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There’s still time to get your SEO strategy ready before the year kicks off. This year will be a big one for content marketing and organic search. Here’s how you can activate the potential of search engine optimization for your business.

This post is the final one of a 3-part series. Wanna start from the beginning? Jump to Part 1 to learn why your SEO strategy matters more than ever in 2022 or Part 2 for our list of best practices.

If you’ve been following our posts, you must be clear that SEO is vital for your business this year. But when it comes to activating strategies, your team can feel overwhelmed.

Our posts cover topics that will help your team feel informed and prepared. Today, we’ll tackle the last of our list.

Quality Link Building

Link building is the process of accumulating links from other pages to yours. Links connect one website to another.

Link building is important for your SEO strategy. It helps search engines crawl the web to discover new pages and measure a site’s authority to determine how a page ranks.

If your website is credible, people will likely reference its content on their page. Much like a resume, this builds rapport.

Google notices quality links to your site; they serve as “testimonials to how worthwhile content is.”

Additionally, the popularity of your website is a good indicator that the information you provide is dependable and helpful to your visitors.

How Do You Get Links?

• Get listed in as many directories as you can.
• Support related businesses (providers, partners, etc.) and offer to link back to each other.
• Reach out to websites and offer to write guest posts. Everyone needs relevant content, and you will be able to link back to your website in the author box.
• Create quality, original and valuable content that “naturally lends itself to being shared, commented on, or linked to.”
• Reach out to your newsworthy local authorities to share upcoming events or services.
• Sponsor activities or events that are related to your industry or community.
• Participate in contests or raffles.

Pro tip: Linking to domains that end in .edu or .gov are great as their authority is relevant.

Common Concerns

The challenge to link building and other SEO strategies is highly dependent on external factors. Many businesses or agencies run out of patience but hang tight; the results are well worth it.

As many SEO firms predict, your strategy can begin to show results after 4 to 6 months. That’s a fair range, but whatever results you see will grow over time. They won’t stay static, and your goal targets may be met well past the six-month+ timeline.

The desire to see results is a common denominator among our partners and clients. In a time where everything is immediate, SEO refuses to join.

Some known indicators can help speed things up:

How Can You Measure Your Results?

There isn’t a guaranteed approach to search engine algorithms, and no one is near cracking the code, nor will they. That’s why monitoring results can help guide your efforts. Checking Google Analytics for insights is one of the best ways to gain leeway. Keep in mind that there are many free and paid alternatives to help measure SEO results.

Every business is unique, and so are the metrics used to measure this success. It’s safe to say that a peak in your organic results, jump in referrals, or increased visitors to your pages are all excellent indicators that something is starting to work in your favor.

Finding an SEO Expert

When you search for an SEO agency, you’ll run into many agencies that claim that they can jump-start your SEO efforts. Some great professionals can show you results. But some take advantage of the prolonged time it takes to get results. Take note of the following warning signs:

‘Guaranteed’ Results

• Many agencies claim they can guarantee specific numbers of visitors or leads. If you hear this, red flag.
• Some say that they can build a backlink profile for you with a particular number of links. Don’t trust this.
• Some agencies or freelancers use a Pay Per Results model or ‘Money Back Guarantee’ strategy. Stay away from agencies or people like this.

Again, no one can guarantee results for SEO. The best that they can do is aggressively employ the best practices that we’ve discussed in each of these posts.

In-Depth Questions About Your Business

Your industry, business goals, and past strategy will come together to influence many factors. Suppose the person or agency you are looking to hire doesn’t inquire about any of these. In that case, they will probably not provide any results, given they will not know how to align your business with benchmarks and a solid SEO strategy.

DIY SEO

True, SEO is not rocket science. As long as you carry out the best practices, there is an opportunity to enrich your brand awareness and business goals.

If you decide to do it yourself, keep in mind that you’ll experience a learning curve before you begin to gain results.

There are three main points that you’ll want to watch out for:

• Outdated or inaccurate information. Leaving old information can be costly, as it’ll affect your position.
• Black hat SEO practices. Avoid manipulating results and violating guidelines to rank higher on search pages.
• Setting time aside to stick to your plan. To see results, you need to invest the time.

It’s extremely helpful to have an expert on your side, but if you want to tackle things yourself, we’re here to help. Make the most of your resources, follow our blog to employ the latest guidelines and best practices.