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Organic search engine optimization, or organic SEO for short, increases your ranking within unpaid search engine results. These strategies can include an algorithm-driven campaign, keyword research, content creation, link building, and more. Below are more in-depth explanations of optimizing for organic SEO in order to increase your ranking in search results.

Keyword Research

Keyword research is when you locate search terms that users frequently enter when looking for information and services. Specifically, focus on words that relate to your business or product. Many different platforms can help with this, such as keywordtool.io, Moz Keyword Explorer, and Google Keyword Planner.

After that, start thinking about different variations of those keywords. When you begin to do that, you can see the search volumes, what keywords your competition is using, and the click value. The secret to successful keyword research is picking short- and long-term keywords. Shorter keywords are more general, and longer keywords are more specific. If you are running a candy store in Boston, a short keyword could be “candy store Boston,” but a long-term keyword could be “dark chocolate gourmet truffles in Boston.”

Targeting those specific keywords is important because you are more likely to be at the top of a word search.

Matching Keywords to Content

To start targeting your keywords, publish keyword-rich content on your website. An easy way to do this is through pages and blogs. A steady stream of content targeting the keywords you want keeps Google happy and helps you rank high.

Blogs can be short, 300-word posts about a topic that applies to your business. If you want to go more in-depth, you can publish longer articles that are at least 550 words, which helps prove to Google that you are an expert in the field.

Link Building

Another way to increase traffic to your site is through organic link building, which is getting inbound links for your website on another website. When this occurs organically without payment, it’s considered an organic link and helps boost rankings. There are many ways to do this, including reaching out to websites where having a link to your website could drive traffic through a post or a blog. Some websites have an entire section dedicated to guest posts; an easy start would be reaching out to team members and submitting your work. It’s all about networking; the more connections you make, the more opportunities you will have to be featured on large, content-based sites.

While reaching out to as many websites and services as possible may be tempting initially, the key is quality over quantity. What you want to avoid is acquiring so many backlinks that they end up being low-quality or even corrupted. You can partly avoid this by ensuring that what you submit to websites is high-quality so Google doesn’t take issue with it.

Get Creative with Content

If writing long articles isn’t your thing, there are other ways to attract people to your website and have them stay on for longer. Investing in multimedia content – graphics, videos, and pictures – is a great way to appeal to viewers visually.

By including these visual elements on your website, people are more likely to stay on the site longer, which Google notices. ‘Dwell time,’ or the amount of time someone spends on a website, is picked up by Google and plays a factor in ranking.

Long-Term Results

According to one study, 75 percent of searchers online do not click past the first page of results in a Google search. Therefore, ensuring that your product or service stands out among the crowd is important. Investing in keyword research, content creation, and making sure your site is visually appealing are all essential tools to help boost your business with Google!