How to Know Where To Focus Your SEO Efforts

Regardless of the type of business you run or the industry you represent, getting your brand recognized and establishing a long-term following from customers isn’t easy. To assist in this effort, getting your website ranked higher on search engines and visible to more viewers is a major benefit. But this process takes time and patience, especially when in a competitive niche.

So, what can you do to help move the needle forward? Most people invest their time and resources into planning and executing various SEO (Search Engine Optimization) initiatives. However, with so many different variables to focus on, knowing how to prioritize your efforts can seem like an impossible task.

In this guide, we’ll discuss the most common misconceptions about SEO work and what you should focus on to help your website rank higher, depending on where your current pages are ranking.

Addressing Common SEO Misconceptions

Most people are already familiar with the benefits associated with SEO, especially when it comes to helping to bring in more organic web traffic to their website. However, there are many so-called “SEO experts” out there who all think they have the secret sauce when it comes to getting a site ranked higher on search engine results pages (SERPs) in half the time.

Unfortunately, this leads many people to go down a slippery slope of spammy activities that actually do more harm than good. Below are some common misconceptions surrounding SEO and areas to avoid:

You Should Use Your Keywords As Many Times As You Can

Keyword research and targeting is a core component of SEO. By finding the right keyword or phrases associated with your niche, you can potentially start to rank for various terms that can equate to a large amount of search traffic. However, the thought that you should use as many of these keywords in your content as possible is inaccurate.

While it is helpful to use keywords in strategic places throughout your site and in your content, the necessary density % of these keywords has changed considerably over the years. Search engines have become wise to the tactics that many SEO practitioners have used over the past to try to improve their rankings and have changed their algorithms accordingly.

Today, search engines use literally hundreds of factors to help determine the relevance of a website to a user’s query, but keyword choice and placement are only a small part of the larger puzzle. Placing too much emphasis on keywords can harm an effective SEO campaign.

The More Backlinks You Gain, The Better

Acquiring backlinks to your website can be an impactful way to start building authority for your website domain and play an important role in helping you rank your content much faster. However, over the years, there have been a number of black hat SEO services and techniques used to gain as many backlinks as possible to a website in an effort to scale rankings much faster.

When trying to gain as many links as possible to your website, it’s almost always doomed to fail, considering the strict guidelines search engines like Google now have in place when penalizing websites that participate in black hat SEO practices. In fact, having too many links to your website from anything but reputable or high-authority websites can actually have the reverse impact on your rankings.

Although establishing backlinks to your website is an important element of SEO, quality vs. quantity is the key here. It’s better to have one link from a reputable publication or blog than it is from ten unreliable sources. 

On-Page SEO Is The Most Critical Element

On-page SEO is a critical part of a holistic digital marketing strategy. However, it’s not the end-all and be-all of efforts that can help you bring in more organic web traffic. While it’s important, it shouldn’t monopolize all of your time and resources improving.

Most people place their primary focus on on-page SEO due to its relative accessibility. It’s much easier to make changes on your current website and see some quick results when compared to other external efforts. These other off-page SEO efforts, like link building and social media, often take time and prospecting efforts, which don’t always offer the most immediate benefits.

Still, ignoring other important SEO factors and instead prioritizing only on-page SEO is a mistake. It can make it much harder to rank your content effectively in the long-run.

Strategizing Your SEO Based on Keyword Rankings

Because there are so many variables involved with planning and executing an SEO campaign, it’s only natural to feel a bit overwhelmed by the process. But rather than feeling like you need to throw darts while being blindfolded, there are effective strategies you can apply depending on the current positioning of your keyword rankings on certain pages.

Below are some guidelines you can follow while adapting your strategies as your pages start to rank:

Not Currently Ranking or Higher Than 50

All new web pages you create will take time to be indexed and start ranking. In fact, some never rank at all – it really depends on how well you’ve optimized your site and other elements to support your SEO efforts. However, there are steps you can follow when you see your page not currently ranking or in the 50th or higher position on SERPs.

The most critical thing you can do at this stage is take a better look at your keywords and the type of search intent associated with them. Knowing this information is critical and helps search engines prioritize their results based off of how relevant you are when answering this intent.

The various types of search intent include:

Navigational – This type of search intent is made by users that already know the type of product or service they’re interested in – they simply want to find a specific website or rand. These types of searches usually have a brand name in the keyword phrase.Informational – The majority of searches online are informational in nature, with users looking for answers to specific questions. This might mean you’ll want to format your continent into a how-to guide or more educational content around a particular topic to answer this intent effectively.Transactional – When a user has a transactional intent to their query, this means they are close to making a purchase. These types of search terms are generally much more competitive to target, considering that they are closely associated with increased conversion rates. An example of a transactional search intent would be “best 60-inch TVs” or “top marketing software.” Commercial – Someone who is using a commercial intent is typically comparing various brands before moving to a decision-making stage. This is typical when looking to review several types of services before committing to one in particular.

Gaining Some Visibility and Ranking Between 11-40

Once you start to see your rankings climb and rest somewhere between the top 11 and 40 results, you’ll want to start shifting gears in your SEO approach. At this stage, a balanced focus on on- and off-page SEO is preferred.

One of the most impactful things you can do at this stage is to put more priority on your link-building campaigns. You’ll want to invest the time and resources necessary to prospect high-quality, reputable websites and design outreach programs to try to connect and secure new partnerships with these sites.

Although this can be time-intensive, the web authority that you can build over time can pay off considerably and start to help improve your rankings even further.

Achieving First Page Rankings Between 1-10

Getting your website pages to the first page of Google’s SERPs isn’t easy by any means. If you’re able to get to this point, you should take comfort in knowing that your hard SEO work is finally being rewarded. That being said, your work isn’t over yet.

It’s important to look at the state of your website and individual pages of content and focus on ways you can improve the user experience. Search engines like Google highly value websites that keep users engaged and avoid high bounce rates and disconnected experiences. Look for ways you can improve your site’s navigation and incorporate elements that help users stay on your website longer.

The more you can avoid users becoming uninterested in your content, the less chance that they’ll abandon their search prematurely. This gives impactful ranking signals to Google that can improve your website rankings and keep them there.

Maximize The Impact of Your SEO Efforts

By implementing these strategies and focusing your SEO efforts in the right areas, you’ll be able to see more consistent rankings on your website, improving your visibility and increasing your organic web traffic over time.