If you’ve been learning about marketing online for any length of time, you’ve probably heard about search engine optimization, also known as SEO.
While some aspects of marketing rarely if ever change, SEO is one of those fields that’s continually evolving. Search engines frequently update their algorithms to show more relevant and valuable results to their users, requiring marketers to keep adapting.
Today, spammy and unnatural SEO tactics don’t yield results and could, in fact, harm your efforts to rank higher in search. Making your site more human-friendly is the number one way to rank.
So, how do the experts do SEO? Let’s explore.
The Experts Do Research
Almost anyone that says they do SEO does some research.
But the difference between someone who tries to rank and someone who ranks comes down to the quality of research they do.
The experts don’t just write on any topic. They do competitive analysis, keyword research, and content research before getting down to business. This is done with the use of tools like SEMrush, BuzzSumo, SimilarWeb, and many others.
Experts don’t just create content – they understand why the content needs to be created in the first place. It’s not just about getting traffic; it’s about generating high-quality traffic that cares about the content you’re creating. What many major publications don’t seem to understand is that it’s not the quantity of content that matters as much as the quality of content.
Another aspect of research is staying on top of SEO trends, tools, and developments. If you aren’t keeping up with the latest changes and updates, you can’t expect to do well in search.
The Experts Promote Their Content
The experts don’t just mindlessly pump out new content – they also work hard to promote it.
Every content writer dreams of writing a piece of content that sits at the top of search engine results. The problem is that there is a lot of noise out there. Ranking for highly competitive keywords is no simple task. As of this writing, the term “online marketing” has 183,000,000 results in Google.
Experts don’t just share their content on social media – they also share it with their network, go out and find people who need their content, participate in forum discussions, and much more.
The experts know their content isn’t just going to reach people automatically. They’re proactive about promoting and sharing it strategically.
The Experts Aren’t Afraid to Experiment
The reality is that SEO takes time to work. You may not see the results of what you implement today for another six to 12 months.
While experts always do their research before developing a piece of content, they know their next article may not outperform those they’ve already published. That’s not a problem because it’s just another way to test different ideas.
It’s easy to view experimentation as a waste of time. After all, if you’re going to work hard to rank in Google, you want to see a return on investment. But this type of thinking is rigid and may cause you to miss out on valuable opportunities.
Final Thoughts
While SEO isn’t just about producing quality content, it is becoming one of the most important aspects of optimization.
Building your backlink profile, making your site mobile-ready, ensuring fast load times – these are all critical ingredients to optimizing for search and shouldn’t be ignored. But without content, what do you have? Why are people going to come to your website if there’s nothing of value to see, read, hear, or watch?
What are some other ways you’ve seen the experts do SEO? What tips or tricks have you picked up from them?
Let us know in the comments below.