Search engine optimization is probably one of the most demanding marketing strategies. Results don’t come overnight (and if you’re a digital agency, this can be difficult to explain to potential clients). A single post does little to serve your business goals.
You should also plan for changes in search engine algorithms. The impact of artificial intelligence on search algorithms has marketers panicking.
We reached out to marketers and SEO experts working at several digital agencies that work with small businesses, SaaS startups, and marketing tools to get their thoughts.
One thing is clear: quality matters now more than ever.
SEO Best Practices for Digital Marketing Agencies: Experts Share Top Tips:
9 SEO Best Practices to Adopt in 2024:
1. Direct your content based on search intent
Some consumers are ready to make a purchase and just need Google to recommend nearby stores. Others are far from completing their purchases and are searching the web for more product information.
The purpose of a search engine is to display relevant websites based on a specific search query. This means that if you want to rank for a particular keyword, you need to identify the search intent (also known as user intent) associated with that phrase and structure your content accordingly.
Małgorzata Kwiecień, Head of SEO at Delante, rated as one of the leading e-commerce SEO agencies, recommends that companies focus on user intent in the future.
“By listening to your users' intent, you can discover new challenges they face and address them with the content within your website. Don't forget to include unique selling points to further increase your brand value. .”
For example, when a user wants to learn more about a topic, Google typically shows blog posts. On the other hand, if your goal is to purchase, you should use transactional and commercial keywords to attract this group. In this case, for example, you need detailed product and service pages with high-quality, optimized photos and comparison guides.
For best results, you should use a combination of keyword categories. It is best to invest in a robust SEO tool like Semrush, which has several features to help you with keyword research.
In addition to tools like this, you can also create keyword ranking models. Inna Shevchenko, founder of her Upleadium, which provides growth and marketing consulting for SaaS startups, uses a blog writing model to help her team prioritize keywords and topics.
This model is based on several factors, including keyword difficulty, volume, topic relevance, and likelihood of resulting in signups based on search intent. She explains:
“With this model, we understand that increased traffic doesn’t necessarily translate into more paying customers, so the likelihood of conversion is paramount.”
2. Add proof of authority
The person who wrote the words is starting to matter more. In recent years, you may have noticed that blogs have started to include authors' names along with short bios.
Another powerful way to add evidence of authority is to collaborate with thought leaders. This is one of Inna's top SEO best practices.
“As Google's algorithms evolve, it's important to add evidence of authority and expertise to your SEO content. Publish your question using a platform such as Google and collect expert opinions. You will usually receive a significant number of relevant answers that you can include in your article.
It beats cold outreach through platforms like LinkedIn.
3. Integrate the FAQ section into your web page
Scroll down to the end of this article (or most articles published on Influencer Marketing Hub) and you'll see a Frequently Asked Questions section.
Tokara Karizma, CEO of Karizma Marketing, a Hawaii-based digital marketing agency that helps e-commerce brands, also recommends this additional step.
“This approach, based on thorough keyword research, effectively targets Google's 'People also Ask' feature, consistently elevating our clients to the top of search results for high-volume keywords.”
When creating your FAQ section, use H2 tags for about 5 common questions and limit answers to 40-50 words.
4. Prioritize quality content
This is a big deal. You'll notice that the golden thread that ties together many of the best practices mentioned above is that quality content is the foundation of any SEO strategy.
This becomes even more important as digital marketing agencies begin to explore the potential of AI.
Delante's Małgorzata encourages SEO professionals to embrace a new element: experience.
“Show us the new 'E' with EEAT! Google is already flooded with content, so the key to keeping its algorithm attractive is to offer a unique, fresh take.”
Whitney Blankenship, Content Manager at Drip, one of the top marketing automation platforms, added:
“Thanks to AI, there is a huge temptation to publish a lot of mediocre content. Google is temporarily rewarding that strategy now, but eventually the hammer will fall.”
She suggests marketing teams focus on content that clients actually want and need, and use AI just to speed up the process.
“Creating content around EEAT principles and following best practices will improve your rankings. Be sure to leverage AI to speed things up. If you don't edit it at all, you'll be in trouble later.”
Kelly Lourinho, SEO content editor at Thrive Internet Marketing Agency, one of the nation's leading digital marketing agencies, agrees:
“Editing and refining content is perhaps one of the most important parts of content creation. There are many online tools available to improve the standards of your writing, but there are a number of online tools available to help you improve the standards of your writing, but there are many ways to humanize the more subtle aspects that govern the world of content. Nothing beats adding.”
5. Include optimized images
SEO is synonymous with website copy. The advice shared so far has focused primarily on the written element, and it's clear evidence that it's the first thing that comes to mind when asked about SEO content.
However, images can also greatly contribute to your efforts. The popularity of Instagram and TikTok is proof that their target audiences view visual content as equally informative and engaging.
Images are easier to understand, but large image files slow down page load times. Google looks unkindly on pages that load slowly, and by definition they are slow.
The solution is to compress the image.
Next, take the time to add alt text (aka alt text, alt tags, or alt descriptions). Basically, this is a short description of a particular image. This helps search engines understand what your content is about and aids in their crawling and ranking efforts.
If the image cannot be loaded, this text will also be displayed in place of the image. Also, if a visually impaired website visitor visits your website, Screen Reader will use this alternative text to make the content accessible.
6. Focus on link building
You should plan to create internal links as well as external links. Internal links help with navigation, and external links (aka backlinks) act as a type of recommendation.
Continuously publishing high-quality content will help you secure backlinks. Another reason to consistently create quality content. Google uses how your original writing is cited by others as one of the signals it uses to determine the credibility of a topic, making your site more authoritative. We will support you to be recognized.
The goal is to get authoritative However, backlinks. I would like to link back to my girlfriend's website from the appropriate website. Google can ignore backlinks if they appear on websites associated with low-quality content or spam. In some cases, you may even be penalized by Google. So when auditing your backlinks, be sure to check your website's authority score, a metric that assesses the overall quality of your site.
7. Chase the awards
Don't get me wrong. Providing valuable content that incorporates relevant keywords and optimized images, as well as high-quality backlinks, will help your SEO performance. However, you will need more than that.
Anne Smarty, co-founder of Smarty Marketing, a New York-based SEO agency and leader in the field, advises her clients to “get out there and be loud.” Masu. Must be included in the listicle. If you can create a shortlist, even better.
She explains in her weekly newsletter: Smarty's Digest, says she was added to Google's Knowledge Graph when she agreed to participate in the Blogger Awards. This is a database of billions of facts that allows you to answer questions such as “Who is considered her SEO expert?”
8. Design for mobile devices
Mobile responsiveness is nothing new. However, there are still business websites that are not designed with mobile devices in mind.
A website that uses responsive web design automatically adjusts elements such as font size to fit a specific screen size.
Towards the end of 2023, Google has (finally) completed its transition to mobile-first indexing. Basically, what this means is that search engine crawlers will use the mobile version of your website instead of the desktop version.
This means that if your business website is unable to provide a seamless user experience to mobile users, you can expect its rankings to drop.
9. Track your results
Just as it is essential to track the results of your other digital marketing efforts, you should also measure the performance of your SEO efforts. In fact, our Digital Marketing Benchmark Report 2024 found that SEO is considered the most effective strategy in achieving overall marketing goals. It also ranks among the top in terms of cost performance.
However, it is up to digital marketing agencies to demonstrate this potential to their clients. Hofit Mallachy, his leader in his SEO team at Moburst, one of the top digital marketing agencies based in the UK, shares the following tips:
“Brands aren't working on SEO because they don't know how to measure SEO success in money. The best way to show their potential is the free organic revenue that good articles can bring over time. It's about comparing the traffic and the amount of money you can save for the same keywords used in your ads. And if we're talking about a lot of SEO-oriented pages, this can amount to thousands of dollars a month. .”
Important points
If there's one thing that's important, it's that high quality is very important. This is the basis of any his SEO campaign. High-quality content also includes optimized images. Also includes internal links.
High-quality content is created with search intent in mind (rather than keywords) and answers common questions. If you keep this in mind, you won't have any problems with keyword stuffing.
It will also become easier to establish your site as a trusted source of information, which will become increasingly important. From now on, don't be shy about sharing your real-life experiences. Just as social media values authenticity, so should your website content.
