Many customers today will immediately discount a company with no web presence. We’ve grown accustomed to being able to learn anything we want to know about a firm with only a few clicks on its brand’s social media, blog, or website.
And those clicks are profitable for companies. HubSpot polled more than 400 professionals who monitor online statistics for SEO-driven sites and found that nearly half of them witnessed traffic growth year over year, with 69% predicting that consumers will use search more in the year 2024.
Sixty-five percent of respondents also said that the Google 2023 update had a good effect, such as increased traffic and higher SERP rankings.
This is encouraging news for businesses whose growth strategy centers on optimizing their content for search engines. Here are several methods companies may employ to attract new clients, increase loyalty among existing consumers, and lead the pack in artificial intelligence.
Try Different Keyword Combinations
You know how it goes: you type an important inquiry into Google, and then you are presented with a list of search results that spans hundreds of pages.
However, a significant number of us never get beyond the first page of results, which is why it is essential for businesses that want to attract new clients to go closer to the top of the search engine results page (SERP) rankings.
Finding relevant keywords and generating material based on those keywords is the first step toward accomplishing this goal. Using a tool like Ahrefs can get you off to a good start when it comes to locating keywords relating to the specialized field in which your firm operates.
Also, keep in mind that positive results do not necessarily guarantee successful conversions. According to Amiel, they encompass everything from an increase in the number of support queries to clients clicking “add to cart” or the company gaining news coverage.
Once a company has determined the keywords that brought in positive results, they are able to scale their SEO operations based on those keywords by implementing more simplified processes and improving the editorial style of their content.
Go to where your audience is
Prioritizing where your customers want to find your material is just as important as prioritizing what they want when creating content.
Among more than 600 individuals HubSpot discovered that 31% utilize social media to get answers to their questions online, with one-quarter of those between the ages of 18 and 54 favoring social media over search engines.
Seventy-nine percent of those in Generation Z and millennials utilize the search tool within social apps.
Also, 57% of consumers say they prefer using their phones above any other device when utilizing a search engine to find an answer to a question (this percentage jumps to 80% among Gen Z).
Startups interested in expanding their operations through content should give this data significant priority. Not only will it be vital for SEO and establishing credibility as a thought leader in the eyes of younger generations, but also for increasing brand recognition and accessibility via mobile devices.
Gain Credibility & Trust
Trust is the foundation of search, therefore it’s not enough for companies to simply appear in SERPs; they also need to produce accurate, helpful content that compels readers and consumers to return again and again.
HubSpot found that 39% of SEO and SEM professionals surveyed found credibility to be the single most important factor in search engine rankings.
The process of earning backlinks (when another website points to your material as an expert on the subject) is an important part of establishing trustworthiness in search engine optimization.
Gaining more backlinks improves your search engine rankings, but doing so is notoriously challenging due to the need to send cold letters to editors at competing newspapers.
You can forget about ever ranking without backlinks until you enter the more commercial, competitive areas. Thought leadership is the source of backlinks, and thought leadership is achieved by the consistent production of high-quality, fact-checked material that meets the needs of your audience.
Since the fundamentals have previously been covered, you can now go into further depth regarding any topic you like. Make up your own visuals. Create a group of your own. Create a bond with your customers. Learn to identify and alleviate your customers’ problems.
Be brief, provide real-world solutions, stick to the subject at hand, and never lose your reader’s confidence, to name a few of his advice points.
Use AI Tools
A 2023 article would be incomplete without some discussion about AI. We can expect significant shifts in our understanding of content and search thanks to advances in AI.
More than half of the 400 web analysts polled claimed they use AI technologies in their blogging process. Understanding how AI technologies and search may aid in growth is essential for brands that want to position their content for success in the future year.
Article ideas based on your research-backed keywords, article drafts, headlines, and social media captions can all benefit from the assistance of artificial intelligence. It remains to be seen how AI will affect search, but 75% of web experts think integrating AI search would benefit their blog.
Suggestions for AI use cases for startups:
- To generate blog subject ideas, use generative AI tools like ChatGPT.
- Before sending SEO content briefs to a writer, use tools like Swiftbrief to write early drafts.
- Create meta titles and descriptions.
Most AI tools are not yet developed enough to be trusted with writing content. You can try out new methods to make some of your work easier, more efficient, and/or more creative.
Summary
Whether your blog entries are generated by generative AI or by a journalist, one thing is certain: content is a vital component of building a business. Meeting your consumers where they are while giving relevant, trustworthy content is a winning combination.
