SEO, or search engine optimization, is the practice of increasing the quality and quantity of website traffic though non-paid search results. On average, non-paid search drives more than half of website traffic and is one of the most important strategies for driving brand visibility and awareness.

Search engines are a critical factor in SEO. But how do they work?  Search engines crawl (scour the internet for content), index (store and organize the content) your site and serve up that content to the user as links in the order they see most relevant to the query at hand.

To improve SEO, you need to convince the search engines that your site is worth being shown to its users. Leading SEO strategies balance tactics working on the website and behind the scenes to keep the content relevant and favorable by search engines. Here are a few important tactics to consider:

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1. Build keywords into your content strategy

Keywords are vital in organic search because they determine relevance and visibility in search engine results. Identifying relevant keywords that your audience is searching for can provide increased traffic and additional revenue per year, with minimal additional investment. Use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner or SEMRush to discover what your users are searching for and what your competitors are talking about. Pick a handful of keywords that balance relevancy, competition, and volume—then incorporate these into your content to improve your rankings.

2. Optimize your website & user experience

To get the most out of your SEO strategy, you should create a website user experience that is relevant to your target audience and drives conversions. There are many on-page strategies you can think about optimizing, including:

  • Product pages: Ensure that product pages have relevant keywords in the title, heading, descriptions and URL to increase traffic to your website.
  • Website structure: Use headings and subheadings to structure your website and allow users to easily skim and find specific information.
  • Images: Add alt-text to images that are descriptive and specific with relevant keywords.
  • Content: Consider how your content is a part of a buyer’s journey and create high-quality content that aligns with the searcher’s intent. This will make it easier for search engines to pull your content into the results page.
3. Do the simple (technical) things well

Technical SEO can impact your website’s performance on search engines. It may sound simple, but if your page is not accessible, it will not appear in search results. This can reduce traffic and revenue for your website. Conducting a technical audit on your site can help you determine areas of opportunity to adjust. Here are some areas of focus for doing so:

  • Page speed: Ensure your site loads as fast as possible. There may be performance issues such as large images that slow down your website. You can compress these images to reduce their file size.
  • Broken pages/links: Broken pages or links point to dead resources. Direct the broken link to a live, relevant URL to increase your chances to rank.
  • Mobile-friendly: Make sure your content is adapted for mobile. Today more than 60% of Google’s search engine visits in the US are on mobile devices.

4. Spend time on off-site tactics

Off-site strategies can you help build your site’s traffic by increasing your relevance and reputation through what is effectively digital “word of mouth” from other trusted sources (think: links, mentions, conversation from other sites that lead back to yours). Put it this way – the more other relevant people talk about your brand and its offering; the more search engines will think you are worth showing to its users when they’re looking for the same thing. Top tactics include:

  • Link Building: Acquiring high-quality backlinks from other websites can assist in page ranking. The number of relevant backlinks from other websites is one of the highest correlated factors with rank as well. Tools like SEMRush, Ahrefs, and Spyfu can be used for backlink analysis and evaluation.
  • Content Marketing: Publishing great content is an effective way to attract backlinks while earning traffic and gaining attention. Finding ways to distribute that content to other channels can also help boost off-page signals.
  • Influencer Marketing: Work with popular bloggers and social media creators to promote your business. It is an effective way to amplify your high content and reach new audiences, leading to increased traffic. Marketing platforms like BuzzGuru Influencer Analytics help you find influencers who may work with your brand

Of course, “quality” and “relevance” are key here, not just the raw numbers. In fact, building too many links too fast – especially if they appear irrelevant or linked to other poor-quality sites – can harm you more than it helps. SEO isn’t a quick win tactic, it’s an ongoing process. It takes consistent effort to build momentum, and it takes time to see significant results. Done right, playing the organic search long-game can help strengthen your brand, build more credibility and visibility to your site and drive traffic in ways that paid advertising can’t achieve on its own.