What are the benefits of organic search traffic for website owners?
You need to focus on growing organic traffic for several reasons. Some of the biggest ones are listed below.
- Free: You will have to invest significant time and money into your content marketing efforts, but unlike paid advertising, you don’t have to pay for ad space.
- Targeted: Organic traffic is normally from an audience of people looking to solve a problem you can help them with.For this reason, you should do significant market research before you focus on building your traffic.
- Credibility: Ranking higher on search engines is not just important for visibility; it’s also a necessity for building credibility with your target audience.
- Sustainability: Focus on building your organic traffic if you want your brand to be more sustainable in the long run.You also need to think about how to retain traffic you acquire (e.g. funneling them into a newsletter).
- Brand-Building: The visibility aspect is vital for brand awareness. You want your name to be in front of your target customers more frequently.
How do search engines determine organic search rankings?
Search engine algorithms consider all of the following factors when determining which websites they rank:
- Relevance: Your website needs to match what the user is searching for; this applies not just for the page they click on, but other aspects (e.g. your About page) as well.
- Authority: Search engine algorithms determine how trustworthy they think your website is, and multiple factors can influence this. The quality of your content is imperative, and your domain age/rating will also impact where you rank.Backlinks can also impact where you rank, as long as they’re from reputable sources.
- User Experience: Consider whether your website is optimized for mobile devices. You also need to think about your site’s loading speed and where you place your navigation menus. Accessibility will also play a role.
- Backlinks: Ideally, you should have backlinks from other reputable websites. Contrary to popular belief, social media doesn’t count as backlinks (though they can help your rankings).
What is the role of keywords in organic search?
Keywords are important because they signal to search engines what a user is looking for, and whether your content can match their queries. You’ll normally see keywords broken down into three categories.
- Primary Keywords: These are the main list of keywords for a topic or niche.
- Secondary Keywords: Keywords that may not have as much search volume but are related to the primary ones. These are important for context.
- Long-Tail Keywords: More specific keywords and phrases (e.g. “website builder with built-in CMS” rather than “website builder”). These are typically less competitive than primary keywords; finding them can require some research.
How does user experience (UX) affect organic search rankings?
Although sometimes overlooked, user experience (UX) often impacts organic search rankings. Moreover, it’ll impact your organic traffic’s experience when they click on your website and therefore influence conversion rates.
UX aspects you should consider include:
- Navigation: Make it obvious where users should go for finding specific pieces of information; consider the types of menus and their placements that you’ll need to utilize.
- Mobile Optimization: Test your webpages on desktop and mobile. Adopt a mobile-first approach to avoid building a website only designed for computer screens.
- Loading Speeds: Your pages need to load in less than one second. Use tools to determine page speed and identify potential next steps if your website isn’t quick enough yet.
- Content: Focus on writing content that interests and appeals to your audience. It needs to answer their questions, but it should also do so in an informative/entertaining way.
Focusing on UX is also vital for increasing time on page; this is an important metric that search engines use to determine website value.
What are some common SEO techniques used to improve organic search rankings?
Businesses employ different tactics and techniques in their organic traffic strategies. You’ll need to think about each of the following in your strategy:
- Keyword Research: Do keyword research before creating any content. Consider the keyword difficulty and whether it has enough volume to justify writing a post. You should also think about appearing in Google Discover and not just via search engine results pages (SERPs).
- On-Page Optimization: Focus on making sure that your content is ready for search engines. You should also edit the code and use relevant permalinks, along with adding meta descriptions, alt tags, etc.
- Off-Page Optimization: You should also think about the off-page aspects that will influence rankings. For example, backlinks may have an influence.
- Content Marketing: Commit to a schedule; it could be once a week or once per month. Your content should be the highest possible quality and well-researched; hire writers with expertise within your niche/industry.
- Technical SEO: Make sure that your website doesn’t have any technical issues, and if it does, deal with these as soon as possible.
These techniques may take some time to get right, so it’s a good idea to focus on a few to begin with and then hire others to focus on the others. You can also learn about the other elements once you know how to deal with the most pressing concerns.
How can I measure and analyze my website’s organic search traffic?
You can measure multiple organic search traffic metrics; it’s essential that you choose the ones most relevant to your brand. Some of the ways to measure your organic search traffic are:
- Keywords: Which keywords are responsible for driving traffic to your website?
- Traffic Sources: Look at the “Organic” section to determine how much of your traffic is coming from organic search.
- Popular Pages: Look at the statistics for your articles and landing pages to determine where you need to place your efforts.
- Bounce Rate: This is the percentage of people who leave after visiting one page; you want this to be as low as possible. Internal linking and refreshing content are both essential for this.
What are some of the best tools available for tracking organic search traffic?
You can use various tools to track your search engine traffic; some are harder to use than others. Here are some of the most common ones.
- Google Analytics: Free website tool with comprehensive data; it does have a steep initial learning curve, so keep this in mind. Google Analytics integrates with Hocoos and is visible within your backend; you need to submit a sitemap to Google and set up the tool before using it.
- Fathom Analytics: Paid-for organic search traffic tool; monitor views, visits, specific page traffic, etc.
- Matomo: Similar to Fathom.
- Google Search Console: Track search clicks and clicks by query. You can also see the percentage of organic traffic from Google SERPs and Google Discover.
- Semrush: Monitor keyword volume and track competitor traffic/rankings; data accuracy can vary.
- Ahrefs: Used for auditing, backlink analysis, and keyword research; some plans give you credits, whereas others are unlimited.
You should consider using more than one of these tools in your SEO stack; each serves different needs. Look for solutions that integrate with your website builder where possible.
Conclusion
Regardless of your industry, product, and service, organic search traffic should be a vital part of your strategy. You need to determine your target audience and then start creating content that drives organic traffic over the long run. It’s less expensive than paid advertising, but you’ll still need to invest time and money into creation and maintenance.
It’s important that you invest in the tools that you need for your business growth. To do this, start by identifying your objectives. Besides attracting organic traffic, you also need to think about how you retain customers. To ensure continuity, invest in user experience.
