There are almost 3.5 billion searches online each day. That’s 3.5 billion opportunities to have your website clicked on by your next potential client/customer. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a digital marketing discipline that uses search engines to market your business and brand. In other words, SEO is the missing puzzle piece you need to fulfill your marketing potential – and it’s free. Interested yet?

SEO takes advantage of search engines by giving your content a higher ranking within search results. This provides a higher probability of your web page being chosen among the thousands fighting for the same attention. 

SEO Heightens Engagement In A Pandemic

There are more users active online now more than ever due to COVID-19 and its lengthy, indefinite impact on the outside world. This has brought users inside and online, but has also limited the options of other marketing tactics used during more “normal” times. 

These limitations have made SEO the differentiating factor between gaining and losing user engagement. SEO brings a cost-efficient, trustworthy constant to driving organic traffic to your web page during the inconsistent times of the pandemic. Whether traffic is already high or dropping rapidly, the high ranking you obtain from SEO makes sure your site is one of the first of the few pages users see. 

Using SEO Efficiently 

To begin, it should be understood that SEO is a long-term tactic. The effort you put into it now, may not result in immediate benefits. However, the strategies that are put in place are an investment that have lasting rewards when done correctly. There are common strategies to generate appeal to your website, such as easy navigation and lack of technical errors. However, there is no exact formula to generate the best SEO results. Nevertheless, there are a handful of tactics that have been proven to generate positive traffic to your web page.

• Keywords, Keywords, Keywords

  • Keywords are a pivotal piece of SEO that ensure that you are ranking highly in searches that are relevant to your business. When you use more keywords that are included in your content, you increase the chances of your audience seeing your website.
    

• Unique and Useful Content

  • In order for search engines to deem your website relevant to your audience, you need to create new content that sets you apart from your competitors and provides the best answers for users. The goal of using SEO is to bring traffic to your website, but your high-quality content will be what retains the traffic and turns them into clients/customers.
    
  • Your content quality will also help increase “dwell time” – how much time a user spends on your website. The content that is most informative is typically dwelled on the longest and gets a higher ranking because of it.
    

• Using Backlinks 

  • The quality and quantity of links are very important in the ranking algorithm. Backlinks are more valuable than outbound links because they link people into your website and give you credibility. They can also be labeled “endorsements,” showing that others approve of the content that is being posted to your page.
    
  • Google looks at authority, relevance and trustworthiness when evaluating backlinks.
    

• Prioritize local SEO

  • It’s important to rank high in keywords that are area-specific, especially for local businesses. This will narrow down competition and ensure that the audience you are reaching is intentional.
    
  • Due to the pandemic, there is a vast decrease in travel that makes local traffic a hot commodity.

Bringing It All Together 

There are thousands of statistics to support that people are using search engines every minute of the day. By using SEO to elevate your search results, you are placing yourself as the answer being searching for. Incorporating an SEO strategy into your marketing will provide a direct pipeline to your website for searchers and increase engagement.

Burkhart understands the importance of capturing your audience’s attention through an organic, trustworthy strategy. If you would like to know more about how we maximize the marketing potential of SEO, visit our website today!