by Mark Woodcock, founder of Bigfoot Digital
If you want to rank well on Google, get to the top spot for specific industry terms related to your business and increase conversions, then you’re in the right place. First and foremost, you need to determine the correct SEO strategy for your business. You might hear that someone has got to position one with a handful of bought, spammy links and it actually works. It might do, at first. Fast forward a couple of months and I can assure you things will have changed significantly.
In this article I’ll discuss five strategies that will help any business dominate SERP’s, along with white hat tactics you can use along the way:
1. Think long tail for long term success.
It’s easy to think “I sell cakes. I want to rank for cakes.” But it’s also lazy to stop there. Sure, if you sell cakes, you want to appear for terms with “cake” in the title, as well as other variations of that word:
Cake shop in London
London cake shop
Top cake shop in London
Best cake shop in London
Cake decorating in London
Think about what people search for. Ask yourself, what types of cakes do I sell? Should I create more targeted posts to secure conversions? Will specific content related to those cakes be relevant? Yes, yes and YES. It’s incredibly important to look at things on a granular level when it comes to SEO. Research the following tools for keyword popularity, trending content and site history: Ahrefs, Google Keyword Planner and Majestic SEO.
2. Promote industry leading content.
Position yourself as an industry figure head with creative content, interviews and links back to your work. Publishing content on social media channels, blogging and through influencer marketing will make you appear more trustworthy and authorative in the eyes of your audience.
The added benefit is that along with promoting your business and skills, you can earn trust from Google with a carefully placed follow link. These links pass trust and relevance from one site to another. In the eyes of Google, this acts as a nod from one business to another to say, “these guys can be trusted.”
3. Become an influencer.
Flip the script, and become an influencer yourself. I know you’re thinking it’s probably easier said than done, right? But, if you’re willing to work hard to build a network, then you won’t have to jump through as many hoops to gain exposure and links from others. In fact, when done right, you can actually ask your target market to help promote you and your business.
Here’s a perfect example. I’m in the digital marketing business, so I’m well known here. People know my history and business inside out. Focusing on promoting my business to different industry sectors has grown my target market significantly. Social media advertising, PPC and email marketing have allowed me to reach out to business owners in specific industries. These people do not know my business and may not have considered digital marketing for their business. We automatically become more valuable as they have no means of comparison. Test it for yourself, and monitor the results.
4. Consider alternative methods of search.
Due to the familiarity of technology, use of mobile phones and growth of voice search, SEO has changed somewhat. Instead of someone opening their laptop or desktop and typing in “cake shops in London,” they literally ask Google on their mobile phones. Consider this when putting together your SEO strategy. People are using longer, more complex phrases to find results. To get results yourself, you need to go beyond keywords. Get inside the head of your audience and consider what they are thinking. How will they find your website – organically, paid search or social? Will they have a positive user experience once there? Is your call to action clear? Answer these questions, and you are one step closer to converting clicks into customers.
5. Review your competitors.
Don’t bash your customers with negative SEO, because it will only look like you’re trying to overcompensate for something. Instead, write content that compares your products/ services to theirs with pros and cons. Allow your visitors to make an informed decision about your services based on facts. Your business may appeal to a slightly different audience, so effectively you are promoting both businesses in one post. This tactic is clever and will give your business immediate trust.
Founder of the top ranking London digital agency, Bigfoot Digital, Mark Woodcock has been studying the ‘art form’ of SEO and other internet marketing since early 1990’s. With a background in marketing blue chip brands online, Mark naturally progressed his knowledge through self-taught research and dedication to seeing results. His expertise in SEO and social media marketing have seen his clients earn first page rankings on Google.