Seeing great results from consistent effort over time is always satisfying, especially for a team of web design and SEO specialists. In this article we discuss how the Dedicated Designs team improved the organic search engine rankings of a large retail furniture company. These are tactics you should apply to your website’s organic marketing strategy as well!
The Tech Sid
Basic technical aspects of SEO need to be taken care of so that a website’s presence can grow from a solid foundation. To start, we made sure the website was structured well and registered so that it could be noticed by commonly used search engines like Google and Bing. Mobile friendly design, site speed, and an SSL security certificate all need to be in order.
While technical aspects of SEO are something we continually monitor and adjust, once we had done the groundwork it was time for the fun to start. Fun for an SEO specialist with an analytical and creative mind means market research and focusing on content.
Finding Destinations with Keyword Research
Keyword research is an essential part of a solid SEO strategy. Keywords are phrases that people use when looking for something online, whether it be information, a type of product, or entertainment.
It is critical to know what kind of language a business’ target audience uses to describe the products or services they seek. In some cases, people use phrases or words that a business doesn’t commonly use when explaining their offerings.
High-Volume Keywords
For our large, multi-location retail furniture client we found that it is very common for potential customers to use the phrase “murphy bed” rather than “wallbed” or “wall bed.” These names are often used interchangeably.
We also identified other various phrases that people use when looking for this type of transformational furniture, including “hidden bed” and “cabinet bed.”
Long-Tail Keywords
Going further, our SEO team found long-tail keywords which could be in the form of questions or specific wallbed customizations. Again, it is important to produce content that addresses the specific language that potential clients use when looking for solutions.
Long-tail keywords are great for answering specific questions consumers ask. For example, by answering “are wall beds comfortable?” in a way that is structured well and satisfies the inquiry, a blog post for our client gained them a prominent spot on the first page of results as a featured Answer Box.
Prioritizing the Most Important Key Phrases
After gathering a large list of keywords, it was time to narrow down the selection and identify the phrases that would be most beneficial to target first. The team at Dedicated Designs uses software that provides insight for each keyword, including how many times the phrase is searched each month and the difficulty level of reaching the first page of results.
By sorting according to different variables our SEO specialists curated a keyword list that included popular (but competitive) phrases along with less popular, but more attainable keywords.
Content that Aligns with Target Keywords
Once the list of keywords was agreed upon with the client, we went through a research and creative process to map out content ideas to match. For this furniture client we added new pages and blog posts as part of their SEO blog writing services.
Search engines such as Google and Bing prefer websites that keep producing new content. The consistent content publishing that aligns with key phrases used by the target audience was noticed – by Google! The website began ranking higher for keywords important to their market niche.
While growth in SEO is never linear, and it can take months to see significant results, the benefits of increased exposure often lasts for quite some time and will continue to grow if efforts are maintained.
The graph below illustrates that the Dedicated Designs SEO team improved this furniture retailer’s website search result visibility by over 12% for the keywords tracked during those months.
Internal Linking
Although it would be quite a lengthy article if we discussed every aspect of this successful SEO strategy, internal linking is another key tactic of our organic marketing strategy. By linking to related pages within the website the visitor can easily navigate and find additional resources.
Internet search engines such as Google also follow internal linking to make connections about the relationships between pages and their content.
The Human Element
The humans who find value and answers with the content published are what drives search engines like Google to treat a website as an authority within its scope of practice. When a website has a higher “domain authority” score it is more likely to be listed higher in search results.
If the content being published isn’t useful or entertaining to real humans, they will quickly exit the website – which is most definitely noted by search engines as a “bounce rate.”
Finding interesting, useful, or otherwise engaging ways to capture attention about a subject is part of the challenge. All of this information must also be presented in a visually appealing way.
Start Today
Contact the Dedicated Designs team today to start a conversation about how we can help your website be noticed in organic listings. The skilled web design and SEO team at Dedicated Designs works with each brand individually to learn about their industry, clientele, and what makes their company unique.
Our professional website design and development company serves businesses in the Greater Sacramento area and beyond. We are a tight-knit team of creative professionals who are passionate about building custom, effective marketing solutions for those we serve. Learn more about us through our website or give us a call.
