We all must have heard about search engine optimization— a technique, or rather strategy, which has evolved over the years and still undergoing several important changes. Better abbreviated as SEO, this is a step-pronged approach adopted by websites for getting ranked over search engines— preferably Google. However, each and every SEO campaign should be different— based on requirements, preferences and even uniqueness. That said, the core of an SEO strategy remains the same, irrespective of the industry or the experts handling the same.
If the precursors are wrongly interpreted, an SEO strategy is bound to fail. Therefore, it is necessary that we align ourselves with the required target zones and follow a predefined approach towards search engine optimization. Marketers or entrepreneurs who are looking to start off with an SEO campaign should take a note of at least 5 target areas, in order to begin well.
In this post, we will be discussing the key areas associated with search engine optimization— precisely 5 of them.
Audience
Trust me when I say there is an audience for every business. Therefore, the first target zone has to concern the customer base for that particular industry. However, selecting the audience is actually the trickiest part of the job unless you know whom to cater to.
The first step towards closing in on this target has to be the demographic assessment. Business specifics need to be laid out well in advance before dishing out services to the prospective customers. There are many questions which need to be answered in order to gauge the market perfectly. Some of these include specific market segments or competitors who are actually monopolizing the sales funnel.
Apart from demographic data, strategists also need to take other factors into consideration— including selective preferences, evolving mindsets, adaptability and user dispositions. For example, you need to understand what portion of your customer base is also interested in using kik online while the developed android application is doing well over the play store. Similarly, be it developers or manufacturers, none should take any segment of the business for granted as their might be a potential audience associated with it.
Niche
I presume that you all must have arrived at a conclusion regarding the nature of the business, by this time into the article. While generalizing something for targeting the audience is fine, a niche needs to be carved out of that general idea— in order to grow big. For example, bigger names have already monopolized the fitness industry beyond imagination and if you are going to start off with the same old basics, it will be years before you would break even. However, seeking out a specific niche within fitness is what can work well for you.
Look for something that is feebly competed and hardly visible despite being a specialized area. You can also offer unique ideas to the audience, based on personal or professional experiences. Adding something unique to the editorial strategy can also come in handy.
Keywords
When and where an SEO campaign is talked about, keywords need to be discussed— in detail. Despite being one of the most influential aspects of search engine optimization, the concept of keywords is usually misunderstood. After the latest hummingbird update, the focus has shifted towards semantics and content topics— making keywords all the more important.
The idea now is to find that balance between search volume rich keywords and those with low competition. You must opt for niche-specific keywords which are highly relevant to the audience. Right now, it isn’t about exaggerating these entities into the posts for better visibility. This is one target zone which undergoes frequent changes when it comes to internal metrics. The soul of the discussion, however, remains the same.
Traffic
While audience, niche and even keywords can massively define your SEO campaign, the extent and intensity of execution depends on the desired levels of traffic. While execution is important, traffic being a target zone defines the angles which need to be taken by the expert or company on the whole. An SEO expert might have an idea about the nature of content and even the target audience but the campaign is incomplete without the bottom-line goal i.e. the traffic.
Overall dimensions can therefore help companies allocate resources, accordingly.
Conversion Rate
While the conversion rate isn’t directly related to the SEO campaign, it can have major implications on the overall strategies. However, I would like to clear that conversion rates wouldn’t impact your search rankings— even to the slightest.
Then why is it so important? The answer to this is eventual profitability which takes a massive hit if most of your website traffic isn’t converting into buyers. For example, if you are getting a daily traffic of more than 5000 visitors, organically and none of them are actually converting— the entire essence of an SEO campaign nosedives.
Some might prefer considering conversion rates as a complementary offering to the SEO strategy. However, I prefer putting up the same as one of the major targets— in order to amplify sales and overall results. Then again, certain SEO hacks can also help improve the conversion rates, including AB testing and targeted landing pages.
Bottom Line
Most targets are hard to define and it is advisable to opt for a goal-setting approach. While a bit of guesswork is involved, there should be a lot of flexibility when it comes to an SEO campaign. In case of a flexible campaign, businesses can modify certain sections or targets based on the ease of execution. The featured list, comprising of 5 target zones might not be the perfect course for a campaign. Instead it lays the foundation of each and every search engine optimization plan, regardless of its penetration.
