Simply adding a few keywords to your website doesn’t make you optimized for search.
Search visibility requires consistent effort. Your search rankings reflect your online presence, including your blog, social networks and even what people write about you on review sites.
Here are six ways to climb those search engine results :
1. Publish, publish, publish
These days many companies improve their SEO by doubling as a publisher. Create a blog that gives readers a meaningful experience, either through valuable information or entertaining content. Don’t worry about publishing daily content: start small and build up to it. You can get even more search visibility with online news releases. The great thing about publishing content is that it stays there, meaning that you’ll reap the search benefits throughout 2013 and beyond.
2. Announce blog posts…again
Whenever a new blog post goes live, share it from your company and personal social network accounts. Send out social media alerts two or three times over the following week. By sharing your post more than once on Twitter, you can reach new readers checking their social feeds at different times throughout the day and week.
3. Make your blog obvious
Make your blog easily accessible on your homepage and provide links in emails and other marketing materials. This helps you reach new customers who haven’t connected with your brand on social media yet. For search engines, be sure to optimize your blog posts with the keywords and search terms that your target customers use. WordPress provides a free SEO checker that can help with this.
4. Earn linkbacks
Inbound links are critical for your search rankings, as links from high-quality websites are seen as “votes of confidence” by search engines. The best way to earn new links is to publish unique content that resonates with your target audience. You can make your content work even harder by including social sharing buttons in your posts and pages, which encourage readers to share with their networks and link directly to your content.
5. Encourage feedback
In addition to monitoring social networks and review aggregator sites, provide a feedback forum on your website or Facebook page. Make it clear that you’d like to receive both positive and negative feedback. Customers will appreciate the fact that you’re open to hearing what they have to say and make changes based on their suggestions.
6. Monitor review sites
Having a presence on review-specific networks like Yelp! is essential to monitoring reviews and responding swiftly. The Internet and social networks allow customers to post reviews quicker and more easily than ever before. Stay on top of reviews by visiting the biggest reviews sites regularly. Specialist services like ReviewTrackers can also help.
Conclusion
Though studies disagree on the exact percentage of clicks that each organic search result receives, high search results increase clicks. A State of Search article from October 2012 shows that 87 percent of organic clicks go to the top five search results. Though obsessing over the top search rank is unnecessary, doing everything you can to rank higher in search results can be a game-changer for your business.
Image: zachd1_618 (Creative Commons)