Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Top 10 Tactics for Ranking

Understanding and implementing effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies is key in the success of any business website. For those specializing in a specific vertical, like cybersecurity, SEO best practices can help establish your website as a go-to resource in the industry.

My top 10 SEO best practices and how to make them work for your business website (with examples!)

 1. Keyword Research and Targeting

Get Started with a few questions:

• HOW you talk about your product or solution. What words do you use to describe the solution?
• WHAT keywords are your competitors using that you also want to rank for?
• WHO is going to be reading your content? Are they experts in the field, are they entry-level? These questions will help you determine which keywords you should start with.
• WHERE is your audience coming from? Do they speak English (or the language your website is published in) as a first language? Is your site being translated by an in browser translation tool? If it is, does your keyword mean what you think it means? Have you localized correctly?
• WHEN in their buyer journey is your audience landing on your website? Is it early on (hopefully) when they are learning about the industry? Are you using keywords that are educating them to choose your solution during the journey? Are you making assumptions with your keywords and content?
• WHY is the keyword important to your business and your prospect? Are you solving a problem, providing information, sharing how your business is solutions oriented?

Definition: The process of identifying relevant keywords that your target audience uses in search engines, especially those specific to your area of expertise.

Best Practice: Use SEO tools to conduct comprehensive keyword research to find relevant terms in the your vertical.

Example in Play: If your website focuses on cybersecurity, potential keywords could be "endpoint security," "network monitoring," and "data encryption."

Tools to use*: Conductor, SpyFu, SEMRush, Brightedge, Google Keyword Planner

*These are all tools I've either used previously or currently use. I don't get any renumeration for sharing them with you.

 2. On-Page Optimization

Are your keywords being used in the content on your pages? Do you have your keywords embedded in your website, more than just on your blog? Do your paid keywords match the content on the webpage you’re driving traffic to?

Definition: The optimization of individual web pages by naturally inserting relevant keywords within the content, meta descriptions, titles, and headings.

Best Practice: Incorporate the selected keywords in crucial parts of the webpage without compromising readability.

Example in Play: On a webpage about "Firewall Security," include the keyword in the title tag, a subheading, and within the content.

 3. Content Quality

“Content is King,” still holds true. I discuss human-generated content in another blog, and it’s important to remember that generating high-quality, problem solving content is key to getting engagement for your keyword optimized content.

Consider the following litmus test to see if your content can reign supreme on the SERPS:

• Are we solving a problem?
• Are we answering a question?
• Does the content solve the problem or answer the question?
• Is there a “next step” for our content (or do we need to write it)?
• Is there an internal link (see example above with Human Generated Content)?
• Does the keyword we are writing content for have search volume?
• Is the content interesting, informative, easy to read, and actionable?
•  Are we combining keywords for maximum effectiveness?

Definition: The creation and dissemination of content that adds value by being original, informative, and of high quality.

Best Practice: Develop content that provides genuine insights, data, and actionable advice.

Example in Play: Write an in-depth research article on "Cyber Threat Intelligence" that includes case studies, expert opinions, and statistical data.

 4. Backlinking

The alignment between the Corporate Comms team and the web and content teams should be right here with backlinking. What publications does your PR team talk to the most? What websites are calling your product teams for quotes and interviews? Who can you leverage to get those all-important, high-quality backlinks?

Backlinking is the step-child of most organizations, everyone knows they need to nurture it, but they don’t always know the best way to do it. By leveraging a cross-functional strategy backlinking becomes a great collaboration tool and creates authority for the website.

Definition: The practice of acquiring hyperlinks from other websites to your own to improve site authority.

Best Practice: Secure quality backlinks from reputable sources within your industry.

Example in Play: Earn a backlink from a well-respected website, tech journal, or an academic paper on cybersecurity.

What not to do: Blog commenting, Social Commenting (unless it’s relevant), Guest posting, Buying links

Read more about Blackhat Backlinking (yes, that’s a backlink for another site, see how great that is!)

 5. Mobile Optimization

Consider where the majority of your traffic is coming from. Is it people on mobile devices reading your content on a train or a plane? If your site isn’t optimized for different screen sizes, devices, and browsers, you’re missing opportunities.

Take a look at your bounce rate and your engagement. If it’s low, test your website and adjust as needed.

Definition: Ensuring that a website delivers an optimized experience on mobile devices.

Best Practice: Use responsive design to automatically adapt the layout to different screen sizes.

Example in Play: Test your cybersecurity website on various devices to ensure that it provides an equally smooth user experience across all platforms.

 6. Site Speed

Definition: The measure of how quickly web pages are downloaded and displayed on the user’s web browser.

Best Practice: Employ techniques like image compression, code optimization, and browser caching to improve site speed.

Example in Play: Utilize a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to distribute the load of delivering content and improve your cybersecurity website's loading speed.

 7. Local SEO

Is your SEO helping people find your office? While not relevant for all organizations, it’s highly relevant for many businesses, especially those that offer business in specific Service Areas. Using Google and Bing local services, you can add information to your website and to search engines that help your organization show up in the “maps” results.

Definition: A set of practices for optimizing a website to appear in local search results.

Best Practice: Utilize local keywords and claim your Google My Business listing to improve local search visibility.

Example in Play: If your firm has an office in London and you want to do more business locally, include keywords like  “consulting in London."

 8. Social Signals

Using social media for SEO might not seem intuitive, but consider that social site are also search and information tools. Publishing your content, with relevant keywords and hashtags, on social channels can increase your visibility and help searchers find relevant content that is current.

Another great way to leverage social signals, aside from SEO, is to see the engagement your content generates. If it’s not generating engagement, you may want to rethink your title and your description. It’s a great, easy way to test headlines and strategy.

Definition: Interactions such as likes, shares, and comments on social media platforms that may indirectly influence SEO.

Best Practice: Create high-quality, shareable content on social media to increase user engagement.

Example in Play: Create a compelling infographic on “Cybersecurity Risks in Remote Work” to encourage sharing and discussions on social platforms.

 9. User Experience (UX)

How does UX impact SEO? The better the experience on the website, the more time people spend, the better the signals going back to your analytics, the higher ranking you’ll achieve. Consider the last time you found a number one result on Google and went to the website and there were pop-ups everywhere, or the site didn’t load, or the content had changed. Do you trust that site anymore? Do you think it was a good experience? Chances are you won’t ever go back. Don’t do that to your customers. You get ONE chance, don’t mess it up.

Definition: The overall experience a user has while interacting with a website, which includes its usability and interface design.

Best Practice: Provide a clear navigational structure and an intuitive layout.

Example in Play: Utilize a clean design and accessible menus to make it easy for users to find what they're looking for on your cybersecurity website.

 10. Analytics and Monitoring

How are you measuring success? Chances are you are looking at your analytics in Google, Adobe, Hubspot, or another tool. Do your KPI’s align with the results you’re getting? If not, how are you changing your tactics to align your results with your KPI’? How often are you monitoring? Don’t look daily, it’ll drive you crazy!

Definition: The use of analytics tools to track and evaluate the performance of various SEO initiatives.

Best Practice: Monitor KPIs, including traffic, bounce rate, and conversion, to assess the effectiveness of your SEO strategy.

Example in Play: Use Google Analytics to track how well your cybersecurity keywords are performing in terms of user engagement and conversions.

By understanding and implementing these SEO best practices, focusing on high quality content, great user experience, relevant keywords, your website can significantly improve its search engine rankings. The result is a broader reach and increased credibility in your space.