Boost Your Sales with These 6 Proven SEO Strategies

I started my first job in the SEO industry in 2002 as a part-time assistant at an internet marketing company located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama called Evision Marketing that focused on trucker driver recruiting for trucking companies in the USA.

Old School Link Building

My first job at Evision was to search the internet for any websites related to the trucking industry and find the contact email address for each website.

I would put each email address into a spreadsheet, then someone else on the team would send emails asking for that website to add a link to one of our websites.

This process is called link building, backlinking, or building backlinks.

Link building seemed to work great at the time, as that company owned several websites ranking on the first page of Google for their target keywords. They dominated search results back then.

A lot has changed in the SEO industry over the past 20 years since those earlier days, but the basics of SEO are still true.

A Proven SEO Strategy

From my experience of working in different parts of the SEO industry over the past 20 years, I can summarize a proven SEO strategy with this: Make good content that helps your target audience.

If that’s always your focus you’ll do well in the search engines and in business.

Now let’s go deeper into the details of modern SEO.

Are you looking to boost your sales and grow your business?

Look no further than search engine optimization (SEO).

SEO is the process of optimizing your website and its content to improve its ranking and visibility in search engine results like Google.

It’s a crucial component of any successful online marketing strategy, and by following a few basic principles, website owners can significantly enhance their website’s performance in search engine results.

Ultimately, this will attract more qualified users to your website that convert into customers.

By implementing these proven SEO strategies, you can increase the discoverability and relevance of your website, and can drive more traffic and revenue to your business.

Whether you’re a small business owner, a blogger, or an e-commerce entrepreneur, these principles can help your business grow.

Six basic principles of Search Engine Optimization (SEO):

Content: Create high-quality, relevant content that provides value to users and meets their needs.
Keywords: Use keywords and phrases throughout your website and in your content that are relevant to your business and the products or services you offer.
User-Friendly Structure: Make sure your website is easy to navigate and user-friendly, with a clear hierarchy and well-organized content.
Fast & Flexible: Ensure that your website loads quickly on all devices and is mobile-friendly.
Backlinks: Building high-quality backlinks from other reputable websites to improve your website’s authority and credibility.
Social Media: Using social media and other online platforms to promote your content and drive traffic to your website.

By following these principles, you can improve your website’s visibility and ranking in search engine results, which can help to increase traffic and drive more potential customers to your site.

Let’s go deeper into each principle.

1. Content

Focus on creating high-quality, relevant content for your website.

Consider the E-E-A-T Guidelines published by Google. This acronym stands for Experience, Expertise, Aughtority, and Trust. Learn more about those guidelines here.
Conduct thorough research: Conduct research to understand your target audience and their needs and preferences. This can involve conducting surveys, analyzing user data, and reviewing industry trends to identify the topics and types of content that are most likely to be of interest and value to your users.
Create high-quality, relevant content: Once you have a clear understanding of your target audience, create content that is well-written, informative, and engaging, and that addresses the needs and interests of your users. Avoid using overly technical or jargon-filled language, and focus on creating content that is easy to read and understand.
Use keywords and meta tags: Incorporate keywords and meta tags into your website’s content and meta tags to improve its relevance and value to users and search engines. This will help to improve the discoverability of your content, and can improve your website’s ranking in search engine results.
Keep your content up-to-date: Regularly update and refresh your website’s content to keep it current and relevant. This will show users that your website is active and well-maintained, and can improve user engagement and satisfaction.
Use visuals and multimedia: Use visuals and multimedia, such as images, videos, and infographics, to improve the user experience and make your content more engaging and interesting. This can help to increase user engagement and satisfaction, and can improve your website’s SEO performance.

2. Keywords

Keywords are important for SEO because they help search engines to understand the content and relevance of a website.

When users enter keywords into a search engine, the search engine uses those keywords to find and return the most relevant and valuable websites in its results.

By incorporating keywords into the content and meta tags on their website, website owners can improve the relevance and value of their website to users, which can help to improve their ranking in search engine results.

Additionally, using keywords throughout a website and its content can help to improve the discoverability of the website, making it easier for users to find the website when searching for the products or services it offers.

Your website’s SEO is built on the foundation of keywords.

Keyword Research Process:

Start with your target audience: Begin your keyword research by identifying your target audience and their needs and preferences. This will help you to focus your keyword research on the terms and phrases that are most relevant and valuable to your users.
Use keyword research tools: Use keyword research tools, such as the Google Keyword Planner, to identify the keywords and phrases that are commonly used by users when searching for products or services like those offered by your business. These tools can provide valuable insights into the search volume, competition, and trends for different keywords, which can help you to identify the best keywords to use on your website.
Use long-tail keywords: In addition to using broad, generic keywords, also consider using long-tail keywords, which are more specific and less competitive. Long-tail keywords can provide more targeted traffic to your website, and can help you to reach users who are further along in the buying process and are more likely to convert.
Consider using local keywords: If your business serves a specific geographic area, consider using local keywords in your keyword research. These keywords can help to improve the discoverability of your website for users in your local area, and can improve your website’s ranking in local search results.
Track Results: Track your target keyword rankings in search results. Analyze your website’s SEO performance by measuring how many leads or sales your website is generating from your organic search traffic.

3. User-Friendly Structure

When a website is well-structured, it is easier for users to find the information they are looking for, which can improve user engagement and satisfaction.

Also, a well-structured website can help search engines to understand the content and relevance of the website, which can improve the website’s ranking in search engine results.

By taking the time to organize your website’s content and navigation in a clear and logical way, you can improve the user experience and enhance your website’s SEO performance.

Keep it simple: A navigation menu should be easy to read and understand, with clear and concise labels for each link. Avoid using overly complicated or technical language, and keep the menu as short and concise as possible.
Organize your links: Group your links into logical categories, and arrange them in a clear and logical order. This will make it easier for users to find the information they are looking for, and will improve the overall user experience.
Use drop-down menus: If you have a large number of links, consider using drop-down menus to organize them. This will keep the main navigation menu clean and uncluttered, while still providing users with access to all of the information on your website.
Use descriptive link labels: Use descriptive and informative link labels that accurately reflect the content of the linked page. This will help users to understand what they will find when they click on the link, and will improve the discoverability of your content.
Test and optimize: Test your navigation menu with different users to see how easy it is to use, and make adjustments based on their feedback. Continuously test and optimize your menu to improve its usability and effectiveness.

Internal Links

Internal links are links that connect one page on a website to another page on the same website.

They are an important part of a website’s content structure, as they help to organize and connect the different pages and sections of a website.

When used properly, internal links can improve the user experience by making it easier for users to navigate the website and find the information they are looking for.

Additionally, internal links can help search engines to understand the structure and relevance of a website, which can improve the website’s ranking in search engine results.

By using internal links to connect related pages and content on your website, you can improve the user experience, enhance the discoverability of your content, and improve your website’s SEO performance.

To improve your website’s internal links, follow these tips:

Use keyword-rich anchor text: The anchor text of an internal link is the text that is clickable and leads to the linked page. Use descriptive and keyword-rich anchor text that accurately reflects the content of the linked page, and that is relevant to the context of the link. This will help users to understand what they will find when they click on the link, and will improve the discoverability of your content.
Link to relevant pages: Only link to pages on your website that are relevant to the content of the page where the link is located. This will improve the user experience, as it will ensure that users are only directed to pages that are relevant to their interests and needs.
Use descriptive link labels: Use descriptive and informative link labels in your navigation menu, footer, and other areas of your website. This will help users to understand what they will find when they click on the link, and will improve the discoverability of your content.
Avoid broken links: Regularly check your website for broken links, and fix or remove any that you find. Broken links can frustrate users and hurt your website’s SEO performance.
Use internal linking to improve navigation: Use internal links to connect related pages and content on your website, and to improve the overall navigation of your site. This will make it easier for users to find the information they are looking for, and will improve the user experience.

4. Fast & Flexible

A fast and flexible website is essential for providing a positive user experience, which in turn can significantly impact your website’s SEO. Ensuring that your website loads quickly on all devices and is mobile-friendly will not only improve user satisfaction but also help your website rank higher in search engine results. Here are some key aspects to consider when optimizing your website for speed and responsiveness:

a) Responsive Design: Implement a responsive design that automatically adjusts your website’s layout, images, and text to fit the screen size of the user’s device. This ensures that your content is easily accessible on desktops, smartphones, and tablets.

b) Image Optimization: Compress and resize images to reduce file sizes without compromising image quality. This can help to decrease page load times and improve the overall speed of your website.

c) Minify Code: Minify your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files to remove unnecessary characters, whitespace, and comments. This can help to reduce file sizes and speed up your website’s load time.

d) Browser Caching: Enable browser caching to store static files, like images and stylesheets, on the user’s device, reducing the need to download these files repeatedly. This can significantly improve page load times for returning visitors.

e) Content Delivery Network (CDN): Utilize a CDN to distribute your website’s content across multiple servers around the world. This helps to reduce the latency between the user’s device and your website, resulting in faster load times.

f) Server Optimization: Optimize your web server’s configuration and hosting environment to ensure that it can handle traffic spikes and deliver content quickly and efficiently.

By focusing on these aspects of website optimization, you can create a fast and flexible user experience that caters to the needs of your audience, resulting in improved SEO and higher search engine rankings.

5. Backlinks

To build high-quality backlinks from other reputable websites, follow these steps:

Identify reputable websites in your industry or niche: Use search engines and industry resources to identify reputable websites in your industry or niche that are relevant to your business and its products or services. These websites can provide valuable backlinks to your website, and can help to improve your website’s authority and credibility.
Create valuable and shareable content: To attract backlinks from other websites, create valuable and shareable content that is informative, engaging, and relevant to your target audience. This can include blog posts, articles, videos, infographics, and other types of content that are likely to be shared and linked to by other websites.
Use outreach and networking: Use outreach and networking techniques to promote your content and build relationships with other websites and influencers in your industry. This can involve reaching out to website owners, bloggers, and influencers to share your content and encourage them to link to it from their websites.
Monitor and track your backlinks: Use tools, such as Google Search Console, to monitor and track your backlinks, and to identify any opportunities for improvement. This can help you to understand the quality and relevance of the websites that are linking to your content, and to identify any potential issues or opportunities for growth.
Continuously improve and update your content: To maintain and improve the quality and relevance of your backlinks, continuously improve and update your content, and promote it to new and existing website owners and influencers. This will help to ensure that your backlinks are high-quality and valuable, and that they continue to support and enhance your website’s authority and credibility.

6. Social Media

A website’s social media presence can have a positive impact on its search engine optimization (SEO) performance.

This is because search engines, such as Google, use social media activity as a factor in their algorithms to determine a website’s relevance and authority.

When a website’s content is shared, liked, and commented on by users on social media platforms, it can signal to search engines that the website’s content is valuable and relevant to users.

This can improve the website’s ranking in search engine results, which can drive more traffic to the website and potentially lead to more business.

Additionally, having a strong social media presence can help to build brand awareness and engagement, which can also have a positive impact on SEO performance.

In conclusion, search engine optimization is an essential part of a successful online marketing strategy.

By following the six essential principles outlined in this article, business owners can increase their online visibility, enhance their reputation and credibility, and drive more traffic and revenue to their websites.