It’s probably an understatement to say that 2023 was the year of big changes on the internet (i.e. AI, significant Google updates, security challenges, data modeling, etc.) Many businesses are abruptly pivoting their marketing strategies and trying to understand how tools like AI can change the way they do business. With the end of the year approaching and online marketing efforts looking more robust than ever, it’s important for companies who want to remain competitive to have an effective SEO strategy in place.
Improve your SEO Strategy for 2024
In this article, we will outline several tips for those organizations who know they want more online leads, but aren’t quite sure how to get started. Then, we will give you a list of both free and paid SEO tools that you can use to help leverage this ever-changing search engine landscape.
Start with the Keywords and the E.E.A.T. Concept
Google’s E-E-A-T concept of experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness means if a business truly knows and understands their customer base, they are one of the premiere authorities on the keywords their customers will search for online. And this is exactly where organizations need to start — with the creation of a list of relevant keywords. Understanding that the keyword list they create, will provide the foundation for high-quality content and topics that a company’s customer base will find useful.
Local SEO Strategy is Key
Although some businesses are able to expand by having a geographically-dispersed customer base, for many businesses this is simply not the case. Those businesses who depend upon foot traffic from customers, need to have a solid plan that includes local SEO as well as search engine optimization that effectively addresses local competition. This means conducting research into what competitors are doing and what can be done to attract local customers to your organization instead of the other one.
The Use of AI
The world of SEO has made tremendous steps to ensure that users receive the appropriate results to their queries through the use of AI. There are several AI technologies that have emerged over the past year that marketers use to help their brand. Utilizing these tools is a way for you to get ahead of your competitors and climb your website to the top. Check out these SEO trends.
Improving Online User Experience
It still holds true that first impressions are often the most important. Even if a customer has an interest in your business, they won’t stick around long enough to find out more if their first impression consists of a less than ideal website user experience (e.g, slow-loading webpages).
This is where reaching out for help from technology professionals such as Proof Digital can be such a game-changer. We know how to develop responsive websites as well as how to employ the latest technology concepts and marketing tools such as Google’s featured snippets and structured data, along with their analytical tools to help measure, track, and evaluate a site’s effectiveness.
Top Free Tools and Top Paid Tools for SEO
SEO is of the highest importance in 2023 as more and more people become connected to the internet. It is essential that your website and services are prioritized and appear as quickly as possible to your customers. Here is a list of some free and paid SEO help tools that can get you started today.
Free SEO Tools:
SEO Ruler Extension
SEO Ruler gives you the ability to check the page copy and structure with a single click. This gives great versatility and ease in designing SEO friendly websites.
RankMath SEO
RankMath SEO is a great way to get started with WordPress SEO. It provides insight into the SEO content of each webpage you visit at the click of your mouse.
Hotjar Heatmap
Hotjar Heatmap is incredibly useful as it allows you to track mouse movement and page scrolling movement on your website. These features combined with a survey function give incredible versatility at no cost.
Google Analytics
This free service provided by Google gives you access to the Google Search Console and other tools to help improve your SEO.
Keyword Surfer
Keyword Surfer is a Chrome plugin which automatically provides optimal keyword information as well as Google search suggestions. Both of these features are invaluable in SEO.
GTMetrix
GTMetrix is a useful program which tests how quickly your website loads and different speed related statistics of your website. This insight is given alongside suggestions to improve website speed.
Paid SEO Tools:
SEMrush
With prices ranging from $99 to $399 a month, SEMrush is an all-in-one SEO marketing program which is designed to help you and your business grow with the best help available. This service covers SEO, social media marketing and more.
Callrail
Callrail is a unique SEO tool which allows you to track the locations of phone calls, their length and voicemail length. This tool can be helpful to understand how your customers contact you.
ScreamingFrog
ScreamingFrog is another all-in-one SEO program that also offers a specialty spider program which is trusted extensively in the SEO industry.
Leadfeeder
Leadfeeder is an invaluable SEO tool that allows you to view the different companies and user data of individuals that visit your website. This allows you to tailor your website to your more frequent visitors.
Unbounce
Unbounce is all about creating attractive landing pages to your website that have a huge impact on leads and customer growth.
BrightLocal
As the name suggests, BrightLocal is an SEO program designed to help you with local marketing. This tool also includes a free trial.
Let Us Help with your SEO Strategy for 2024
If you need help with developing a premiere online presence in 2024 for your organization, please contact us!
