Promoting a website, in general, is something that any business seeking growth nowadays needs to master for best results.
Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, tactics refer to the methods used to boost your website's search engine ranking for popular and relevant keywords and phrases for maximum exposure.
There are two forms of SEO: On-Page and Off-Page.
What Is On-Page SEO?
On-Page SEO is the SEO on your actual page or blog. In the old days, one of the most popular ways search engines ranked websites was by looking for the prominence and frequency of certain keywords and phrases on your site, and assigning an appropriate degree of weight. This is how people thought they could rank #1, or on the first page, of Google search.
Back then, more weight was given to keywords and phrases that are used in prominent places such as headings, page titles, domain names, and images.
Make sure that you employ the words and phrases that are most important to your site in these places wherever possible and practical for best results. However, be very careful as to not stuff your page with keywords.
Keyword stuffing is a big no-no and will only get your website penalized. Google will not recognize your site as valuable, and even worse, neither will potential customers.
What Is Off-Page SEO?
Off-Page SEO is the use of keywords off your site. Search engines use mentions of your site, business name, and keywords used on other places across the web in order to determine your ranking in their results.
Great ways to optimize your off-page SEO value on your own include setting up social media accounts on popular sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ so that interested parties can follow you and share your posts.
As with on-page SEO tactics, always make sure you keep your preferred keywords and phrases in mind when you update your social media accounts.
Whenever you can use these terms in a way that sounds normal and natural on these popular third-party sites, you can help to boost your SEO value by quite a bit over time. See to it that your social media profile descriptions and "about" summaries you use are laced with keywords when appropriate.
Always make your social media updates as helpful, interesting, and relevant to the consumer as possible. Feel free to engage your followers in polite conversation if a question is asked. This is a great way to build both a loyal customer following, and a high SEO ranking to boot!
The Evolution Of SEO
Today, the role of SEO is still important. However, it's taken on an entirely different role.
First and foremost, you must always keep your end user in mind. They are the key ingredient to your success — not the search engine!
If users don't find your content useful and engaging, and they don't interact with your site, neither will the Google Gods.
One of the latest SEO trends to emerge is topic clusters.
The topic cluster model emerged in early 2017, but not much was known about it. Over the past few months, though, they have become a hot topic in the SEO and marketing worlds.
Topic clusters, also known as content clusters, are a form of site architecture that uses one broad keyword as a hub for specific topics. This model connects webpages and blog posts to other URLs as well as the primary keyword via hyperlinks. All of these stem from a pillar page.
Learn more about topic clusters and to incorporate them into your SEO and marketing strategy, here.
So what's the nugget of knowledge we want you to walk away with? SEO is and will alway evolve, and it's our job as marketers to keep up! As search engines alter their algorithms and consumers adapt their user behavior, we, too, must change.
What's more important than SEO? Telling your story and creating clear content that resonates with your target audience. Find out how to get your customers to listen by downloading our FREE StoryBrand Case Study or by learning more about StoryBrand.
Editor's note: This blog has been updated for freshness and accuracy, and better reflects ROI Online's view of SEO as it pertains to creating a successful inbound marketing strategy.
