What is SEO and How Can It Be Used to Attract Your Ideal Customer?

July 10, 2019 | 4 minute read

Search engine optimization (SEO) is, in its simplest form, strategically planned out keywords and phrases incorporated into the content of your website and blogs to help rank higher in searches.

Ranking higher in search results will increase the visibility of your website, attracting more visitors and leads.

What is SEO, exactly? There are many complex algorithms and techniques used to determine how well your site ranks. SEO techniques strategically use keyword phrases that your ideal customer would search for. Pillar articles are written around broader core topics, and smaller pieces of content are written using related sub-topic keywords, which all link back to the pillar article. In this way the search engine crawlers can see that you are an expert in particular topics, ranking your site higher and increasing your website traffic.

What is SEO and How Does it Attract Your Ideal Customer

Begin creating your SEO strategy by understanding your ideal customer and your company's unique selling proposition (USP), which is what sets your business apart. You will then be able to tailor your strategy to exactly what your ideal customers are searching for. Let's be honest, 20 of the right leads are worth more than 1000 of the wrong leads.

How do you dial in who your ideal customer is? Ask your existing customers what it is they like most about your company and what problem your product or service helped them overcome. This is a powerful insight to help guide your strategy. Once you feel you have your ideal customer locked down, run some comparison tests to see what type of messaging people are responding to. For example, you could post two versions of the same blog but with different headlines. You can also dive into the analytics of your website and focus on the sub-topic keyword phrases that are receiving more engagement. Adjust as needed and test often.

With Google reporting over 3.5 billion searches per day, it's never been more important to have an SEO and content strategy in place for your business.

5 Quick Tips to Include in Your SEO Strategy

Be creative with your content by posting a variety of types. One of the latest marketing trends is including the use of video. Videos have an 80% higher conversion rate when they are made available on a landing page. The longer your users stay on a page and the higher the conversion rate, the better your SEO ranking.
Post content regularly. Search engines are constantly looking for new and fresh content. How often you post to your blog does matter and it will affect your SEO. The optimal number of blog posts per month for higher search engine ranking is 11 - 16.
Cluster your content by identifying core topics within your business. Write longer pillar articles around the broad core topics and then link that blog to all relevant sub-topic blogs. This allows the search engines to better understand, rank, and navigate your website content.
Review your strategy on a monthly basis. What was working two months ago may not be working now. Some minor adjustments may garner better results. There's no way to know without trying new ideas and testing them out. Keywords and content should be consistently reviewed to see what's working and what could be improved.
Keep up with new trends. The algorithms within search engines are forever being updated. Stay on top of the game by researching the latest trends within your market and adapting to get the most out of your SEO strategy.