The world is your oyster, and so too are your SEO opportunities. Given the vast possibilities for digital marketing, it’s imperative to zero in on your focus before proclaiming “SEO is the goal!” Because what does that even mean anymore? Honestly, nothing without a refined focus. Keyword stuffing is not going to take you where you want to go, but where do you want to go and why? Before embarking on an SEO marketing campaign, step back and ask yourself what you really hope to achieve with your efforts. Then, devise a strategy to go out there and do it.
Defining Your SEO Goals
When most people think of search engine optimization, they’re envisioning all the ways they can climb to the top of search result ranks faster. To that end, there are several things you can do, but it may not be the only thing you want to do. Before deciding on the means to the end, you need to know the end. What is the motivation behind doing what you want to do?
First, consider your priorities:
- Do you want to rank first in search results (and why)?
- Do you want more phone calls each day?
- Do you want fewer clients for more money?
- Do you want to establish lasting relationships with your clients?
These and other priorities will guide your SEO strategy because there is an SEO for each of these motivations, they’re just all different.
An SEO for Your Goal
Now that you know your goal, you can build out your SEO marketing campaign. For example, if your goal is to rank first in search engine results, you’ll need to make sure your site structure, speed and usability are at peak performance. This falls more broadly under the scope of technical SEO. When focusing on technical SEO, you’ll conduct a site audit and ensure all the behind-the-scenes tags and meta descriptions are complete, your site is mobile friendly, you have proper heading structure, lots of backlinks, etc. It’s more of a one-and-done exercise.
As you look to establish lasting relationships with your clients and grow your business, however, you need to prioritize more than just rank. You also need to demonstrate authority and answer questions.
Part of the playbook here is ensuring you deliver consistent, quality content that reads well (hello, blogs). Moreover, with the AI overview feature on Google and a steep increase in user-activated voice search, it’s even more critical that your site delivers. That means it answers more questions and does it better than the rest.
As you mull over what you really want out of your SEO marketing campaign this year, don’t hesitate to bounce your thoughts and ideas off us. We’re here to help you reach your marketing goals strategically and effectively. Call us today to schedule a consultation.