| BlogIf you want to bring in quality organic traffic to your website, you need a solid and consistent search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. Often, businesses simply pick the obvious keywords and make articles based on those basic terms. If you really want to achieve a top spot in the search engine rankings, you need to adopt other keyword elements, research keyword search volume, and think outside of the box.

Ways You Can Start Thinking Outside of the Box for Your SEO Strategy

SEO is a term that covers all of the different ways you can improve the visibility of your website. While most people think about keywords when they hear this term, SEO also includes your page load speed, user experience, social signals, and other features. If you focus on providing users with a good experience on your site, you can encourage repeat visits. Google rewards sites that care about the user’s experience, so you should make sure to focus on this factor as you design your SEO strategy.

1. Research Your Competitors

A competitor analysis can help you see how other sites perform. Rather than guess which keywords work the best, you can see which approach actually works the best for your competition. By running a competitor analysis, you can answer some of the following questions.

• Which keywords will work the best for my site?
• What should I do to beat my competitors?
• Which topics are the best ones for my industry?
• Who are my competitors for each SEO term?
• Where can I go to get links?

When researching your competition, you should start by searching for your targeted keywords. If there is a lot of keyword competition, you may want to adopt different targeted keywords. You can also study the search results to see if the current content is a good match for the targeted keyword.

If the content does not cover the targeted keyword well, then there is an opportunity for you to create better content. Once you have high-quality content on your website, you can steal away some of your competition’s traffic. If the existing content already covers the keyword fairly well, you can always pick sub-topics to write about instead.

2. Focus on Long-tail Keywords

Long-tail keywords are more specific than typical keywords. While fewer people search for these terms, they are an effective part of modern SEO strategies. For instance, a shoe company might initially want to develop content about shoes or a related term. Because people searching for shoes are actually trying to find a broad range of shoe types, it is unlikely that your site will have the exact option they need.

Instead, you might want to create focused content about canvas alpargatas with high insoles. While fewer buyers are looking for this term, you can guarantee that they are interested in this specific type of shoe. You might receive less organic traffic, but your sales will go up because your users really want what you have to offer.

Today, long-tail keywords are more effective than short keywords. In fact, 91.8 percent of all searches are for long-tail keywords right now. This is a drastic shift since the start of the internet, and it represents a huge opportunity for savvy organizations. Plus, these keywords often have lower competition, so it is easier for your site to rank for them.

3. Use the People Also Ask Section to Create Content

When you search for SEO strategies on Google, you will instantly go to the search engine results pages (SERPs) for SEO strategies. On this page, you will also see a section devoted to questions people also ask about SEO strategies. For this specific term, you will most likely see some of the following questions.

• What are the five SEO factors?
• What is an SEO strategy?
• What are four types of SEO?
• What are the top three SEO strategies?

These questions are useful for a variety of purposes. First, you can use these questions to figure out keywords that might appeal to your target audience. You can also use these questions to create content.

If you are struggling to create long-form content, you can always answer some of these questions at the bottom of your article. Then, Google can use your answers on the SERPs. This technique can help you get included on the first page of the SERPs before your site can actually rank at the top of the results.

As an added benefit, answering Google’s questions also ensures your content includes relevant keywords. Google does not just consider the page’s keyword repetition. Instead, Google’s spiders search for relevant keywords, phrases, headings, and other signals that show your content is genuinely about the targeted keyword.

4. User Experience Matters

A decade ago, everyone focused on squeezing the right keywords into their content. Today, you need to worry about your user experience as well. The amount of time people spend on your page is one of the key factors Google uses to rank your site. If users immediately leave your website, Google will give you a lower ranking. When improving your user experience, you should focus on the following factors.

• Your bounce rate is the number of people who leave your page in the first few seconds. You can improve your bounce rate by improving your page load speed.
• Content matters. Your images and content should match the viewer’s search intent.
• Remove clutter, distracting images, and repetitive content if you want to create a better user experience.
• You can improve your site navigation by using short paragraphs, clear headlines, and a table of contents.
• The relevant information should be at the top of the page so that viewers can easily find it.

Start Improving Your SEO Strategy Today

Whether you want to boost your keyword research or improve your user experience, our team can help. The right SEO strategy can prepare your site for success this year. To learn more, contact our team today.