Search engine optimization strategies are still largely dependent on keywords. Outbound and inbound links, optimized website design and relevant, unique and informative content continue to be important. However, an SEO strategy should also factor in the intent of users. Every internet user initiating a search on Google has a specific intention. The intent could be informational or navigation. It may be transactional. Most people who start searching for something are not at a stage wherein they will make a decision to purchase a product or sign up for a service. Only such a stage requires transactional content. Other stages require either informational or navigational contents.

The first step to create an SEO strategy based on user intent is to understand the three kinds of contents that Google find relevant depending on the search initiated. Google is constantly trying to rank relevant pages for all kinds of search criteria. The search engine giant is hence not only considering but actually recognizing the intent of users. It is ranking pages or displaying search engine results according to that intent. Let us factor in a few real examples.

High authority sites have a head start that smaller websites will perhaps never attain. Websites that are considered to be authoritative in a niche will always be ranked higher by search engines. They will almost always feature on the first page when relevant keywords are searched. Smaller websites in the same niche often target the same keywords and they can at best try to get ranked right after the high authority sites. However, smaller websites do not have to fight the same war. There are ways to outrank high authority sites.

If there is anything that search engines give as much importance to as authority, then it is relevance. Search engines are constantly trying to find the most relevant results for every keyword and hence smaller websites need to score well on relevance. Search engines are continuously improving their algorithms to find more relevant content. The websites with such content will not make the high authority sites insignificant but they will attain a much better rank. There are two ways to improve the relevance of a website. The first method is focusing on a niche wherein the contents target a small set of keywords. The second method is silo site structure.

Amazon is the largest global marketplace. The ecommerce giant is also one of the most important search engines in the world. Google is inarguably the largest search engine right now. Companies selling their products on Amazon also have a search engine optimization strategy for Google. However, the strategy may not be specifically for a particular product. The optimization is of the website as a whole. This is fine as one does need to rank their website higher to get more traffic. More traffic to the website will also naturally generate more traction for the products listed on Amazon. The website can have links to the product pages on Amazon. In addition to such measures, a company should try to get the Amazon product listing on Google.

Small businesses cannot fund large scale sponsored advertisements and paid marketing campaigns on search engines, social media and third party websites. Budget is always a constraint. Small businesses are often proprietorship enterprises or partnerships so there are very few people at the helm and they too are preoccupied with their core operations. There isn’t much of a middle management and most employees are already assigned sufficient day-to-day tasks to squeeze out time for anything else. How does then a small business manage its search engine optimization?

Prioritize and Focus on Local SEO

Small businesses do not have to compete with large brands. They do not need a nationwide or even a statewide outreach program. Their marketing exercises can be limited to an area, at the most a city. Hence, there is absolutely no need to worry about the search results that appear for internet users based across the state and beyond. The focus should be on local search engine optimization. The business needs to pop up on search engine results for a given city, area or neighborhood. This is easier than trying to gain a prominent rank on a national or international level. In any case such positions are taken up by encyclopedic resources and they are unlikely to cede their rightful place.

Keywords are the bedrock of search engine optimization. Keyword research is thus a quintessential exercise. There are different ways to find the keywords relevant for your industry, business, products or services. You must also consider the target audience and the platforms you are using to reach out to them during the research. There is a traditional or old school method of keyword research. This process can be broken down into four phases. The following approach can help you find high search volume with low competition keywords and long-tail keywords.

Four Steps of Keyword Research

The four steps of traditional keyword research are finding seed keywords, plugging seed keywords, filtering keyword opportunities and evaluating competitiveness. These steps should get you the keyword you can target with all your contents for effective search engine optimization. The keywords you zero in on should be used for your official website content, marketing articles and other materials you will use to promote your business online.