know their direct competition. However, the analysis may reveal competitors that the site operator did not have in mind. Often such competitors rank for keywords that the site owner had not previously considered.

Furthermore, you can uncover the strategies of your competitors through a thorough competitive analysis. Not infrequently, amazing things come to light in such analyses. Some site operators don't even try to rank for search-heavy keywords—they instead focus on keywords with 5 or 10 searches per month. It's a lot easier to rank for such terms than keywords with 2,000 or 5,000 monthly queries.

Choosing the right keywords

We dedicate a separate section to keyword analysis, as this is of central importance for the success of the campaign. Many campaigns have failed because the site operator selected the wrong search terms. It is not that difficult to put together a keyword set.

The most important question is whether a keyword is really suitable for generating a paying customer. Many site operators make the mistake of choosing general keywords. A query such as "garden hedge" does not necessarily indicate that the user intends to hire a gardener. It looks completely different from a term like “gardening Cologne”. Here it is clear that the user does not want to carry out the work himself and is looking for someone to take on this task.

In addition to relevance, the chances of outperforming the competition are also important. If only big brands and established online shops occupy the first places, it is difficult to overtake them. However, if pages are similar to your rank, you can convince the search engine of your authority with good content.

SEO is all about steadily increasing authority through continuous improvement. You should therefore not post all content at once. Even if some SEOs advocate such a "content blitz", we think this strategy makes little sense. It is better to post new content regularly and attract new readers each time.

Do SEO yourself or hire a professional?

SEO is not rocket science. Lateral entrants definitely have the chance to achieve presentable results. However, SEO is like other areas of life: beginners often have a hard time because they do not have the necessary experience and make mistakes that can affect their ranking.

However, many tools are available today that were not available in earlier times. Free SEO checks can now be carried out within a few seconds. There are also several online tools that can make your job easier. For example, if you want to compress image files or merge PDFs, you can use Acrobat's online tools.

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