Before we dive into the world of search engine optimization (SEO), let’s take a collective deep breath because SEO is a seriously loaded concept.
If you’re a business owner, or anyone involved in marketing, it’s likely you’ve lost some sleep trying to follow the ups and downs of SEO. At best, it’s a messy concept. At worst, SEO is convoluted, incomprehensible, and ever-changing.
Basics of SEO strategy
If you’re interested in the basics of SEO, we recommend reading this article on Search Engine Journal.
The purpose of this article is not to go through SEO 101, but to explain how ddm approaches SEO. We’ll source experts from Search Engine Journal (SEJ) and other documented research, but we believe our approach lends clarity to this often complicated and multifaceted topic.
We’ll begin with the basic definition of SEO as described by SEJ:
The process of optimizing a website—as well as all the content on that website—so it will appear in prominent positions in the organic results of search engines.
Google handles about 63,000 searches per second, and the company’s algorithm determines which webpages appear on the results page for those searches. The ongoing management of SEO helps ensure that your website appears near the top of a results list when those searches are related to you, your product, your service, or your industry.
Audit, analyze + improve
Through our SEO audit and analysis process, we first benchmark a website by documenting potential issues related to:
- Site speed
- Content
- Keyword ranking
- Navigation
- Meta data
- Links
- Header tags
- Page titles
- 404 errors
This base informs us on what improvements are necessary to drive increased performance. Then, we provide solutions for making website pages more visible and more relevant. By reducing load time, optimizing UX design, eliminating errors, tracking and mapping keyword performance, and adjusting content, we help clients improve their website’s organic ranking.
SEO + content go hand in hand
While technical aspects of SEO are important, we want to drive home the value content optimization has on SEO. Forty-five percent of all companies say content marketing is ‘highly integrated’ with their SEO strategy. (Econsultancy)
Just like we say media and content are highly integrated and function best when tackled together, content and SEO are the same way. SEJ’s Enterprise SEO Guide lays out the connection this way.
Content is extremely important for SEO, especially early-stage content “awareness.” Nearly every consumer journey starts with a problem and an informational (not transactional) search. If brands and agencies want to be successful and win in the SERPs, they must continue to develop high-quality content based on intent for all stages of the user journey.
Sounds a lot like our buyer’s journey philosophy.
The best way to drive audiences to your website is through relevant, engaging, valuable, and audience-driven content.
We need to create content with the following in mind:
- Write content that answers users’ questions.
- Create unique, specific, high-quality, and original content that provides users with a good experience.
- Review and analyze the competitive landscape for any topic or query.
- Determine the level of content quality needed to rank in search and to engage your target audience and use that as a guide to know what to shoot for.
- Create content that is engaging by adding images, facts, or lists.
- Be useful and informative.
- Create content that your users will get some benefit from. For example, if they have a problem, the content will help them solve the problem either through a product or an answer
(Source: SEJ, Enterprise SEO Guide: Strategies, Tools, & More)
ddm’s integrated approach to SEO
Now that you understand ddm’s position on SEO, here’s what our SEO partnership might look like. Continuous SEO improvements are necessary for websites to maintain and improve organic performance. You can’t just “set it and forget it.”
After we perform the benchmarking SEO audit and analysis, we put together plans for ongoing SEO monitoring, support, reporting, and content creation. Our custom reports detail organic search traffic, non-branded organic search clicks, and keyword rankings using tools like MOZ, Site Improve, SEM Rush, Google Search Console, and Google Analytics.
Our content creation plans outline our recommendations for fresh, valuable content distributed via channels such as blogs, social media, and paid and earned media. When clients prioritize integrated content strategies to bolster SEO, there is a higher likelihood of increased audience engagement, lead generation, and, ultimately, sales.
This truly integrated approach is what sets ddm apart. We know your business is a well-oiled machine with many moving parts that make up the whole. Your SEO strategy should function the same way. Through technical optimizations, content improvements, and promotional activities, SEO success can be achieved. And your days of losing sleep—at least over that aspect of your business—will be over.