Search engine optimization is a big deal. If you want your site to rank and grab some of that sweet, sweet traffic – and who doesn’t? – then you absolutely need SEO.
But what happens after you’ve optimized your website? What comes next?
What often happens is that a business will run into one of two things: they’ll either not know what to do next to take their SEO to the next level; or, they’ll become complacent and fall into a plateau.
Fortunately, there’s more work to be done. Even after you’ve keyworded up (I just made up that phrase) your website and fixed a ton of technical errors that drag your rankings down, there are still plenty of things you can do to increase your ranking and get more sweet, sweet traffic that sustains us all.
Optimize for More Keywords
So, you’ve chosen your primary keywords and have put them all throughout your website, not just on the page content itself but also in the back end, in places like alt tags, meta descriptions, and meta titles.
Great job. Now find some more keywords and do it again.
You can always branch out and try to capture even more keywords and keyword phrases. This is especially true after you’ve already gotten a high ranking for your primary keywords. There’s nothing stopping you from going further and trying to rank for additional phrases – and get even more of the aforementioned sweet, sweet traffic.
This could mean creating additional pages for your site, such as landing pages. It could mean creating new content focused on these keywords and putting them out into the ether through social media and link-building campaigns.
Optimizing for more keywords is particularly great when you have high rankings but traffic has hit a speed bump. You can get more traffic over time by spreading your sails a bit and going after more keyword targets.
Use Next-Level Keywords
Another thing you can do – and this one primarily revolves around content – is use next-level keywords.
A next-level keyword is a keyword that is beyond the basic, most direct keyword you can use for your business. “Accountant in Birmingham” is a pretty basic, direct keyword for an accountant in this area, right? It doesn’t get much simpler than that.
The problem with “accountant in Birmingham” is that it is competitive. Just about all local accountants who are doing SEO are trying to rank for that keyword. You can still get traffic – and you should try to get the highest rank for that term – but that level of competition will mean the road ahead will be an uphill one that will require lots of resources, like trying to drive up a sloped dirt road in a car after an Alabama downpour.
In addition to those basic, primary keywords, you can use next-level keywords. ‘Next level’ refers to the level above the basic term. On one level, users can search for “accountant in Birmingham.” On the next level, they can search for terms like:
- “Tax breaks in 2016”
- “How to perform an audit”
- “How to lower my taxes”
- “How much is my business worth”
- “Business accounting software”
- “Hiring a CPA”
These are all topics that offer opportunities to educate and inform an audience. The more you educate a consumer, the more likely they are to choose you. It’s just human nature. So, you can actually rank high for a next-level keyword and send a steady stream of interested users to your website who are more likely to convert. It’s not as direct, but it is very effective.
Get Into PPC Advertising
Organic reach is great and all, but sometimes you need a little boost. (Plus, organic can take a bit of time – often weeks to months – before it works.)
That’s where pay-per-click (PPC) advertising comes in. Those little ads that show up on the top and right-hand sides of a search results page are there because companies are willing to pay every time someone clicks on them. This results in advertising that is results-based; you only pay when you get a click, and in this context, a click represents an interested, highly-targeted potential customer.
PPC advertising is quicker to reach ROI than organic SEO – but in addition to driving traffic and conversions, it can also help organic rankings.
That’s right – there’s evidence that PPC ads through Google AdWords can actually help organic click-through rates (the rate at which people who view your ad click on the ad and go to the next page).
Sometimes, it pays to pay. With PPC advertising, you can not only attract more potential customers in a short amount of time; you can also help your organic results.
Taking Your SEO to the Next Level
SEO is great. You get the traffic that your business needs to grow, and an initial investment pays dividends in the long run.
If you want to get the most out of SEO, take it to the pros – hire an online marketing company in Birmingham who can handle the ins and outs of SEO on your behalf and give you the results you want. Contact Uptick Marketing today to get started.
