10 Tips to Enhance Your Search Engine Optimization Strategy

10 Tips to Enhance Your Search Engine Optimization Strategy

In the digital marketing space, Search Engine Optimization (or SEO) has become one of the leading areas to hone in on if you’re seeking some major growth for your company. Whether your brand is facing a lot of competition, or is looking to bring in some more sales, employing the best SEO practices can provide you with the results your brand is seeking.

However, to effectively benefit from SEO, you need to consider which tactics will provide you with the highest ROI and are also completely aligned with search engine regulations and rules. Black-hat SEO tactics, which aren’t geared towards a legitimate user audience and are more focused for search engines, will get you penalized with Google, and likely result in your organization being removed from search results altogether.

From tips related to website design to the proper way to build out your keywords, we’ve spoken with our team of SEO experts at Wishtree Infosolutions, as well as some experts at outside organizations, to understand which methods some of the top companies are recommending when it comes to properly optimizing your website for search engines. Take a look at the ten tips below and see how you can incorporate them into your overall business plan and SEO strategy.

1. Generate Content Ideas through Auto Fill

To rank well for SEO you need great content ideas. Your blog and web pages should be “bookmark worthy” explains Andrew Nguyen, Content Marketer at Bizible. However, sometimes coming up with the ideas for content that you know will rank well isn’t very simple. Nguyen explains how to discover strong content ideas in his tip below:

“One way to help your brand come up with web content that provides value is by using Google’s auto fill feature. Auto fill is the list of search queries that Google predicts and lists for you when you type in a keyword. It’s a helpful feature to save people time, and it’s also great for marketers who need content ideas. Here’s how:

1. Get a list of keywords you want to rank for.
2. Enter it into the Google search bar.
3. Then add a letter of the alphabet. For example, type “online marketing” + “a” and you’ll see a list of search queries where the next word starts with the letter “a.”
4. Write down the suggested search queries that might be good to create content around. Even if you aren’t sure you’re going to write about these topics, record them anyway. You want to create a big list to reference whenever you run out of content ideas.
5. Do this for every letter of the alphabet. For example, “online marketing” + “b,” “online marketing” +”c” and etc.”

2. Pay Attention to Algorithm Updates

The formula that Google uses to rank web pages is frequently changing. As an SEO professional, it’s vital to stay up-to-date on these algorithm updates, explains Lauren Witte, Associate Director of Marketing at JacksonWhite, P.C:

“Google changes its algorithms periodically—usually every couple of months. They typically don’t announce it too far ahead of time, and the only way you might be made aware of the change is through noticing shifts in traffic to your website. A change in the current algorithm will likely mean a necessary strategy change on your end. Subscribe to digital marketing blogs to read about others experiencing algorithm updates and learn how different businesses are adjusting.”

3. Leverage Keyword Tools

Selecting appropriate keywords for anything you produce is important because that’s how users will find you—through the terms they search. How do you determine which keywords you should go after? Anthony De Guzman, SEO Specialist at Saatchi and Saatchi Canada suggests the following:

“Search for keyword ideas in the Google Keyword Planner (AdWords), and select a few with a good average monthly search volume—and enter them into Google. Take a look at the first page results only, since that’s what you should be aiming for, and see if you can compete. Be sure to use third-party tools such as Majestic, Ahrefs, and Moz to measure how authoritative they are (page authority, domain authority, citation flow, trust, flow) and determine how optimized the article is for that particular keyword.”

4. Use Google+

Google has created G+ as a way to verify and connect “entities” on the internet, and G+ Business is integrated with other Google products including Maps, G-Mail, Youtube and even the Chrome browser. Jefe Birkner, Senior SEO Specialist at Wishtree Infosolutions, shares the importance of using this platform:

“G+ results will show up in search results and include shared endorsements when someone in a user’s network has “+1’ed” a G+ listing. Content from a website that gets shared on G+ is indexed immediately, meaning that it shows up in search results before the whole site is re-indexed.