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If you’ve researched SEO, it may seem complicated because there are a lot of moving parts, and things change very rapidly. This can lead to frustration because it’s nearly impossible to know where to focus your energy to improve your SEO results.
Should you be blogging? Do you need to edit your webpages? Do you need to create new webpages? Do you need to redesign your website? Do you need more citations? Do you need more links? Do you need to be using social media?
Sound familiar?
If you’re frustrated, confused, and not sure where to focus, then I have good news for you. In this article, I’ll explain how to narrow down your SEO options based on which “stage” you’re in.
As you’ll soon see, the secret to simplifying SEO is understanding this concept of the stages of SEO.
Stage 1: Tune-Up
The primary goal of the Tune-Up stage is to improve what you already have on your website. For example, if you have 15 pages on your website, then you’ll focus on improving those 15 pages first before moving on to the next stage.
You’ll notice there is no discussion of links, content marketing, blogging, or social media in the Tune-Up stage. The focus here is on your existing webpages because that’s the foundation of your SEO. Your attention is entirely with on-page SEO where you make edits to improve your website conversion rates.
Once you’re done with the Tune-Up stage, then it’s time to move on to stage #2…
Stage 2: Build-Up
That’s why the Build-Up stage is critical. The goal of the Build Up stage is to create additional webpages and online business profiles to improve your chances of ranking in Google. In other words, you’re going to “build up” your SEO web presence.
One of the best ways to do this is to create a Resource Center on your website that includes articles relevant to your target keyword phrases. Plus, you’ll need to set up your profiles in all the major business directories with accurate and consistent information. These profiles act as citations, which boost your rankings for locally-focused keyword searches.
OK, at this point your website is set up properly to rank in Google, but that doesn’t mean you’ll actually show up on the first page of Google. You need to move on to the next stage to continue to climb up the rankings…
Stage 3: Expand-Out
The goal of the Expand-Out stage is to increase your exposure and your website domain authority.
The higher the domain authority or the more “mature” your website is, the higher you’ll rank in Google. One of the biggest factors in your domain authority is the quantity and quality of links from other websites. That’s why the primary focus in this stage is to attract links.
How do you attract links? You use content marketing!
For example, blogging on your own website, contributing articles on other websites, and engaging your audience on social media are a few of the tactics you’ll want to focus on during the Expand Out stage. Those tactics will increase your exposure so your business gets in front of more prospects, while at the same time attract more links to increase your domain authority.
Need help? Have questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out and schedule a complimentary ZOOM appointment. During this session, I will share my screen with you and show you how to use digital marketing to get more clients!