In one of our articles The Complete Marketing Plan Outline for Your Business we took a deep dive into marketing and marketing plans and we did mention that "a marketing plan puts businesses in the right shape for their marketing activities". While we gave a detailed list of what a business marketing plan should contain as well as the strategies for effective marketing. In this article, we are focused on SEO MARKETING; the trending digital marketing strategy of the day.

Article features:

1. What is SEO marketing?
2. What is the importance of SEO marketing?
3. How does SEO marketing work?
4. Common SEO marketing tools.
5. Conclusion.

Also Read: The Complete Marketing Plan Outline for Your Business 

What is SEO marketing?

Firstly, SEO, or search engine optimization, is the practice of improving the ranking of a website or a web page in search engine results pages (SERPs) through various techniques, such as keyword research and analysis, on-page optimization, and backlinking. The goal of SEO is to increase the visibility and accessibility of a website or web page in search engines, such as Google, to drive more organic traffic (traffic from search engines) to the site.

SEO marketing is therefore the process of using search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to improve the visibility and ranking of a website in search engine results pages (SERPs). This can be done through a variety of tactics, such as keyword research, on-page optimization, off-page optimization, and technical SEO.

It is a subcategory of digital marketing that involves the optimization of websites and web pages for major search engines like Google. SEO marketing is one of many techniques used by firms to promote their products or services because search engines have become the primary method of locating almost everything.

Search engines have their unique formula or "secret sauce” for ranking websites. These formulas, which are formally known as algorithms, are highly guarded techniques that the top search engines safeguard as trade secrets.

SEO marketing specialists successfully reverse engineer components of these algorithms through trial and error over time to identify the finest techniques for search engine marketing. Organizations can increase their exposure and rating in the top search engines by using these tried-and-true SEO strategies.

The underlying element of SEO marketing must be understood to discover more about how to maximize SEO marketing for your business.

The various elements of SEO marketing are:

On-page optimization:

This involves optimizing the content and structure of a website or web page to make it more attractive to search engines and users. This can include things like optimizing the title and headings, using relevant and high-quality images and videos, and ensuring that the website or web page loads quickly.

Off-page optimization: 

This involves building links from other websites back to your website or web page. These links act as "votes" of confidence in the eyes of search engines and can help improve the ranking of your website or web page.

Keyword research and analysis: 

This involves identifying the terms and phrases that users are searching for in search engines and using those terms and phrases in the content and meta tags of a website or web page.

Technical SEO: 

This involves optimizing the technical aspects of a website or web page to make it easily accessible and crawlable by search engines. This can include things like improving the website's loading speed, ensuring that it is mobile-friendly, and making sure that the website has a sitemap.

Content creation and optimization:

This involves creating high-quality, relevant, and valuable content for your website or web page. Whether it is blog posts, articles, or product descriptions. 

By following these best practices and implementing a well-planned SEO strategy, businesses and organizations can improve their online visibility, attract more qualified leads and customers, and ultimately drive more revenue.

Also Read: Social Media Growth Hacks you should be using for your Startup

What is the importance of SEO marketing?

Before diving into the various importance of SEO marketing, it is worth noting that search engines are vital to the reality that technology is a crucial component of living in the current world.  Why? Because every second of every day, thousands of users utilize search engines to conduct inquiries. From a marketing perspective, that is a very sizable and continuously renewed audience to reach.

When you delve a little deeper into the data, it becomes obvious that SEO for marketing is a potent instrument. The numbers below, provided by SEO Tribunal, show approximations of data to show the effect of search engine marketing:

1. Every second of each day, 67,000 users search on Google.
2. Search engine queries are the starting point of 93% of internet activities.
3. Searchers ignore paid adverts in search results in 80% of cases.
4. Mobile devices account for 58% of all online searches.
5. Local and geographic searches make up about 46% of all Google searches.
6. Search engines account for 39% of all traffic to eCommerce websites globally.

When viewed as a whole, search engines represent a sizable pool of potential clients. Furthermore, compared to conventional marketing or advertising efforts, SEO marketing methods typically have a far greater conversion rate. Consequently, businesses that ignore search engine marketing do so at their own risk.

Here's how SEO marketing can specifically benefit a business or organization's marketing efforts:

Increased visibility

By ranking higher in search engine results pages, a business or organization's website or web page will be more visible to users who are searching for relevant terms and phrases. This can help attract more qualified leads and customers to the site.

More traffic

By attracting more qualified leads and customers to the site, businesses and organizations can drive more traffic to their sites. This can help increase brand awareness and potentially lead to more sales and revenue.

Improved user experience

By optimizing the content and structure of a website or web page, businesses and organizations can make it easier for users to navigate and find the information they are looking for. This can help improve the overall user experience of the site and increase the likelihood of users engaging with the site and potentially converting into customers.

Increased credibility

By ranking higher in search engine results pages, businesses and organizations can establish their credibility and expertise in their industry. This can help build trust with users and potentially lead to more sales and revenue.

SEO marketing is an important part of a comprehensive digital marketing strategy because it helps businesses and organizations reach their target audience and drive more qualified traffic to their site. By investing in SEO, businesses and organizations can improve their online visibility, reach a wider audience, and ultimately drive more revenue.

How does SEO marketing work?

So far, we have discussed the meaning of SEO marketing, its elements of SEO marketing, and its importance to businesses. Now, here's  how SEO marketing works:

1. Identify target keywords
2. Optimize website content
3. Build backlinks
4. Monitor and track results
5. Local SEO
6. Mobile Optimization
7. Content marketing
8. Social media marketing
9. Ongoing optimization

Identify target keywords

The first step in SEO marketing is to identify the keywords and phrases that potential customers are searching for. This can be done through keyword research tools, such as Google's Keyword Planner or Ahrefs.

Keyword research is an important part of SEO marketing because it helps you understand what terms and phrases potential customers are searching for. 

By identifying these keywords, you can optimize your website's content to include them in a natural and relevant way. There are several tools you can use to do keyword research, such as Google's Keyword Planner or Ahrefs.

Optimize website content: 

Once you've identified your target keywords, you can optimize your website's content to include those keywords in a natural and relevant way. This includes adding title tags and meta descriptions to your website's pages, which are HTML elements that help to describe the content of the page and are often displayed in search engine results pages. 

You should also use header tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.) to structure your content and make it easier for search engines to understand. Additionally, it's important to optimize images and videos on your website by using descriptive file names and alt tags.

Build backlinks

Another important aspect of SEO marketing is building high-quality backlinks from other websites to your own. This helps to demonstrate to search engines that your website is authoritative and trustworthy.

Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your website. These links help to demonstrate to search engines that your website is authoritative and trustworthy, which can improve your ranking in search engine results pages. 

There are several tactics you can use to build backlinks, such as guest blogging, creating high-quality content that other websites will want to link to, and participating in online communities related to your industry.

Monitor and track results

It's important to track and monitor the results of your SEO marketing efforts to see what's working and what's not. This can be done through tools like Google Analytics, which allows you to see how much traffic your website is receiving, where it's coming from, and what actions visitors are taking on your site. You can also use tools like SEMrush to track your website's ranking in search engine results pages and identify opportunities for improvement

Local SEO

If you have a local business with a physical location, it's important to optimize your website for local search as well. This can include optimizing your Google My Business listing, including your location and contact information on your website, and getting listed in online directories like Yelp and YellowPages.

Mobile Optimization

With more and more people accessing the internet on their mobile devices, it's important to make sure that your website is mobile-friendly. This means ensuring that it loads quickly and is easy to navigate on a smaller screen. You can use tools like Google's Mobile-Friendly Test to check if your website is mobile-friendly.

Content marketing

Creating high-quality, relevant, and informative content can be a powerful way to drive traffic to your website and improve your search engine rankings. This can include blog posts, articles, infographics, and other types of content that provide value to your target audience. It's important to regularly publish new content on your website to keep it fresh and relevant.

Social media marketing

While it's not directly related to search engine optimization, using social media to promote your website and content can help drive traffic and improve your search engine rankings. By sharing your content on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, you can reach a wider audience and attract more visitors to your website.

Ongoing optimization

SEO is not a one-time effort – it's important to continually monitor and optimize your website to ensure that it is performing well on search engines. This can include keeping your website's content up to date, monitoring your backlink profile, and tracking your search engine rankings. It's also important to stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and techniques to ensure that you are using the most effective strategies for your business.

By following these steps and implementing an ongoing SEO marketing strategy, you can improve your website's visibility in search engine results pages and attract more qualified traffic to your site. It's important to note that SEO is a long-term strategy, and it may take some time to see results

Common SEO marketing tools

SEO marketing tools are software or online platforms that help businesses optimize their websites and online content for search engines. The goal of these tools is to improve the visibility and ranking of a website in search engine results pages (SERPs) for specific keywords or phrases, to drive more organic traffic to the website.

There are many different types of SEO marketing tools available, including keyword research tools, backlink analysis tools, website audit tools, and content marketing tools. Some tools are designed to help with specific aspects of SEO, while others offer a range of features that cover multiple areas.

Google Keyword Planner 

This is a free tool offered by Google that allows you to research and analyze keywords for your website. To use the tool, you will need to have a Google Ads account. Once you are logged in, you can enter the keywords that you want to target and see how much traffic they are likely to generate, as well as other related keywords that you might want to consider. You can also use the tool to see how much it would cost to advertise on Google for those keywords.

Yoast SEO

Yoast SEO is a popular WordPress plugin that helps you optimize your website's content and structure for search engines. Some of the features offered by Yoast SEO include keyword optimization, readability analysis, and XML sitemap generation. 

The keyword optimization feature helps you include your target keywords in your website's content and metadata, and the readability analysis feature helps you ensure that your content is easy to read and understand. The XML sitemap feature helps search engines understand the structure of your website and find all of your pages

Google Analytics

This is a free tool offered by Google that allows you to track and analyze the traffic and conversions on your website. You can use it to see how many visitors your website is getting, where they are coming from, and what actions they are taking on your website. You can also set up goals and track conversions, such as form submissions or product purchases. This data can help understand the effectiveness of your SEO efforts and identify areas for improvement.

MozBar

MozBar is a free SEO marketing Chrome extension offered by Moz that allows you to see how your website is performing in search engine results and to analyze the websites of your competitors. You can use it to see the search engine rankings, domain authority, and backlinks of any website you visit.

Google Search Console

Google Search Console, formerly known as Google Webmaster Tools, is a free online analytics tool focused solely on how well your website performs in Google searches. It allows you to explore your data further, learn about click-through rates and the keywords you rank for and submit XML sitemaps and specific URLs for ranking.

Ubersuggest

This is an amazing free SEO marketing tool that offers keyword research and content marketing features. You can use it to find popular and relevant keywords for your business and to get ideas for content topics.

Screaming Frog

This is a free tool that allows you to crawl and analyze up to 500 URLs on your website. You can use it to identify technical issues on your websites, such as broken links or duplicate content, and to see how your website's pages are being indexed by search engines. 500 URLs can be audited by Screaming Frog for free, and it will let you know which pages require improvement. More URLs can be purchased as well.

W3C Markup Validation Service

As a free tool, it allows you to check the HTML and CSS of your website for any errors or issues. You can use it to ensure that your website's code is clean and up to standards, which can help improve your search engine rankings.

Google PageSpeed Insights

You can diagnose SEO issues with page load time with the use of PageSpeed Insights. Your website's SEO rankings will suffer if it takes too long to load. Enter your URL to get an SEO assessment and a list of suggestions for improving the performance of your site. This allows you to conduct both desktop and mobile-friendly tests as well as SEO research.

ALSO READ: Achieving product market fit in your business 

Conclusion

From evaluating search traffic to assessing the demand for a product idea, understanding the fundamentals of SEO marketing will help you become a more effective entrepreneur and business owner overall. SEO is a long-term strategy that can take time to see results, but the benefits of a strong SEO campaign can be significant, helping to establish a website and organization as a trusted and authoritative resource in its industry.

Although many of the top eCommerce SEO tools cost over $100 or more a month, which isn't ideal if you're a bootstrapped business owner or are still getting your head around SEO, we have mentioned some  SEO marketing tools that you can use for free to get the job done.