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This Do an SEO question comes from Ian de San Juan, who asks:
“What would you say should be the top SEO focus coming into 2022 for a brand looking to grow their wholesale products business to generate more leads and sales?”
Every year, SEO professionals look for a magic bullet.
Even after 21 years, I still hope to find the technique that automatically ranks a site for any query I want.
I haven’t found it yet.
And I know I never will.
But I still watch.
Most SEO experts I know still watch.
And we discuss the latest trends discovered from our hours of reverse engineering effort.
And while there are “hot” techniques, I want readers of this column to understand that the basics of SEO haven’t changed in a long time.
Instead of chasing algorithm bugs that come and go as fast as your latest Google rep, I suggest getting back to the basics.
The basics remain the same
Since the advent of link-based algorithms like Google’s PageRank, the basics of search engine optimization have remained the same.
I can’t guarantee much in life – Google tells me not to make guarantees.
But I can guarantee that if you do the following five things correctly for every query you want to rank for, you will rank for that query.
Here are what I consider the five pillars of search engine optimization:
Code
Your website code is the foundation of your entire marketing strategy.
The code for this site should be built so that search engines can easily find the great content you’ve created.
Your website code may not get you ranked, but if it’s not done right it can prevent you from ranking.
content
Words mean things.
Your website content should be comprehensive to your potential customers.
You need to have content that works for visitors who are ready to buy, as well as those who need a little more information before making a purchase or filling out a contact form.
Your content should also use the keywords and phrases you want to rank for.
According to Google, your content should exude expertise, project authority, and trust in the project. This is commonly referred to by its culinary acronym, EAT.
Connections
Also known as link building, this is what separates a good SEO expert from a great SEO expert.
Most people who do SEO can handle the technical side of things. Many can also create a consistent and effective content strategy.
But creating links is more difficult.
It requires a PR mindset armed with SEO knowledge.
Buying links is risky and I don’t recommend it.
Work to create a link strategy that builds on itself. For a warehouse, I would initially look at my vendors and partners for links.
Then I would look to create link-worthy content that influencers in my field would like.
communications
Social media doesn’t really help your SEO directly, but social media is how we spread and amplify the great content we create.
Social media is often how we connect with the influencers we need links from.
Your communication strategy is important for SEO, even if social media links won’t give you a boost in Google.
capture
The data tells you where to go.
Google Analytics itself can provide you with content ideas, UX insights, audience insights and more.
Spend time on your data.
Hire others to spend time on your data if you don’t know what you’re looking at.
I’ve been doing SEO for 21 years and often have other eyes on my team review the data to make sure I’m not missing anything.
Do these five things better than the other guy and you’ll beat him every time.
But keep in mind: you have to win every query you want to qualify for.
Most of us will never win this battle all the time.
And that’s one of the reasons why SEO is ongoing and not a set-it-and-forget-it tactic.
Know your audience
Knowing your audience isn’t a new trend for 2022, but I see a lot of SEO campaigns missing out.
Just because the work we do as SEO professionals is sometimes technical in nature, that doesn’t mean our audience is technical.
In fact, I see too many SEO experts who think their target audience is just like them.
In most cases, the audience is very different from the person optimizing the site.
SEO professionals need to practice empathy in our keyword research, UX changes, content creation, and basically everything we do.
Know your audience’s likes and dislikes.
Know their political leanings if possible.
Find out their average income, age and gender.
Understand the best way to approach your public
It is likely to be different for the B2B Warehouse customer than for the company selling or refinancing the mortgage.
Use data provided by search engines, as well as data from your own website, to better understand your audience.
The ROI can be significant.
In conclusion
Stop chasing the last silver bullet.
Double down on SEO basics that haven’t changed in over 15 years.
Remember that every query is different and you have to win in every search.
Do these things and you will achieve your ROI goals.
More resources:
Featured image: WAYHOME studio/Shutterstock
Editor’s note: Ask an SEO is a weekly SEO advice column written by some of the top SEO experts in the industry, who have been hand-picked by Search Engine Journal. Have a question about SEO? Fill out our form. You might see your answer in the next #AskanSEO post!
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