It comes as no surprise that the COVID-19 virus has had a huge impact on online sales and e-commerce. Are you looking to increase your online sales and reap the benefits of the accelerated growth the pandemic has caused? Then it’s vital that you understand some basic SEO principles (Search Engine Optimization).
So, what is SEO?
The digital marketing guru Neil Patel defines SEO in the following way: “SEO stands for search engine optimization. Which is the art of ranking high on a search engine in the unpaid section, also known as the organic listings.”
The survival and success of any business depends on their sales, and nowadays, increasing sales requires a strong digital presence. In 2019, e-commerce accounted for $3.53 trillion in global sales, and this amount is expected to grow to $6.54 trillion by the end of 2022. If you want your business to get a share of these sales, it is critical that you use an SEO strategy that works.
But why is SEO so important?
Learning and implementing SEO techniques helps you to increase your online visibility and thus improve your sales figures. However, SEO is constantly evolving, and best practices change over time, so it can be difficult to know if your SEO strategy works well. But if you don’t know where to start, don’t worry; there are a lot of techniques that have been found to work in any situation. We will cover these techniques in this article, and you can start taking advantage of them immediately.
Use keywords wisely
Although keywords are not used in the same way as before in SEO, they are still a very important part of an effective SEO strategy. Without using keywords, potential customers will never find you when using search engines, and that is why keywords should be the cornerstone of your SEO strategy. Google AdWords is a great tool for getting started with keyword research. But there are many other tools on the Internet that you could use for keyword research too.
As an example, let’s suppose your business sells handmade soap. A clear keyword phrase you should use is ‘good handmade soap.’ However, there are undoubtedly many other keywords and phrases that your potential customers use when searching for handmade soap. That’s why it’s essential that you perform extensive keyword research before you start creating SEO content.
Besides using shorter, more obvious keywords, there are important long-tail keywords that you shouldn’t overlook during keyword research. But what are these long-tail keywords?
Long-tail keywords are longer search terms with relatively low search volumes. Long-tail keywords account for half of all keywords, and they have less competition than shorter keywords. However, the biggest advantage of using long-tail keywords is that they have higher conversion rates than other keywords. That’s why many e-commerce websites and new online casino sites incorporate them in their content. To quote the SEO expert Brian Dean: “People that search for long-tail terms tend to be much further along in the buying cycle compared to folks searching for head terms.”
After you have figured out which keywords your customers use when they search for your product or service, you can start incorporating them in the following content:
- Articles
- Websites
- Addresses
- Headlines
- Image descriptions
- Page titles
- Emails
You should aim to create outstanding content
Keywords are nothing without great content – without proper content, keywords are just a word salad. But content is more than just a tool for setting keywords. Above all, good content allows you to provide valuable, engaging information to reach your audience.
Interesting, properly created content will boost your sales by bringing more visibility to your site. If you’ve used keywords correctly in your content, your audience will be exposed to the social media posts, blog posts, websites, and other content you post before your competitors ’content.
The purpose of your content is to answer your customers’ questions, provide them with information, and make it easier for them to make purchase decisions. When you produce the best possible, relevant, interesting, and valuable content using your keywords in the right way, your potential customers will find your products before your competitors ’products online. Of course, this will also boost your sales and improve the profitability of your business. Valuable content also makes your customers loyal to your site. When your customers see that reading your content helps them, they want to start following you.
Great content is diverse, and your goal should be to cultivate and create content in many different ways:
- Blogs
- Videos
- Tables
- Podcasts
- Animations
- Guest articles
- Ebooks
- Guides
- Reviews
Get your share of online sales!
It could be said that great content is at the heart of SEO. And when you have a solid SEO strategy and great content, your customers will start lining up on your online business’s doors. However, it’s important that your content is optimized with the right keywords, otherwise your traffic won’t have the right search intent. But if you follow the principles outlined in this article and do SEO right, you’ll be way ahead of your competition, and you will secure yourself a bigger piece of the predicted value of online sales in 2022.