4 Steps to Grow Your Organic Search Traffic
How are you going to prepare your company for organic traffic?
By AJ Agrawal •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Organic-search traffic is the only search traffic you should be interested in. This is the traffic you get without any direct action on your part. It's not something you can achieve with ease, though. The statistics say that 83 percent of organic clicks go to the first four results under most categories on search engines. So, to see your site attain that status, lay the foundations well in advance for the traffic you want.
Related: Grow Your Online Business Without Depending Exclusively on Google
Here are four strategies you can use to bring in organic search traffic and increase your ranking on Google.
1. Understand why content is king.
Google changed the rules. It's now essential that you interest real people. And "real people" means those who appreciate fresh, unique content. Content marketing was once considered a dying art, but now it's the driving force for every company in every industry.
So, understand that you cannot benefit from social media without investing in quality content. You'll achieve little visibility unless you give people what they want. To craft the right level of content, you'll need a content creation strategy.
2. Adopt the following 5-point content creation strategy.
Conduct keyword research. Keywords remain an important part of categorizing your site. While you no longer need to spam keywords, you still need to go out of your way to find the right keywords so people can find your content. Google relies on them to categorize different content types.
You should aim for keywords that offer enough visibility without being too competitive. Feel free to change them at a later date.
Make your content longer. Despite video marketing's rise seeming to point to consumers' desire for shorter content, that implication couldn't be further from the truth. Google wants content that's longer and more detailed. Studies have shown that this is what ranks higher in the search engines. Don't artificially inflate your word count, though. You should hone in on topics that naturally require more words to write about.
Use images. Images are vital for breaking up the monotony of a string of paragraphs. You also need to use a featured image ito make your content stand out in a list. This is like erecting a virtual billboard. If you don't include one, people won't realize that your content exists. Think about how these images will look in thumbnail form, as that's what will appear on your social media feed.
Related: 17 Ways To Immediately Improve Your Website Traffic
Optimize for opt-ins. Make sure you lead to something more than your content. What this means is that when people read your content, they must know where to go next. This may come in the form of a call to action or your offering of additional content, appearing perhaps as a PDF. Growing organic traffic is important, but it doesn't matter if you are not converting those viewer into leads. Your business doesn't pay its bills using raw traffic.
Fix the meta description. Phil Tadros, leader of coworking space Space Doejo, emphasized the importance of the meta description. "I went out of my way to spend time tweaking and fine-tuning the meta description of my site," Tadros said, "because this is one of the first things people see. It's vital that you make a promise you can keep." Your meta description is your first chance to encourage people to click on to your website. There are plenty of plugins allowing you to edit the meta description if you don't have a custom-made platform. A meta description may not impact SEO directly the way it used to, but it enhances the user experience.
3. Recognize the importance of consistent publishing.
There are no guidelines that state you have to publish every week or twice a week. You should publish when you actually have something to say. But don't leave huge gaps between updates. Consistent publishing keeps people interested and prevents them from forgetting about you.
Give people a reason to keep coming back to your website. Your brand should be at the forefront of their thinking every time they think about your niche.
4. Consider how social media became key.
Google long ago recognized social media as a genuine reflection of popularity. The function of social media aligns with the search engine's goal of ranking only the most popular websites prominently. Google, in fact, wants users to click on things they are going to like. It wants users to achieve their goals.
The message: You must have a social media marketing strategy in place in order to enhance organic traffic.
Related: Simple Marketing Strategies to Fuel Long-Term Growth for Businesses Online
Conclusion
Growing organic traffic can be done. But it requires a solid strategy in place. With all this in mind, how are you going to prepare your company for organic traffic?
