In every aspect of business, proper planning is the key to success. The same applies to the development of your website’s SEO strategy.
Many times, business owners decide to rely on the hottest SEO gimmicks. Unfortunately, these actions result in short-lived success and are not optimal for their website growth.
In fact, creating a successful SEO strategy means leaning towards a long-term vision and constant updates that boost your online presence.
In this article, we will show you why a long-term SEO strategy should become the best trick up your sleeve and how it can help you rank better on search engines!
WHY IMPLEMENT LONG-TERM SEO?
The Internet is an ever-changing place. Ever since SEO even became a thing, it has transformed in many ways throughout the years.
Once upon a time, it was considered enough to use a couple of keywords in order to rank your website higher. But then, the almighty Google algorithms took over the Internet kingdom and brought peace to this wild world.
With its Penguin and Panda updates, Google has changed the ranking system radically. While pages that used keyword stuffing techniques fell into oblivion, those that followed organic SEO methods flourished.
So, how do you befriend these algorithms? It may sound intimidating, but the best way to do that is to start thinking many steps ahead and stay informed about the latest trends. The world keeps on changing, and so should your SEO practices.
KEEPING AN EYE OUT FOR YOUR COMPETITORS
With search engine optimization becoming so popular, you surely aren’t the only shark in the sea. At this moment, the keyword you are looking to target is probably in the minds of another business owner similar to yours.
Right now, your goal is to outrank that other website. But the kick is – that same website is trying to outrank you too! Do research on unique keywords, find a perfect match for your business and target it.
Keeping a constant eye on your SEO is important, as much as keeping up with the latest trends and developments within your industry. And we’re not talking about occasional reviews or keyword research. Efficient competitor analysis depends upon constant tracking and website renovations over time.
FAST RESULTS ARE NOT EQUAL TO OPTIMAL RESULTS
If buying traffic was an effective way to skyrocket your website, we wouldn’t be even talking today. Even if it brings some good results, buying traffic can only serve as a short-term tool for success.
Quality SEO takes time. A lot of time, in fact. Most of the pages appearing at the top of Google search are approximately more than a year old.
Within that one year, you should consider the following actions:
- Keyword research
- Building new backlinks and maintaining the existing ones
- Turning mentions into backlinks
- Content creation
- Promoting your site on social media
- Optimizing existing content
And these actions shouldn’t stop after one year. When you perceive search optimization as a one-time fling, you will end up losing your valuable audience. By picking up the freshest keywords, continuously publishing reliable content, and improving the user experience, you will definitely become more visible.
PUBLISHING PLANNED, UNIQUE CONTENT KEEPS YOU RELEVANT
You’ve heard it already: content is king. When overproduction is present, you can easily end up producing low-quality content. That’s why, in order for your long-term SEO strategy to be fruitful, you need to pay attention to your users.
Ask yourself, what does my audience want to read? Only if you nail an answer to this question will your content be a prosperous tool.
Important aspects of high-quality content:
- Relevance: Keyword research and content schedule based on your user’s needs can help you stay relevant. Also, good content scheduling will let your audience know you are in touch with time and trends.
- Easy to read content: Gets to the point and answers your reader’s needs.
- Nice formatting: Many online readers scan the content quickly before reading it, so a well-formatted article or post promises a quality read.
- Media added to the text: When there are a lot of numbers or statistics, use infographics instead.
- Easy navigation: Clear and concise navigation menus and internal links are the way to go. Keeping your readers engaged will keep them longer on your website. And if you have information that helps them fulfill their needs, why not help them find it?
Not only does this help your readers, but it also makes it easier for search engines to crawl your website.
- Bullet lists: Long slabs of text can become mundane, so bulleting your points can engage your readers even more. In fact, within this paragraph, we’ve already covered 6 things you should care about when thinking of long-term SEO, and you’ve spent only about a minute of your time! How cool is that?
AN OPTIMIZED WEBSITE MAKES PEOPLE EXPLORE IT MORE
Whether we are talking about bounce rates or mobile-friendliness, good optimization is always important.
As per Google’s research, the probability of visitors leaving your page due to slow loading is high. Even if it takes only 3 seconds, the bounce rate increases by 32%.
The truth is, many people are using their mobile devices when doing their online searches. Therefore, it is of great importance for your site to work properly on different devices.
Using Google Analytics, you can find information on the most common screen resolutions your readers have. Just click under Audience > Technology > Browser & OS. When a menu pops up, go ahead and click on the Screen Resolution tab, and you will find a report on the most common screen resolutions for your website.
With good optimization, you will stay intact with different devices and therefore make your website reachable to many users.
TRACKING SUCCESS MAKES ROOM FOR GROWTH
Just as we all go for regular health check-ups, your website should go through optimization check-ups as well.
Measuring the effectiveness of your SEO strategy can rely on different data, such as keyword rankings (which should always be considered important), or even overall analytics.
There are 3 tools you can use for reviewing your website’s analytics:
Google Analytics – Useful for reviewing website visitors, user behavior, and traffic sources.
Google Search Console – For keyword data such as clicks, impressions, or click-through rate.
Facebook Page/Instagram Insights – Engagement information for Meta platforms.
CONCLUSION
Remember, the most effective long-term SEO strategy is to get the goals of your website aligned with the goals of search engines and the needs of your audience. Long-term success equals a long-term plan.
While it brings new members to your audience, engages old ones, and builds referral traffic, a proper SEO strategy can only help you grow your business even more.
It may seem like a lot of work which you are not keen on doing, but don’t worry – we’re here to help. DSO can provide you with many SEO services, and our help is just a message away!
Even though SEO practices may take a while, their snowballing results come in strong. So don’t rely on the gimmicks and start working smart today.