The Three Pillars of SEO
The Three Pillars of SEO
If you’re an experienced marketing professional, you're likely to want to keep your marketing costs to a minimum while getting the best return on investment possible.
Fortunately, search engine optimization (SEO) services enable you optimize your marketing approach – without the need to augment your sales or marketing teams.
Unfortunately, even a well-balanced content marketing strategy sometimes ignores the significance of including SEO in its marketing plans. However, the realm of SEO has changed notably in the last few years, so it's no longer enough to increase your page's click rate simply through the inclusion of keywords.
The same applies in the field of digital marketing. This means that 350-word articles, which used to occupy the top spot on Google’s rankings, have now been replaced with more extensive articles.
Oftentimes, you will see over 2,500-word articles taking up the highly sought-after top spots in the SERPs. Keywords have been relegated to the bottom of the pile because Google's algorithms continue to adapt to what people are looking for.
In reality, SEO is supported by three distinct pillars: search engine optimization, relevancy and authority.
Ensure your website keeps these three SEO pillars in mind. Then, you'll be able to implement a strategy for content marketing that will boost your position on SERPs.
It's crucial to know about the three pillars and how they impact SEO effectiveness.
Here we explore their impact in more detail:
Ignite Discovery
If you're trying to get noticed by potential customers on Google, it starts by making sure that Google discovers your site in the first place.
This involves using traditional SEO methods like creating a backlink collection from trustworthy websites, and using the most effective and useful keywords on your site.
The best and worst aspect of SEO is that, unless trying to get a particular keyword, it takes time to reach the #1 spot.
In some respects, this is a good thing since it's impossible to simply pay for the top spot.
SEO is the process of dedicating time and effort to ensuring that your website becomes a reference point for everything you have to offer.
Stay Relevant Online
Being relevant in search engine results happens naturally due to increased visitors to your site.
Alongside creating backlinks and implementing an effective keyword strategy superior to your competition, creating an easy-to-use, user-friendly website will keep visitors flowing into and on your website.
The user experience is more than just a neat, aesthetically appealing site. It's a website where your goals are clear, and the users know exactly what they need to do.
Ensure your homepage highlights the essential aspects your business has to offer, and includes clearly defined Calls-to-Action that get your visitors wherever you want them to go.
Be a Voice of Authority in your Industry
In many cases, being relevant and having a position of authority are two things that go hand-in-hand.
While you may be relevant with poor content, only companies with quality, useful content can improve their higher rankings in search results.
Authority does not just provide you with more exposure via search engines. It could make you an authority in your field, which can result in numerous backlinks and citations from articles, blogs or other content related to your industry.
Another way to augment your authority is to provide original images with alt tags and social share buttons.
A comment section is also great for SEO, as the comments are not only viewed by other users but also by search engines, thus demonstrating your business as an expert in its field.
Common SEO Mistakes
Even if your current marketing strategy has been designed with these three pillars in mind, numerous managers and departments in the field continue to make common errors in the process of designing and creating.
Examples include:
· Publishing content regularly without adhering to a careful plan that is based on concepts like your ideal buyer's persona or the buyer's journey
· Placing too many keywords on a page, which leaves users – and Google – disoriented and unable to continue reading
How can this help with your strategy?
So, what are the pillar pages? According to HubSpot, these are the main page of the topic or service. The pillar page usually contains information about all aspects of a topic on one page, with other topics appearing in articles, blogs, or other pages—each backlinking to the primary page on the pillar.
It is not intended to be misinterpreted as a landing page, typically used as an endpoint to a social media posting with a goal in mind.
The purpose could be as easy as downloading an e-book or getting them to view an online video, or joining the newsletter.
Typically, a pillar page is the point of entry for your visitors.
This page lets them discover more about your product or services, but they don't know the details until they get further into your site via articles linked to your pillar page.
The well-designed pillar pages enable users to quickly browse through the information you provide, helping you establish relevance and authority while locating (and possibly sharing) new or innovative details from your business.
Wrapping up
SEO is a fascinating process. It's interesting due to the constant evolution of Google’s algorithms. When you finally feel you've got the hang of things, it is then they suddenly change the rules. That being said, the rules are indeed changing on a regular basis. This is actually good for us as consumers of search engines as it makes it easier to locate what we're looking for faster; however, it’s an inconvenience to alter an entire content and SEO strategy.
This is the cost of playing in the major leagues. Learn the art of SEO, and you'll see that an SEO strategy can take the potential of an increase in leads from inbound sources.
Looking for up-to-the-minute support with your SEO strategy? Contact EWM today.