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In sports, there's an important distinction between an effective player and one who just collects impressive statistics. Although they might look the same in the box score, the former actually helps his team win while the latter has high rates of usage and inefficiency.
This comparison is all too relevant in regard to SEO. Some businesses have good strategies and are getting better site rankings while others are prioritizing the wrong things. Since it's hard to know which category you fall into, we'll explain the difference in regard to several aspects of SEO in this blog.
Drawing the right type of traffic
Many businesses mistakenly isolate site traffic in regard to their SEO campaigns. Sometimes, they'll even use it as the sole indicator of their campaign's success.
While a good SEO campaign will increase site traffic in the long-run, sporadic fluctuations make it difficult to trust in the short-run. In other words, just because your site got more visitors this month, doesn't mean your SEO strategy is responsible. It might not even be a positive indicator.
This Search Engine Journal article describes an extreme example in which an increase in site traffic had negative consequences:
"Everyone was thrilled because he had worked for months changing metadata and adding content to no avail, and after beginning email marketing there was an almost immediate rank increase of over 500%. The fact that the increase happened so quickly should have been a warning sign. Upon closer examination of the traffic sources, it was determined that the reason for the surge was due to a large number (over 1000) of unsubscribes."
Users coming to your site to unsubscribe from your email newsletter isn't an example of good site traffic. Not only are these users extremely unlikely to convert, but the fluctuation itself is a short-term phenomenon. It's bad traffic that won't hold up in the next months.
Attract your target audience with relevant content
In a more optimistic light, we'll offer an example of a positive increase in site traffic. The best long-term strategy in this respect is to create high-quality original content.
Content serves many purposes in regard to SEO. It's a positive indicator in Google's search algorithm, it engages users, and it gives you fuel for your other marketing efforts.
To use content creation as a way of getting good site traffic, you need to make sure your material is relevant to your target audience. A recent survey conducted by Marketing Profs revealed that 72% of marketers consider relevant content creation the most effective SEO tactic.
Relevancy is key since it determines whether users will convert on your site or not. It doesn't matter how great your content is if it doesn't speak to your target audience.
So, what counts as relevant content? If you're not sure, create some buyer personas who are largely representative of your market segment. Consider whether your topics, information, and data will interest them.
Get rid of superfluous code
Adding elements to your website isn't always a good thing. A funny picture or an engaging video might capture your users, but large file sizes also tend to slow your site down.
As a rule of thumb, you should aim for a minimalist design and remove all redundant elements. According to this recent Econsultancy article, this can increase your site's load time dramatically:
"If your site doesn’t need it to function, then it shouldn't be there. It’s as simple as that. Style and layout sheets also fall in the same category. These need to process before the page can be rendered. If you’ve got redundant sheets on your page, then this will also be slowing down your load time. You can inline small resources, if applicable of course, and this can shave off some time. But, the important thing to remember here is that if something can be minimized or cut down, then do it!"
Load times are an important SEO indicator. Google doesn't want to send its users to slow-loading sites and users don't want to wait for them to load anyway.
Ask yourself if the pictures, videos, and GIFs on your site are really necessary. If you can live without them, then removing them is probably better for your user experience.
Target the right keywords
Marketers are often encouraged to follow new trends. Depending on how you interpret this, it might not be a good thing for your SEO.
You should never target a keyword just because it's trending. Yes, you might attract new visitors, but it's improbable that they're interested in your business. If they found you because of the keyword, then that's all they'll be interested in.
It's fine to incorporate trends in your social media marketing efforts, but they don't make good keywords. Just stick to the ones you choose in your strategy and you'll be better off.
Additionally, think about your keywords in the context of how your audience is using them. A lot of people will think that a big keyword like "CRM Software" would be a gold mine. However, while it does have a lot of people searching for it every month, it's also incredibly competitive. Also, a lot of the permutations of that keyword are useless for a company selling that software. If someone is troubleshooting their CRM software, that keyword volume and competition will be considered. Instead, focus on keywords that show buying intent for your target audience.
With this model the keyword for CRM software isn't as important as a more descriptive keyword like "CRM software for a small sales team". That keyword shows buying intent and if you have a software that meets their needs, then you're bringing that customer to your website much further down the funnel .
Get a mobile-friendly site ASAP
Whether to invest in a mobile-friendly website or not is the most clear-cut aspect of search engine optimization. If you don't have one yet, then you need to get one as soon as possible.
According to eMarketer, just one-third of all businesses have mobile-optimized websites. This is an incredibly low amount, especially considering Google's usage of it as a ranking signal.
In fact, switching to a mobile-friendly design is probably the lowest-hanging fruit today for applicable businesses. It might have a bigger, quicker effect than all your other SEO tactics.
The other side of the coin is that having a mobile-friendly site is necessary for your user experience. There are now more searches placed on mobile devices than laptops and desktops, and businesses should offer a fluid experience for users on smartphones and tablets.
Sometimes it's hard to know whether you're taking the right steps in regard to SEO. If you're not satisfied with your progress but still have decent indicators, then you might not have your priorities straight. Again, shooting to get up shots is a loser's strategy. But being efficient and working with your team will cause you to see the results you want in SEO.
