Google receives 105,000 search requests every second. To ensure your website is relevant to the search parameters used by Google and other search engines, SEO needs to be made a priority in your marketing strategy. Your visibility on search engine results is essential to your business growth.
However, getting your business to appear on the first page is not an easy task. Here, we’ll discuss the five essential SEO strategy tools that marketers need to include to elevate their websites in 2023.
Fast and Responsive
Most internet users expect websites to load in 2 seconds or less. Every additional second after that translates to a 7% loss in conversions and an 11% loss in pageviews.
Your site needs to be fast and responsive. Your cached content needs to load fast, and everything needs to be responsive for all device types. Google developers have made it known that they are taking a mobile-first approach. For this reason, your website needs to appear correctly and load quickly on smartphones and devices.
Surveys show that 87% of smartphone owners say they use a search engine on a daily basis. There are 5.48 billion smartphone users worldwide, and for many people, this is their primary and singular device. It is essential that your website be fast and responsive to fit this market.
For those not using a professional service, here are some quick tips:
- Use a caching plugin to improve load times for returning visitors.
- Limit the number of plugins and tools installed on your website.
- Choose themes with fast, flexible mobile templates.
- Optimize images and host videos off-site.
- Implement a content delivery network (CDN)
Create User-focused Content
Research shows that about 72% of marketers say content creation is the foundation of their SEO strategy. Blogs, news, videos, and infographics that share valuable information with audiences in engaging and meaningful ways have been the driving force of internet advertising for over 15 years
To create content that is meaningful, creators need to understand user intent. If a user searches “what is the best eCommerce software?”, the algorithm includes broader topic areas in a ven-diagram style. In this example, it is assumed a business person is interested in SaaS and eCommerce services and products, so a range of sites will be displayed that are most relevant to these subject areas.
To elevate your website to answer this search query on the first page, your content must include information about eCommerce software, SaaS, business leadership, and other subjects related to eCommerce. Your longtail keywords should include such specific questions, so the model recognizes your content as an answer to the search question.
Structured Data
High-quality content informs traffic of the purpose of your website. Structured data is how Google learns about your intent.
Structured data can be considered a spreadsheet that includes crucial site details like pricing, product availability, delivery information, and other data that search engines use to understand your site. Structured data is typically manually added to your website code; however, SEO plugins can also help.
When a search engine crawls your website, it makes inferences about your website and audience using this structured data. This type of data can cause a significant surge in traffic. A site with detailed schema markup can rank for featured snippets, which appear as detailed cards at the top of the search results for specific keywords.
Structured data should be included on crucial pages, like the homepage and product landing pages, so search engines can accurately index the site and rank it for interested audiences.
Earn More Backlinks
A backlink is a link on another website that leads back to your business. This type of brand association and paring can be a powerful tool for your brand development and traffic rates.
Google also recognizes backlinks as confirmation of the site’s legitimacy. With an increased number of companies and blogs that point back to the same source, search engines increase their trustworthy rating of a site, potentially moving it move up in the SERPs.
However, most websites – 55% – don’t have a single backlink pointing back to their brand.
To earn backlinks, brands need to:
- Publish high-quality content that includes engaging visuals and statistics. This can result in organic backlinks.
- Reach out to journalists. Most journalists are looking for experts and leaders to interview. Answering journalists’ queries can help brand improve their backlinks.
- Seek out guest posting opportunities. This means reaching out to a brand in a similar industry and pitching an article for their website. If they like your idea, you can write the post and include a link to your site in the content or your author bio.
Voice Search
Reportedly, 30% of all searches are conducted using voice search. Voice assistants in all new smartphones and computers make it easier for users to ask a question, rather than type it into the search bar.
If brands optimize for voice search, it improves the chances of being in the top search results. To make voice search relevant, there are a few things to consider:
- Content should include a conversational tone and lots of long-tail keywords. People generally speak more casually than they write. Casual language in blog posts and landing pages is more likely to attract voice search traffic.
- Including FAQs at the bottom of each article. Use questions that people in your industry might ask. This helps your brand connect with a wider audience.
Conclusion
Voice search and schema markup will continue to be relevant in 2023. As Google improves the functionality and effectiveness of its SEO resources and updates its algorithm, brands must stay active in catering to the parameters set by search engines. Website optimization is the only way to remain relevant in an ever-increasingly large market online.
