The 4 Phases of an Effective SEO Campaign
There are many different ways to approach a good SEO (search engine optimization) campaign. As long as you focus on quality over quantity, it’s hard to do it wrong, but some prevailing practices have shown the best results. Here are the four phases of an effective SEO campaign.
Phase 1: Keyword Research and Strategy
The first phase of any effective SEO campaign is keyword research and strategy. This stage aims to research your target market. You’ll then create a plan to target the keywords you’ve identified in your research toward that market. Identify keywords and phrases that are relevant to your industry as well as keywords that your competition uses. Make sure you also consider the search volume of each term and how many other sites are competing for the term.
Phase 2: On-Site Optimization
Once you’ve gathered the baseline data, the second phase of an SEO campaign is on-site optimization. This involves making sure your website is user friendly and that each page’s content matches its title. Here are some ways to optimize your SEO during this phase:
Create compelling meta descriptions that tell search engines what each web page is about.
Add alt tags to all the images on your site, which allows search engines to understand what they’re looking at. It will also improve accessibility by allowing visually impaired users who use screen readers or text-to-speech software to more easily navigate your site.
Add internal links to other relevant pages on your site, which will help users find more information and keep them on your site longer.
Start an email marketing campaign to boost your SEO and to stay connected with your engaged audience.
Phase 3: Off-Site Optimization
Off-site optimization is the process of building external links to your site to increase the credibility of your website in the eyes of Google. Define a strategy to help your pages rank better, and gain domain authority by networking and connecting with other content creators. If they find your work valuable, they’ll mention it and link back to it in the creation of their own content. Think of a link like a mention on social media; if others on the internet trust you and your content and mention you on their sites, then those backlinks are driving traffic and helping your site.
Phase 4: Reporting, Analyzing, and Adjusting
The fourth phase of an effective SEO campaign is reporting, analyzing results, and adjusting the plan accordingly. This phase is about collecting information about your business keywords and using this insight to make improvements to your campaign.
Use Google Analytics or another analytics tool to measure your results. Analyze them carefully to find out what is and isn’t working for your business and where you can improve. The new information will help you adjust your SEO plan by finding new opportunities in the market. It may also help you concentrate on a specific niche or target audience.
Take the time to figure out what sets you apart from the competition and how you can focus that advantage on your marketing strategies. Identify your target audience and what keywords it’s searching for. Develop a plan to target those keywords in relevant content that will keep bringing customers back again and again. Every quarter, dive into the metrics, compile reports on each campaign, and adjust your plan for success in the future.