When it comes to SEO, we need to take a step back and look at the what and why in order to get results. To that end, Moz’s own Ola King walks you through the three main pillars or as he calls them, “bosses” of SEO work.
Core web vitals
This is a recent update, the Core Web Vitals, meant to basically build better websites in the world
Links
Basically, digital word of mouth
- You want to make sure that you’re spreading internal links as well
- Make sure that the pages on your site that are getting high traffic are also linking to other sites that might not be getting as much traffic but are just as important
Brand affinity and trust
If people are familiar with a brand, they are more likely to trust them and interact with them more
- Newer websites should let the content speak for itself and not try to make your brand the center of attention
- Bigger brands should have their brand name in the title tag
- A brand-new website should not necessarily make their brand the focus of attention
Query deserves freshness
For certain queries, the search engines determine that more up-to-date information is more relevant, so they refresh them more frequently
Business model
In order for them to rank your site, you have to be a site that is in line with their business
- For Google, it has to provide content to their searchers that is valuable, that is from sites that are indexable, that provides a good experience, and of course, relevant content
Search Behavior
People’s behavior changes over time. Understanding what’s changing in their search behavior and reacting accordingly will help you find what you’re looking for.
Struggles
What are the things keeping your audience up at night? What are they struggling with?
- Understanding this allows you to create content that no other person would be able to create
- Try to understand what are their struggles by looking at questions that your audience asks your help team
- Use SEO tools to do your keyword research
Brand identity + recognition
It doesn’t matter if the content has a lot of volume and it’s trendy, if it doesn’t align with your brand in the long run, it’s not really a very good use of your time
Search intent and relevance
What is the searcher looking for? Find the answer to that question on the search engine results pages.
Natural Language Processing
Google puts a huge emphasis on relevant content.
- Every additional change that Google has been making over the past few years is geared towards that goal of helping people get answers to things that they search for in a natural way, so making search basically more human.
Accessibility
Make sure your site is universally accessible to everyone
Topics, not keywords
Focus on topics
- Look at each page on your site covering a topic that you have a focus
- Make sure to have the most comprehensive page that answers the searcher’s intent
- You want to be the first click, the long click and the last click
Competitors
Keep an eye on your informational competitors, who might not be doing the same thing as you but they provide information to your ideal audience
Customer journey
Understand the touch points that your customers have with your business.
- Create content to fill in the gaps in their journey and collaborate with those who can help you along the way
- Look at their journey before they get to your business to know what you need to do
Strengths
Find out what talents and skills you have
Location and language
Different locations have their own slang, culture, and ways of doing things. Try to understand the location and language to create content with that in mind.
- Make sure your site is internationalized if you’re targeting multiple countries, and partner up with someone in those locations
Indexability
Make sure your site is indexable to the search engines.
Trends and Seasonality
If you’re looking at your SEO data, if you notice a dip, you might not be doing anything wrong. It could just mean that it’s the nature of the time of the year.
E-A-T
Expertise, authoritativeness, and trust
Area of expertise
Try to lean on your expertise.
Resources
Look at the resources that you have in terms of time, budget, and personnel
- If you don’t have the time for SEO, you might be able to consider outsourcing it
- Always take stock of your resources before you start thinking of what you should do
Boss #1: Your business
Think about things from a broader lens before diving into tactics
The three bosses of SEO
There are three main pillars to consider when it comes to SEO: your business, your searchers, and your search engines
- Each of these bosses have their own individual needs
- Take a step back and look at what you’re doing and why you are doing them in order for you to get the results you need
Boss #2: Searchers
Look at your persona – who are the types of people you are trying to attract
- Figure out who you are selling to, and then create a persona based on who you want to sell to
- This will help you attract more qualified searchers
Key metrics and goals
Any activity that is done without a goal is essentially a hobby
- If you want to do serious SEO work, you need to have a goal
- Look at your business goals, marketing goals, and SEO goals to determine your goals, KPIs, and priorities
Psychological and Socioeconomic Factors
Look at the emotion, psychology, social, and economic factors that are affecting your audience
- What are they struggling with right now
- The pandemic has changed the way people search for things
- People can no longer do things that they were able to do before, so they have to adjust
Ongoing updates
SEO is not stagnant. It’s moving, and things are changing. Keep an eye on their business model, understand where they are headed, and try to be able to predict where they’re going.
- The most important thing is your business. Try to make sure that you are doing the right thing for your business and for your searchers.
Time in business
The time in business also the time is the approach you take for SEO.
- A brand-new website would need completely different approach to SEO than a business that has been around for a while but is just trying to refresh its website
- This would affect the way you approach content, link building, and trying to rank for those tough content
