The SEO audit is the foundation of any successful strategy for improving visibility and rankings in the search engines. It’s rooted in fundamental questions and tactics that are essential to make your content reach the right audience.
But as the world of SEO and online business continues to evolve, so do the questions that need to be answered by you. The following are the key considerations you need to make before implementing your next SEO strategy.
The Power of Questions
In the past, you may have considered factors like keywords, link profile, and site speed to improve your rankings. Nowadays, you need to go beyond those basic elements and think in a broader way about what you’re delivering and how it’s being distributed.
Most CEOs and managers have pre-existing ideas about what makes a good SEO strategy. But their scope is too narrow.
SEO professionals must now teach their clients that there’s a bigger picture. The basics will get you minimal results in today’s marketplace.
What Are You Delivering?
You should first consider what you’re bringing to the market. What needs are you addressing? What problems are you solving?
This gives you insight into related areas that provide you with a broader range of content, services, and products.
Your ideal customers aren’t just searching for what you’re offering. They’re searching for things that are indirectly related to the problem you’re addressing.
Is your business unique? Although there may be many other businesses offering similar products, only you can deliver it in your own unique way. Consider how the value you provide sets you apart from competitors.
Getting Your Message Heard and Shared
Inbound links aren’t enough to make an effective SEO strategy. Your audit must also consider how your content is shared across different platforms. Keep in mind that this sharing must also be earned by engaging with users and positioning yourself as an authority they can trust.
This helps you find the right people who will help spread your message to others with similar interests and needs. This will have a significant impact on your product, brand experience, and value.
You must identify your sales process (or funnel). Many businesses still aren’t clear about where they’re prospects are converting into paying customers. This can occur through an email marketing campaign, a landing page, or through a business homepage.
Understanding and having a visual map of your sales funnel will help you optimize the areas that bring in the most conversions and modify those that aren’t.
But Google still matters—as do the other search engines. So you still need to implement the fundamentals of good SEO as part of your audit. You want to deliver your message in a way that is easy for search engines to crawl and index for user delivery.
A successful SEO strategy and SEO Audit must be built upon the fundamental principles and tactics of improved rankings. But you must also ask deeper questions that explore the nature of the value you provide.
You need to understand how you’re unique and in what ways your brand’s message is being shared throughout your market. Answering these questions will ensure that your SEO strategy is built for today’s online business world—not yesterday’s.
Let us know how you’ve adapted your SEO auditing and strategies for increased growth in the comments below.
