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You’re probably an avid user of Google Analytics, but did you know that it’s possible to use the data to improve your SEO?
In this article, we’ll show you how to utilize metrics like page views and bounce rate in Google Analytics so you can see what may be causing people to leave the site and how changes in design, content, and language can help improve your site. We’ll also walk through resources to find out what content resonates most with visitors and how it differs from country to country.
Let’s dive in!
1. Understand how your site is doing using Google Analytics
Most of us are aware that Google Analytics is used to track the traffic to our sites. However, many people don’t know exactly how to use these tools to optimize their SEO efforts. Therefore, I would recommend that you start off by setting up your account and understanding what your dashboard looks like. Next, you want to ensure that everything is set up correctly to get data relevant to your site and try out some of the tools discussed throughout this article.
Once you’ve got your account set up, you’ll want to start exploring some of the metrics that are available to you. So here are some questions to ask yourself as you’re looking at these visualizations. Which pages are getting the most traffic? Which keywords are bringing in the most visitors? Is there a page that is doing exceptionally well with keyword suggestions on Google?
It’s essential to make sure that you’re actually tracking things correctly. If you start this process, your content will likely become more regularly optimized for SEO by following some of these tips!
2. Optimize your homepage for SEO
The homepage is the entry point into the site, and often it’s what determines whether or not a user will stay on your site. Therefore, it’s essential to make sure that your homepage is relevant to the business running it and optimized for search engines. Here are some ways that you can ensure that your homepage is optimized for SEO:
What do you want to be known for? It’s important to outline this in a brand statement or mission statement. This will be something that every piece of content produced on your website should support, which will help make sure that everything is cohesive and not just assembled at random. Picking keywords that people are searching for in your industry is also essential, even if they’re not exactly the keywords you usually use when marketing your products or services. Using these to guide your content will help you ensure that you are constantly producing relevant content for your target audience.
Use the keyword research tools available in Google Analytics to determine what keywords people are using in search. Then, make sure that every page on the site has content for this keyword to attract relevant traffic in the long run. Next, work on adding additional pages in this category, and make sure that all of your pages have content in this category. This is important for many reasons, including content relevancy and ensuring that you’re acquiring traffic on the correct pages.
Get your blog articles SEO-friendly. Make sure that all of your blog posts are written to appeal to readers on the search engines. Include keywords that people might be searching for in a way that does not seem forced. I’ve seen many blogs with good intentions, but it’s clear that the writer is trying too hard to include all of the keywords they can possibly use, and it comes across as unnatural.
If you really want to make sure that your blog posts are working for you SEO-wise, look into guest blogging opportunities. With more significant sites in your industry. If they write a post about your company and link back to you, they will help with on-site and off-site SEO efforts.
3. Fix your internal linking
Many small businesses don’t realize that there are tonnes of people crawling the pages of their websites. This means that you could be inadvertently ranking, for tons of competitive keywords related to your industry without even knowing it. According to Moz, 80% of search engines use Page Rank as a ranking signal. Which means that although it’s not quite as crucial as it once was, there are still other signals at play other than just raw search traffic.
For this reason, you should make sure that all your internal links are pointing to other relevant pages on your website. This will ensure that you focus on improving the quality of the content on your sites instead of the quantity. Of course, having appropriate content is essential, but it’s necessary to ensure that you’re not spending time on the wrong pages.
Don’t forget to avoid getting trapped in long-tail keyword lists! You don’t want people to look for content related to the keyword you’ve chosen, only to find that there are dozens of pages on your website which are unrelated. So try not to use long-tail keywords if you can help it – instead, focus on relevant topics that are likely to get tons of search traffic.
4. Write for the reader, not for the robots
I know that this is a pretty basic concept, but it’s important to remember that your readers are more important than search engines. If you’re writing content without appealing to your target audience, your site may be less appealing to them! Focus on producing content that is relevant and written in a way that people will understand. When you look at other blogs in your industry (or even competing websites), pay attention to the types of content they provide. Are these things useful for users? Do they make sense?
If possible, try to find out what kind of language your audience actually uses when searching for content online. If you find that most people are searching for industry-specific terms. This may be something that you should include in your content. If it is readable for humans, it will likely be readable by search engines.
5. Optimize your site with schema tags
Schema tags are becoming an increasingly popular way to gain some SEO traction on your website. By using schema markup, you tell the search engines what the content on your site is about. This helps to establish a relationship between users and search engines, giving your content and SEO boost.
