SEO is often considered to be complicated and confusing with a dozen of to-do’s and information out there. In reality, it is a bit of rocket science.  An essential aspect of enabling startups as well as giants to grow steadily and with high value, SEO is not instant magic. There are a few things to consider before investing in SEO to get results that are impactful and of high return to your investment.

What is SEO?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of bringing improved visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine without any ads - it  is referred to as "natural", "organic", or "earned" results. The higher ranked the page is on the search results page as well as of higher  frequency, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine's users; these visitors can then be converted into customers.

Patience is virtue

Invest with the right amount of energy and time. Though some companies might not be able to afford to wait and requires immediate results, it is absolutely necessary to plan ahead and have some time allocated to rank those perfect keywords. Further, pay-per-click advertising (PPC) can deliver immediate results while determining simultaneously whether a keyword is worth ranking for.

Content, content everywhere

One thing marketers get stuck with is the continuous surge of quality content which is needed to get Google’s attention. To be viewed as a resource, you will need relevant and timely content which in turn makes the path to ranking for target keywords easier. Important to keep in mind, not every organic search visit will convert. You might need to protect the search position of a keyword that converts.

Your Profit > Your Investment

In order for you to receive a positive return on your investments, it is important to consider a few other things first.

Take note of the competition around you in your industry. SEO can be a very competitive issue in some industries - in that case, a thorough research will help you understand your place among those controlling the top 20 search positions. How does your website stand up to the competition? How much would it actually cost you to overtake them?

A few other investment related pointers you should take notice are: what are the expenses of doing business through your website? These costs should include the cost of the team who will do the majority of the work. They would assist you in providing key insights into your return on the investment.

Next, you should look into how much these returns are converting into increased profits. Given the points above, how much of sales does your business need to accumulate over a year to be profitable? Considering the competition and the duration it will take to rank a target keyword along with the salary of the SEO professional to get the job done - the final question is, will it all be worth it?

SEO has proven to be of high value to those who have been patient and strategic which has resulted into them receiving high-converting keywords. Make sure you have got a functional, good-looking website that your customers would prefer to spend time on once they have landed on the homepage (here’s a list of some essential plugins for WordPress sites to help you with).  

As the facts stand today, mobile search have surpassed desktop search which has led to major search engines such as Google to develop mobile search as the future in all of its products. In response, many brands are beginning to take a different approach to their internet strategies. Hence, make sure you know your market before you invest your energies into the evolving world of SEOs.

Organic Search engine Optimization (SEO) and Paid Search Marketing (like Pay per Click or PPC)  form the basis of any company's digital marketing. This is why there is so much stress on optimizing keywords using the right techniques in order to boost relevancy and search ranking. Websites that use WordPress use content management systems and WordPress Themes also seek to be SEO friendly in order to boost visibility.

However, considering how frequently SEO best practices change and evolve, it can be difficult for businesses and entrepreneurs to know the tips and tricks, as well as the shortcuts, involved in optimizing their search results. WordPress offers users the solution through its range of SEO plugins that can improve the search ranking of your content or website.

The following are a list of the most popular SEO plugins you need to consider using for your WordPress site.

Google Keyword Planner

Deciding which keywords to use can be difficult, especially when users don’t know their target audience too well. Choosing the wrong keywords in an ad campaign can backfire and can be a huge loss in investment. However, through the Google Keyword Planner plugin, you will have insights of how and what your target audience thinks and use it to select the most suitable keywords for your marketing campaigns.
The Google Keyword Planner is free to use and can show what keywords advertisers can use to bid for their campaigns. Advertisers also get to have an estimate of the size of audience approachable by using specific keywords. This can give users the edge in outpacing their rivals with regards to bidding for the right keywords and thus make their marketing efforts that much more efficient and effective.

LinkPatrol

The LinkPatrol plugin enables users to have control over all website links. With it, you can keep a close watch on all outgoing website links and be instantly notified of which links are bringing in traffic and which are not. Unlike other plugins, LinkPatrol is a lot quicker to operate since it does not use up many resources. Because of this, cleaning spam links and anchor text is extremely easy and does not affect your viewing experience.

SEOquake

Considered one of the most used plugins by SEO professionals, SEOquake is available for a range of browsers including Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari web browser, and Opera. SEOquake is excellent for making sure that all outgoing links on the website are SEO friendly. It classifies the SEO friendliness of a website according to page rank, last date of update, age, and alexa rank.

Broken Link Checker

Finding out that your website is filled with dead links is frustrating since it limits your potential for gaining higher traffic and visibility. Using Broken Link Checker, you can quickly find out broken links on your website and fix it without needing to edit your posts. Although the plugin is free, it is very resource intensive and therefore, may not offer a user-friendly experience.
In sum, the aforementioned plugins are some of the best SEO plugins for WordPress. Using any one of these can help boost your search engine visibility and enable your digital marketing to become far more cost-effective.

Tracking your SEO is very important and we have written previously how to add Google analytics to your WordPress website. It's a good way to track your hard work.