Your business still needs SEO. Maybe more than ever, as organic search is becoming even more of a zero-sum game. Most web users still don’t click past the first page of Google, and technologies like Search Generative Experience (SGE) and Gemini are displaying the answers to user queries directly at the top of the page. Organic real estate is shrinking as AI bots scrape existing content and churn out low-quality substitutes, leading to Google taking actions such as its 2024 core update.
While digital marketing is always changing, SEO has timeless benefits that are only growing more relevant. It’s the primary source of website traffic for most businesses, builds brand credibility and leads to better engagement and more conversions. But SEO management is important to get the most out of your approach.
The Elements of SEO Management
There are four main pillars of SEO that site owners and SEO managers need to consider:
- Quality content and having the most helpful answers to user enquiries.
- Technical SEO, and how easy your site is for web spiders to crawl and index.
- Onsite SEO that optimises your content and HTML.
- Offsite SEO that builds brand authority.
An SEO manager’s job is quite similar to that of a marketing manager but more technologically driven. The typical duties of an SEO manager include managing website content, planning SEO strategy, negotiating backlinks, keyword research, and market analysis.
The most important elements of SEO management include:
Content quality
Google has made it very clear that it prioritises high-quality, informative content in its rankings that gives users the answers they’re looking for. Your content should be accurate and well-written, prioritising human readers rather than bots. Google will likely penalise you if your content is spammy, duplicated, AI-generated, or lacks substantial information.
Crawlability/Indexability
Google uses bots to crawl the web and discover sites to index, typically via links. Only pages Google has indexed can appear in search results. Some methods for enhancing your site’s visibility include sitemaps, internal links and robots.txt files.
Keywords
While Google can now look beyond a site’s keywords to see the bigger picture, keywords are still a crucial part of any SEO strategy. Of course, keyword stuffing remains a no-no. Making your keywords feel like a natural part of your web copy is important.
Search intent
Search intent is what a web user wants to accomplish by typing a search phrase into Google. A search phrase can be informational (seeking specific information), navigational (seeking a specific site) or transactional (looking to make a purchase). It’s important to know what kind of user intent each keyword caters to.
Backlinks
Backlinks are links from other sites to yours, and Google prioritises both the quantity of your links and the quality of the sites that link to you. While you can’t directly control which other sites link to yours, there are several backlink-building strategies that you can use to enhance your visibility.
Why Is It Important To Manage SEO Closely?
SEO isn’t a ‘set and forget’ strategy. It’s something that needs monitoring and tending to, changing course when necessary. Why is close SEO management of your strategy important? Here are some of the main reasons:
Your SEO strategy needs your expertise
Your SEO manager knows search engines, but you know your business and the value you can provide. By sharing your in-depth knowledge and experience, you can help your SEO management team craft the most suitable strategy.
You know your customers better than anyone
No one is more aware than you are of what demographics are buying your products and what needs your brand fulfils. Your input is invaluable in helping your SEO manager reach more people who can benefit from your services.
More traffic and better visibility
Regularly monitoring and adjusting your SEO strategy helps you improve and maintain your rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs). Without monitoring your approach and making adjustments when you can, your visibility can slip.
Algorithm changes
Google and other search engines regularly update their algorithms, sometimes making major changes and sometimes minor adjustments. Staying on top of these updates keeps your strategy malleable and helps prevent potential drops in traffic.
Competitive advantage
There’s a lot of competition in the digital landscape. By regularly analysing your own SEO strategy and the SEO of your competitors, you’re better equipped to identify gaps in the market and step in with solutions at the right time.
User experience
Regular SEO management helps you ensure your site remains fast, responsive and easy to use—all qualities that will set it apart from the competition and help you maintain your rankings.
The Analytical Tools Used To Measure SEO Results
There are many ways to track and monitor your SEO results:
Organic traffic
Organic traffic refers to the number of visitors that arrive on your site through unpaid search. You can assess the strength of your keywords and your unpaid strategy by using Google Analytics and heading to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic Acquisition. Google Analytics also lets you see your bounce rate, which measures how many website visitors leave without taking action.
Keyword rankings
The higher you rank for a particular keyword on a search engine results page (SERP), the more traffic you’ll drive to your site. Tools like SEMrush Position Tracking, Ahrefs Rank Tracker and SEOmonitor will help you keep scores on your keyword performance.
Impressions
Impressions are the number of times your webpage is viewed in search results in a given period. Google Search Console lets you see how your efforts are impacting your search visibility and click-through rate.
Technical health
The technical health of a website refers to how well search engines can crawl, index and rank your website. SEO audit tools like SEOptimer, Screaming Frog and Google Search Console allow you to check everything from indexing statuses to search errors.
Boost Your Performance with SEO Management at Anchor
Anchor is a creative digital agency that takes a fresh and straightforward approach to client services. Our SEO services keep on top of Google’s new developments while maintaining the same effective approaches that have always worked. Focused on human eyes rather than machines, we take a straightforward approach to aligning your website with the goals of your business.
Our ways of working aren’t set in stone. We test to find the best possible ways of running your campaign and then present our findings to you in clear, jargon-free language.
Our content marketing strategies are focused not only on quality content but also on the process behind it. Content can take many forms, and our copywriters can produce content that sounds like you and represents your brand promise. We can not only produce websites and blog posts but also help you with the content strategy that underpins their form.
For more information on how Anchor’s SEO management services can benefit you, drop us a line.
