The Importance of SEO Research and Analysis
When a business is looking to grow, it’s imperative that they analyze and understand their online presence. A thorough SEO analysis can help them identify new opportunities and create a more successful marketing strategy.
A thorough SEO analysis starts with researching and reviewing your competitors. This can be done through the use of an online tool or manually.
Keyword Research
Keyword research is the first step of any SEO campaign. It informs every other SEO task, from content creation and website optimization to email outreach and search engine promotion. It also helps you better understand your audience by giving you insight into the words and phrases they use when searching.
For example, a user searching for “making money” may be looking to learn how to start an online business or find tips on saving money. A good keyword research tool will help you find all possible keywords that match this query, including long-tail variations and synonyms.
This type of keyword research is important because it provides insight into the actual queries that users are entering on Google, which can help inform your content strategy as well as your larger marketing strategy. A keyword analysis can also reveal some surprising insights about your competitors. For instance, you might discover that one competitor is targeting the same exact keywords as you are, which can give you an idea of what they’re doing to rank highly on Google.
Competitor Analysis
Competitor analysis is one of the most important aspects of SEO research and should be done frequently. Knowing what your competitors are doing and how they’re targeting specific keywords gives you a behind-the-scenes peek at their strategies. This can help you decide what strategies to emulate, or avoid, to grow your own business.
Whether you’re planning new content, or investigating why your rank has dropped in the SERPs, competitor analysis can uncover opportunities that are otherwise hidden. For instance, if your competition is publishing content for a keyword that is outdated, you may be able to fill in the gap with an up-to-date blog post before they realize that they’re missing out.
While it’s theoretically possible to rise to the top of the rankings for any search query, the reality is that it takes a tremendous amount of resources, money, and time. Fortunately, competitive analysis can help you identify more realistic avenues to success that won’t break the bank.
On-Page Optimization
The most direct and effective way to improve your search engine ranking is with on-page optimization. This is the process of optimizing elements directly within a website (as opposed to off-site SEO, which refers to links and other external signals).
On-page optimization encompasses a broad set of tactics ranging from keyword research and analysis to content development and HTML code cleanup. It’s the part of SEO that webmasters have complete control over, meaning that it can be more targeted and granular than off-page optimization strategies.
For example, on-page optimization includes title tags and meta descriptions, which are the text that appear on search engine results pages. It also includes internal link structure, which helps Google understand the relevance of different pages on your site and how they relate to each other. It can also include optimizing page load speed, as search engines prioritize faster sites. This is usually accomplished through the use of caching, JavaScript files, and image compression.
Link Building
Having a good number of links to your website is one of the most important things that search engines look for when determining relevance. Having more external and internal links can increase your website visibility, and can also help improve your ranking in organic search.
Link building can be done through content marketing, outreach, and other strategies. Siege Media has created several guides and resources on how to improve your SEO with these methods.
When done properly, this process can help you boost your website metrics and traffic. This can lead to increased opportunities for revenue generation, and better visibility for your brand in new markets. Using link building, you can create positive feedback loops that can help you improve your rankings over time. This is especially important if you have a new website, or an established one that needs to improve its authority and trustworthiness. This can help you compete with larger brands and achieve better results.