When it comes to SEO, I’ve got good news and bad news. The bad news is that it’s too late for any new SEO strategies to make much of an impact in Q4 this year. The good news is that you’re right on time to launch a strategy for 2023.
So to answer the question: how to get on page 1 of Google? Well here’s how we approach it for our clients over at Fidelitas.
Target the right keywords. A great SEO campaign starts with the right keyword strategy. Marketing leaders should focus on targeting keywords with a decent search volume that will lead to actual traffic once a page one ranking is earned. We see way too many agencies target low volume keywords that are easy to rank for but have no impact to a brand’s bottom line. On the other end of the spectrum, if you’re trying to target keywords that are incredibly lucrative (think one or two words in the phrase), you’ll need to be prepared to invest accordingly. Those high volume keywords won’t come cheap in almost any industry.
Get your house in order. On-page SEO is table-stakes for any great SEO campaign. By itself, it won’t get you much traction, but without you’ll be limiting the returns on everything else your SEO team does. Focus on title tags, product and service descriptions, eliminating broken links, and optimizing page speed to start. Use a tool like SEMRush to find and eliminate on-page errors.
Build the right content. Invest in creating long-form content (think 2,000 words or more), coupled with unique images, a video summarizing the article, and an infographic or two. Be as detailed as possible in your content, but just like your high school English teacher would mark you down for being extra wordy on your paper, Google will, too. Be sure to write content that offers value to the reader and is written at or around the fifth grade level (unless your subject matter calls for a different level). Pro tip: make sure these content pages have a strong call to action or two on them- they need to convert at a decent rate to maximize your ROI on SEO.
Check out our full guide on How To Optimize Your SEO Marketing Strategy!
Then get to link building. Building links from relevant high-authority websites still works, regardless of what you read on Twitter. Social links and shares help, but links from high-authority sites are event more important. It’s important to build links with context to the content on the pages you’re linking too- linking back to your site’s home page is better than nothing, but linking to the specific high-quality content you’re crafting is like rocket fuel for your SEO campaign.
Get help. Very few digital teams have the bandwidth to execute all of this in-house, but the long-term ROI is undeniable. Your business is even worth more in a potential exit with great SEO- those marketing moats absolutely priced into an acquisition. With organic traffic becoming more and more important, partner with a SEO agency that understands your business model, goals, and competition.
Feel free to reach out to see if you’re a fit at Fidelitas– there’s no better time than now.