If you expect to make a dent in your industry, you have no choice but to utilize SEO marketing. SEO, short for search engine optimization, will drive traffic to your site by improving your web ranking. Around 57% of B2B marketers say that their SEO marketing has by far the biggest impact on lead generation. It’s a complex process, which is why most businesses will hire a search engine marketing team to really take their brand to the next level.

Still, there are a lot of SEO techniques you can implement on your own to solidify your position as an authority in your industry. We’ve compiled a few of our top SEO tips to increase your visibility and traffic.

• Build quality links
  SEO marketing experts will sometimes put a lot of emphasis on the process of link building. There’s a good reason for that: links from credible websites that link back to yours will actually make your site seem more credible, too. This “link juice” can be very valuable, especially if you get backlinks from highly reputable and popular websites. But building too many links — especially if they’re of poor quality — can actually backfire. Spammy links on message boards or on questionable foreign websites will make Google think your site is just as spammy. While recent Google algorithm updates have helped genuine sites to not be penalized as a result of spammy links, you should still focus on quality rather than quantity. To that end, you should build relationships with other sites, businesses, and influencers, rather than buying a bunch of links to increase your visibility.
• Don’t keyword-stuff
  When you work with an SEO marketing company, they can help you identify the keywords you’d like to focus on with your copy and content. Using these words in thoughtful ways can help you have a better ranking in search results. But be wary: you can have too much of a good thing. If you use your keywords in inorganic ways or just too often on a single page, that sends up a red flag to Google. Use your keywords just enough to let Google understand your content without sounding spammy. A good rule of thumb? Read your content aloud. If it sounds a bit funny due to too many keywords, do some editing before you post.
• Be realistic
  A lot of small businesses have lofty goals when it comes to their rankings. While we’d all like our website to have the top ranking, it’s not always achievable — especially if you’re trying to rank on a tough keyword in a very competitive industry. There are those who will do anything to achieve that top spot, but it won’t last long if you aren’t meeting users’ needs. Above all, Google wants to serve the needs of those who perform searches. If your content isn’t relevant to what users want, Google is eventually going to catch on and downgrade your ranking. When pages don’t provide the information users are looking for, they’ll quickly abandon the site and go back to searching. That increases the site’s bounce rate. When Google notices this, you’re bound to fall from the top fairly quickly. Instead of focusing on getting that number one ranking, focus on providing high-quality content that answers common questions.

If you need help with your local SEO marketing, want to make your site mobile friendly, or need a complete overhaul of your site and content strategy, Catalyst Visuals can create a custom solution to fit your desires. To get started, contact us today.