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The Five W’s of Successful SEO
The fact that the SEO landscape is continuously changing makes it somewhat difficult to keep up.
Nevertheless, the fundamentals of SEO – at least in terms of its purpose and mechanics – are static.
By focusing on the who, what, where, when and why, you’ll be on the right track to maximising your SEO performance.
Here’s what we mean:
WHO
The most important rule in all aspects of marketing – get to know your target audience. You can’t expect to appeal to your perfect customer, without first establishing who your perfect customer is. What kind of websites appeal to them? What kind of content do they respond most positively to? How old are they? How do they spend their time online? It’s a case of building an in-depth picture of your perfect customer, before crafting your entire SEO strategy around them.
WHAT
In this instance, it’s a case of questioning what it is your customers are looking for. Or more specifically, what answers or solutions they may be searching for online. What do they expect from a brand in your position? What kinds of values do they respond to? What will it take to satisfy their expectations? In this case, it can be useful to put yourself in the position of your customer, picturing your brand from their perspective.
WHERE
After establishing the specifics of your target audience, you then need to find out where they are. It could be that your ideal customer spends the vast majority of their time hanging out on social media. Others may prefer reading informative blogs, some are all about online video consumption and so on. It’s only by identifying where your target audience exists that you stand any real chance of reaching them. Rather than casting your net broadly and hoping for the best, refine your efforts with a more targeted approach.
WHEN
What would be the best possible time to reach out to your target audience? First thing in the morning? Last thing at night? During office hours? In the run-up to Christmas? Strategic timing can make all the difference with any digital marketing strategy. A core contributor to a successful SEO is knowing when and how to time your efforts for the best possible response. In a working example – albeit a rather obvious one – you’ll probably struggle to sell artificial Christmas trees during the first week of February.
WHY
Last but not least, it’s a good idea to consider why it is you’re making an investment in SEO in the first place. A successful SEO campaign can be used to achieve any number of things. Boosting your brand image, attracting more visitors to your website, improving conversion rates, generating awareness, boosting engagement – whatever best-suits your wider business objectives. Nevertheless, you cannot and will not build a successful campaign without first identifying your goals. If you can’t say precisely why you’re investing in SEO, it’s time for a rethink.