What Does It Take to Execute an Effective Content Plan?

When the time comes to update your website and implement principles of SEO in order to increase your business’s reach, finding a starting place can be a daunting task. While SEO (search engine optimization) is relatively straightforward in concept, proper SEO success can prove to be somewhat tricky. Following these core SEO principles will improve your digital marketing strategy.

Target Audience Identification

One of the most critical aspects of your SEO strategy should be identifying who your target audience is. Without knowing who your business is clearly trying to target, every other aspect of your strategy is then open to possible misinterpretation. When implementing your SEO content strategy, it is essential to minimize misunderstandings, and this can be done by accurately identifying your customer base.

A big part of your SEO strategy should be looking at your existing customers and their data, then using that information to understand who your ideal audience is. The content on your business’s website should be aimed specifically at your target audience.

Your Ideal Customer

A significant reason that most businesses have content on their website is to attract customers that may not yet be aware or educated about the company. While content also helps with customer retention, many focus on using their content to bring new people into the mix. When you have content on your website that is designed to target your ideal customer, you connect with users who align with your brand identity. This, in turn, makes sales of your product or service more likely.

The Importance of Brand Identity

Take note of what words you use when describing your business. Do customers use the same words, or is your brand’s identity lacking clarity? It is valuable to have an accurate and up-to-date understanding of your business’s brand identity as you implement new SEO strategies on your website. As the first priority of a website is typically attracting customers, having site content that falls in line with your brand voice and identity is valuable.

Aligning the tone and voice with your content improves brand identity. Making this part of your content strategy can improve sales. Potential customers go from simply browsing your website to patrons spending money with your business.

Understanding Your Current Content

As online advertising continues to become more and more saturated, your target audience now has many more options to choose from when searching for products and services. Consumers have more information in front of them and more companies to research than ever before. This oversaturation on the web makes it that much more valuable to use principles of SEO for your online content.

Content editing is not always an easy task. So, keep in mind the aspects of your existing content that you want to keep and the other aspects that would be smart to re-work. New works must possess a voice consistent with your brand when creating new online content from scratch.

Utilization of Keyword Research

Keyword research is a vital piece of the SEO puzzle. After your target audience and ideal customers have been identified, it’s time to recognize what phrases and keywords will attract customers to your website. When starting keyword research, the first thing to keep in mind is the products and/or services that your business provides. These products/services will act as a starting point for your research. From there, utilize keyword research tools that will aid you in understanding how potential customers are searching for offerings online.

3 Major Aspects of Keyword Research

1. Search Intent – Is the potential customer searching this keyword for research purposes or with the intent to purchase? As the goal of your web content is to generate sales with new customers, purchase intent is a crucial aspect of SEO principles that your keywords should be targeted towards.
2. Volume – Using keywords in your content that are unlikely to have a high search volume will typically hinder desired results. By directing attention to keywords that <em>do</em> have higher search volumes, your site has a better chance of being noticed by potential customers.
3. Difficulty – Keyword difficulty is essential in many cases, as potential customers may not be using keywords that are high in difficulty. When looking at possible keywords, keep in mind how common the words are and recognize that the more common the word, the more likely a site with very high domain authority is already using it in their SEO strategy.