Search engine optimisation, or SEO, is one of the most important aspects of online marketing. Clear SEO strategies are essential to help establish authority in your business niche and ensure your website ranks higher in search results, so that more people will see your website and engage with your business.
Powerful SEO strategies are integral to strong search engine positioning for your brand, and built on three essential ingredients, namely:
- the use of well-researched keywords specific to your niche and service offerings;
- good quality content and relevant internal links to aid navigation; and
- external links establishing the trust, authority and credibility of your website.
Below are eight SEO strategies, lifted from the playbook of the best SEO firms, that will be important to keep in mind for website design in 2024. Keep these SEO tips for small business in mind as you work on your strategic SEO plan for the year, or get in touch if you need a hand!
1. Refresh Existing Content Through Keyword Research To Support Your Custom SEO Strategy
Well-researched keywords are vital to your SEO strategy success! Include them in headlines, quality website content, image descriptions and website metadata – so search engines can read and analyse your website and work out what your business is all about.
It is good to regularly review and refresh existing content on your website to ensure that it contains the keywords that will help your ideal audience easily find you. Google’s Keyword Planner and Wordstream are excellent free tools that can help get you started to identify relevant keywords to improve your business search engine rankings and be more visible to potential customers.
SEO experts recommend in-depth keyword research to discover what words or phrases people are actively searching for online. Once you have identified your target keywords, they will be your best friend to help develop an effective content marketing strategy to grow your organic search visibility, rankings, website traffic and conversions.
2. Offer Great User Experience: The Corner Stone of Strong SEO Strategies
Good website user experience (UX) is one that meets the needs and objectives of your target audience and needs to be an integral element of your website SEO strategy. Put simply, ideal user experience combines powerful content with great design and usability. User experience is not a one size fits all proposition, and needs to be considered with the objectives, values and offerings of your specific business in mind.
One of the most important things you can do to enhance user experience is to make sure that the information on your website is well-structured, easy to find and navigate, with content that is useful, unique and relevant to your visitors. If you need some content ideas, a tool that is particularly useful in working out how you can best offer value to your target customer is Answer the Public.
Type in a keyword or phrase that is relevant to your business to see the questions people are asking around that topic. You can then use this information to identify opportunities to create new content that answers common questions in your niche, to increase your website traffic and keep your audience engaged for longer. Remember, the more helpful and tailored your website content, the higher your website will rank in search engine results shown to people searching for the type of service you offer.
A clear, visually appealing website presentation works hand-in-glove with powerful, authoritative content to enhance user experience. Some of the most important design elements to think about as part of good strategic SEO include:
- developing a consistent and cohesive website look and feel;
- utilising clear, streamlined webpage layouts;
- making sure that a navigation bar is visible at the top and bottom of each page to help your visitors quickly find the information they need;
- using headings, bullet points and white space to make your content more readable;
- optimising your page speed to avoid annoying delays for your website visitors;
- incorporating attractive, eye-catching calls to action to help your audience navigate around your website and guide potential customers to connect with you; and
- using images (you and your lovely team, your portfolio of work etc.) to help build a connection between the user and your business.
Once you have developed your content, don’t forget to review your website copy with a free grammar and spelling checker such as Grammarly.
By taking advantage of these SEO strategies to provide great user experience, you can improve your business visibility and attract more of your ideal customers.
3. Optimise Your Website for Tablets and Mobile Phones for a Strategic SEO Boost
Making sure that your website is accessible from anywhere, on any device, is integral component of strategic SEO. In fact, optimising your website for tablets and mobile phones is one of the most important things you can do to improve your SEO, and is an essential sub-category of good user experience. More and more people are using their phones in particular to search the internet, and if your site isn’t optimised with mobile web design principles front of mind, you’re missing out on a lot of potential traffic.
There are a few things you can do to optimise your site for tablet and mobile, such as:
- make sure your site is responsive, meaning it will adjust to fit any screen size;
- use large, easy-to-read fonts;
- avoid using pop-ups, which are often difficult to close on a phone;
- keep your design simple and uncluttered; and
- check that call-to-action buttons are sized to be mobile friendly so potential customers can easily call or complete a contact form.
Following these tips will help you ensure that your customers can easily navigate your website and engage with your business when they are on the go. Curious about how your current website performs on mobile? You can skip on over to Google Page Speed Insights to run a quick test and find out!
4. Create and Upload High Quality Video Content
Creating video content is one of the best ways to improve your strategic SEO game for 2024 and beyond, and is another powerful way to improve user experience. Videos are great for engaging visitors and keeping them on your page for longer, which means that search engines will see your site as more authoritative and valuable. Additionally, videos can help you rank higher in search results because they’re more likely to show up as relevant results for specific keywords or phrases.
It is important to ensure that all of your video content is high quality and provides value to users. Also, it is a good idea to include a transcript of each video so that search engines can index it. This will ensure that your videos appear in search results when people are looking for information related to your business.
It is good practice to use keywords throughout your video titles, descriptions, and transcripts to help boost your ranking in search results. By optimising your videos for specific keywords, you’ll be more likely to show up in relevant search results and drive traffic to your site.
5. Use Internal Links To Elevate Your Website’s SEO Strategy
Search engine optimisation consultants recommend using internal links as one of the simplest and most effective ways to improve your website’s search engine positioning. Not only does it help a search engine such as Google to better understand your site’s structure, but it also helps keep users engaged on your website for longer, which can boost your rankings.
One easy way to use internal links is by including them in your blog posts. Whenever you mention a topic or keyword that you want to rank for, include a link to a relevant page on your website. This will help increase the authority of that page and pass some of that ranking power on to your new page.
When creating links, make sure they can be easily identified through visual cues such as bold, underlined or different coloured text that alerts the user to the link. It’s also useful to consider the length of a link, with longer links generally performing better than their shorter counterparts.
6. Conduct an SEO Audit So Your SEO Strategies Are Underpinned By Real Data
SEO strategies that deliver results are built on good data and analysis. Conducting an SEO audit is a process whereby you analyse your website to see how it stacks up against the competition. This includes looking at factors such as site speed, keyword density, and mobile-friendliness. The goal of an SEO audit is to identify areas where your website can be improved so that you can make the necessary changes. This will help to ensure that your website can rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), which will result in more traffic.
One of the best ways to conduct an SEO audit is to use a tool like Google Search Console to see how your website is performing and what needs improvement. Some of the areas you should pay particular attention to and monitor over time include average time spent on a page, pages visited per session by a user and traffic sources. Once you have conducted an SEO audit, the next step is to make the necessary changes that your audit has highlighted.
Some of the areas you identify for improvement could include optimising your website for certain keywords, incorporating fresh content that is of interest to your audience, building extra internal links, improving your website speed, or making your website mobile-friendly. SEO experts say that by undertaking a regular review of your SEO strategies, you can significantly improve the number of customers who find your website and reach out to connect with you.
7. Leverage Local SEO Strategies and Create a Business Listing
Local SEO strategies are a subcategory of traditional SEO that helps small businesses to be found by users looking for a product or service in a specific location. It can be effectively leveraged by businesses that operate in a specific geographic area to enhance website traffic, conversions and revenue. Some leading local SEO strategies include:
- claiming your business profile on local listing sites like Google My Business;
- targeting keywords that are specific to the geographical location of your business (‘wedding planner Melbourne’);
- creating and publishing location specific content on your website (‘Queensland autumn planting guide’);
- incorporating information about your geographic location on your Contact and About pages (business name, address, proximity to local landmarks, parking availability, your involvement in the local community);
- using SEO friendly webpage URLs that incorporate your location; and
- earning backlinks from authoritative local websites.
Creating a business listing is one of the most effective off page SEO strategies for small businesses. By submitting your business information to online directories, you can increase your chances of being found by potential customers. To get started, you can create a free Google Business Profile to set up your Google Business Profile and manage how your business is displayed in Google Search, Maps and other Google services.
For more tailored business listings, start by finding online directories relevant to your industry. Then, submit your business information, including your website URL and a brief description of your products or services. Once you have submitted your listing, be sure to keep it up-to-date with any changes to ensure that potential customers can find accurate information about your business. Focusing on your local SEO marketing strategy and creating some relevant business listing are simple ways to take your online presence to the next level in 2024.
8. Promote Your Content on Social Media Platforms To Bolster Your On Page SEO Strategies
Promoting your content on social media platforms is one of the best ways to increase your off page online reach. Not only will this help you reach a larger audience, but it can also improve your SEO efforts. Connecting your content to current trends or news stories can be a particularly powerful way to grow your backlink portfolio if the publisher shares your information and credits you with a link back to your website.
When promoting your content on social media, be sure to use catchy headlines and eye-catching visuals. You should also target the right audience and use the right platforms. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest are great places to promote your content. Just be sure to do it in a way that makes sense for your business and will benefit your overall SEO efforts.
Promoting your content on social media platforms can be a quick and easy way to generate backlinks for your website, so creating linkable assets and sharing across multiple platforms can be a game-changing strategy to enhance your website SEO in 2024.
Final Reflections
SEO strategies are constantly evolving, and to stay ahead of the curve, you need to be aware of the latest changes and how they can impact your website’s visibility. In 2024, applying these eight SEO strategies will be key for taking your online presence up a notch with search engine positioning to achieve real business growth.
If you would like to find out how Summer Days Digital can help you implement these and other affordable small business SEO services for your website – including on page and off page SEO strategies, reach out to set up a time to chat. Enjoy the freedom of having your tailored website working powerfully for you by having an expert digital strategy consultant in your corner to enhance your online business profile, engagement, conversions and revenue!
Want to know more about ways to elevate your website performance? Read these ultimate web design strategies to nurture and engage your dream customers for increased conversions, as well as this guide to the top 10 small business web design opportunities that will make you stand out in a crowded marketplace.