Choosing the best SEO goals for your business site is an important first step in your digital marketing strategy. As with any long-term endeavor, knowing your marketing goals and working directly toward them will save you time, money, and stress.
Good SEO can't be done in a vacuum. It depends on business goals, the needs of the sales and customer service team, and an intimate knowledge of the competitive landscape in which you operate. Involve key stakeholders in each area of your business and create a list of needs together. You'll be surprised how SEO can help the various teams achieve their goals.
For example, SEO can qualify Traffic and leads, become a new revenue channel, increase your customer support utilization and return rates through prequalified Traffic reduce or increase your brand visibility. Depending on the needs and project, SEO can serve various other purposes, depending on the needs of your business.
It's important that you choose the right goals before implementing an SEO strategy and that your team continuously supports them. Combine and categorize ideas to find those that digital marketing lends itself well to. If possible, choose some 'easy' targets and start working with your team to achieve quick wins. This will buy you time for longer-term strategies that SEO is suitable for.
If you're having trouble getting team members to participate, or they don't know enough to understand how SEO can help their department. It can be helpful to add a few ideas to the discussion to get the creative juices flowing.
Let's look at seven different SEO goals and how they can impact your business.
SEO Goal #1: Lead Generation and Direct Marketing
Generate customers and sales, one request at a time.
If you're a lead-driven business, it's likely that your customers will need at least one face-to-face contact with your business before they buy. Maybe your purchase price is higher than average or your solution needs to be customized. The key to a successful SEO campaign for lead generation is the Conversion Rate.
CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization)
CRO is almost always the best place to start if you want to generate more leads on your website. It's easier to make direct changes that can dramatically increase your lead flow.
Lead A/B tests through,
To try different approaches that will make it easier for your customers to convert. Here are some ways to make an immediate impact:
Shorten your forms.
Do you really need two different phone numbers and a full mailing address on the first customer interaction?
Inform your visitor exactly what will happen when they submit the form.
Do not use the word "Send" on your form buttons (who wants to submit? It sounds painful).
Once your on-page conversion rate is at least 5 % (or higher - hopefully much higher), you can focus on getting the targeted Traffic Increase. You can do this by creating excellent, customer-focused content and not being afraid to ask for the conversion. Consider offering a valuable free offer for newsletter signups and then promoting your newsletter to drive demand.
Collecting the data is only the first step. Make sure you use a good marketing automation tool and CRM to stay in touch with your customers.
SEO Goal #2: Increase traffic to your website
Traffic is the precursor to inquiries, sales and turnover.
This is exactly what it sounds like. Make sure that as many visitors as possible click on your content and try to keep them on your website for as long as possible. You should have this goal in mind when you create Traffic monetize without promotions or financial transactions. For example, if your site is sponsored or ad-supported, this is a good place to start.
Focus on good content and lead a Keyword-Do some research to find topics that are of great interest to your target audience. Make sure you use these keywords in your content.
Focus on the topics that bring you revenue and determine the right prioritization. If you are a store, get your products and categories to rank, only then focus on blog posts. If you are a B2B company, focus on the problems of your customers that your offer solves and become visible for the problems and solutions and offer your future customers a test or an initial consultation.
If you are a service provider or consultant, find out where your target group's shoe pinches the most. What worries, questions and problems plague them and show them on landing pages or blog posts how they can solve these problems - or why it is much smarter to ask for your help.
Use Google Answers, to find questions people are asking, and then write a series of blog posts to answer them. This way you get Traffic About long-tail Google queries. Make sure your articles are easy to share and optimized for viral distribution by using share buttons.
The Keyword analysis and Content planning are the most important step towards the right rankings and thus the right Traffic. With the right battle plan stands and falls the entire success of the campaign.
Get a consultant on board if necessary, even if you don't want to outsource things and prefer to do everything in-house on the back burner. If you want to get serious about traffic generation and content production, get a SEO Expertn show you how the hare runs, or at least take a professional SEO Tool for a month, and sacrifice a weekend in proper research before you make the strategy a no hit by a quick shot.
However, be careful when you Clickbait or Fake News to get the adrenaline pumping. People are getting smarter about what this kind of outrageous TrafficYou could be discrediting your brand for a short-term gain. Instead, focus on helpful, interesting, or timely content that adds real value to your audience. Offer follow-up content and give them a reason to stay. The bounce rate is an important SEORanking-factor, so do everything you can to increase the time visitors spend on your website.
SEO Goal #3: Increase E-commerce Sales
Let your products and categories rank well and harvest sales.
Focus on this, relevant Traffic to your online store and increase sales.
Approximately 10 % of retail sales are derived from the E-commerce. Amazon only accounts for about half of that, which means there are millions of other websites competing with you for your customers' clicks and purchases. Using SEO can give any business a long-term competitive advantage in this highly competitive market.
If you are offering products and/or services for sale on your website, you should be aware of this in your Keyword-Strategy the Funnel not disregard. In general, this means that the more precisely a visitor searches for a product, the closer he is to buying it.
Industry terms ("vacuum cleaning") stand at the top of the Funnel. You need many Information, by and large, are looking for a solution and may not even be looking for the product you are offering.
General product names ("Vacuum cleaner") can be used as Top or MidFunnel be considered. They know they need a product, but they don't necessarily know which one. Offer vinformation and show your product in many different scenarios.
Longtail, generic phrases ("Robot vacuum cleaner" or "automatic Robot vacuum cleaner") can be used as middle to lower level of the funnel be regarded. They know what they want and want to compare similar products in order to make a decision.
Brand searches are generally considered to be the lowest in the Funnel viewed, especially when they are used with purchase words combined become ("buy roomba vacuum cleaner" or "discount roomba vacuum cleaner").
Certain Part numbers or Product names can be a good Indicator be for the fact that someone wants to buy something at this moment and pre-qualified is. Perhaps it is a spare part or a refillable part, or they know exactly what they want.
You will find that the more your visitors rather buy, The more specific the Keyword, the product name or even the part number is. Optimize content for the problems your product solves; create highly targeted content that builds trust and leads your customer to purchase.
Which generic keywords you should work on for online store SEO
There are different types of generic keywords that you can use in your online store to get better rankings in search results. Here are some examples:
- Brand Keywords: These are keywords that contain the name of your brand or the name of the brands you sell. You should use these keywords to attract visitors who are specifically looking for a certain brand to your online store.
Example: If you sell sportswear and offer Adidas products, relevant brand keywords could be "Adidas sportswear" or "Adidas running shoes".
- Category Keywords: These keywords refer to the different product categories offered in your online store. You should use these keywords in the titles, headings and descriptions of your category pages to improve the findability of these pages.
Example: If you sell electronic items in your online store, relevant category keywords could be "buy smartphones online", "cheap tablets" or "Bluetooth headphones".
- Product Keywords: Product keywords are specific terms that refer to individual products or product variants in your online store. You should use these keywords in the titles, headings and descriptions of your product pages to increase their visibility and attract potential customers.
Example: If you sell a specific coffee machine in your online store, relevant product keywords could be "DeLonghi coffee machine", "DeLonghi espresso machine" or "DeLonghi coffee machine with grinder".
By using these types of generic keywords in your online store SEO, you can increase the visibility of your website and attract more potential customers to your offers. Always make sure to include the keywords in the texts in a natural way and not overdo it to ensure a good user experience.
SEO Goal #4: Branding
Raise the company's profile and lower resistance to future transactions.
Branding is often overlooked, but it is an important part of an ongoing marketing campaign.
When you're just starting to build your brand with your target audience, branding facilitates future conversations by creating space for you in your customer's mind. It's easier to connect with a familiar company than a new one you've just discovered.
For established brands, continuous branding protects your domain and builds trust. A good Ranking for industry terms around your business can spread the word about new solutions and quickly attract customers, while lesser-known brands have a hard time. Leverage your brand by showing up for search terms that relate to competing terms and products. Make sure you're part of every conversation.
Companies that are visible for industry terms like to appear bigger and more relevant than companies that are not findable. Rankings create visibility and trust. Most people on the Internet don't know you yet, and don't know what a great company you might be. An industry leader that is not visible can quickly seem like an irrelevant small business. Don't make yourself smaller than you are, your visibility should at least match your size. At best, your visibility should make you look like an industry leader.
SEO Objective #5: Reputation Management
Own all keywords of your brand. Take your brand perception into your own hands.
We get it. Everyone makes mistakes. In the age of the internet, every mistake is magnified and can damage your brand for months or years.
If you're trying to protect your brand from a negative reputation or change an existing negative image, SEO can be a big help in achieving that change in perspective.
First, you need to own your brand name in all its forms. You want to have 10 out of 10 brand-related search results in Google under your control. This means that you need to optimize pages on many different domains so that you have complete pages of the Search results can "own". Create presences on Facebook, Linkedin, Github, Reddit, Twitter, etc. and run branded SEO campaigns on these sites. Once you're in the top 10, don't let up. Keep up the pressure with additional unique content and links that are relevant to your brand.
Then focus on keywords that are very relevant to your brand. This can be your official company name, your personal name, your brand name, or a popular variation. Use public relations, press releases, social media profiles, and links from networks of websites you own or control.
Don't underestimate the power of a personal response from the founder or CEO to an online complaint. However, if you are not experienced or comfortable with this, consider bringing in outside professionals because responses need to be carefully crafted. Quick, careless comments can be seen as thoughtless, out of touch, uncaring, or worse, defensive and angry. However, an appropriate word can defuse the situation and even increase customer loyalty in the long run.
Even if you don't have a negative situation yet, you should start protecting your brand now. Reputation management is one of the most challenging SEO practices when it happens in an emergency situation. Plan ahead, build your reputation, and be ready when an emergency occurs.
Examples in SEO reputation management
In reputation management, you should pay attention to different brand keywords to keep an eye on your brand and identify any problems early on. Here are some examples of keywords you should watch closely:
- Brand name: Pay attention to your brand name as Keywordto find out what users are writing about your brand on the Internet.
Example: If your brand is called "SuperFitness," you should look for mentions of that name to identify potential positive or negative posts.
- Brand name + product/service: Monitor combinations of your brand name and your products or services to learn how satisfied customers are with certain offerings.
Example: "SuperFitness Personal Training" or "SuperFitness Courses".
- Brand name + rating: Look for your brand name in combination with terms such as "rating", "review" or "test report" to find customer opinions and testimonials.
Example: "SuperFitness rating" or "SuperFitness experiences".
- Brand name + location: Watch your brand name along with the location of your branches or stores to identify local opinions and reviews.
Example: "SuperFitness Berlin" or "SuperFitness Munich".
- Brand name + employees: Monitor mentions of your brand in combination with employee or manager names to get information about your team's behavior and performance.
Example: "SuperFitness Trainer Thomas" or "SuperFitness Managing Director".
- Brand name + competition: Look for your brand name along with competitor names to find comparisons and discussions about your brand and the competition.
Example: "SuperFitness vs. FitnessWorld".
By monitoring these brand keywords in reputation management, you can better understand what is being said about your brand and, if necessary, react in time to protect your reputation.
SEO Goal #6: Customer service
Your customers are asking questions on Google. Make sure the answers come from you.
If you want to build a long-term relationship with your customers, you need to be there when they need you. That means anticipating their needs after the sale and providing answers to their questions at every stage of your product's lifecycle. Every interaction is an opportunity to cement your brand in the customer's mind, control negative impressions, and build a lasting relationship.
Find ideas for content by evaluating your customer service logs and online support requests, or by looking at other companies in your industry. Answer questions with a blog post, video, or tutorial, then link to it in the appropriate places on your website. That's just the beginning.
Another tactic to attract new customers is to create content that answers questions about your competitors' products! Help them without reservation and gently lead them to your solution.
Typical mistakes when setting SEO goals
Setting SEO goals can sometimes be a real minefield. You don't just want to land on the first page of Google, you also want to generate clicks, leads and, ideally, sales. But this is where many pitfalls lurk. Let me summarize the biggest mistakes for you:
Unrealistic expectations
You want to go from page 10 to #1 in a month at an ultra-competitive Keyword? Good luck with it! SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. If you set unrealistic goals, you will only be disappointed and maybe even waste valuable resources.
Lack of focus
Some people want to rank for 100 keywords at once and lose track. Instead, focus on a few important keywords where you really have a chance.
No clear target group
Before you set SEO goals, you should know who your target audience is. Otherwise, you might rank for keywords that don't match the people you're trying to reach.
Lack of measurability
"My website should become better known" is not a clear SEO goal. You need to define goals that you can also measure. For example: "I want to increase my organic clicks by 20% within six months."
Relying too much on vanity metrics
Sure, a high Traffic looks good, but what's the point if the bounce rate is astronomical and nobody buys anything? Focus on goals that are truly relevant to your business success, such as conversion rate.
Neglect on-page vs. off-page
Some focus only on on-page optimization and forget that Backlinks are just as important in the off-page area. Or vice versa. Both must go hand in hand.
No periodic reviews
SEO goals are not set in stone. You should regularly review and adjust them to respond to changes in the market or search engine algorithms.
Example
Imagine you have an online store for handmade soaps. Your goal is to double sales in the next three months. You decide to achieve this goal through a combination of blogposts, improved product descriptions, and a targeted backlink strategy. After a month, you review the data and realize that the Traffic has increased, but sales are stagnating. You can see that you rank well for "soap making", but hardly for specific product inquiries such as "buy handmade lavender soap".
And that's where the mistake lies: you have a clear goal, but your SEO strategy is not geared towards achieving this goal. So, off to the revision!
Hopefully, this will help you avoid the common mistakes when setting SEO goals. Get to work!
Final thoughts on your new SEO goals
These things aren't easy. If they were, companies wouldn't need marketing experts like you to figure out these goals and make them happen. There's no one-size-fits-all recipe for marketing. Every business has different customers, products and competitive pressures, so be careful when applying these goals to your situation. Nothing can replace real conversations and openness.
And those are just some of the primary goals of SEO. Here are some secondary goals I've seen over the years:
- The number of product pages in the Google SERPs increase
- Reducing leads from low-budget customers
- Reduce calls to customer service
- Apple/Android App Store SEO
- Amazon Product List SEO
- Educate the consumer
- Measure coupon usage
- Event specific SEO
- Promote retail sales
- Reduce returns
Whether your goals are on that list or not, WOLF OF SEO is ready to help you create the best possible SEO results for your business. If you want a quick start for your SEO and want a E-commerce company, book a free initial consultation with the WOLF OF SEO team and we'll show you how we can help your SEO goals can achieve.
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