The Different Types of SEO and Their Importance
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a set of practices that are used to increase the quantity and quality of traffic to a website. It involves improving its ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). There is a lot to learn when it comes to SEO but it is not to be overlooked. The Google algorithm has gotten stricter over the years making competition even stronger for businesses. There are various types of SEO techniques that businesses can use to improve their online visibility and attract more potential customers. This year more than ever, SEO has become a top priority for brands. Let’s explore the different types of SEO and discuss each of their importance to your business.
On-Page SEO:
On-Page SEO refers to the optimization of elements within a website to improve its search engine ranking. These elements include the content or copy on each webpage, title tags, meta descriptions, header tags, internal links, and image optimization. On-page SEO is crucial for businesses because it ensures that their website is user-friendly, easy to navigate, and contains high-quality content that is relevant to their target audience. Additionally, on-page SEO helps search engines to understand the website’s content better and rank it accordingly. Think of it as providing information to search engines that gives them a clear idea of what your website is about and where to place it.
How to start?
- Use your primary keyword in your title tag, but make sure it sounds natural and not forced.
- Make sure to keep your title tag under 60 characters.
- Write a compelling meta description that includes your primary keyword (it’s like your mini internet billboard) – make it clear and give users an expectation on what they will find on your website.
- Keep the meta description under 155 characters
- Use action-oriented language and a strong call-to-action (CTA) to encourage users
Digital Marketing agencies like The It Crowd can help you identify on-page SEO gaps and map out the changes needed to help improve your user experience.
Off-Page SEO:
Off-Page SEO is the optimization of elements outside the website that affect its search engine ranking. Elements such as link building, social media marketing, and brand mentions play a big part in improvement. Link-building is the process of getting other websites to link back to your website. Off-page SEO is important because it helps to establish the website’s “authority” or boost credibility to Google, giving your site a higher chance of showing up in searches. Social media marketing helps to increase brand awareness. Your content does not get seen on its own – cross-promoting it within multiple channels gives more opportunity to attract potential customers to your website and stay in front of current ones. Brand mentions is when a website mentions another website’s domain. This practice is said to help Google see this and count it as a link.
Something to add to your to-do list right now?
- Create high-quality content that provides value to your target audience.
Thoughtful and valuable content will give you a larger pull when it’s time for your outreach strategy. Build relationships with other website owners in your industry and offer your content in exchange for a backlink to your site.
Technical SEO:
Technical SEO refers to the optimization of a website’s technical elements that happen ‘behind the scenes’. Items like website speed, mobile-friendliness, site architecture or information architecture (IA), and structured data markup. Technical SEO is essential for businesses because it ensures that their website is easy to crawl and index by search engines. This, in turn, helps to improve the website’s visibility and ranking in search engine results pages.
The technical stuff can get tricky and sometimes overwhelming. We recommend having digital marketing experts help you identify the technical items that need to be updated. Then having a dedicated development team to implement the changes. This ensures the updates are executed correctly and no time is wasted.
What Technical SEO task can you do today? Optimize your web page speed! Here are a few tips to help you get a faster working site:
- Check all of your images uploaded to your site. Optimize them by compressing them and using the appropriate file format.
- Minimize HTTP requests by reducing the number of external scripts and stylesheets.
- Use browser caching to reduce the time it takes for returning visitors to load your website.
- Maybe it’s time to make an update to a fast and reliable web hosting service.
Local SEO:
Have you ever used Google or Google Maps to find a business in your neighborhood? Those top results are a result of Local SEO, which is the optimization of a website for local search queries. The practice includes optimizing your website for location-based keywords, creating Google My Business (GMB) listings, and optimizing local citations. Local SEO is crucial for businesses that operate in a specific geographic location. Even if your company has multiple locations, it’s important to target the local market for each of those locations.
If you don’t have a Google My Business listing set up, get one set up today. It’s an easy task that has immediate benefits. Once you create your GMB account, add all of your business information like address, operating hours, and URL is correct. Make sure your contact details are updated, and social icons are accurate. Having photos, branding elements and reviews included help make your business that much more credible to the locals who are searching for your product or service within the area. Need a hand? Our team can help you get all of your local SEO set up so that you won’t have to think about it twice.
E-commerce SEO:
Does your business have an online store? Then, you will want to enforce eCommerce SEO which refers to improving the organic ranking for an online store. Optimizing product pages, category pages, using relevant keywords in product descriptions, and in website’s checkout process are all examples of eCommerce SEO elements. This practice is vital for businesses that sell products online because it helps customers find products they are searching for. Once they discover your website, an intuitive buyer experience goes a long way when it comes to eCommerce SEO.
Three tips to help elevate your product pages?
- High-quality product images that showcase your products in the best possible light is often the first thing to attract customers – make it good!
- Use customer reviews and ratings for each product to improve user engagement and provide social proof. (BONUS: Set up automated review requests with email campaigns to customers after they make a purchase!)
- Optimize your store for mobile devices. The majority of online shopping is done on mobile devices – having a functional and beautifully working mobile store is crucial.
These areas are just some of the top areas to focus on for SEO. There are various layers and evolving opportunities that come within the SEO process. But don’t be discouraged – that’s what we’re here for! We understand how crucial SEO is for digital marketing and the long game it plays. Striving to optimize your website using different types of SEO techniques brings compounding efforts to overall improvements to your business. By helping you implement on-page, off-page, technical, local, and e-commerce SEO techniques, together we can establish your business as an authority in the industry. We can show you how to apply these practices to your daily routine. Right away, you will begin to see positive results that drive more traffic to your website, be a first page rank on search engines, and ultimately increase your revenue. The sooner you start, the better equity you gain. We are here to support you each step of the way.
