Having a strong organic search ranking provides a sturdy foundation for a successful SEO strategy. Organic search rankings are important because it is a long-term strategy that proves to yield the best results in terms of business growth. Improving organic search engine rankings requires lots of patience, planning and monitoring.

Content is king

The obvious first step is having valuable content. Your content strategy should include a set of defined keywords that are placed strategically and efficiently in content copy. Not only this, but learn to find and utilise alternative terms as well so you can make the most of out of your content.

Streamline

Learn to streamline your content by condensing similar content onto the same page. If all your pages contain the same keywords, search engines will have a harder time determining which is the most relevant page to lead the searchers to. Remove duplicated content and boost the quality of the one page instead. Don’t overdo links because it distracts from the content – focus on quality rather than quantity.

Reviews

Google has dropped so many hints about the importance of user reviews that it’s truly become impossible to ignore. With the pigeon algorithms, and the snack packs, reviews are increasingly influential in search rankings. They give a website trust, authority and can often boost conversion rates (if the reviews you are receiving are positive). Of course, this is a predominantly offline factor, so what you have to do is make sure that your business delivers great products and services.

Get those links (but be selective)

Every trusted website has quality link backs. Bad links will see that your website is penalised for it – so avoid SEO strategies which involve having your content linked to everywhere and anywhere. Be selective when choosing your link partners and make sure they can impart the authority that you’re after.

Local

One of the easiest places to make gains on ranking is in local search. Optimise your website for mobile users and get targeted traffic. Local searches have a high follow-through rate, and gets rid of some of the big players that are often difficult to compete with.