3 Necessary Steps to Apply before SEO Execution

When it comes to every company, having a website is imperative to improving your businesses’ prospects. This helps ensure that you do not lose out on any potential sales or opportunities to generate more revenue. In this digital age, most businesses have a website but lack the resources or even knowledge to market their brand through an authoritative online presence. All companies want to stay ahead of the competition. If you have a website with no ‘real’ substance, then there is virtually no value for you or your customer.

Most businesses have overlooked this area of marketing because it is often assumed that having a website is enough to drive customers to your site. It is not, and this is a commonly held misconception. There is something extra that is needed, and that is SEO.

All businesses that have yet to discover the benefits of SEO, listen up. Any successful SEO campaign should apply these initial steps before implementing any SEO-related improvements or changes to a site.

Step 1: Identify Your Target Market

A fundamental step when starting any SEO campaign involves identifying who your target market is or will be. For all businesses, this is crucial information that must be gathered before executing any SEO strategies. First off, your target audience is the group of customers that you would like to reach and attract through your online marketing efforts. By understanding who your target audience is, you will be more effective in delivering quality content and executing better SEO tactics. Similar to advertising, SEO is dependent on the needs, interests, and desires of the customer. Another critical reason why identifying your target audience is essential is because it allows you to discover other online marketing avenues. You can find them through social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, & more. Incorporating social media into your SEO campaign can prepare you for any future marketing strategies that you can implement later.

Step 2: Establish Realistic Goals

A common mistake that businesses often make when starting off their SEO campaign is a failure to establish goals or establishing the wrong types of goals. There is no denying that all companies want to generate more sales and revenue. How you drive more sales reflects on how aggressive and effective your SEO campaign is.  Businesses that are not educated as to why SEO is necessary often have one goal in mind, which is to be #1 on Google. You should be wary of any SEO company that guarantees first place rankings on Google, especially with the recent updates. Although it is essential to rank on Google, this should not be your primary goal, especially if you do not see an increase in conversions. Instead of being fixated on rankings, focus your attention on creating measurable goals that involve bringing in more leads & conversions.  One way is through quality content that speaks to your customers.

Step 3: Strategize & Prioritize an Effective Plan

Once you identify your target market and establish goals, it is time to formulate the initial SEO plan involving keyword research and content strategy. By having gone through steps 1 and 2, you will be better able to assess your competition and produce content that interests prospective customers. This step requires extensive research and analysis on keywords that not only users are searching under but most importantly, which of these keywords are converting into sales. As technology becomes more sophisticated, your SEO strategies must evolve as well.

Investing in an SEO campaign for your online business can provide you with a more significant opportunity for securing sales and strengthening relationships with prospective customers. It is recommended that companies should spend an amount of their budget proportionate to their goal of online business. For instance, if a businesses’ goal is to generate 50% of their revenue from online, then it is recommended that you dedicate 50% of your marketing budget for online marketing.  In this way, businesses will be able to track and measure their return on investment. Once you acknowledge the need for SEO, then you are ready to choose an SEO company who understands your business. They should be able to deliver an increase in conversions and produce an overall growth in the market.