Practical SEO: Starting with the Basics

Content Marketing

SEO at its base is about customizing your website and its content to be valuable to your target audience. Google and other search engines want to serve relevant, applicable and timely information to the user and that’s where your website should shine.

Start a review of your website content by answering these questions:

• Who is your target audience? Move from identifying the audience to determining important characteristics of that audience. What motivates them? What drives them? What are their expectations? How do they interact online compared to other audiences? For example, a younger audience may want smaller amounts of content with options to read or find out more while a more mature audience may prefer longer articles with greater detail right at their fingertips.
• Is your content easy to scan & read? Does it use headings to pique interest & contain keywords that a user would recognize & intrigue them to read on? Does it use lists where possible? Are paragraphs of content available in manageable blocks?
• Does your content resonate with your target audience? Does it connect with them? Does it meet their needs?
• Is your website converting? What are the actionable items you want the user to take? Does it guide the user to the desired outcome(s)?

Beginning with a review of your analytics is a great way to start analyzing your website. Where is traffic entering? Where is it leaving? How are people getting there and are they staying? A website is an excellent tool where data can be collected, different approaches tested and the results analyzed. From there a website can continually grow and be optimized to suit its audience. If something isn’t working as desired or expected - change it!