SEO definitely is technical; but the strategies that are used needn’t be so. These in fact relate more to human behavior. SEO is not about you; it is about your clients. Bragging and boasting about your accomplishments will take you nowhere towards your organizational success. Understanding the requirements of your customers and catering to them in the best way possible should be your focus. You have to devise a SEO strategy that is based on psychology. Following the steps given below can help you do the same:
Start with the Keyword:
Keywords are the way your prospects reach you and that’s why they are important. Apart from what are the keywords people normally use in their searches, you should also understand why they use them and what are they exactly looking for. For instance, if a particular keyword starts with “how to…,” it means that the person is looking for a method by which he can do something by himself. A keyword that starts with “why does…” implies that the person is searching for an answer to his question. If you can understand what your prospects are looking for, you will be able to give them what they need. Companies like Distilled, Flow20 SEO, Seer Interactive, Outspoken Media and their likes still believe that keyword is the most important element of on page SEO and therefore, we should not be ignoring it.
Understand the Customer Perception:
Almost every company talks about what it does and how it does on its website. There is absolutely nothing new about this type of content. If you want to develop that psychology-based SEO strategy go a bit further and focus on how your product or service can be of help to your customers. You may even demonstrate this through a video or guide. Studies have reported that videos play a very important role in the decision-making process of customers.
Make use of Social Proof:
Social proof is the way to generate traffic today. Take for instance a supermarket where a crowd has been gathered to look at a floor display or a mall where in you see a group of people gathered around an individual who seems to have with him/her, a few bodyguards. You may not know what is on display or who the famous person is around whom the crowd has gathered. Nevertheless, you still join them only because they seem interested. The situation is somewhat similar on social media too. Create social proof by promoting your campaign across a network of social media users. They will in turn share your campaign, almost instantly, across a bigger community. In fact as per studies 92% of people go with word-of-mouth recommendations that come from their friends and family members.
Create Conversations:
While content is important, engaging users is crucial when it comes to SEO. The content you upload has to generate responses, which you can then respond to, thereby creating a conversation. This will help you emerge as a thought-leader in your field, increasing the level of trust and loyalty among your prospects.
Focus on your End Goal:
Your end goal becomes very important when it is about devising a psychology-based SEO strategy. The content that you generate has to make your audience take the action you want them to take, in order for you to reach your end goal. In this context it is necessary to treat each of your webpages as your landing page. This is the only way you can drive traffic to your site that can later convert to sales.
There is no ‘one SEO strategy’ that works perfectly for everyone. You have to consider your options and come up with your own SEO strategy, using psychology as the base. You cannot choose between Google and your audience; instead you need to come up with a strategy that works for both.