Tips for Building A Long-Term SEO Strategy

In a world where advancing technology has almost always signified instant gratification, it can be hard to surrender to the slow-burning processes of SEO. By nature, SEO takes a long time to take effect and it is extremely important to view it as a long-term investment. With time and effort, it is possible to see incredible results come from search engine optimization, but patience and careful planning are necessities if you want your business to succeed in this arena.

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Long-Term SEO Strategy Tips

When looking at SEO, there is a difference between short- and long-term strategies. Short-term strategies typically entail looking at changes in search engine algorithms and micro-adjusting tactics to keep up with the changes. The problem here is that algorithms are constantly changing and keeping up with the changes can often feel like trying to fill a container with water while somebody repeatedly pokes holes in it. It’s important to be aware of developments in search engine algorithms, but basing a strategy in the changes rather than the constants is a losing battle. Long-term SEO strategies focus on established optimization tactics and look toward the rewards in the distant future.

What is off-page SEO and why does it matter?

Some tips for building a long-term SEO strategy include:

Think About Where You Are Headed

If the past few years have taught the business world anything, it’s that companies will sometimes need to pivot to survive. It is impossible to predict every eventuality and fork in the road that a company might come to, but it is possible to strategize for SEO based on industry constants and core offerings. When developing a long-term SEO strategy, consider which parts of the company could shift in the future and which parts are unlikely to ever change. Build the core of your strategy around the unchanging components of your company.

Why is SEO important for your online success?

Do a Competitive Analysis

Look at other companies out there and see where they are winning at SEO. Can you take any inspiration from where they are making it work? Is there room for you to compete with them? Some companies have spent oodles of time and money in order to succeed with certain search queries, making it more sensible to seek success on a different battlefield.

Blog and Blog Some More

Blogging is great for long-term SEO and should be part of almost any good SEO plan. Publishing new, relevant content shows engagement to website visitors and gives them more ways to circulate the website, thereby improving ratings with search engines. New content through blog articles also creates new ways for search engines to index website content, enabling it to show up for more searches over time.

Learn how to choose the right SEO keywords.

Use Evergreen Material

Some topics are trends, while others have lasting power. Whether you are writing content for blog articles or website pages, be sure to consider shelf-life of the material being written. Content that relates to current events or trends is less likely to build lasting value with search engines than content that is relevant regardless of when it was written.

Avoid Black or Grey Hat Tactics

Black hat SEO refers to work done to websites that attempt to improve results through quick solutions that do not offer value to the internet as a whole. Typically, black hat tactics are well known as deceptive or underhanded by the internet community and will often earn a domain a negative reputation with search engines, decreasing its visibility in the long run. Some examples of black hat tactics include use of invisible text, keyword stuffing, and the use of doorway pages (pages on a website used only for featuring keywords and not promoting value).

Grey hat tactics are similar, but have less of a negative reputation and walk the line between black hat and white hat tactics. Grey hat SEO tactics tend to eventually become categorized as black hat SEO over time, so it’s best to avoid them. Examples of grey hat SEO techniques include using expired links or domains, buying and selling links, duplicating content, paying for positive reviews, and spinning content.

Learn more about outdated SEO tactics you should avoid.

Search engines do not respond well to cheap tricks, and their algorithms will often notice black hat or grey hat tactics and put websites that employ them on a naughty list. Instead, focus on offering value through your website’s SEO, and search engines will give you preferential treatment. Most SEO methods that put the creation of quality material first are considered white hat. White hat SEO tactics abound, with some examples including blogging and creating quality content throughout a website, optimizing site speed and code crawlability for bots, proper linking structure and sitemapping, building quality backlinks, and much more.

If you need help getting started on your long-term SEO strategy, the team at FirstPage Marketing is ready to help. Give us a call and we can help you come up with the best ways to invest in your digital presence for ongoing success.

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